Page 17 of A Trial of Two Worlds
Blazing fury surged through me at the mention of my mate as apet. The same name I knew Seamus had drawn from her memories to torment her in Crimson City. The same she heard in her nightmares when she woke up screaming in my arms.
I lunged forward, intending to break her neck with my bare hands, but a wall of shadow hurled me onto my back.
I thrashed against the grip of her dark magic, but Minaeve overpowered me. She appeared in the hallway, cloaked within Anjani’s illusions, and laughed—sharp and cruel—at my feeble attempt toovertake her.
With my focus splintered, the queen seized the moment, siphoning a kernel of my power to weaken me further.
Minaeve’s lips were poison.
Every time she forced the siphon, it felt like my life force was stolen from me. I could feel my magic churn inside my center, fighting against the pull. Fighting to remain in my veins, but alas, her shadows always found their way to my power and swept it away.
Ice trickled across my skin as she extracted my magic, followed by my essence in a flicker of silver light bound to my teleportation ability.
The intent of her siphons differed each time she forced it upon me, depending on which gifts she drew from, but this time, Gods above… This time, it felt as if my very soul was being devoured. My remaining threads of strength disintegrated.
The sheer look of glee on her face was monstrous, even beneath her glowing beauty. A surreal golden light enveloped her, casting an otherworldly sheen that seemed to breathe new life into her.
I had never seen such radiance from her before. It was mesmerizing, and deeply,deeplywrong.
That was the last thought I had before darkness claimed me once again.
When I awoke, my hands were bound above my head, and I was suspended off the ground with my toes barelytouching the floor.My chest was bare, with my shirt discarded to the side.
Anjani stood across from me in the cave-like torture chamber. Through squinted eyes, the solitary fae light in the corner silhouetted her frame. I didn’t dare open my eyes wider. The faint light was blinding after being confined in the dark for two days.
Anjani’s cropped brown hair was braided to the side, her dark green leathers designed to conceal various torture weapons at the ready.
“Let the games begin,” she sneered, reaching for a barbed whip.
I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face, followed by a low, maddening chuckle.
“Has your mind collapsed so soon, Aegaeon?” Anjani taunted.
“No,” I answered with a dark laugh, my eyes snapping open to meet hers. “I just know you favor your right hand.”
Anjani’s jaw clenched as rage began boiling inside her.“Minaeve told me to have my way with you, to break your body and then your mind until there was nothing left but an empty vessel.”
“Good luck.” I met her stare, unafraid, challenging her to do her worst.
Without warning, she cracked the whip over my torso. The barbs ripped into my flesh, carving out gashes gushing with blood, turning the floor beneath me crimson. The warmth of my blood trickled down myfront, my back, and my sides. There wasn’t a single inch of me spared from her lashings.
Again and again, she struck.
Again and again, I met her stare.
I wanted to remind Anjani exactly who she held captive. I wanted her to report to her false king and queen about who lurked in their dungeons. I wanted them to remember what was born in these very cells.
Silver Shadow.
I received this name on the battlefields before my time locked within these walls. But it was here that the shadow was truly born. Surviving this place forced me to become something else. Something deadly that caused even Seamus to tremble with unease.
Eventually, Anjani grew tired,or bored, with no sign of breaking me.
“Guards,” she called, placing her whip on the table near the far corner. “Until our next session, Aegaeon,” she hissed, pulling a lever from the wall that dropped me to the floor like a stone. “Make sure the healing salve is applied. I prefer a blank canvas to resume my revenge.” She snickered.
The chains rattled as they released me. My head collided violently with the ground as I finally gave in and lost consciousness once more.
At first, I thought Skylar was an illusion, a conjured desire manipulated into a new sense of torture.
