A Crown Of Shadows And Secrets - Sloane Murphy Page 0,83

her, happy that she hadn’t worked it out.

“You have a deal,” she says, her eyes dancing with glee.

“Good,” I say as I lower the dagger and catch my finger on the tip.

“Shit,” I hiss and blood pours from my finger onto the white carpet under my feet.

“Amantara! There you fucking are!” I jump as a guy pops into the room behind Scarlett. He strides towards me and wraps me up into a bear hug.

“Who the fuck are you?” Roman growls from behind me. The guy pulls back from me and faces my guys with a huge smile. I relax when I realize who he is.

“Calm down, mate. Me and Amantara go way back.” He winks at them and I laugh.

“Caleb, what are you doing here?” Scarlett says, fear obvious on her face and my guys relax a little at his name.

“I’ve been chasing this one around the Shadow Realm.” He laughs nodding to me.

“Why on earth did you keep moving after signaling for me?” He asks, looking at me and my confusion must be obvious on my face. “You don’t remember do you? Well, this just got interesting. Morganna is waiting for you, so if you’re ready?”

I blink at him, completely confused about what the fuck is going on, but I nod at him.

“You’ll take us to her?” Levi asks skeptically.

“Are you kidding me? She’s been kicking my ass every time I came back without this one.” Caleb grins. “You boys coming too?”

“Where I go, they go,” I tell him with a smile.

“Sounds good to me. Scarlett, we’ll have words later.” He scowls at her and she flinches under his stare. I have to swallow down my laughter as he moves back towards me, the guys all watching him closely.

“Morganna will be so excited to hear about these new developments of yours, Mara.” He grins at me shaking his head, before clicking his fingers, and darkness wraps around us.

Chapter Twenty-One

Fallon

I wake, my neck stiff from where it hangs down to my chest. As I become more aware, more and more pain filters into my conscious state and it takes everything in me not to cry out.

Azriel is the cruelest being I've ever come across in my life.

I lift my head slowly, one of my eyes is swollen shut, and I can feel dried blood crusted on my face and hands.

Hours.

He tortured me for hours. Asking questions he knew I didn't have answers to. Taking such happiness from each scream he pulled from me, no matter how hard I tried to resist.

He captured my tears in a vial, before licking my face to taste what was left.

He's the most vile creature in existence.

Once I get my magic back, I'm going to tear the skin from his body slowly, and make sure he stays conscious the entire fucking time.

I try to move, pulling at the restraints keeping me in this stupid fucking chair, but between the exhaustion, the pain and the blood loss, I'm so weak I can barely keep my head up.

Fuck him for making me feel so powerless.

I close my eye and send a prayer to the fates that Remy finds me soon. I'd much rather have my magic, but with my options limited, I know Remy is pretty much my only hope.

I almost thought that Deacon might let me go, but when he left, leaving me with Azriel, my hope left with him. Any remnants that might have clung with his departure left with each hit, or tear of my skin.

“Oh goodie, you're awake.” I flinch at his voice and he laughs. It pisses me off, but it’s all I can do not to let my tears of frustration fall. I will not cry for him again.

“Fuck you,” I spit and he laughs again.

“Oh, breaking you is going to be such a sweet joy. Such fire from someone so breakable.” He grins at me and I just close my eyes.

They fly open as he grips my jaw, so hard my eyes water. “You will watch every second of me breaking you, little Witch. And after, when I rebuild you, you will thank me for making you mine.”

I try to pull from his grip, trying not to panic at his words, but it’s useless. I can't break free from him, but I don't let that stop me trying. I won't let him break me.

He lets go of my jaw and pushes my head back. It cracks against the back of the chair, but I find relief if the fact that