Page 219 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

She grabbed his face, her nails shifting to talons which very nearly pierced his skin. Her eyes had sharpened to the same dark orbs Eduard’s became in his griffin form. “Stop lying to me. Tell me.”

“I’m the chosen one,” Sawyer repeated.

Magdalen pushed his face aside again, and then turned to the guards. “Rough him up. Spare his head. I don’t want him to lose consciousness again.”

Sol and Frey both grinned at him. Sawyer had never been more scared in his life. The first punch was right to his stomach, stealing the air from his lungs. He doubled over, fighting the urge to puke again, when one of them stepped behind him and wrenched his head back by the hair.

“You need to tell her what she wants to know.”

“I already did,” Sawyer panted. “Not my fault she doesn’t believe me.”

The guard in front of him rained down a series of blows across Sawyer’s torso and arms. The other held his head still, even as he struggled to try to escape the bright flashes of pain that accompanied each punch. His body throbbed, the sharp pains exacerbating the excruciating pain in his head. The blows stopped and Magdalen approached him again.

“Are you ready to tell me the truth now?”

“I’m telling the truth,” Sawyer said. His voice was a husky croak and tears burned in his eyes. “The goddess herself told me I was chosen.”

Magdalen sneered then raked her claws down his side from shoulder to hip. He screamed then, the pain more than he could imagine. “If you were anointed by the goddess, don’t you think she’d be here now, stopping this from happening?”

Sawyer wished she would come and show Magdalen the truth, but he knew it didn’t work that way. “Magdalen, you need to stop this now. If you let them kill me, Eduard will never forgive you. You’ll never get what you want.”

She huffed and spun away. “It’s too bad you won’t be alive to see just how wrong you are. Work your magic boys. If I stay here any longer listening to him spout his lies, I might kill him myself.”

Magdalen stormed out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her. Frey and Sol grinned at him even as they began loosening the ropes tying him to the chair. The moment he was free, he tried to fight, realizing he had limited chances and was growing weaker by the second. His hopes were dashed within seconds when one of them swiped his legs out from under him and he hit the floor once again.