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“Yes, Amara. Worse than that,” He said, his voice completely devoid of emotion. His eyes were blank and flat, like he wasn’t home inside his own body anymore. I sucked in a sharp breath, fear flooding me. Jack inhaled deeply, then sighed, his eyes starting to come back to life again.
“Ah, the smell of fear. It is one of the best smells in the world - wouldn’t you agree, Amara?”
“No.”
“A pity to be sure,” Jack replied, shaking his head and turning away from me. He rummaged around, messing with something I couldn’t quite see. When he turned back around, I screamed and tried to move away from him. He just grinned, looking happier than I’d ever seen him. I couldn’t image what he had in store, but it wasn’t something I wanted to try to figure out. I needed to get out of here.
“Now, just stay still. This will probably hurt - a lot, but it’ll hurt more if you move,” Jack said. He lowered a large knife to my forearm, piercing the skin and driving it deep into the bone. I screamed again, the pain blinding me and causing my mind to go completely blank. Jack twisted it a few times, making my screams grow with each twist.
He pulled the knife out of my forearm and threw his head back, laughing. He sucked in a breath, almost like he was scenting the air, then licked my blood off of the blade. He licked his lips and looked down at me with a greedy smile on his face.
I couldn’t do much more than whimper. The pain had subsided, but it was still very present. I panted, trying to catch my breath. Jack leaned over to watch the emotions flick across my face. He dragged a hand down my cheek, wiping a tear off and sucking it off his finger. I let out another whimper and Jack sighed happily.
“You know, I don’t get to do this often. It’s been way too long since I got to spend some quality time with death. He and I have a special relationship and I’ve sent many souls his way in my lifetime. You will get to know him quite well while we’re spending time together. You’ll be begging him to come take you away from me before too long,” Jack said. I squeezed my eyes shut and just focused on breathing, the panic searing through me.
“Well, no use wasting breath, talking about nonsense. We need to get to know each other intimately, so let’s keep going.”
I opened my eyes in time to see Jack raise a smaller but longer knife over his head and then plunge it into my thigh. It sunk in to the hilt and I released a piercing scream, my throat going out as I was blinded by pain again. Jack let go of the knife, reaching for something else behind him. He moved to the other side of the table and raised another knife, similar to the one stuck in my leg. He plunged this one into my other thigh.
“See,” Jack started over the sound of my screaming. “The trick is to avoid the femoral artery that’s on the inside of a person’s leg. If you hit that, they bleed out in minutes and then all of the fun stops. If you get the meaty part of a person’s thigh on the outside, you can inflict maximum damage, while also ensuring that if they are able to escape their bonds, they can’t really go anywhere. Plus, it elongates the time we have together.”
I moaned, rolling my head from side to side. The tears were coming steadily now and snot was covering my face. All I knew was pain. All I could feel was the pain. All I wanted was to figure out how to make it all stop. “What do you want?” I whispered.
Jack paused, leaning over me and turning his ear to my mouth. “What do you want?” I repeated in a hoarse voice.
Jack stood up, folding one hand across his chest and rest his chin in the other. He tapped his jaw, looking contemplative. “You know, I don’t really know what I want. I haven’t given it much thought.”
“There must be a reason why you’re doing this,” I pleaded. Jack looked down at me in surprise.
“Oh, there is. You haven’t figured that out yet?” He asked, obviously pleased with himself. I shook my head softly, doing my best not to move around too much. Jack threw his head back and laughed again.
“Oh, that’s too good. I love it when I have the upper hand. Well, since you’re going to die here anyway, the reason why I’m doing this - the reason I chose you, is because I found out some interesting information about you. It turns out you’re the original witch’s descendant, who was the sister of Goddess Leto.”
I swallowed, more panic starting to rise. I had just found that information out myself - how had he found out? I closed my eyes, trying to keep my breathing steady and focus my mind against the pain. “How do you know that?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that. It’s a long and boring story where a bunch of useless people with nothing important to accomplish went researching and digging into the family tree of the Gods. They’re the ones who figured it out. They just gave me the information because I can do something useful with it.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, this is the best part, Amara! Did you know that consuming the blood of even the descendant of a God could boost your own life and power?”
My blood ran cold, my heart skipping a beat when I realized what he was saying. He laughed again, clapping his hands in pure joy as he watched the realization take hold of me. “That’s right! When I drink your blood, I’ll become the most powerful being on Earth. Not even Jason will be able to stop me then. I’ll have the kingdom and the power that I’ve so rightly deserved.”
“But you’re the one pushing to dismantle the monarchy,” I argued, frowning in confusion. Jack waved a hand like that detail was useless.
“I keep the rebels rilled up long enough and make trouble for Jason. That way, when I’m ready to attack, he’ll be vulnerable and weak. It hits two birds with one stone. Isn’t this a most genius plan?” Jack asked.
I swallowed as I realized that yes, it was a genius plan. Too bad there was no one who could stop it from coming to fruition.
26
Dean
I walked back out into the pouring rain, staring aimlessly around the town, waiting for something - anything. I walked without knowing where I needed to go. An urge to just move pulled me along and I was powerless to ignore it. I couldn’t even think through my decisions. I knew I needed to go that way and I went.
The urge led me through the town and to the edge of the barrier. A few pack members were standing along it, peering out into the forest, trying to spot any movement. I stood there, cocking my head as something sounded from the forest. The rain made it almost impossible to hear and I was sure I had imagined it, but there it was again.
A few low growls sounded in front of us. I moved to the line where the pack members were standing, glancing at the ones standing beside me. They looked a bit confused and definitely worried. I sighed, wondering why the Goddess was testing me so much. Ineededto find Amara. Wasting time dealing with whatever was out there wasn’t helping me get any closer to finding her.
