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King looks down at my body and grabs the front of my shirt. He hefts me into the air with no effort, and Icould only wish my transition from prone to upright was that easy.

My vision winks in and out like a shutter as my body sags, boneless. I’m sadly familiar with this sensation, and my sanity seems to be doing just fine at the worst possible moment.

I grip his arm with my right hand as I begin to pass out. The pain is overwhelming. With my legs crushed, my ribs broken into pieces, and one of my arms pulverized, I can only stare down at him as he looks up. For the first time, I get a clear view of his face.

His eyes are vacant, as if no one is home inside, which creates confusion in me. Wouldn’t he be all grins and evil laughs by now? Or is that Kimi? The pain is muddling my thinking.

“What did you hope to achieve?” GV asks with a laugh. It’s a grating, high-pitched sound that irritates me.

Why couldn’t justonething go right today? I would kill to be able to give her a witty comeback. King’s hold shifts, and I’m reminded of every shattered aspect of my body, causing me to gasp in pain.

She stops at Ben’s cage and taps on it thoughtfully, “So, what is this? I’m not overly impressed with it. Sure, it’s scary, but useless.”

I grunt in anger and pull my lips back from my teeth in a grimace.

“Looks like we’ll have to be rid of you both, then. No one would questionyourdeath,” she gestures towards me with her fingers.

“And this one no one knows about,” she kicks Ben’s cage.

Scilla is going to be so pissed when she finds out about this.

“Screw keeping you alive. I don’t care what you are,” she continues, pacing in front of the cages. “Kimi has gone on and on about ripping your heart out.”

No.I have enough nightmares. Just crush me to death already!

“How about… King rips your heart out and gives it to him as a gift?Do you think he’ll be more manageable at that point?Thoughts?”

I must have blacked out for a minute because she’s standing beside King now, looking at my face as if she expects me to answer. If I could have, I would set up the vote for crushing me instead. Too bad I’m having trouble breathing due to the pain and internal bleeding.

Chains begin to clink again, and GV sighs in frustration. “Who now?”

King pivots enough for me to see Mitri beginning to slowly straighten up.

“No. Notyou,” GV flicks her wrist towards him in a casual move.

I watch Mitri’s head twist sharply with a loud crunch and flop back until his chin rests on his chest. His body sags in a dead weight, his knees splaying open as he loses control over his body.

The bond stretched between us breaks into pieces and disappears from my sight. I can’t feel his calming presence anymore.

That sound. The wet crack of his bones echoes in my mind. My brain can’t accept what I’ve just seen, trying to make me believe it didn’t happen. None of this is happening right now, right?

I look back to GV, struggling to breathe, and she laughs.

She stares at Mitri andlaughsat what she’s done to him.

The see-saw of sanity slams down with a vengeance.

It’s so obvious what I should be doing right now. I can’t believe sane me hasn’t been doing it all along.

She killed him. Fornothing. He wasn’t even fully awake yet. This bitch just took him from me, and now she’s laughing. She plans to do the same thing to my sunshine?

I’m going to fuckingannihilateher.

I try to get the buzzing spark to attack but it’s focused on keeping my useless body alive. Waste of time!

“Rip her heart out, throw it into Kimi’s cage,” she says, and her annoying cackle echoes around me as she turns to face me.

King doesn’t hesitate to begin, but I’m no longer concerned with him. His fingertips dig in under my sternum and start pressing up, searching for the organ everyone seems obsessed over. My spark begins to try and block his advance by hardening my skin.