Page 146 of Tears for a Broken Sky
I swallowed, terror turning cold in my veins.
“Remove them,” he said.
I shook my head. “No.”
His smile thinned. He pulled a knife from beneath his robes—curved and delicate, like everything else about him.
“Remove them,” he said again, voice calm. “Or I will.”
The blade slid down my side, slicing a clean line through the fabric.
I didn’t flinch. “So what?” I snapped. “You plan to rape me now?”
He sighed, almost sadly. “I would never be socruel, my love. That’s not what this is. I just want toseeyou.”
He reached out, touched my face like he owned it. Like I was a painting.
“You remember our game, don’t you?” he whispered. “You do as I say… or someone you love suffers.”
He turned. Raised his voice.
“Thorne.”
The door opened.
Thorne stepped in.
Vael’s hand crackled at his side—lightning coiled like a serpent, waiting to strike.
I forced my face to stay blank. “You’re wrong,” I said. “I don’t love him. He means nothing to me.”
Vael tilted his head, studying me. Then he smiled.
“Is that so?”
He didn’t wait.
The lightning arced through the air in a white-hot streak, slamming into Thorne’s chest. He crumpled, gasping, knees hitting stone.
“No!” I surged forward, instinct before thought. “Stop—please!”
Vael’s grin widened. He didn’t even look at Thorne again.
He stepped closer, voice low. “Remove your clothes.”
I was shaking so hard I thought I might splinter.
But I reached for my jacket—because he had me. Because I couldn’t fight this, not now.
Not with Thorne on the floor. Not with lightning in the air.
So I did the only thing I could.
I tried to disappear.
Tried to find that place I used to go, where pain couldn’t reach me. But it was gone.
Every scrap of fabric he demanded… every inch of skin he wanted exposed—it wasn’t just clothing.
