I shake my head, and the present returns as I witness him take a step back. Then another. And a few more. Never losing sight of my twelve bringers of death staring him down.
“Go. Get him,” I whisper, and they fly. Blazing across the grass, they hunt him down, but he vanishes through a sigil. “No. You don’t get to run.” Casting one of my own, I follow.
So long as the crescent blades don’t make contact with anything, they stay in effect. Good.
It takes a few tries, a shit ton of pull on my aura, and fifteen minutes, but I track his patterns. His earlier injuries do little to slow him down, but he becomes more predictable. He destroys four of them with his own golden magic, but there are still eight after him.
Creating a physical dagger, I step into my tenth sigil–close to my last, judging by how much it costs to sustain the power–and emerge before him as he collides with my sharp blade. A crunch follows hiscinnamon exhale, and I vanish again, taking in his sparkling eyes before they fizzle.
The ground quakes upon returning to where I made my creations. Earthly slits split and spread in every direction.Fuck, I destroyed the temple.I watch clouds of smoke burst from the roaring flames engulfing it. Hunched over on my knees, I feel pain explode through me, ricocheting across bone and forcing a grunt.
“Close. You were so damned close.I’m going to enjoy this–sharing mypain.”
What the fuck. No. How?
Ethan steps past the ruins. Smoke whispers around as though it’s afraid to touch him, and my past returns.
“I’m going to enjoy this–we will enjoy this. Hold out your hands and don’t move.”
“Pain will only last a minute. But you’ll adjust like always.”
Their voices slither over my mind like a slug clinging to skin, and I shudder. This pain was far worse than anything Ethan can inflict.Make it stop. Please make it stop.His steps grow louder, yanking me back and enticing my panic. At this point, my only thought is escaping. I’ve used too much magic, and he is unkillable.
More images flash, and it becomes hard to distinguish the men from my past from the one intent on killing me now, so I retreat, looking for anything to aid me.
“Don’t run now, Kyra!” Ethan yells. “You’re finally getting a taste of what my father felt as he stared into the eyes of the woman who took his life!”His father?There is so much pain in his voice.
My vision blurs, but as luck has it, a single, large tree stands a few feet away, and I trudge forward. I just need a moment. A minute. Maybe two, and I’ll have enough magic to summon a sigil. Alex warned me about depletion. How many fays perish by using up their magic and draining their aura. I’m one cast away from such a fate. By using the ‘sipho’ spell, there is a chance to siphon what I need from nature’s pure energy. The tree is just out of reach.
Something sharp pierces my arm, shattering bone, and I scream.Falling headfirst, I hit the ground and split the wound on my head wider. Agony flows out in a bright red shade, shortening my breath as I drown in misery.
“How naive,” Ethan voices, treading closer. “Pathetic and gullible.” He flicks a wrist, and my hope vanishes along with the tree. Tears shroud most of my vision but leaves enough for a sweep over him. I’m holding back a mountain of cries from wailing out, and my one relief is seeing the state he is in.
His battle gear is ripped to shreds, skin burned and boiling, a deep gash over his thigh showcasing a cracked femur, and best of all, a large chunk is sliced out of his side.He’s insane. A literal monster.
But I look to his head, blinking and releasing more tears to clear my vision.
No. I’m sorry. I’ll do better.
My heart pounds, thrashing as past demons claw from the furthest shadows of my mind. Ethan dawns the same look in his eyes as when I couldn’t make ‘them’ happy, and I was punished. Not by one, but by all who attended.
I’ll be good. I promise. I’ll do better.I searched for a dark corner to hide in. But there was never one. Not where they couldn’t find me.
Static images form. My hell and damnation once again warp reality. The man before me has taken more than all the others. Demanded more. Attempted more.
Please, I didn’t mean it. I’ll be quiet.A ghost of pain feels so real–my jaw ticks where they shattered it from not taking them whole. Then I blink. Ethan’s scowl is a reminder.
He grabs my corset, pulling up until the bulk of my weight resides on his strength, and the physical pain dissolves. I clasp his wrist, and hatred spews from him in jagged spurts, closing around me like a coffin ready for burying. “No, please, I-I’ll do better. I’m sorry for failing you.” Ethan’s features are no longer his own, but a man who broke me for pleasure. “I don’t want to be c-caged. One more chance.” Pleading, I know what comes next.
Bars, cold as ice, that bite into my skin with electrical pulses. My mother,ignoring the cries of her daughter. It always ends the same. Until I’m worn down, fight-less, and most of all…compliant.
Red covers my vision, and our surroundings darken, tinted by a crimson hue. A tug on what is left of my magic makes my muscles spasm as red-lighted dragon scales coat my wrist and trickle around his, holding us together.
I’m losing control of reality, magic, and my life. I can’t see Ethan, but he is near. Blood masks his cinnamon and citrus fragrance, but it’s there. And as pathetic as it is, I try holding on to it. The last bit of this reality.
Lights clash from above similar to lightning, but more fluid. Without warning, beams of dark red discharge from the heavens, striking around us so vigorously, ruby flames spread across it, bringing literal hell here.
I catch Ethan’s confused expression. Not once averting his gaze, he continues holding me up. Sounds of leather creasing within his grasp take me under once more.
