Page 188 of Healed

I woke with a gasp, spluttering on the freezing water that had been poured over my face.

“Wakey, wakey,” a bearded face smiled down at me. He picked up his beard and tickled my chin with it. “You’re missing the show!”

“Princess,” I mumbled.

“I’ve been called worse,” Vienna said. “I prefer ‘gallant knight’, but I can accept princess. I look mighty fine in a dress.”

“I want Gabriella. My Gabriella,” I mumbled, my head twisting back and forth on the table.

Pain.

My God, the fucking pain.

I could barely see through it. Could barely function with the force of it.

All my body knew right now was hurt.

“Do you think he deserves his princess?” Vienna asked. I squinted my eyes and almost groaned in horror, remembering everything.

Vienna had my hand on his shoulder and was talking to it like some fucked up version of the Addams Family.

“No, I didn’t think so, either,” he chuckled.

And then, in a flash, he shot forward, bringing his face close to mine again. “Where were we in our lessons? Because those nasty, nasty hands can’t cause pain anymore. But what else can we teach you?”

“Gabriella…” I mumbled.

Vienna’s face changed.

He snarled at me, his hand moving with lightning speed.

Something slammed into my groin, and the world disappeared beneath white-hot agony. Spit flew from my mouth, bubbling and foaming at the corners, my body jerking and shuddering. I looked down, seeing the knife protruding from my groin.

“Keep her name out of your mouth,” Vienna said quietly. “In fact. I think your mouth has been used to cause plenty of pain, hasn’t it?” he shook himself, seeming to discard his flash of anger like an unwanted coat. “And in foreplay, a mouth can be a great tool. One of our greatest assets, in fact. I’ve had Gabriella singing with my mouth. I’ve had her screaming, panting, pleading, all with what this thing can do.”

He pointed at his lips, a gleam in his eyes. “But you took and didn’t give.”

He picked up the blow-torch again and adjusted the settings until the flame was low.

“We can do something to fix that, though. Open wide, princess,” he mocked.

And then he brought the flame to my lips.

The next time I awoke, it wasn’t through force.

My body naturally began screaming in pain—the force of it so hard that it woke me from the blackness that had mercifully spared me the worst of the blow-torch.

Breathing frantically through my nose, I tested my lips, my screams of agony muffled as I realised they were fused together.

I scanned the room, barely able to keep focus.

My eyes rolled into the back of my head as wave after wave of pain exploded through my entire body.

And then they landed on Vienna, who was clearing the dirt from his nails with the tip of his knife.

“Prince,” he grinned at me. “I thought for sure you were a goner that time. I’m so relieved.”

I moaned behind my fused lips, trying to turn away from him.