“Okay, caveman.”
I blew my breath onto her face and, this time, she full-on laughed.
The men in and women in the cells next to us groaned and grunted, but I gave less than two shits. Hours ago, I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear that sound again.
I smiled to myself while Faylinn traced my lips with her finger, and I involuntarily kissed them, happy to have her near.
“You’re very touchy-feely,” she mused, amusement lacing every word.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’m supposed to have a Pleasure affinity. What do you expect?” I joked, and Faylinn hummed.
“Lex.” She stopped stroking my face, suddenly serious. I opened my eyes and was immediately sucked into her hazel gaze, so intense and focused on my own brown eyes. “You have to be careful about who you give your blood to.”
I nodded my head.
“I’m serious. It can be used to . . . control. It can be extremely dangerous, and I need you to stay safe,” she whispered.
I forced as much seriousness into my face as I could as I reached through the bars to stroke Faylinn’s face.
“I promise,” I whispered. She visibly relaxed at my words, her shoulders sagging in relief as she turned her face to kiss my palm. “Go to bed, lover boy. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a rough day.”
With that, she lay her head down and closed her eyes, her breath evening out soon after.
Despite my exhaustion, I stayed awake, simply content to watch her sleep. To see her alive. Slowly, the possession in my chest faded to a dull ache, and I felt my limbs grow heavy.
We slept like that—bodies pressed together, the metal warming between us from our heat, with my hand on her cheek and hers on my chest.
Chapter 82
Lex
EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO
The scream that rent from Faylinn’s mouth was unlike any I had heard before, unlike any I had experienced up until this point. It sounded like they were tearing her apart from the inside out, and my heart was shredded each time.
Faylinn was not wrong in her assessment last night—today had been a day of horrors. They woke us early, and fed us as usual, but the torture started in earnest as soon as the dishes were cleared.
It hadn’t stopped.
Not for the midday break we usually received.
Not for the death of three other men and women today.
And certainly not for the begging and pleading that came from both Faylinn and me.
The men in the black robes no longer touched me with daggers or blunt tools of trauma.
But I wished they would.
I would take a hammer to my fingers, a short blade scraping along my bones, my blood sluicing from hundreds of half-healed incisions along my body, over the absolute terror and agony coming from Faylinn.
The worst part was, they weren’t touching her with knives and daggers. Instead, they brought in a fully developed Pain Mage, one whom I vaguely recognized from my time in the army, and used his powers to delve into Faylinn’s mind.
I couldn’t see her pain. But I could feel it.
And my heart broke with each passing minute, each scream that devolved into soft, pain-filled mewls.
