Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
Dragging his hand over the roped muscle of his arm, he recalled the fury that built inside him during that time. There was no space to open his mouth and scream. No clean air to blink his eyes in the compressing blackness. Only the deafening silence and the struggle to breathe.
Even now, recalling the lunacy of confinement that mingled with such physical agony caused him to inhale deeply, assuring himself that there was plenty of air to breathe.
His eyes darted over the rushing cars weaving through traffic as he rested in the trees. She was out there—living. He had no desire to kill her. No, he had other plans, lessons he longed to teach her.
Did she know how the lungs burned like fire and popped when no air was left to breathe? She would soon learn. She would know all the pain he’d suffered and more.
The foolish girl assumed having him stretched and quartered and buried alive would defeat his rage, but it had only delayed and fueled it. Now, she was marked. And once marked, her life was as good as over. But he was cruel enough to ensure her life never ended—there would be no amusement in that.
Once he had her, reclaimed her as his, punished her for defying him, tortured her beyond her wildest fears, he would destroy all that she loved, torment her with endless terror and suffering, but never grant her the privilege or mercy of death.
His mouth curled in a slow, maniacal grin as the promise of such long-awaited satisfaction stretched within reach. Soon, he would reclaim what belonged to him, and, this time, she’d learn the full extent of his savage nature.
He’d show her true pain, the sort that went beyond the physical and lived in the purgatory of a dark mind with no escape. No hope. He’d use her up every way a female could be used, and then he’d carve open her chest, keeping her alive to watch as he slowly ate her ever-regenerating heart.
I’m coming for you, girl…
Let her run. He would eventually see to her misery. Fear had already shadowed her ephemeral happiness in this world, and he was far from finished with her. She would suffer the totality of her betrayal repeatedly until the debt was paid.
CHAPTER 6
Juniper followed signs for upstate New York. Exhaustion radiated from her as her grime-coated knuckles clenched the steering wheel.
Occasionally, she’d stretch and pop a muscle in her neck, exposing dark creases of dust marking her skin. Dirt caked under her fingernails, and her dark hair appeared as if it hadn’t been brushed in months. Such signs of neglect angered Adriel. The Council had a duty to see to her needs, yet it was very clear they had not.
“Did they bathe you?”
Juniper’s sharp glance cut from the road to Adriel’s face, a cold laugh puffing past her lips. “They gave me a pitcher of fresh water every day. I could drink it or wash with it.” Her eyes narrowed on the road ahead. “Some days, I was too weak to do either. I’m sorry if I reek.”
“There’s no need to apologize. Immortals scent emotion more than any superficial perfume or residue. While sweat might have an odor to you, I can only smell the compounds of the diaphoresis—the cause.”
“You mean, you can tell the difference between sweat from exercise and sweat from fear?”
“Exactly. Or sweat from disease.”
“Interesting. And probably a good thing because odors are coming off of me that I don’t want to contemplate. I can’t wait to take a shower.” Her upturned nose scrunched as her alert eyes followed the road.
“If you had magick all this time, why didn’t you use it to escape?”
Her plump lips flattened into a firm line. “My magick has limits. Once they had me tied and muzzled, I was pretty much helpless.” She drew in a shaky breath. “My magick also wasn’t that strong to begin with. I was just starting to learn before my aunts…”
Her words cut off, and grief became all Adriel could smell. She was glad Juniper escaped.
After overhearing the atrocious things the elders had done to draw out her magick, Juniper’s resilience was all the more impressive. She gave them nothing. After months of tolerating their torture, she never buckled under the torment or betrayed the secrets of her kind.
“I think you’re stronger than you realize.”
Juniper’s mouth curved, but the flash of a smile faltered. “I couldn’t give in to them. Not because of any choice I made but because… when I’m scared, my magic sort of dries up. I don’t have control over it.”
For a woman in her twenties, she’d survived quite a bit. Her strength was there, even in the absence of her courage, and it was admirable. Juniper was the type of female who was stronger than most, even in her weakest state.