Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Kayla reached into Daisy’s shirt with a regretful look before pulling out her knife. If we leave this with you, they’ll take it. We’ll keep it until it’s safe for you to carry it.
Daisy let her gaze drift away from the two females as they finished up. She closed her eyes when the heavy metal cell door clanged shut. Silence replaced their retreating footsteps. They hadn’t said goodbye.
Fear and panic fuzzed the edges of her mind, but she focused on her breathing. She let her mind drift elsewhere. She sank into the homesickness for her family so that she had at least something familiar to think about. Then she tried to sleep.
Babbling brought her quickly to consciousness. The screaming on the lower level didn’t trouble her anymore. It had started an hour into her stay and persisted. They were busy with someone down there, but it wasn’t her. While part of her recoiled at the thought of what was going on, the need to survive won out. She let it drift through and away from her mind. Now that clawing sound was no more than a hoarse groan, the voice gone but the poor bastard not yet dead.
The metal latch on her cell opened. Two creatures came through, humanoid but lopsided, and they mostly hobbled toward her. Their faces were lost to the shadow, like the creature down below. Definitely some sort of magical phenomenon. Weak light filtered in through the window above, highlighting parts of her cell she wished might stay hidden. Violence had been done in here.
The first creature reached her. Dirt and grime smeared its arm and something dull and black glistened in patches on its skin. Obsidian?
It yanked the stone slab to mostly vertical. She slid down to her feet.
“What’s this?” it asked the other, its voice creaky, like an old, forgotten rocking chair pushed by the wind.
“Ah. The human. They brought one in last night,” the other said, its voice similar. They both wore dirty, holey frocks in flat black.
The first grunted. “Him Highness wants something different, them says. This is something different. It looks good. Him wants a female. This is female.”
“Yeah, but…” The second scratched its head with long, broken nails. “This belongs to Him Highness Tarianthiel. Can’t you see the magic mark? I can see the mark.”
“Him Highness, the king, don’t care about Tarianthiel mark. That curse magic don’t work on royals. Them can take what them want. Tarianthiel can’t hurt they. Magic stop him. This one will work.”
“What about it being intact?” the second said. “Him Highness wants one intact, them says.”
The other froze. “I’ll check. Maybe Tarianthiel didn’t get there yet. That why he put it in here, maybe? To keep it from the guards.”
The first grunted as the second moved in front of Daisy. It reached for the button on her pants, and she knew a moment of blind terror. A conversation she’d had with Tarian flashed through her memory.
“Otherwise you’d be used by the royals and then their guards. A pretty human, such as yourself, won’t go unnoticed. I’d end up having to kill half the palace when coming to your aid.”
“I wouldn’t live long enough,” she’d ground out, her whole body burning in anger. “The first person to touch me would die, and they’d surely have me executed shortly thereafter.”
Daisy bent her wrists to grab the chains of her shackles. She’d tested them last night. They’d be long enough to yank forward and wrap around this thing’s neck.
Her logic trickled back in slowly. These things wouldn’t be the ones indulging. They were trying to recruit her for their king, and intact female surely meant virginal. She didn’t fit the criteria, thank fuck. They wouldn’t be taking her. If she killed one right now, it would very likely result in a worse situation than ignoring them checking her out. It wasn’t pretty, but neither were gynecology appointments.
She gritted her teeth as her pants were tugged down. Her brain filled with murderous rage. She yanked against the shackles as the creature prodded. It took everything in her power not to reach forward and wrap the metal around the thing’s neck. Instead, she waited, surviving the violation so she would live to fight another day. Someday soon.
It muttered, “Filthy humans.”
Like it could fucking talk. How about a bath, bub? Maybe a comb and laundry service.
The creature backed away, leaving her clothing as it was.
“No,” it grunted, turning for the cell door. “It’s busted.”
She nearly blurted out a laugh at that.
“There might be some fresh ones—” Its voice was drowned out by the clang of her cell door.
Daisy refused to let shivers of disgust envelop her. She’d dodged a bullet. If anyone ever tried to slut-shame her, she’d recall this instance right here. Sexual awakening for the win.
The vigor of Mr. Screamer below had renewed. Or maybe that was someone else. Regardless, she pushed her hunger away and let her head loll, closing her eyes again. She used this time to go over, in minute detail, all Tarian had relayed to her about this place. Everything she knew about the fae and the wylds. Everything she knew about fae, period. She might not be great at shielding her mind, but she was excellent at distracting herself with a whirlwind of thoughts.