Page 208 of Nightshade

I lurched toward him, but stopped short when a gun pressed into my temple. “Please spare him.”

The moment I spoke the words, Remy glanced over his shoulder at me, humiliation etched in the expression on his face.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I need him, you see.”

“For what?”

“I’ll get to that in a moment. In the meantime, have a seat.” One hard shove pushed me toward a chair, and with reluctance, I sat down. Drystan drew my arms behind my back and secured them with a pair of handcuffs. “Does this turn you on, Farryn?”

The question had me curling my lip in repulsion. “Nothing about you turns me on.” I stared up at Remy, where blood oozed down from his hands, undoubtedly from his trying to pull them free of the nails.

Drystan stepped into my line of view and cupped my chin. Abhorrence prompted me to turn my cheek to him, but he dug his fingers into my face. A long, split tongue lashed out, dragging across my cheek, and I let out a repulsed snarl. “I would’ve loved to have ravished you myself, knowing Jericho could do absolutely nothing from where he sits trapped in his cage like an animal. But I made a deal.”

“What deal? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t just return to Nightshade in my condition. The Fallen would have a very … unfair advantage over me.”

I sneered at that. “In other words, you’re weak there.”

Fingers dug into my cheeks, sending a shooting pain into my jaw. “Careful, girl. You don’t have to be perfectly intact when I turn you over.” When he released me, the ache throbbed, and I shifted my jaw in a poor attempt to abate it.

“Turn me over to whom?”

“As I said, I’m not the only one who longs to hurt Jericho in the most painful way. To break the curse, you must be impregnated by an angel. And it so happens, there is one willing to offer me protection in exchange for you, so that I might cross over to Nightshade and hunt down your father. He intends to ravish you thoroughly, and while I am admittedly jealous, the thought of Jericho losing you forever is music to my soul.”

“Who is he? This angel?”

Drystan leaned forward and whispered, “I’m not telling you.”

“And what if I’m already carrying Jericho’s child?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Impossible. Your physical body dissolved in the atmosphere when you entered Nightshade. It’s why Remy had to reverse time in order to return you.”

Talk about ignorant. He didn’t know. Remy apparently hadn’t told him that we hadn’t reversed time. His ignorance felt like a small victory, and it took every muscle in my face not to give away the one secret I had over him. Even by the possibility that I wasn’t carrying Jericho’s child.

“Speaking of Remy … let’s get on with this, shall we?” From the wall, he pulled down a long, silver sword that gleamed an ominous threat. He held it up, twisting it around in morbid fascination. “I learned of a very effective way to curse the steel. Who knew that one small concoction could summon an ancient infection that could turn these formidable angels into mindless, snarling beasts?”

“I am begging you, Drystan. I will give myself to you willingly. Without a fight. Please, just let him go.”

Remy shook against the cross, yanking his hands against the nails, and cried out in frustration. He looked over his shoulder, down at me, eyes pleading, the sight of which tore at my heart. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

I squirmed in my binds in a desperate bid to break loose, but it was futile. They wouldn’t give. Tears filled my eyes as I watched Drystan raise the sword. “Remy,” I whispered.

In one fluid swoop, Drystan sliced through one of Remy’s wings, leaving it to swing from the hook. A gut-wrenching cry pierced my ears, and I screwed my eyes shut on a scream, as Drystan raised the blade for the other wing. My whole body shook with fear and shock, while a sickening cold washed over me and crushed my lungs.

Another roar of agony bounced inside my skull, and I desperately wished my hands were free to shield the sound of it.

When I opened my eyes, Remy hung limp from the nails. Two bloody stumps marked the spot where his wings had once stretched.

Tears ran down my cheeks, as I watched him sag and claw against the cross. His body turned a sickly shade of gray. The blond hair on his head fell out in thick chunks, sliding down his body and onto the floor. The severed wings waved in mocking from the chains, oozing his blood.

Sickness in my gut shot up into my throat, and I bent forward to expel vomit onto the floor.

“Humans are such disgusting creatures.” Drystan took hold of one of the wings and gave one hard swing that sent the wing knocking into Remy. When the trembling angel startled, Drystan chuckled.

Another round of tears filled my eyes.

“You cry for him. But it was his kind who severed my wings just as cruelly. For days, I bled out. Weak. Infected. Dying. They made sport of it. Taunting me. Until, at last, they sent me into the everlasting silence. Ex Nihilo.” He circled my chair, careful not to step in the puddle on the floor. “I can’t say if it was merciful, or not. Only that I no longer had to hear their laughter and mocking. All because Jericho handed me over. The coward didn’t even have the balls to kill me properly.”