I can’t see through the pain, but then the creature is there, kicking my side.
I grunt as the air is forced out of me.
Another kick, this one sliding me into nearby debris.
It lifts its foot, the bottom of its boot aimed at my head.
“You’re not to kill her,” Lia instructs calmly from the other side of the room. “Just hurt her—badly.”
The monster crouches and takes one of my forearms into its hands, and—
Snap. I scream as bones break. Almost mechanically, the monster moves its touch to my upper arm and—
“No, please, no—”
Snap.
I scream.
So much pain!
Selene, I am right here. Memnon sounds heartbroken. Breathe through it, my fierce queen. I am with you.
I feel anguish a split second before I realize it’s coming through the bond.
“This is just the beginning of the nightmare, Selene,” Lia says. Her clothing is still bloody and shredded from the sherds that tore through it, and that provides me some cold comfort.
The monster releases my arm and moves down to my leg.
Goddess, no…
I lock my jaw as I feel those unforgiving hands take hold of my calf. I’m not going to beg Lia to stop. Not when my pleas will only stoke her perverse enjoyment of this moment. I won’t give her that.
She must sense my resolve.
I hear the ominous click of her heels getting closer and closer.
“You think a few broken bones are torture?” she says, stopping next to me. She crouches and threads her fingers through my hair, forcing my head to face hers. “I will have you do things that will make your blood curdle in your veins. Who you sleep with is now my choice, and I will make your sex life a horror show. I will make a list of people whom you love, and I will force you to ruin their lives until they curse your name. I will learn your dreams, and I will break them. Through it all, I will make you worship me.”
Her words are punctuated by another snap, and I scream and scream, my limbs trembling and worsening the pain.
Take my power! Memnon is openly begging.
Cannot…use it.
The monster’s hands move up to my thigh, and I feel his grip tighten. I swallow my plea, though I can’t stop the tears that leak from my eyes or the way my body is shaking from fear and pain. No, no—
Snap.
The agony is indescribable. I’m not a person anymore. Just raw pain shaped into a woman.
“Enough, Creature.”
The monster releases me and backs away from where I lie. I’m struggling to stay conscious through the agony. It feels like every breath is a challenge.
The chilling clicks of heels draw near. They stop right next to my face.
“Now, Selene, kiss my feet, and thank me for the pain.”
I can’t. It isn’t possible with so many broken bones.
But my body isn’t listening. I grind my teeth together so my whimpers don’t slip out as I turn my head and brush my lips against the top of Lia’s shoe.
Memnon’s voice drifts to me across epochs of time. Sarmatians are the fiercest people in the world. They are trained from birth to ride horses and wield weapons. They must fight in at least one battle before they are allowed to marry. And you are to be their queen… You will wear the riches of my empire, and you will ride astride my horse… and you will show these people that you were made to rule my horde of warriors.
I cling to the memory. I was once a queen.
“Thank…you,” I rasp out.
I fought in battles and ruled a kingdom.
“Good,” Lia says.
I gasp out several breaths, my chest heaving.
I will not let this break me.
I will not let this break me.
Spoken like a true queen of warriors, Memnon says.
I don’t know if he heard my earlier memory, but I sob now, clinging to his words like they can keep out the evil happening in this room.
The gods gave me the fiercest woman. The fiercest one. I am right here, est amage. Right here.
“Listen closely. This is important,” Lia says, as though I’m in any state to remember anything.
Tears track down my cheeks, and my jaw aches from how tightly I’m tensing it.
Stay with me, Memnon, I beg, even though he’s repeatedly promised as much. I’m afraid of what’s coming next.
I’m not leaving you, he says. I will never leave you, est vexava.
My love.
I close my eyes and swallow, trying to wrap Memnon’s words around me like a blanket.
“You will tell no one that you are bonded to me, nor will you give any hints that you work for me,” Lia says. “Even when you are with your family and friends, you will keep my interests in the forefront of your mind. You will do my work discreetly and absolutely.”
She continues, “You will find me other witches to bond with. You will look for lonely ones and ones who do not have good family relations. Those who seem promising you will befriend. You will be subtle about this, and you will not let them know about me or my intentions.”
My stomach twists at the orders, and I grimace, opening my eyes. This is how Kasey picked me out, and now I’m being forced to perpetuate the cycle.
“You will call me once a week and keep me informed of potential witches as well as what’s going on in the coven,” Lia says. “I will call you from time to time, and if I do, you will answer. If you see a missed call from me, you will call me back as soon as you can. Once a month, we will have in-person meetings, which will take place either here in the city or in the tunnels beneath the coven. Those meetings will be followed by spell circles—you remember how that goes—and I will expect you to recruit at least one witch per circle.”
I want to hurl all over again.
“If at any point I need something from you,” she says, “you are to immediately—and discreetly—stop what you’re doing and come to me. Got it?”
I don’t have the energy to glare at her. I barely have the energy to listen over the pain.
“And,” Lia continues, “if you hear anyone asking questions about the recent murders, I want to know about—”
BOOM!
A wave of magic ripples across the room, shaking the walls, toppling boxes, and causing more debris to fall from the ruined ceiling. Lia staggers, and my vision darkens as my injuries are jostled. The whole building quakes from the distant explosion.
“What the fuck is happening now?” Lia says.
Despite my pain, I smile.
It’s not what but who.
Memnon has arrived.
CHAPTER 35
I begin to laugh, though it sounds a bit like a sob. I sound like I’ve lost it, which maybe I have.
Lia’s eyes find mine. “You think this is funny?” She steps on one of my legs, causing me to scream all over again.
From the other end of the bond, Memnon’s warmth has iced over, and I feel his cold-blooded wrath.
There are no more words between us. It’s more primal than that. All that’s left is pain, rage, and vengeance, and it swirls together until I’m not sure what’s mine and what’s his.