CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Aurora was pushed into a dark room, stumbling as she turned to curse out Silas he slammed the door shut behind them leaving them in complete darkness. She wished she had some ancient fae power to allow her to evanesce, to simply just blip out of the room and appear elsewhere within the Guild. Many nights she would lay in her bed and wish and pray to the gods for the ability.
Her body felt the weight of a dull pressure. It was very slight, but there, alerting her to the wards in the room. Even if she could evanesce she guessed the wards would make it impossible for her.
Eli had mentioned his own ability to evanesce when they had discussed training and abilities that would be useful. But he never did it around her, and she had only seen it for the first time when Atlas disappeared right before her eyes back as they made their way to No Man’s Land. She desperately wanted to know how it worked and if it was something she could develop and master.
Aurora was just grateful the wards didn’t stop her from keeping her glamor intact. She could feel the slight tung on her limited power letting her know it hadn’t dropped. She didn’t want to think about the issues it would cause.
It seemed that even though Violet and the Guild knew everything else about her, this was the one thing she had been able to hide from them. She assumed Mikhai had felt pity on her and kept quiet.
Even if she still didn’t know why she needed to hide her natural hair and eye color, Eli was adamant she would not disclose it or let her guard drop.
She needed to focus. She knew what was coming, but she also knew she just had to endure the pain, survive the lashings, because the wounds would heal without a scar. She could put it away and lock it in the back of her mind. This was the reality of the Guild and this was her new life whether she liked it or not.
She tried to remember everything Eli had taught her, but fear robbed her of the ability to focus. The darkness felt smothering, and try as she did she couldn’t remember even the simplest maneuver Eli had taught her. So she stood there, unmoving, barely breathing, her heart thundering in her chest.
Silas shook lanterns as he walked through the big room, the motion alighting the fae light within. Bit by bit the room came into focus. Stone slabs covered the floors, the walls and ceilings in the same cold material. And as the room glowed with soft light, Aurora fought to smother the horror that took hold of her.
Chains of different lengths hung from the ceiling. Some ended in hooks, others with clamps. A table was placed against a wall to her left, an assortment of blades, whips and instruments she couldn’t name sat atop of it
Although Silas’s expression was hard, a mask of indifference as he crossed the room, returning to Aurora, his touch was gentle as he laid a hand on her shoulder.
It jarred her.
His mood erratic, cruel one moment and kind the next. The flip happening in a matter of seconds. But that one act, his mask of quiet calm cracked the fear she had been battling with and in its place rage began to build. She shrugged off his touch, began to fight him, but his hands snagged her shoulders, and his grip was bruising. She struggled in his hold trying to pull away and put distance between them to give her time to think. She wanted to avoid the pain that was to come.
Silas wasn’t affected by her movements, his grip tightened on her shoulders as he guided her closer to the chains.
Aurora knew deep down that fighting him was useless, the way he was holding her, moving her, had her limited in her options, but she still tried. Her movements were erratic and sloppy, not her usual smooth grace and practiced maneuvers.
A frustrated growl escaped her, she was frustrated with herself. She hadn’t reacted in this way with the Kolec. Her mind had been clear, yet now she felt off. At first thinking it was fear gripping her but she was more angry than fearful now and yet still she felt as if she was in a fog. All those years of training felt like a waste, when she needed them, truly needed them to protect herself she was useless. She couldn”t focus on what she had been taught, couldn’t quite remember the stances and the movements.
Silas chuckled, his deep voice low and now close to her ear as he grabbed her roughly, her back to his chest, his arm like a band across her chest, “I’m impressed, you are still trying to fight even when all you have learned over the years with Eli has been forgotten.”
She paused, her attempts at freeing herself frozen as she processed what he was saying. How could he possibly know what she was experiencing, the disorientation?
“Did Eli not make you aware?” Silas questioned, his tone was smug, laced with something, contempt, was that it? “He really didn’t prepare you properly. I am disappointed.”
Aurora refused to answer. She may not be able to fight him physically, but she would not yield to him, she was determined he would not break her. She stared ahead, picking a place on the wall, a stone that looked a little brighter than the rest and focused on her breathing.
Silas scoffed, his voice a husky whisper, his breath brushing her arched ear and over her cheek as he branded her to him in the tightest of holds, drawing closer to the chains, “That fog you feel you’re in? That’s all thanks to me.”
Aurora’s eyes widened at his words, her feet shuffling over the uneven slabbed floor as she tried to force him to stop.
“Unfortunately, my ability is frustratingly restricted. I don’t have control over your mind nor am I able to control your body. I do wish I had that ability, I have to admit, what fun I would have with that one,” Aurora didn’t need to see his face to know the bastard was smirking.
“There are some things I can control though, have you guessed yet what they are? No? All those years of training with him? Gone.”
“What do you mean gone? You erased my memories of that?” She fought to turn and face him, but he held tight.
“If only,” he murmured.
His lips brushed purposefully over the shell of her ear drawing a shudder from her. His voice was soft, the tone though dripped with arrogance, “No, you silly female, I can disorientate my victims, temporarily, mind you but it is still useful.”
Aurora flinched at how he said victims, like he sickly enjoyed it. She hated the feel of his lips on her. Hated how he could hold her like that, pinning her against him. His ability making it impossible to get free.
Panic was close to overwhelming. Her breathing came faster, more hurried, tears gathered as she battled to stop them from falling.
He was right, she should be able to fight him, put up some sort of struggle worthy of her training. She may not win, but she could hold her own against him at least for a while. It was useless, she couldn’t make her body move in the way she needed it to. Her movements hesitant as she scrambled for some semblance of clarity. Her limbs felt heavy, almost tired.
She couldn’t fight against him, couldn’t stop him, he was going to carry out Violet”s order and having heard him moments before she knew the bastard male would get a sick satisfaction from it.
She felt like a prisoner in her own body, trapped in her mind as she struggled for something, some memory of her training. Anything at all that would help her. But there was nothing, she was his prey and he, the hunter.
She began to plead, hating herself for it but being left with no other option other than to hope, pray to Metlorn, the god of Spring and even Frenlorn the god of Winter. Anyone that would listen.
She hated herself for it, her pride took a hit at the words that spilled from her lips. It was her only solution. She begged for the male to let her go.
“You don’t need to do this! I promise I won”t run again, I get it. I understand the rules.”
He ignored her. Her pleading wasn”t working. She had hoped crying out as she had, that someone would hear, maybe someone would come in, put a stop to what was about to happen. But nothing.
Silas gave a dark chuckle, the sound chilling Aurora to the bone as the realization hit her. The room was either warded or the walls themselves made it soundproof. Her mind raced as she processed it, and scared as she was she cried out for help. But instead of her voice bouncing back, the stone absorbed it.
She hissed in a sharp breath, it confirmed her thoughts, the room was warded. She was truly cut off from Eli, from the others.
With an arm around her, he reached above tugging on a chain, the metal clinking as he locked a cuff that hung from it to one of her wrists.
“Look... I will make it up to you. I promise, I will do whatever you need me to, but please don’t do this.” Her voice sounded a little sluggish, but it fell on deaf ears.
Silas maneuvered her, allowing him to secure her other wrist. The chains had a little slack but not for long. Knowing she couldn’t move he moved to the wall, a chain hung down against it from the ceiling and pooled on the ground. Painfully slowly he pulled on it, the metal cuffs pulling on her skin, biting into her flesh as the chains went taut. But he continued, kept going until she was on the tips of her toes. She was trapped.
The metal stung against her skin, “What...what is this?” She grunted at the discomfort, her mind racing, “WHAT IS THIS? IS THIS IRON?” Aurora gained a moment of clarity as she hissed, the cuffs burning her skin, branding them.
But again, her questions were met with silence as her tormentor secured the chain. His silence cranked her fear beyond any level she had ever faced, it was oppressive, heavy.
Tears filled her eyes once again, her voice dropping, surrendering to her situation, “Eli will not forget this...I will not forget this. Whatever you do, I will pay it back tenfold, I promise.”
She stopped fighting, stopped struggling, the point lost on her. She needed to keep what little she had left to get through the lashings.
A coil of her magic writhed inside her, the sensation causing her stomach to flip, and her muscles to tighten causing her to pull on the chains. Her magic was rejecting the iron, fighting and losing against its hold, its ability to nullify it.
“Interesting. Taller than most females,” he spoke softly, his voice a deep tenor.
Aurora glared at him, silent tears falling down her cheeks.
He circled back to her, crouching down before her. In her panic she had been blind to the shackles at either side. His large hand cupped the back of her calf, lingering briefly, then slowly slid down to wrap around her slim ankle. He worked fast, quickly securing each so they bound together, she had little freedom of movement. She tried to raise her leg, attempting to connect a blow to his head. But it was futile, there was no give in her restraints.
Silas’ ability once more messed with her head causing her actions to be sluggish. He dodged her, his action mocking as he smirked up at her, releasing the control he held on her mind.
“You know, I don’t get on my knees for many females. You should feel special.” Silas chuckled darkly.
Aurora couldn’t respond to his words. She would have snapped back at him, but a sharp stab of fear sliced through her gut, it knocked the breath from her. Minute by minute her fate became more real to her body.
Silas walked over to a table, she fought a whimper as she watched him trace his fingers over the many different whips until his fingers lingered over one, tracing the handle before lifting it.
Aurora’s stomach dropped. The handle was black woven leather, the throng matching down to the fall which split at the end into multiple leather threads each with its own iron tip at the end.
Swallowing thickly, she kept her eyes trained on the male as he lifted his gaze, a sinister smile grew on his lips. She wished more than anything that it was a nightmare, praying she could wake up from it.
Silas moved with enviable grace, hooking the whip to his waist as he returned to her. Stopping behind her, his chest brushing against her back, he leaned forward, his lips grazing her ear again as he whispered, “You are a little overdressed, allow me to assist you, yes?”
She whipped her head to the side in a frantic effort to see what he was going to do but her restraints made it impossible.
Hands went to the clasp on her cloak, allowing it to fall to the floor. He then gripped the neck of her tunic before violently pulling, the material gave under the assault tearing open to reveal her bare skin. The cool air of the chamber caressed her, as she stood partially exposed. Her brown hair tickling over her lower back.
She began to shake, not from the cold, but from fear.
The male gathered her hair and took his time braiding it, a cat playing with a mouse. She could feel as he worked slowly, the braid was intricate. She could only imagine how beautiful it actually was based on the braids that always decorated Silas’ head. She hated it.
Aurora wondered if he did the same to all his victims.
When secured he tossed it over her shoulder, her back now no longer hidden from him. She refused to look at it, she refused to acknowledge what the male had done.
Only then did Silas step back.
Moments passed that felt like a lifetime. She was afraid but she was also angry. Angry at Eli for hiding so many things from her, angry at Silas for being a sadistic bastard, and angry at a world that could be so cruel and harsh. She waited and waited, but he didn’t move, didn’t speak. Was it part of the torture he dished out?
“Every time this beauty strikes you, you will count. I won’t continue until I hear each number. How this goes is completely up to you, it can be over quickly, or it can take as long as need be.” Silas’ voice came from a few steps behind her. She didn’t need to see him to tell the sadistic male was smiling, it was heard in the tone of his voice.
She could feel panic rise and she knew if she let it, it would completely consume her. So taking a deep breath, she held it a little before letting it out. She was in the middle of taking a second when she heard a slight throaty growl from behind her, the male was growing impatient. She could endure this, she would endure this and she would never let them do this to her again.
Aurora could only imagine the punishments Eli had to endure all his years in the Guild. He had survived and so would she.
Silas cleared his throat, the sound of the whip hitting the floor as he readied it caused her to wince.
The male was suddenly close again, he spoke softly at the back of her head. His sudden appearance behind her pulled a small yelp from her. “Such beautiful skin, unblemished, soft and close to perfect.”
Aurora could feel the heat from his body seep into her, she cringed, attempting to lean away but the chains stopped her from going far.
The tips of his fingers hooked the torn fabric of her tunic and yanked them further apart, the material now torn to the hem, the frayed ends dangling at her sides. Then a moment later she could feel the lightest touch, a caress, as he brushed his finger slowly from neck to lower back along the curve of her spine, “A blank canvas for me to work on, I will make you perfect.” His voice soft, a lover’s caress.
Aurora’s throat tightened painfully as she tried to keep more tears from appearing. She began to work at breathing again.
She knew the moment he had stepped back, her personal space no longer invaded. The air around her seemed lighter, she sighed quietly in relief.
“I considered keeping my hold on your mind, but it would deprive you of the experience, the true feeling of your flesh splitting, weeping, coating your back in red. It would dull the pain. It’s an experience no one should be deprived of.”
Aurora’s mind suddenly cleared, she no longer felt sluggish. Strength came back to her muscles. She straightened her back, if she was a master lock pick, then maybe she could get set free but alas she was not. She was in this situation because of that fact.
He had moved further back, giving himself room to crack the whip, the snap of it garnered a yelp of surprise from Aurora. It was a warning, and a demand for her to start. She raised her chin in defiance. She would not break so easily. Would he be successful? Possibly, but Aurora would do what Eli had told her to.
She would show her teeth.