The Red Shadow hummed. “I see you may have learned a few things during your little journey, pet. Perhaps you’re not so naïve anymore. Do you know what these are?”
I continued to stare at them. The more I looked at the black bracelets, the more my stomach twisted in on itself.
“I… Please don’t. Don’t put them on me.” My eyes widened as I looked at the Red Shadow pleadingly. “Please, if you care even a little for me, you won’t put them on me.”
“Oh, sweeting,” he murmured, running a hand down my face. His fingers were cold. So cold. So unlike Xander’s. I flinched at the red sparks that jumped from his fingers, as though even his magic didn’t want to be associated with him. He whispered, “I do love it when you beg.”
For a moment, just a moment, I thought he would do what I asked. But then he grabbed my shoulders and twisted me around painfully. My head slammed into the dirt, and I cried out.
“No!” I yelled as I tried to wrench my arms away.
But it was too late.
I heard a clicking sound, and when he finally released me, a black bracelet adorned each of my wrists. The Red Shadow pulled down the sleeves of my dress, hiding the bracelets from sight.
But it didn’t matter. I knew they were there. Their wrongness permeated my skin, and I felt lightheaded.
A sob wrenched through me as I lifted my fingers to the bracelet. Instantly, my hands felt like I had thrust them into a raging fire. I cried out, pulling my fingers back as I stared at the manacles on my hands.
The Red Shadow shrugged, his eyes gleaming. “A new improvement to the prohiberis. I had to make sure that you couldn’t pull anything like your escape again. Not after we kept you away from the earth all these years. Do you like it? I had my witch spell them against you, specifically. If you try to take them off, they will burn you from the inside out. They are keyed to my blood, so only my father and I can remove them.”
I shook my head, whimpering.
The Red Shadow leaned in close, whispering in a low voice as though we were sharing an intimate secret, “I did so love seeing you beg, sweeting. Next time, you’ll be begging when you’re on your knees in front of me.”
Red filled my vision at the thought, and I spat at him. My aim was true, and he recoiled. I snarled, “You are apig. I willnevergo to bed with you.”
His eyes widened as he lifted a hand to his cheek. “Bitch,” he snarled.
Sparks pulsed around him, and the air seemed to crackle with his anger.
“You will learn to show me some goddess-damned respect.” He cracked his neck as he stepped toward me. “I am to be yourhusband. You willneverdo that again.”
This time, I saw the blow coming.
I watched as his closed fist came toward me and I braced my teeth for the impending impact. Even though I knew what was going to happen, it didn’t make it hurt any less. A cry rose in my throat, but I tamped it down. I forced myself to breathe through it.
But then… he didn’t stop. He didn’t step away. This time, he kept going. He hit me until I tumbled to the ground, my legs unable to hold my weight against his assault.
Even so, he didn’t stop.
I curled into a ball as his fists pounded into me. He hit my chest, my arms, and my face as he called me every single degrading name in the book. He hit me until the pain was my only reality.
I was no longer Aileana. I was pain, and pain was every part of me.
When the blackness came for me, I fell into it willingly.
* * *
The murmur of voices was the first thing I heard.
Everything ached. Agony was my only reality. I took in a breath, my lungs seizing painfully. Something felt broken in my chest.
Wincing, I opened my eyes. Even that hurt. Everything hurt.
I tried to shift my hands, but they didn’t move. I frowned as I saw the red bands of magic still binding my arms to my side.
“No,” I whimpered. I was still bound, still captive. That meant thathewas nearby.