Roth’s jaw hardened. “Jealous, Soneillon?” There was too much bite in his tone to believe he and Soneillon were actually friends.
“Nah, though I wish you’d let me watch.”
Roth’s laugh was dark and deadly. “I don’t share. You should know that by now.” The look he leveled at the man behind me seemed like it should have incinerated him on the spot. “Just do your job.”
“Now you sound like the jealous one.”
“I stole her out ofHeaven. Don’t think I can’t steal her from you.” Roth dropped his hand from my chin and turned away without so much as a glance in my direction.
A hand closed around my upper arm, and I finally looked at Soneillon. I nearly did a double take. He didn’t look like he could be more than seventeen or eighteen. He was stunning in the same way I imagined all grand princes were, but unlike Roth, Soneillon didn’t look tortured. The darkness that came from him wasn’t fascinating or intriguing, and the hardness in his brown eyes made my blood run cold. There was no goodness visible in him, no inner battle or hint of compassion.
I welcomed it. Soneillon wasn’t going to play games with me. He wouldn’t put on an act and make me feel for him before he destroyed my life. He wasn’t pretending, and I’d take his honest cruelty over Roth’s fake tenderness any day.
Soneillon dragged me toward the stairs. Chains hung from a beam that stuck out of the wall beside the staircase. There was a wooden post a few feet away with rings set into it. And between them was a wooden table bolted to the wall on one side. There were more chains wrapped around the legs of the table and hanging from its sides, and metal rings lined the wall where the table was connected.
This cavern was designed for pain. I could practically feel the fear and tears of those who’d been here before me soaking the air.
Soneillon stopped at the table. He pulled me forward, attaching the cuffs at my wrists to the loops in the wall so I was bent face down over the table. His hand found the bare skin of my lower back, below my wings, and I flinched at the skin-on-skin contact. He stroked the spot, making my skin crawl with revulsion.
I heard him let out a low groan, and I honestly wasn’t sure if he was turned on by my body or by my disgust.
He worked his hands up my back, inching closer and closer to my wings with every second that passed. I gasped when his fingers grazed the sensitive place where my wings met my back.
I squirmed, trying to escape his touch. His answering slap on the skin just above the skirt of my dress stung bad enough to bring tears to my eyes. I barely had time to register the sting though before a hand was clamping around one of my wings in a painful grip that eclipsed all other discomforts.
“Beg,” Soneillon growled.
I opened my mouth, but a whimper was all I could manage.
The pressure on my wing increased. “I can’t hear you, little angel. Go on, beg me to stop.”
I could barely think through the pain and emotional overload. A handful of hours ago, my life had been simple and painless. There’d been no suffering, no betrayal.
There was a tearing sound and agony exploded through my back. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think past the fire spreading from the place where Soneillon had ripped my wing from my back.
Sobs clawed their way up my throat, and Soneillon drank them in like they were fine wine.
A hand twisted in my hair, lifting my head from the rough surface of the table. “Not so proud now, huh?”
“Please,” I choked out. I was pretty sure I was begging to die at this point, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to go home. I didn’t really care which side of the veil I was on as long as I got to go home.
Roth’s stupidly gorgeous face popped into my head.
Hold on to your faith, Laila.
I could hate Roth for what he did to me, but that didn’t change that he was right. I needed my faith now more than ever to face what was coming. I could give in to what the demons wanted from me, or I could hold on to my faith and refuse to let this place break me.
I clamped my mouth shut. This demon didn’t deserve my pleas.
The glare Soneillon gave me held so much hatred I couldn’t begin to understand where it all came from. He dropped my hair, and my cheek fell to the table again.
The fire in my back increased as the other wing was torn from my back too.
I couldn’t find the strength to scream or to brace my fall when Soneillon unchained my wrists and pulled me away from the table. I crumpled to the stone floor, landing in a useless heap.
Golden blood pooled around me, soaking into my dress.
“Why?” I whispered.
