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My head swung toward the sound. They unclasped from the bedposts and slithered across the floor like serpents. A knot lodged in my chest as I tensed.

It happened so quickly.

Shackles clamped around my wrists, yanking my arms up. The chains wrapped around the ceiling of the cage, near the cluster of diamonds. My arms were pulled tight, stretching the muscles. A shout of surprise left me as my body rose, lifting until only the tips of my toes touched the floor. Cool metal clamped down on my ankles, anchoring me into position with my arms and legs spread.

Kolis stared at me, his face pale. “I want to hate you for making me do this,” he rasped. “But I can only love you.”

“This is love?” I gasped, already beginning to feel the burn in my arms.

“You disobeyed me repeatedly, yet you live. No one else would. So, yes. This is love,” he said hoarsely as a thin line of crimson streaked down his cheek.

Kolis wept.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“I almost feel bad for you.”

Opening my eyes, I didn’t bother lifting my head or responding to the golden-haired Revenant. It would take too much energy and focus away from trying not to scream, which I’d been doing since Kolis left with crimson tears streaking his face.

I wasn’t sure what was more messed up: everything else about Kolis or the fact that he could choose to hurt someone and then cry about it.

“You have to be in so much pain,” Callum went on.

“I’ve never felt better.”

“That is such an obvious lie.”

What was evident was his unnecessary observation. The burn of my stretched muscles had disappeared. My arms were numb now. I couldn’t even feel my hands anymore, but the stress of being suspended with only the tips of my toes holding my weight had moved into my shoulders. They felt as if they were on fire.

I had no idea how long I’d been hanging here. Had to be hours at this point. Callum no longer remaining quiet made it feel so much longer. When it was silent, I’d contented myself with thinking about all the ways I would cause Kolis unimaginable pain.

I’d discovered I had a vast imagination.

“If you were actually my sister?”

Gods, not this again.

“I wouldn’t have allowed this to happen.”

“So, if you believed I was your sister, you would think this is wrong?” I asked.

Callum stood just a few feet from the cage. “Of course.”

A harsh laugh left me, causing the pain in my shoulders to flare. “The fact that you need to believe you’re related to someone to see the wrongness in this tells me that every poor thought I’ve had of you is more than justified.”

“You would think that because you do not know me.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Because you are not my sister.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, too damn exhausted to attempt to convince him otherwise.

Callum was quiet for several blissful minutes. “You were right.” He paused. “About what was happening in the Council Hall.”

Wearily, I lifted my head. My neck muscles cramped as my gaze fixed on the Revenant.

His chin was lowered, gaze focused on the floor. “That particular type of punishment is wrong.” His shoulders tensed. “It’s below Kolis. He’s better than that.”

“Yeah? Like when?”

“Before Eythos died.”