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He continued to attack with his deadly blade. My attention constantly flickered between his sword hand and the rest of his body, watching for any hint of where he would strike next. He wasn’t skilled. It was unbelievable he was able to still hold that blade. Cole had once said when the wolf was perfectly balanced with the human, a shifter could wield silver as if it were any other metal. Not only was that incredibly rare, but Jett was in evenlesscontrol than normal. No, the blade clearly hurt him, but he was ignoring it.
From my own experiences with silver, it was hard to believe. It was like something was blocking him from feeling the pain.
“You can’t win. You can’t hurt me without damning yourself,mate,” Jett taunted. “Just surrender, Omega. Roll onto your back like a good submissive, and I’ll be gentle.”
Fury lit inside me. My wrist snapped out, grabbing his sword arm when he finished a slash far too wide. I snarled at him and crushed his forearm with my grip. It wasn’t a clean break. I put all my force behind it, feeling the bones crumble under the force. He hadn’t expected it, and the sudden pain cut through whatever mind-numbing magic the Moon Goddess had worked on him. His sword fell with a clatter, useless beside him. The Moon-Ghost Alpha fell to his knees with a cry.
“You crazy bitch!”
My foot snapped out in a front kick, hitting him squarely in the jaw. He crumpled to the ground.
“Just because I can’t kill you doesn’t mean I can’t fight, asshole.”
I reached for the blade, but the metal burned. I settled for kicking it away.
“So, this incarnation has some brawn to her,” the Moon Goddess said from above, displeased. “Rise, Alpha. You are stronger than her. Bind her.”
Jett rose, slowly, until he stood in front of me. His right arm hung limp at his side. His normally dark eyes were once again the same shade as the Moon Goddess’s. He swayed towards me. I moved aside easily and slammed a kick to his ribs in retaliation.
An exasperated sigh came from above. “This is beneath me,” she muttered.
I wanted to snap that she should come down from her throne and see how she fared, but all at once, I couldn’t breathe. My hands flew to my neck, frantically grabbing and failing to find purchase. A collar of light choked me. I gasped for air. Enough came in that I stayed standing, but I could barely manage more than that.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a rather unruly guest?” The goddess’s words were accompanied by a beleaguered sigh that went on and on, like she had no idea when to end it. “Secure her.”
Jett came forward. Gone was his cocky attitude; his eyes glowed brighter than ever. He grabbed my wrists and shackled them in front of me. The burning sensation that immediately followed left no doubt they were silver. Next, he lifted something to my face. Horror rolled over me. I jerked backward, trying to escape, but he swept my feet. With the collar, I was still gasping for breath. I groundmy mouth shut, trying to avoid the inevitable. But all Jett had to do was wait, and when my need for oxygen won out, he slid the silver gag between my lips.
Agony. It was agony. My mouth felt like it was being carved open, my lips constantly flaring, trying to escape the metal, trying to breathe around it, but all that did was make the sensation that much worse. Panic rose, pure animalistic panic. I flailed, but my hands couldn’t even get close to the closing mechanism. I helplessly pulled at the gag itself. All I managed to do was burn my fingers. My vision blurred, first from the tears I couldn’t stop, then because the combination of crippling pain and asphyxiation made me pass out.
Chapter XX
Iawoke to aworld of pain.
There were different kinds of pain. There was the sharp pain of a fresh wound, and the eventual dull ache when your mind resolved that nothing could be done immediately, but at least it wasn’t getting worse, so suck it up and move on.
Silver never turned to that second kind of pain.
I nearly passed out again. My mouth ached from the violation. It would’ve hurt less if they’d cut my tongue out entirely. I could breathe now, the collar of light gone, but I wished it was still there. Instead, my neck was now circled by a ring of silver. I kept my eyes almost entirely shut for the moment, trying to understand my circumstances through the barest sliver of vision in hopes I didn’t tip off anyone who was guarding me. I was in some kind of cell, bars rising higher than I could see. They looked more like Greek ionic columns than prison bars, but I knew them for what they were. The floor was that same cloud-like material as the throne room. In fact… I suspected I was still in the throne room. If I was there, there was no point in playing at being asleep. I adjusted my head slightly and confirmed what I’d guessed.
“I see you’re awake,mate.”
The word was intended to be a blow, but I was glad of it. I’d existed afraid of Jett, ashamed of our fated connection. But now I knew itmeant less than nothing. With every repetition, it cut less. I’d been raised for two decades to believe that word was everything. Now, it was like any other insult he had tossed my way.
I sat up and let loathing fill my expression as Jett towered over me.
“What? No bitchy remarks to make?” He laughed, like he was a one-man comedy troupe.
I lifted my cuffed hands, middle fingers first, not caring if the movement agitated the silver burns on my wrists.
It was worth it to see the anger on his face. He really was too easy to rile up. Unfortunately, riling up Jett wasn’t a good thing, however satisfying it felt. He reached through the bars and backhanded me, sending me flying. My back slammed into a column barely a foot behind. My cell was small.
“Take my new pet for a walk, Alpha. To her new home.”
The Moon Goddess remained on her throne, far above. The walls of my prison sunk into the clouds, clearly having served their purpose.
Jett reached out, fast as an asp, and locked a chain onto my silver collar. I couldn’t move in time, sluggish from all the silver poisoning my body. Outrage flared. If I’d had my magic, I would’ve ripped him apart with a thought.
They had collared me. Now they dared leash me, like some pet?
