Page 89 of Devoured

“Very good.” Cora snaps her fingers. “Show her the truth, Evander.”

Evander cracks his knuckles, leaning against the wall with barely an expression on his devilish face. “Are you certain?”

“Show her,” Cora echoes, a determined smile glimmering in her gaze.

“Whatever you say, my queen.”

Evander tugs at the air as if holding an invisible thread, and my father vanishes. Like curtains ripped apart on a stage, exposing the actor behind them, another man sits in his place. Taller. Younger. More muscular. Blood drips down his exposed arms, the lacerations deeper than before, the wounds fresher. He glances up, his red eyes flaring as they meet mine. His devastatingly handsome face twists in fury. Fury, and fear. But not for himself. Never for himself.

He’s angry—he’s afraid—for me.

“Calix.”

His name burns on my tongue. Without thinking, even though my head is already aching, I throw myself toward him, toward the cage, and reach desperately for his binds. Before I can touch him, however, Cora seizes me by my hair and wrenches me backward. Pain sears along my scalp, my vision darkening as a cry tears from my throat.

Beneath the tape, Calix snarls.

“Not so fast, Vanessa.” Cora curls my hair around her fist, ruthlessly holding me in place. “Here are my conditions if you both wish to survive this.”

My stomach revolts. I swallow the first sting of bile.

“Yes,” I hasten to say. “Yes, whatever you want.”

She smiles. A genuine, blood-chilling smile. “One, you and Calix do not speak a word of this to anyone. The moment you do, I will find you and kill you. Both of you. Is that clear?”

Calix growls, but I nod frantically. Now isn’t the time for his heroics. Cora has already caged him. Tortured him. “Two, Vanessa, you will hurt him, and you will not stop until I tell you.”

“Wh-what?” I glance over my shoulder at her, ignoring the excruciating pain. She doesn’t loosen her hold. In fact, she seems to enjoy the agony in my expression as her gaze sparkles with malefic abandon.

“You have unwritten a man before. Now I want you to torment one. You will punish Calix with your powers. You will sit in his darkest truths until you taste their blood on your tongue. You will control your power and test your limits on that wretched bastard,” she explains. “He disobeys me far too much, always arguing or starting fights in my corridors. It has gone on long enough. He must learn his place or die. Don’t you agree?”

No. Of course I don’t fucking agree. I want to lunge at her. Tackle her to the ground and rip claws through her stomach. But I can’t. I’m not strong enough to defeat her. Calix will die. She could still hunt down my father.

“Of course. Y-yes.” I glance at Calix, helpless as he thrashes wildly against his binds.

“Condition number three: Calix Severi, if you do not comply, I will wrench Vanessa’s heart from her chest and impale it on your claw. I will accuse you of the crime and lock you in the dungeon until you rot from your guilt. Her death will be your fault, no matter who deals the killing blow.”

My eyes burn with tears. Calix stops moving.

The room falls silent, save for that goddamned clock, as Cora crouches beside me. She releases my hair with a hard yank, but before I can collapse, her claw wraps around my throat. At my ear, she whispers, “I own you, Vanessa Serafina Hart. May you never forget that again.”

Calix watches me with anguish in his bloodred gaze. Evander seizes his binds, forcing Calix in front of me. On his knees, his head bent, like a fallen angel. Calix remains willing and quiet—the picture of obedience—as he relaxes his muscles and lifts his chin. He doesn’t look at me, however. He looks at the queen.

I shake my head. “But what if I don’t know how to control my powers?” I’ve never stopped myself before. Even with Evie and Portia, there is always a reason. There is always a change for me to make. If I concentrate on that, I seem to be able to wade through an individual’s truths and lies without horrible repercussions. But I can’t just sit in Calix’s pain. It will only lure me in deeper. And I’ll want to undo it. I’ll want to help him.

Just as with the bishop.

“What if I—what if I erase him—”

“What a pity that would be.” Cora’s grasp disappears, leaving me shivering and cold. “Look into his eyes, Vanessa. Find his darkest truths.”

The clock pounds in time with my pulse now, so loud I can’t hear anything else as I reach a quivering hand toward Calix’s cheek. He winces when I touch him, but he doesn’t know. He can’t understand. “Please,” I whisper to Cora, glancing back at her with wide, fearful eyes. I don’t know that I can do this. I don’t know that Calix can survive this. “Please don’t make me hurt him. I’ll do anything else. I’ll do it to anyone you want.” I’m begging now. Crying. “Please don’t make me hurt Calix.”

Evander rips the tape from Calix’s mouth, and I hate him. I hate Evander so much that I contemplate tearing out his heart. Then I’ll kill her. I’ll kill everyone if I have to—

Calix grabs my hand, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths. “It’s okay, Hart,” he says. “I’ve had worse, remember?”

I shake my head again. Or maybe I’ve never stopped shaking it. “No. No, I can’t. You don’t understand.”