Pain erupted on my back, and I screamed. The sound echoed through the circular chamber as the high king laughed.
“What a stupid bitch,” he snarled. The scent of sandalwood swirled all around me as he came closer. The whip cracked in the air, and I shuddered. My back clenched involuntarily. I knew what was coming. “Only good for spreading her legs.”
A snap in the air was my only warning before fire erupted on my bare back.
“Please,” I whimpered.
But he just laughed. “My son is going to have a fabulous time bringing you to heel, pet.”
I bit back a sob as another scream tried to inch its way out of my throat.
“Aileana.”
Xander’s voice sounded urgent, and I forced myself out of my nightmarish memories. He touched his hand to the back of mine, sending a shock of awareness through me. “We are getting close,” he said. “Are you going to be okay?”
Was I going to be okay?
I wasn’t sure I’d ever been okay.
But I would survive. I would force myself to keep on living. And maybe one day, the horrible memories of what I’d suffered would be just that. Memories. Distant. No longer able to bother me.
Maybe.
“I’ll be fine,” I said gruffly. At that same moment, another cry came from before us. We were close now, and the wailing was distinctly feminine. Shivers ran down my spine. They sounded so similar to my own. “We have to help her.”
“We will.” Xander nodded, pulling his sword from the scabbard that hung on his hip. “Can you at least try to be careful, Aileana? I’d rather not have to rescue you today.”
I withdrew my weapon, the sound of metal clanging as I pulled it out of its scabbard, echoing in the now-silent forest. “Bold of you to assume that I would be the one in need of rescuing,darling,” I retorted.
My fake husband snorted, but before we could say anything else, my eyes caught sight of something ahead of us. A thousand curses rushed through me as we set upon a small clearing.
My nostrils flared and my grip tightened as the source of the cry came into view.
Behind me, Xander snarled. “Dammit.”
I nodded, but words wouldn’t come to my mouth. My eyes were glued to a long, thick wooden pole staked in the middle of the clearing in front of us.
Ten, maybe fifteen feet from the stake, was a tiny cottage. It was even smaller than Nonna’s, which was saying something. It also had the distinct honor of looking even worse than the murder cottage. The structure boasted a crumbling chimney, two tiny windows, and a door hanging off its hinges.
But that wasn’t what stole my breath away.
No, that happened when I laid eyes on the emaciated elf who knelt on the ground. Enormous, translucent blue butterfly wings adorned her bare back, but they lay in bloody tatters around her. The elf’s arms were outstretched above her head as a braided leather cord bound her to a stake.
A much larger male—human, by the looks of him—stalked around her. His back was to us, but I could see the whip he gripped in his hands. His clothing was as brown as the dirt beneath his feet.
The female wept as she lay shuddering on the ground. The male was ignoring her cries as he stalked around her.
“How dare you disrespect me?” he roared as he pulled back the whip. It made a smooth arc, rushing through the air towards her. I cringed, sucking in a deep breath as I stumbled backward.
“I’m sorry, Raithian.” the female cried out. “Please, don’t. I’ll be goo—”
Her pleas were cut off as the whip slashed through her wings and across her back once more. She screamed, and my heart shattered. The cry that came out of the female’s voice was the sound of death.
I bit my lip, blood filling my mouth as I stifled the matching scream that threatened to come out of me. Beside me, Xander tightened his grip on his sword as he looked between me and the female.
“You stupid Light Elf whore,” Raithian swore. “I took you in, married you, and this is how you repaid me?”
“No,” she wept. “I swear to you, I was never unfaithful. The baby is yours.”