Page 35 of Kingdom Of Veil And Vow

The man laughs, one that is real and comes from deep in his gut. “Your defiance will be fun to break. Don’t worry, shifter. As soon as the king realizes that Xander is not capable of doing what needs to be done, he will assign you to me. And we can make our acquaintance then.”

I growl at his back, panic gnawing at my chest when he walks into the room with Immie and the commander walks out, shutting the door behind him. The darkness claws closer as I hold my breath, my cheeks pressing between the bars hard enough that it tugs back my skin. The commander looks my way and smiles as he stands guard outside the room.

For long seconds, minutes maybe, nothing happens. The silence stretches wider and wider, a chasm with no end. And then my ears strain, and I hear that first noise. It’s muffled, easily mistaken for a heavy sigh. Then it grows and changes, sharpening as it bleeds through the heavy door from that horrific room.

“He’s known for being able to draw information from anybody.” The guard paces a few steps in my direction, his hands bracing his hips. “I’ve always wondered how, but he never lets anyone see his process.”

“You’re all cowards,” I grit out, just as another scream pierces the dungeon. “All of you!”

The taunting smirk on his face flickers, falling as he glances over his shoulder and then eats up the distance between us in a few strides. “Cowards are we? And yet we still managed to capture you. A creature left behind by the ones she was trying to protect.” He clicks his tongue and shakes his head, gold reflections dancing in every direction from the movement. “It must bother you to know that they allowed you to be the sacrifice. That it was so easy for them to walk away.”

Immie screams again, and this time, it takes the form of the word no, her shaky voice repeating it over and over again. I tremble at the bars, feeling my magic stir deeply within me. A cat waking from a nap. A snake uncoiling. My neck muscles strain, heat rising from my gut and higher still, my fingers tingling with the feel of it.

“Come, now, little kit. Tell me that you didn’t feel betrayed?”

Little kit. My heart skips a beat, then two. Pink fabric tied in a knot above me. “Do not call me that.”

“That’s what little foxes are called, aren’t they? Kits.”

Rough hands scraping at my skin, nails digging into my hips. “What did I tell you, little kit?”

“What’s the matter, little kit? Afraid of what will happen if someone breaks you in? Tames your wild?”

I blink from the past to the present, staring at the commander’s face only a few inches from my own. Startled, I jerk backwards but not quickly enough to avoid the commander’s grasp. A clammy hand encircles my wrist, forcing me towards him, the bars suddenly pressing into my chest.

“Let go—”

“I hope you didn’t think I forgot about what you did to my hand,” he says, holding tightly enough that I hiss at the pain that flares when I try to pull myself free. He raises his opposite hand, showing off the fresh scars that indent the skin where my teeth punctured him. “You’re lucky it healed enough for me to still be able to grip my sword, but don’t worry, creature. I will have my revenge and then some.” Reaching behind him with that hand, he unclasps something from his belt. A single key dangles from a brass ring, and my heart plunges to my stomach as he waves it in front of me. “What happens when you have nowhere to escape to, little kit? When it’s my teeth clamping down on that tender flesh?”

My back against the cold comforter, his breath hot on my neck. My shoulder. My chest.

No. No. Not this. Anything but this again. My feet slip against the dirt-covered ground as I try to dig my heels in and back away, twisting in his grasp until he is finally forced to release me. Anger carves deep lines into his forehead while I retreat, and his hands shake with rage as he searches for the lock of the cell door.

“Fucking Xander should have had you broken in weeks ago,” he says through clenched teeth, the metal slide of the key making my breath grow shallow.

I have no weapons, and my magic has gone back into hiding, burrowing deeply enough that I can only feel the faintest embers of it. Pressing myself back towards the opposite wall, I try to coax it out again. To shift into something that has any hope of taking this man on. But it eludes me, treating me as if I’m the predator on the hunt.

“When I finally join him as one of the Trusted, I’ll show the king just how weak of a link he is. But at least we can have some fun until then.” The lock clicks just as the door behind the commander opens, and the man in the black tunic steps out. Did he just say Xander is a member of the Trusted?

“Commander Miles, your assistance please.”

Light brown eyes reflecting the torchlight hold mine, promise-laden and threatening to make me heave up the broth and bread that sits in my stomach. With a disgruntled noise, the commander locks the cell door and spins. He disappears into the room, the second man looking from him to my cell and back again, his expression unmoving as the commander reappears with an unconscious Immie. Her body is tossed over his shoulder as if she is no better than a sack of rice.

“Immie. Immie!” Panic surges as they pass and she doesn’t stir at the call of her name.

The man not clad in armor strides methodically towards me, my shoulders deflating as I hear Immie’s body smack into the cot, the commander chuckling before he shuts her cell door closed. “Until next time, shifter,” the man says, walking back in the direction of the stairs.

The commander pauses in the corridor, swinging the key on his finger in large circles. “I’ll be back, little kit.”

I keep myself standing until I hear them both reach the top of the steps, the door shutting on squeaky hinges. Only then do I allow myself to slide down the cold stone until my ass hits the dirt, my knees bent towards my chest. Both hands slam over my mouth as I scream into my palms, tears cresting my eyelids and breaking free to streak down my cheeks. Little kit. Little kit. Little kit. How I hate that name. Hate the way it follows me everywhere, just as he said it would. And without warning, without the will to stop it, I’m thrust back to that night. The night before I left for the Mortal Kingdom.

My fingers scratch at the ropes binding my hands behind me, the coils tight enough that my wrists have been rubbed raw. I should have known it was a trap when Kenji invited me over to go on one last berry hunt. Then again, I’ve never been given a reason to suspect him of hurting me. “Remember how we used to walk the jungle in search of the ripest bushes?” he had asked, hope rich in his voice.

My magic, as it often did around him, rolled up my neck and pressed at my spine, begging for a shift that I would once again deny. Trying to warn me.

But, upon reflection, I had seen that look in his eyes when I told him that I was leaving. Had tried forcing myself to believe that it wasn’t jealousy or ownership or anger but sadness. I am still a girl, hardly past sixteen. A child he has known for the entirety of my life. A trusted confidant to me and my parents. He was Papa’s best friend. None of that matters now.

I try again to wriggle my hands loose from the binds around them, but all it does is further irritate my wrists. So I give up, leaning forward over my knees as I heave a rattled breath. The door to the room opens, Kenji’s scent reaching me almost immediately.