Page 59 of Thirst
“What Brien ordered me to do.” I hooked my hands under Nyx’s armpits and hauled her to her feet. “Lock her in the fucking dungeon.”
16
Nyx
Cain steered me into the torch-lit passage outside his apartment. Talon muttered something about checking on Eden and disappeared into a nearby door.
“You can still change your mind,” Cain said.
I forced my spine straight. The boost I’d gotten from his blood had worn off, and all I wanted to do was curl into a ball and whimper. The only thing keeping me upright was pride. “I won’t.”
His winter-sky eyes flamed a dangerous blue. “Up to you,” he said and urged me into motion.
We walked without speaking. The few people we passed nodded to Cain. As for me, I got the side-eye. They knew.
I notched my chin a fraction higher.
Cain halted at the top of a flight of rough-hewn stairs, the air below damp, heavy. “Can you manage the steps?”
The distance to the bottom looked impossibly long. “Of course.” I set my jaw and started down. But I was tired and my foot slipped on the narrow steps. I stumbled into the wall.
He made a sound that was close to a snarl. “Stubborn,” he bit out and scooped me up, taking the narrow steps at an easy jog.
Our destination was a short hall with five cells, their thick, silver-reinforced wood doors ajar. Apparently, I was their only prisoner.
Cain set me down in the first cell, bare but for a sink and a seatless metal toilet. The air inside was damp, heavy.
The gleam of silver made me turn my head—a manacle, attached by a chain to the stone wall. My swallow sounded loud in the silence.
He followed my gaze, then looked back at me.
Don’t cuff me to the wall. Please, don’t…
The thought of being chained like an animal made my knees turn to rubber. And I was pretty sure I couldn’t survive another bout of silver poisoning.
A small muscle tightened along his jaw. “Sure you don’t want to change your mind?”
I shook my head.
“Suit yourself.” He exited, the heavy door thudding shut behind him.
Not the manacle, then.
My breath whooshed out. I lowered myself, body shaking, to the dusty stone floor. I heard the muffled sound of a bolt sliding into place. Then…nothing.
The darkness was complete. Not even a sliver of light that would allow me to see.
You’re okay. You’re okay.
The pep talk didn’t take. My heart hammered a fist against my ribcage, like it was demanding to escape. I curled up on the hard floor like a pill bug, all my vulnerable parts tucked inside, trying not to whimper.
I gulped in oxygen. You got this, girl.
I’d survived my mother dropping me off at a vampire lair. Survived Nazaire’s tests, his punishments, his fucking mind games. I could survive this.
But it hurt so damn bad.
And not just because of the silver poisoning. That was a different kind of pain. Sure, my muscles ached, my head pounded, and I was pretty sure my fever had spiked again. Not fun, but I’d live.
