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Gagging, I took a step forward to intervene. I didn’t know how, but I knew I couldn’t sit back and watch as Reyna tortured this boy.
Her undivided attention to the boy allowed me to sneak up without her noticing. When I grabbed her arm, my palm instantly burned. I snatched it back and stared at the angry red flesh and blisters forming on my skin. Reyna was radiating with electric heat.
She momentarily turned from the boy, long enough to shoot me daggers with her eyes. Her orange eyes were so bright; the centers had turned almost white. It was like staring into the sun. “Stay out of it,” she hissed.
I felt an invisible leash pull me back, pinning my arms to my sides. I couldn’t blink as I watched the boy burn from the inside. His clothes caught fire and his skin bubbled. His screams went silent as the electrical current devoured him. Singed flesh turned to charred skin and when Reyna finally released him, he was nothing more than ashes and bone.
His sister screamed and fell to the floor, reaching out to the space her brother had just occupied. Reaching out for what had been taken from her. She wept with her face buried in her hands.
“Pretty girl,” Reyna said, moving closer to brush the girl’s hair. She shivered and skittered across the floor, stifling her pained howling.
“Please,” the girl cried. “I don’t want to die.”
Death should’ve been the least of her concerns. There were worse ways to torment a person.
Reyna toyed with the girl like an animal with its prey. The girl continued to retreat, shuffling over the floor until she was backed into a corner between two counters. She held her arms over her face as Reyna towered above her, waiting for the inevitable strike.
The sinister smile that crept over her face sent chills up my spine.
Just then, I felt something move beside me. I looked to my right and my heart pounded as Vessina slithered through the kitchen. There was hardly enough space for the massive serpent to move. She bumped into a table and it scraped over the hard floor, drawing the girl’s attention.
“No, no. I didn’t do anything. Please…I…I’ll do whatever you ask. I won’t cause any trouble. Please.”
Vessina hissed and Reyna stepped aside, no longer standing between the snake and the girl.
She screamed again and her feet kicked against the floor, trying to move back, but there was nowhere to go.
Vessina’s head reared back, and she struck once, sharp fangs piercing the girl’s chest. Then the snake sank back to the floor, moving to the left and then the right. Waiting. Taunting.
Streaks of blood ran down the girl’s body, and she grimaced. I knew that pain all too well. I’d watched as Emilie had endured the same agony. I didn’t think this girl would be so lucky as to receive the antidote.
She held her hand over the wound, but blood continued to ooze. She held her other hand up, surrendering to Reyna. “Make it stop. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…I didn’t want to.”
Reyna crossed her arms and shook her head. “My darling, if you’re going to resist, you should’ve had the fortitude to stand by your actions. All this blubbering and pleading is quite pathetic.”
The girl sobbed; her face scrunched in knowing anguish. She knew she wasn’t going to make it out of this room alive. She knew that the end was near for her.
I knew it too. And yet I still couldn’t move from the spot I was anchored to. I could only watch and hope the end would come swiftly. Let her suffering end now.
“What would you give me in exchange for your life?” Reyna asked.
The girl sighed with relief. “Anything. Whatever you ask of me. My family…we have money. I’ll give it all to you.”
Reyna twirled a strand of her black hair. “You don’t have the ability to keep that promise. Your family’s money is almost drained. They’ve spent the lot of it looking for their precious twins. And even with their riches and a decade on their side, they still couldn’t rescue you.”
Her shoulders shook as she laughed at the girl’s pain.
A decade? How old were they when they’d been stolen? They must’ve come from one of the other continents—maybe Moridia or Wyland—because I hadn’t heard of any missing twins. And with money, I was certain I would’ve known if they’d come from one of Osavian’s families.
“What can I offer you instead?”
Reyna tilted her head to the side. The whole thing was a ruse. Just another way to torment the poor girl. Give her a glimmer of hope before taking it all away. The girl couldn’t see it.
Nor did she see Vessina rise to strike again. The serpent lashed out, digging her fangs into the girl’s other shoulder. And then her abdomen. Her thigh. Her chest.
Over and over again, she struck while the girl screamed. The sound was so piercing my head began to ache. I don’t know how long it lasted, but it seemed to go on forever as Vessina ripped the girl to pieces.
When her lifeless body slumped to the floor, the ringing in my ears finally ceased. She was silent, but I would never forget the sounds she’d made in her last moments.
