help me out of this.
My gray eyes land on a shape in the corner of my cell. Hope explodes in my chest at the sight of my scythe. Yes!
I dive for it.
Except...my body jerks to a stop after moving barely an inch. Blinking in surprise, I try to reach for it again, but my body refuses to listen, staying frozen in place.
With a determined frown, I focus all my efforts on my fingers, my hands, my arms, but I can’t get a single part of me to move toward my weapon, toward the one thing that could protect me from Morax and his evil intentions.
Tears of fear and frustration drip down my cheeks, and a brutal headache blooms behind my eyes, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t force myself to grab my scythe.
Morax must have used his power to keep me from using it, to keep me from touching it, and that realization terrifies me. He left it here, right within my reach, just for the mental torture it would bring me. It’s like he’s dangling a carrot on a string in front of a starving horse, and right then, I know exactly what sort of being I’m up against. Evil. The Ophidian is evil.
Slumping back, I give up on the scythe and wipe the tears off my cheeks as I quietly scoot back in my cage. Delta said Morax’s power wears off with time. Just like that night he approached me in the club, I had to wait for the effects to fade away. My only hope is that with time, I can take back control of my body and hold my scythe in my hands once again.
I flinch in alarm when Morax suddenly bellows out in rage, and I cower down onto the floor to make it look like I’m still sleeping in case he glances over here. Peeking through my lashes, I see him throw his dagger clear across the room where it crashes against the stone wall before clattering to the floor.
In his fury, he doesn’t even look my way, and a small puff of relief moves through me as he storms across the room to a shadowed doorway and leaves, slamming the heavy door behind him.
My heart beats hard and fast in my chest, but I wait a moment, making sure he’s really gone before I scramble up and rush forward to the bars. My hands close around them as I look around, searching the room for anything else I can use to try and get out of here.
I freeze when my eyes land on the woman that’s strapped to the table. She’s in only her underwear, and cuts of all shapes and sizes mar her skin. I see what looks to be healing burns and bruises peppered over her as well, and my stomach churns at the sight.
I press one palm to my stomach and the other over my mouth as I take her in. I blink back more tears, and the image of the woman on the table changes. Suddenly, she has deep purple wings underneath her that are so dark they could almost be black. The hair blanketing her shoulder is the same purple-black hue as her feathers, and my eyes widen at the sight as I quickly dash away my tears, making sure that I’m not seeing things.
My gaze skips over the bruises on her neck and lands on full, slightly parted lips, looking as chapped and cracked as mine feel. My stare moves up to her nose, and something sparks in the back of my mind.
But then I see her eyes.
It’s then that a sob tears out of my throat, because I know those eyes. They’re my eyes, Delta’s eyes...Sable’s eyes. Horror rages through me like a tidal wave, as I take in the blank, gray stare.
When I blink again, the wings are suddenly gone, and her hair is no longer dark purple, but now just a simple flat black with bangs swept across her forehead, but her eyes are still staring at nothing. I drop my frenzied eyes down her body to her chest. Is she breathing?
Nothing moves. I watch for a beat, holding my own breath as I wait. The longer I wait, the more pain settles in my soul.
What did he do to her? How long has he had her?
More sobs rip out of me, and I bring my watery gaze back up to the pair of lifeless eyes that seem to be staring