Page 95 of What Lies Beyond the Realms

Nyx’s hands are shaking with rage as he paces back and forth in his cell, his eyes blazing. Every now and then, he kicks his metal bars with a loud clang, sending sparks flying in all directions. I watch him, feeling a pang of helplessness in my chest. I wish there was something I could do to calm him down.

“It’s no use,” I say softly, trying to reason with him. “Stop exhausting yourself.”

Nyx stops his pacing and turns to face me, his eyes still ablaze with anger. He opens his mouth to speak but then seems to think better of it and takes a seat next to the bars. I do the same, and we intertwine our fingers, leaning our heads together against the cold metal. Chepi curls up in my lap, nuzzling his head against my hand.

For a few moments, we sit in silence, lost in our own thoughts. The only sounds are the gentle shifting of Chepi’s body and the distant murmur of voices from the guards patrolling the hallway. Then, Nyx leans his head against mine, his breath warm against my ear. “We’ll get out of here, Lyra. I promise.”

I close my eyes, feeling a surge of warmth in my chest. Even in this dark, cramped cell, Nyx’s words give me hope. We’ll get out of here, and we’ll find a way to stop Samael.

“Why do you think the portal brought us here?”

“The portal had to have been spelled. Athalda must’ve betrayed us. Did you see her after you came through the portal?”

“No. I never saw her. I really thought she was on our side. I thought we could trust her. Was everything she told us a lie? Is she even related to me?”

“I don’t know. When we get out of here, we’ll find her, and I’ll question her in my dungeon,” Nyx says, repositioning next to me.

“That’s if we get out of here,” I mutter under my breath.

“Hey. Look at me.”

I turn my head to meet his gaze. His gray eyes glow slightly.

“We will get out of here, Lyra. We’ll have a life together, me and you. Maybe one day we’ll even start a family and adopt all the injured animals you want.” He smiles at me, and my heart squeezes.

“Yes. I’d love that,” I whisper, smiling back at him.

I don’t know how long we sit here shivering in silence. Finally, the sound of the door screeching followed by several footsteps rouses us both to our feet. Samael comes down the hall with that disgusting smile on his face. He’s got two guards in tow.

“You’re looking much better, my sweet.” His shrill voice makes bile rise to the back of my throat. “Although I don’t think that’s the outfit I picked out for you.”

He waves for a guard to unlock my cell, then he comes in. I back up to the wall, but there’s nowhere to go to escape him. He grabs hold of my wrist and pulls Nyx’s shirt off over my head, throwing it to the ground.

“It wasn’t enough for you to go fuck the Lycan. You had to let this Faery filth fuck you too.” Samael spits in my face.

“Get away from her, you sick fuck,” Nyx growls from his cell, but it doesn’t faze Samael.

“You know what? Go get the old Sorceress bitch. I think it’s time we have a word with her,” Samael says to the two guards behind him, and they both nod simultaneously then leave.

So Athalda is here. She couldn’t have done this. I don’t want to believe it. I thought since she knew my father, I could trust her. What was I thinking?

“What do you want from me?” I yell, my voice cracking.

“Let me guess. I bet you think I want to use you to open the bridge to Zomea?” he says out of one side of his mouth. “I bet that old hag fed you all kinds of nasty lies. You see, sweet sister, I do want to use you to get to Zomea, but that’s not all I want from you.”

He moves closer, pinning me to the wall with his body. I squirm to get free but only succeed at cutting my skin open on the jagged stone wall behind me.

“You think I murdered my father and your mother for power? I have plenty of power without my father’s pathetic magic. I had to get them out of the way so we could meet our true potential . . . together.” He grabs my hair, jerking my head to the side. He runs his hot tongue across my neck, and I pull my head back, spitting in his face.

“You’re disgusting.”

He grabs my throat, pressing me against the wall. I hear Nyx’s magic wreaking havoc in the cell next to me, and I wish I could call to my magic right now. I try to think about it. I try to imagine it pulsing under my skin but nothing comes.

“I told my father my plans, and when he wouldn’t hear it, when he called Aidan to come train you, I knew he had to be dealt with. You see, I plan to make you my wife. You were always going to be mine.”

“I’ll never marry you,” I mutter, my voice restrained by his grip on my throat.

“Oh, I think you’ll change your mind. I can be quite persuasive, dear sister, especially if I start killing those you care about.” He tightens his grip on my throat, and I gasp, trying to get more air. He moves his other hand under my slip, and a choked scream leaves my throat when he touches between my legs.