Page 6 of Secrets of Ruin

“I’ll take all of it,” he said. “It’s my brothers who are leading the search. They’d give up if you gave them my remains.”

It was a lie. They’d continue to hunt for Kaylia, but if he could buy her some time, maybe she’d gain her freedom. The ophidians would kill her one day, but the longer she lived, the better her chances were of breaking out or being found.

CHAPTER FIVE

Kaylia couldn’t breathe as the emperor and Brokk stared at each other. She wasn’t afraid for herself in this situation… or at least not only herself.

After all her time in this hellhole, she hadn’t been defeated or broken. She wouldn’t welcome death and wasn’t ready for it, but she couldn’t lose Brokk.

If she remained in this place without him, her will to live would deteriorate. She couldn’t imagine not having him next door, not being able to touch him, and having to live with the knowledge his bright soul was gone because of her.

Her heart felt as if someone was gripping it in their hand and squeezing as it labored to pump blood through her. Panic made her ears ring.

She couldn’t lose him; she cared too much for him to lose him. She couldn’t take another blow like that; she wouldn’t survive it.

No. She wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of a way to stop it. Her powers were useless in this cell, and she couldn’t touch the bars without excruciating pain.

But she might be able to stop them from taking him out of his cell today. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stepped forward, but before she could speak, the emperor did so.

“You must be hungry, my dark fae, vampire friend. Our food will only satisfy one of your three hungers, correct?”

When Brokk didn’t respond, the emperor’s attention shifted to her. “Show me your wrists, witch.”

Kaylia almost hid her wrists behind her back but managed to keep herself from doing so. Instead, she refused to look away from the snakelike creature before her. She wouldn’t let him see that he unnerved her.

She didn’t want to do anything he commanded of her, but defying him might only make things worse for Brokk. When she stepped closer to the bars, Brokk edged toward her, but he was as helpless to stop this as her.

Holding the emperor’s gaze, Kaylia kept her wrists turned toward her as she lifted her arms. The tattered ends of her filthy tunic fell to her elbows.

She didn’t know why she bothered with the shirt anymore. It was nothing but a rag at this point, but she’d feel far more vulnerable around these things if she were nude, and she couldn’t stand the idea of pressing her bare skin to the dirt floor.

“Kaylia,” Brokk growled.

She had no choice but to show the emperor her marks, and they knew it. If she didn’t give the man what he sought, he’d have the doors opened, and the ophidians would hit her with one of those sticks that had the same effect as the bars.

Once she hit the ground, they’d examine her wrists anyway, but they’d be more annoyed by then. Kaylia took a deep breath before turning her wrists so the emperor could see them.

His mouth twitched toward a smile, and his forked tongue slid out before retracting again. “At least she’s satisfying your vampire thirst, Brokk of the house of the dark fae. Do you get enough blood from her?”

Brokk didn’t reply.

“I’m guessing not, considering how thin you’ve become,” the emperor continued. “Are you the witch his brothers are looking for?”

When the emperor’s gaze shifted toward the two other witches, Kaylia blurted, “I am.”

His smile grew before he nodded. His gaze swung between her and Brokk as his tongue flicked out again.

Finally, he shifted his attention to the other cells and slithered away. Kaylia’s tension didn’t ease; instead, it escalated as he studied the occupants of the other cells.

CHAPTER SIX

Some cringed away from him, and the amsirah sobbed at the end, but most prisoners stood with their shoulders back while glaring at the emperor. They’d lost many of their friends down here, but only a few went out pleading for their lives.

The emperor made it to the end of the cells and paused to rub his chin before turning toward them again. He still looked pensive, but Kaylia suspected he already had a target and was just tormenting them with this show.

Kaylia couldn’t resist looking at Brokk. They were most likely the ones to be led from here today, and if this was her last day, then she would absorb everything she could about him.