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I was all alone, back in the hands of the Cult.
I closed my eyes, trying to imagine myself in a warm place despite the aching cold all around me. It worked for a moment before the chill bit into me once again and I wondered how long I would be left here before they came for me.
One minute passed. Or an hour. Or maybe several hours.
I had no way of knowing, but it felt like forever. The man’s mad muttering never stopped and soon, I found myself listening to his insane ramblings despite my attempts not to.
“Chaos and balance, as it were. Shame is no longer holds any meaning at all. Shame the Ghost is never going to find me. Should have tossed me out of a window. Drown in the brother’s river and swim deep to find the other side,” he murmured and for a while, I tried to figure out some hidden message behind his words, but I soon became too cold to care. The sound of my own teeth chattering together eventually drowned him out entirely.
Eventually my body stopped shaking and I no longer felt anything at all.
I surrounded myself in the protective layer of my memory, imagining the moment when I’d first held Esme in my arms. I held onto that image with every last ounce of me that I could, knowing it would probably be the one thing that kept me alive in the end. I had to survive.
For her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flickering flame of a torch moving through the distance and I tensed, unsure of who it might be. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the fire seemed impossibly bright. I squinted, trying to focus my vision even though I was so numb, hungry, and so very cold. I shuddered with anxiety and the light kept moving in my direction, leaving me with the terrifying conclusion that whoever it was had every intention of coming for me or the madman imprisoned in my cell.
I lifted my head.
No matter what was going to happen, I couldn’t allow them to see my fear. The pair bond pulsed weakly with Vikar’s anger and I wrapped my fingers around that like a vise. I took his fury and used it to strengthen my own, forming it into a formidable ball of fire that threatened to consume whoever dared to hurt me next.
The fire moved close enough so that I could feel its heat. My body started to thaw and when my eyes finally adjusted to its light, the shape of a large man started to come into focus.
His dark familiar eyes appraised mine with a certain practiced coldness that I hated deep down into the depths of my soul.
“Father,” I snarled, my voice so hoarse that it shook.
“Daughter,” he smirked, cocking his head to the side like the arrogant asshole he was.
He moved the torch closer to me and inspected the exposed mark at the crook of my throat. He cleared his throat angrily and his upper lip rolled.
“Worthless. Did the man we found you with do this? Did you let him claim you?” he asked, his tone derisive and ruthless. I expected nothing less.
“I’m not going to tell you a damn thing,” I said, turning my head and refusing to look at him.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, daughter. Before we are done with you, you’re going to tell us everything. Depending on your answers, I’m the one that gets to decide whether you live or die, and you’d do well to remember that,” he warned.
“What have you done with Esme?” I asked, ignoring his threat entirely. I glared back at him, wishing he would drop dead where he stood.
His grin widened.
“The Cult has decided on a use for her,” he answered evasively.
“And what is that?” I asked, trying not to reveal my desperation. “Have you hurt her?”
He shook his head and laughed. I wanted to punch him right in the face.
“She’s still alive, my daughter. That’s all I’m going to tell you,” he replied arrogantly.
“Where have you taken her?” I screeched, my voice bouncing off the rocks and echoing loud all around me. “What have you done?”
His smile grew even wider and my stomach plummeted. I no longer cared for my own well-being. I needed to get to my daughter and fast.
“Do you forget your place here in Ravenrath, Luna? You lost the right to your daughter when you couldn’t give the king a son and especially so when the king ended up dead with you under the protection of that mutant queen,” he declared, and I stilled nervously.
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” I answered meekly.
“You and I are going to talk when you’re ready and you’re going to tell me everything you know. I want to know every last detail and I don’t care ho
