with heartbreak and sympathy in her eyes, but I’m too caught up to care.
“We are in Hell, but you’re not alone. You hear me? We’re gonna get out of here.”
The familiar sound of a door slamming open causes my blood to run cold, and seconds later, Ophidian’s voice rings out through the room. “Now, Medley, don’t go filling Sable’s head with silly little notions like escape, because trust me, that won’t happen.”
Medley’s eyes narrow with his arrival, and she moves deeper into the corner of her cell. It’s clear that every instinct in her body is telling her to get as far away from this monster as she can, just like my body is screaming at me to do the same thing.
I try to keep my breaths even and watch his movements under my lashes as he moves into the room, his eyes perusing the many tools he has on display. Someone is about to hurt. I don’t know who it will be, me or Medley, but it will most likely be us, since I’ve yet to see Ophidian even acknowledge Toreon in his cell. I don’t know which will be worse: enduring the pain or watching someone else have to endure it.
Morax pulls a short whip-like thing from the wall that has several strands of leather with metal pieces braided into them. Clutching it, he turns and strides evenly to our cages. My heart thumps against the bones of my chest and fear constricts my throat like a boa.
Just when I think he’s headed for me, he passes by on a menacing chuckle and uses whatever ability he has to create a door that wasn’t there before in Medley’s cage.
Right then in that moment, as I witness her try to leap for her weapon only to be slammed back against the bars, I know with complete certainty that watching Morax hurt her is going to be far worse than enduring it.
He reaches out and wraps his hand in her lilac-colored hair, fisting it tightly, and she whimpers and cries out as he pulls her from her cage. I leap up from where I’m sitting, rage strengthening my weak muscles as I hurry forward, slamming against the bars that keep me from reaching them.
“Stop!” I scream, my voice a command and a plea all at once. “Don’t—”
Morax whirls around, his slitted eyes alight with a warning that cuts off my words. I immediately go quiet, and he goes from outraged to pleased in the blink of an eye. Terror roils in my gut, because I know that’s the worst emotion he could wear. Nothing good comes from Morax’s happiness.
“Ah, Sable. Aren’t you cute trying to save your sister,” he coos at me. He steps closer, but still out of reach, holding Medley by her scalp, her neck bent painfully to the side.
I press myself harder against the bars, as though if I can just reach her, somehow I can save her from whatever sick thing he has planned for her. Medley reaches up and grabs onto Morax’s wrist to keep him from ripping out chunks of her hair, but I can tell that it’s not doing much to relieve the hold he has. She works to get her feet under her, and it’s clear that she’s trying to bite back the pain and the cries that want to pour from her.
“Leave her alone. Do it to me,” I demand, my stomach falling at the smile that stretches over his face. I don’t know how, but I know I just played right into his hands.
“Why would I do that, Sable?” he asks with a tilt of his head. “This is the most reaction I’ve gotten out of you since I plucked you away. Maybe now you’ll finally do as you’re told.”
With that, he drags Medley away and then throws her against the metal table that I’ve come to be so accustomed to. Fury pumps through my veins, and I realize that my vision is in shadows, like I’m still seeing things as though the blackness has taken over, except I can still move.
“Take off your clothes, Medley,” Morax demands, his voice laced with power.
Panic rushes through me as thoughts of what he’s going to do go to very dark places. My hands grip the bars, and I bite my lip hard, hoping that she has the same defenses as me. Will darkness take over soon to protect her from Morax’s command?
Even as I think that, I remember how she tried to