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I scream.

So much pain!

Selene, I am right here.Memnon sounds heartbroken.Breathe through it, my fierce queen. I am with you.

I feel anguish a split second before I realize it’s coming through the bond.

“This is just the beginning of the nightmare, Selene,” Lia says. Her clothing is still bloody and shredded from the sherds that tore through it, and that provides me some cold comfort.

The monster releases my arm and moves down to my leg.

Goddess, no…

I lock my jaw as I feel those unforgiving hands take hold of my calf. I’m not going to beg Lia to stop. Not when my pleas will only stoke her perverse enjoyment of this moment. I won’t give her that.

She must sense my resolve.

I hear the ominous click of her heels getting closer and closer.

“You think a few broken bones are torture?” she says, stopping next to me. She crouches and threads her fingers through my hair, forcing my head to face hers. “I will have you do things that will make your blood curdle in your veins. Who you sleep with is nowmychoice, and I will make your sex life a horror show. I will make a list of people whom you love, and I will force you to ruin their lives until they curse your name. I will learn your dreams, and I will break them. Through it all, I will make you worship me.”

Her words are punctuated by another snap, and I scream and scream, my limbs trembling and worsening the pain.

Take my power!Memnon is openly begging.

Cannot…use it.

The monster’s hands move up to my thigh, and I feel his grip tighten. I swallow my plea, though I can’t stop the tears that leak from my eyes or the way my body is shaking from fear and pain. No, no?—

Snap.

The agony is indescribable. I’m not a person anymore. Just raw pain shaped into a woman.

“Enough, Creature.”

The monster releases me and backs away from where I lie. I’m struggling to stay conscious through the agony. It feels like every breath is a challenge.

The chilling clicks of heels draw near. They stop right next to my face.

“Now, Selene, kiss my feet, and thank me for the pain.”

I can’t. It isn’t possible with so many broken bones.

But my body isn’t listening. I grind my teeth together so my whimpers don’t slip out as I turn my head and brush my lips against the top of Lia’s shoe.

Memnon’s voice drifts to me across epochs of time. Sarmatians are the fiercest people in the world. They are trained from birth to ride horses and wield weapons. They must fight in at least one battle before they are allowed to marry. And you are to be their queen… You will wear the riches of my empire, and you will ride astride my horse… and you will show these people that you were made to rule my horde of warriors.

I cling to the memory. I was once a queen.

“Thank…you,” I rasp out.

I fought in battles and ruled a kingdom.

“Good,” Lia says.

I gasp out several breaths, my chest heaving.

I will not let this break me.