Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
When her teeth were all fixed in place, she brought her face down and bit right into my shoulder.
My instinct was to scream—but I kept my mouth shut tight and waited for it to end.
11
IVORY
Naked and chained to the bed like last time, I waited in the dark bedchamber. My heart raced, pulsing in my neck and my chest. My left thigh still hurt, and I hoped he wouldn’t go back to the old wound. But I also didn’t want him to make a new scar elsewhere. They were in places most people couldn’t see, but Huntley would see it.
If I ever saw him again.
A part of me believed he would come for me, but another part wasn’t holding my breath. He would have no aid or soldiers, and by himself, he wouldn’t be enough to get me out of here on his own. Would he strike down his mother and commit treason? Or would he just move on and let things be?
But if I didn’t get out of here, those dragons would never fly again.
I couldn’t let that happen.
The sight of their sorrow still haunted my dreams…among other things.
Klaus stepped into the room, dressed in his black cloak that made his skin appear even more pale. His boots tapped against the floor as he approached me, and a moment later, he appeared in my vision, calm. But his calmness was always sinister. “My Little Rhubarb. Always so sweet.”
What an affectionate nickname. “You’re just going to feast on me forever?”
“Not forever. But until you’re no longer appealing. Then I’ll give you to someone else.”
“Until I’m not young and hot anymore?” I asked.
He gave a slight smile. “Something like that.” His eyes raked over my naked body. “But that won’t be for a very long time.”
My eyes glanced to his hip, seeing the dagger that hung on his belt.
Now I just had to find a way to get to it.
His eyes were on mine again, as if he could see my thoughts. “A dagger wouldn’t be enough to kill me, Rhubarb.”
“Don’t call me that…”
“That’s what you are. Sweet. Juicy. Red…”
The implication was sexual, because he liked me naked, liked my pussy near his face. But all he did was bite me. His clothes stayed on, and he never touched me anywhere besides my legs. Didn’t make any sense.
“Delacroix drops unfortunate souls to the bottom of the cliffs to be fed to us and Necrosis. But not you. I can tell.” He stared into my eyes, as if he could compel me into telling him the path back to the top. “You know the way.”
“I won the lottery, so Delacroix exiled me here—”
“You aren’t like the others. You’re different. The Runes wouldn’t have taken you in, otherwise.”
“Then where do the others go?”
“Here.” He smiled again.
Now I knew why they had been there that afternoon. They had been hunting for new arrivals. Every lottery winner was brought here—to be food. “They’re supposed to be fed to Necrosis—”
“And they are. In every battle, they’re sacrificed.”
Appalling.
“But don’t worry, Rhubarb. I would never sacrifice you.”
Think I’d rather take my chances with Necrosis. As long as I had a sword in my hand without chains on my wrists and ankles, that was preferable.
“You’re going to tell me the way.”
Not gonna happen.
“Not today,” he said. “Not for a while, I imagine. But just know that when you are ready to tell me, I’ll release you. I’ll release all three of you.”
For a brief moment, that was an appealing option, because I could get my brother out of here. But I knew what would happen if the Teeth could make it to the top of the cliffs. They would feast on everyone in Delacroix, then the other Kingdoms. They’d all be slaves—and sacrifices.
Not an option. “Just get on with it.”
That smile widened, and the rows of teeth emerged. “With pleasure.”
They carried me to the bed and set me on top.
Now my other thigh looked identical to the first, wrapped in a tight bandage. My entire body was weak, both of my thighs burned from the gashes in the flesh, and I felt so tired. The tray of food was placed beside me, but I was too weak to sit up.
Definitely too weak to steal a weapon.
They left, and the door shut.
“Shit, are you okay?” Effie came to my side, her hand moving to my arm for comfort. “You look really pale…”
“Because I don’t have any more blood…” I tried to crack a joke, but it didn’t come off that way.
“Come on. Sit up and eat.” She gently tugged me up and adjusted me against a pile of pillows at the headboard. She scooted the tray closer to me.
I just stared at it. “Too tired…”
She came closer and put the tray on her lap. Then she fed me by hand.
I cocked an eyebrow and released a laugh. “Girl, I’m not going to let you feed me—”