I couldn’t see the gargoyles anymore, and silence filled the vast space. If they woke, I’d hear them moving; the crackle of my lightning wasn’t loud enough to cover that.
But the only sounds I heard were my lightning, small breaths, and the rapid beat of my heart as I struggled not to spiral out of control.Thishad been my last hope… it was my onlyhope.
And now it was gone.
As much as the stone’s power unnerved me, I missed its rhythmic pulse. The beat was something familiar and oddly comforting. I hadn’t felt so alone while it was shifting through its colors.
Now there was just me, my lightning, andterror.
The seconds ticked into minutes as I stood there, trying to decide what to do. And then a monstrous face loomed out of the shadows above me.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
Ryker
Yep,pissing Gaius and Veni off before my time with them was far from my most brilliant plan. Laughing while they chained me to the rack hadn’t been so smart either, but the fucker never heard me scream, and as I’d suspected, the duke didn’t let him kill me.
He did allow Gaius to put dozens of new holes in my body, but that wasn’t anything I hadn’t withstood before. I’d also experienced the missing flesh carved from my chest, the swollen eyes, and broken fingers before too.
Since they’d returned me to my cell, everything was gradually correcting itself, but these conditions weren’t the most conducive for healing. After everything, I shouldn’t be hungry, but my stomach rumbled; it had been hours or maybe days since I last had anything to eat or drink.
Time had a way of becoming obscured when there was nothing but torment to guide the days. My injuries required cleaning, food, and water to heal faster, but they wouldn’t get any of those things.
Sitting on the floor was much more comfortable than lying on the cot, and I didn’t want to get blood all over it. So I sat facing the door with my legs crossed and my throbbing fingers lying in my lap.
Those appendages jutted in all different directions. The knuckles and other bones occasionally cracked as they shifted back toward their rightful place.
The duke and the others had left a while ago; when they shut the door, they took the light with them. As soon as they did, the rodents and other creatures crept out of their holes once more.
When one scurried across my lap, I used my wrist to shove it away. Its furry body was far bigger than I’d anticipated; it squeaked before sinking its teeth into my hand.
“Fucker,” I hissed and flung it away.
A small crack and another squeak told me I’d thrown it into the wall. I was beginning to hate rats as much as I hated snakes.
In the cells next to mine, the others made small wrestling noises as they tried to get comfortable, but no one spoke. There was little to say.
When the door at the end of the hall opened and light once more entered the dungeon, one of the other prisoners whimpered. It wasn’t Tucker or Callan; I would have recognized it from them.
Whoever issued that sound would snap soon. Thankfully, they didn’t know the location of the new encampment, but at this point, they’d sell out their mother.
Footsteps neared, but instead of doors opening, the clatter of trays against metal reverberated down the hall. I remained unmoving as a guard appeared on the other side of my bars. He slid a tray through the space at the bottom of my door before turning and walking away.
I stared at the slop on the tray; I should eat, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. I had to keep my strength up, but I’dtear open my freshly healing wounds, and the idea of touching anything Veni gave us made my stomach curdle. He’d probably ordered the cooks to put rat shit in it.
When the guard retreated from my cell, his footsteps marked his progression to the door before it slammed shut. As darkness descended again, the others crept toward their trays.
I’d eat eventually; I had no other choice if I was going to stay strong enough to fight them, but I had to wait until at least my fingers had fitted themselves back into place. Right now, I couldn’t hold anything.
“You had to piss him off first,” Tucker’s voice was muffled by the food he’d shoved into his mouth.
If he was talking to me, then he must feel better. “He’s a prick.” Talking made my chest hurt, but I managed to get the words out.
“He is, but he might not have been so brutal if you hadn’t instigated him first.”
“I don’t give a fuck what either of them do to me. They can suck my dick.”
“If you don’t watch it, one of them might cut it off; I don’t think your father is hoping for grandbabies.”
