Page 9 of Secrets of Ruin

Kaylia crawled toward the front of her cell as the lingering effects of touching the bars and Brokk’s suffering pummeled her system. Her breaking heart made it difficult to breathe through the sobs choking her throat.

She stopped a foot away from the bars and sat as tears slid free. They ran so fast and freely that they dripped off her chin, fell onto her hands, and wet the floor.

Despite the countless times she’d almost cried since coming here, this was the first time she shed tears. She’d seen them torture Brokk before, watched as they beat him, but this was different.

This should have been her, and he’d taken her place because he loved her. She had no doubt about it, consort or not, this man loved her.

Would Fabian have taken my place here?

She didn’t know where the thought came from and tried to shove it away, as Fabian’s memory had no place here, but it refused to go away. The answer to the question should be simple, but it wasn’t.

Brokk had taken her place without complaint, and though Fabian still had a piece of her heart, and her love for Brokk could never be absolute, she would have done the same for him. But Fabian… Fabian… and with a strange sort of twisting realization, she realized Fabian wouldn’t have done this.

He would have let them take her from the cell and watched on while they tortured her. He was gone and couldn’t say that for himself, but deep in her soul, she knew it was true.

She didn’t know what to make of her realization; she couldn’t judge a dead man because he would have chosen to look out for himself. But did it indicate that maybe he hadn’t loved her as much as she did him?

But he asked you to marry him. Immortals don’t do that unless they’re deeply in love with another.

That was true, but Kaylia felt confused as she tried assimilating this new information into everything she’d been so sure about. Her head spun as her tears continued to fall and the ophidians turned the chains again.

While she’d hated to watch him suffer all those other times, this one shredded her heart and sliced deep through her soul. It didn’t help that she was certain they’d kill him. The emperor was here; he was annoyed that Brokk’s family was searching for him, and he had the source of his irritation at his mercy.

Please, Hecate. Please let him survive this.

Her head bowed, and she rested her useless hands on her knees. Whatever magic the ophidians used on the bars kept her magic suppressed, but she’d give anything to unleash her power on these monsters.

“Stand up,” Ryker hissed under his breath.

Kaylia glanced over at him, unsure if she’d heard him. The amsirah general stared straight ahead, but when he whispered words again, she knew he was talking to her.

“Get up. Don’t let them see you like this.”

He was right; they enjoyed this as the emperor smiled at her before shifting his attention to Brokk and waving his hideous finger again. She was giving these monsters what they sought and hated herself for it, but she felt so defeated and battered by everything here that she wasn’t sure she could stand.

Yes, you can. Get up!

Kaylia closed her eyes, wiped away her tears, and took a deep breath before gathering the strength to make herself rise. With her hands fisted at her sides, Kaylia straightened her wobbly legs and lifted her chin as the emperor looked at her again.

She longed to close her eyes and shut it all out, but Brokk deserved better, and it would only amuse the ophidians. Ryker was right; she couldn’t let them see her fall apart.

With trembling hands, she wiped away her tears. They stopped falling from her chin, but everything inside her continued to weep as more of Brokk’s blood flowed down the spikes.

When they twisted the chains again, Brokk’s back bowed as he tried to pull himself off the spikes, but they were embedded too deeply now. Sweat slid down his temples and dripped onto the floor as his face became florid; still, no scream issued from him.

Oh, Hecate, please make it stop.

It didn’t stop, and they twisted the chains three more times, sinking the spikes halfway into Brokk before the emperor finally called a halt to the torture. The man slithered down to stop at Brokk’s head.

The emperor’s head tilted back and forth as he studied Brokk before resting his hand on Brokk’s forehead. “This is going to get far more interesting.”

Kaylia’s blood ran cold, and her nails bit into her palms as those words sent a shiver down her spine. She didn’t see how anything could get any worse than this, but she felt she would learn how.

“Release him,” the emperor commanded, “and return him to his cell.”

With that, the emperor looked at Kaylia and gave her a chilling smile before slithering out of the room.

CHAPTER NINE