“Leave him alone,” she whispered, her voice a broken and cracked thing from screaming for hours. Her lips were cracked and dry, her body folded in half from tense and taut muscles.
Leave who alone?
“Don’t touch him. You can’t have him.” My eyes never left her body as she shook with another tremor.
“She’s talking about you,” a man in a black robe whispered into my ear, and I shook my head.
The man simply leered at me, his yellowing teeth on full display.
“You’re a fool, then. A Pain Mage shows their victim what they want them to see. And he wants her to seeyou. In any number of fucked-up situations. He’s one of our best, too,” he mused. My eyes inadvertently shot to the Pain Mage.
He was older, probably in his thirties, with greasy mouse-brown hair pulled into a ponytail at the back of his head. His nails were long and sharp, which matched his teeth—filed into impossible points. Sweat beaded on his brow and ran down his face as he forced his magic into Faylinn’s psyche.
His Vessel—a stunning ebony-skinned woman with long twisted braids and murder in her deep black eyes—was pressed tightly to his side. Her wrists were chained to his belt so she was never too far from contact, too far for him to draw from her.
Something about the Vessel spoke to me,pulledat me, and I suddenly forgot about the torture and Faylinn’s agony, herscreams and the usual noises in the room dulling as my gaze zeroed in on her.
I saw the minute she felt my gaze, because her eyes flew to mine, her lips parted on a gasp. The moment our eyes met, I felt something shift inside me. Like my very blood began to burn, and I ached to reach for her, to hold her, toclaimher.
The Vessel dropped her hands from her Mage’s body and stretched toward me, as if responding to the pull I felt in my own blood. As soon as her skin lost contact with his, his Pain Magic sputtered and died, Faylinn waking from her magic-induced nightmare with a low groan.
Still, the Vessel and I stared at each other, and my very soul felt like it would be consumed by the flame burning within.
“Bitch!” the Mage roared, backhanding the Vessel as she tried to reach for me, her progress halted by the clank and pinch of the chains binding her to him. The slap reverberated across the space and she sprawled on the ground, her arms and wrists still suspended in the air from where they were attached to his belt.
“You aremine.” One of his taloned hands came around her throat, forcing her to her feet as she gagged for air. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to paw at her Mage, to get him to release her, and something inside me snapped.
I roared at him, fighting against my straps. I felt the leather groan and pop as I strained to reach her, tohelpher, to get his filthy fucking hands off of her.
The Mage simply sent me a bored look before returning his milky-blue eyes to his Vessel.
“Whore,” he spat before releasing her with a shove.
She gagged and coughed, spit running down her chin from the tightness of his hand.
“We need a break,” he announced to the men in black robes. “MyVessel,” he spat the words, “needs to be reminded of her place.”
The men in black robes bowed low and respectfully as they blustered about the space, avoiding eye contact with the unhinged Mage.
“Come, cunt. It’s time to remind you who you belong to.” The Mage pulled on her restraints, dragging her along as she continued to cough.
Anger and disgust warred within me as my blood continued to singe my veins.
“Oh, and that one”—he stopped at the door to point to me—“is close. Break him.” He hissed the last word before grabbing his Vessel by the arm in a white-knuckled grip and carrying her through the exit, the door slamming behind them in finality.
As soon as the door was closed and the Vessel was out of sight, my blood cooled. It was still singing, but simmering rather than a raging inferno.
“Interesting,” one of the men in black robes said as they unhooked Faylinn and me from the straps. “Very interesting.”
With the Vessel no longer present, my attention focused again on Faylinn once we were in our cells. Instantly, I felt disgusted with myself for forgetting about her in the first place. Chagrin washed over me, coating me in shame, and my cheeks pinked from it all.
I sat on my straw bed, my head hung low between my knees as I wrung my hands together. All I wanted to do when I left that pleasure house years ago was protect my family, protect my siblings.
Not only had I failed in that endeavor, but now I was putting other women—innocent women—in danger.
Objectively, I knew that Faylinn and the Vessel from earlier were not here because of me. That their punishments were not because of my existence or actions.
But it was difficult to separate myself from the situation. Especially after I watched Faylinn being tortured day after day, simply because she meant something to me.
