Page 3 of Secrets of Ruin

“I’m going to get you out of here,” he vowed. “I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I promise you will not die here, Kaylia.”

Kaylia closed her eyes. “You can’t die here either.”

Her heart couldn’t take the loss of another man she loved.

“I won’t let these fuckers kill me,” he said.

And she believed him. She didn’t know how they’d break out of this place when they’d already failed to, but he’d find a way.

“What’s your idea of paradise?” she asked.

“Being back in Dragonia with my family, friends, and you. It sounds so simple, but it’s all I want.”

“Me too. I hope my familiar will finally find me when we return.”

“I’ve never seen your familiar.”

“Her name is Ursula; she was a white cat in her last incarnation. She passed before you and Sahira found me in the crone realm. I’ve been waiting for her to return, but she hasn’t yet… or maybe she has, and I’m trapped here.”

“Could she find you here?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. Our familiars are attracted to our energy; it’s how they find us throughout their different incarnations. I doubt I’m giving off much energy this far below the earth.” And this emaciated, but she kept that to herself; it would only upset him.

“You’ll find her again.”

“I know.”

Before they could say anything more, the scrape of a key turning in a lock alerted them the ophidians had returned. Things were about to get a lot worse.

CHAPTER THREE

Brokk tensed before releasing Kaylia’s hand. He’d meant what he said; he had no idea how, but he would get her out of here if it was the last thing he did.

The others shifted in their cells as the tension in the dungeon rose. He almost reclaimed Kaylia’s hand, but these creatures didn’t know about their growing relationship… whatever it was.

If they knew about it, they would have already used it against them in the most awful ways possible. Brokk couldn’t load that gun and hand it over to these monsters.

As the ophidians entered, they carried the rack Brokk had become all too familiar with seeing. Flashes of memories ran across his mind as phantom pains stabbed his arms and legs.

It was easy to recall the feeling of his muscles, bones, and joints being pulled too far in directions they shouldn’t go. On two occasions, the snakelike beasts who had captured and imprisoned them got a little too carried away with their stretching and ripped apart two of the amsirah.

He was not looking forward to what would come as a participant or a watcher. Sometimes, he didn’t know if it was worse to be the one they tortured or the one helplessly looking on while others suffered.

The feeling of vulnerability that had gripped him ever since his cell door slammed shut was one he despised, but he couldn’t shake it. He was useless in this place, something he’d never been before, and he didn’t know how to come to terms with it.

Brokk pushed himself into a seated position and bit back a groan as his bones protested the movement. Every part of him pulsed with misery and hunger, and it was about to get worse.

He was so ravenous that it had become an incessant, clawing monster that tore at his gut, ripped through his veins, and shriveled his insides. Kaylia’s blood and the meager rations the ophidians provided helped to soothe some of his starvation, but not enough of it.

He didn’t dare take more blood from Kaylia. She always offered him more, but while she wasn’t as starved as him, she was also suffering.

She’d lost a lot of weight, her cheeks had hollowed out, and her collarbone stood out against the tattered clothing she’d worn since arriving here. The worst part of all was that some of the radiance had gone out of her.

She used to shine with vitality, but that had dulled. She was still beautiful; nothing could take that from her, but she was dying in this place of darkness and suffering.

Witches thrived on the sun, the earth, and the moon. They thrived on all things nature and absorbed the world’s strength. There was nothing but suffering to absorb here.

He hated this place and these monsters but was helpless to change anything. And that was what pissed him off the most.