Page 9 of Beg the Night (Mystics of Ashora #1)

NINE

sinner

A nger pulsed through my veins, igniting emotions that I tried very, very hard to keep locked in that little cage. Don’t let it go. Don’t let it go. Don’t let it go.

Fuck.

She did this to me. She caused me to lose control, to nearly let my power loose.

And I hated to lose control.

So did she, apparently. That was clear tonight. She was testing me. Gauging how I’d react.

I ran my hands down my face, willing myself to cool off. She was talking to Mags now, which made calming down even more difficult. How could someone so insufferable become such easy friends with my sister? What did Mags see in her anyway? Or had they clicked so quickly because they were the only women here? Whatever it was, they’d been drawn to each other like two idiotic best friends.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the guys nearby lifting his mattress and shoving a dark bundle beneath it.

Feeling more out of control than I had in years, I stormed over to him. “What the fuck is that?”

He stood and spun, arms crossed, as if guarding his cot, suspicious as fuck. I knew his gift. He could cloak his own appearance for a few seconds at a time, which was likely how he got New Girl’s clothes in the first place.

Anger simmered under my skin.

“It—it’s not what it looks like. It was a joke. I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear, it was just?—”

“If you go near her again, I’ll kill you.” I angled in closer and wrapped one hand around his neck. “If you so much as look at her, I’ll kill you. She’s mine, and you are nothing. You shouldn’t even be allowed to breathe the same air she does. Do you understand me?”

He thrashed and panicked beneath my tight grasp. As if that would save him. As if that would make me change my mind.

He should know better. They all should. I had no empathy. I was a monster. All humanity had long ago been scraped from me. Now I was an empty, cavernous void with nothing but death on my mind.

Pity? I had no pity.

I released him, and as he crumpled to the ground, I stepped over his useless body, barely burying the urge to give him a strong kick to the head to end his miserable life.

On second thought, maybe I was becoming a better man.

But I doubted it. I really, really doubted it.

I moved to a spot across the room, making sure I was as far away from her as possible. Even being close to her made me lose my damn mind. I couldn’t think straight when she was near. I couldn’t focus.

She did that to me. A venomous little snake infiltrating this dungeon.

My skin prickled with annoyance at the thought. I could barely stand the sight of her, and that was before she strutted out here naked. Every man here had now seen what was mine, what was owed to me by the claiming.

I hated her. I did.

Anger burned hot even as my dick kicked in my pants at the memory. It was the magic in my veins that clouded my senses, that caused these wicked thoughts of possessing her to flood me.

Wicked, wicked thoughts.

Thoughts about my hands gripping her small, perfect waist. Images of her writhing beneath me, impaled on my cock, moaning my name and begging me for more. Thoughts of her smooth, round breasts in my mouth.

I hated her for making me think these things. I hated my power for making me think these things.

Even across the dungeon, her toned legs glowed like a beacon in the moonlight, torturing me. She had pulled my shirt down to cover her ass, but the amount of skin still exposed was enough to make my heart take off at a sprint. And that wouldn’t do.

With her clothes in my hand, I marched over to the cot where she and Mags sat, whispering to one another. I didn’t even look at them as I tossed her clothes onto her lap and retreated to my own cot.

Their conversation stopped, and though I refused to look their way, I felt her eyes on me, burning holes into my back as I kicked off my boots.

“Do you want your shirt back?” she asked.

“Keep it,” I forced out through gritted teeth. “You’ve probably ruined it with your scent, anyway.”

“Hey!” Mags interrupted. “She just showered, and you’re welcome for that, by the way.”

I looked at my sister. At her guileless blue eyes and her good-natured scowl. She was still so… her . Like this world hadn’t forced her to turn to stone. Like she was still unscathed. She was still whole. I was thankful she could still smile. Laugh. Play. But it was difficult not to envy her. To fight the bitterness, the constant ache I felt for the life I had to leave behind for the sake of survival.

I could no longer remember what it was like to be happy. To feel whole.

It was as if a time like that never truly existed.

“You think I should be grateful for the way she ended up traipsing around naked in front of the whole dungeon? Okay, then thanks, Mags.” I looked away before her face crumpled in disappointment the way I knew it would. She looked exactly like Mother when she did that, and I was too close to unraveling to allow any kind of emotion to seep in.

“You don’t have to be rude to her,” New Girl argued. “We were having a perfectly fine time before you tramped over here.”

“And delivered your pants? Put them on. I’m tired of looking at your legs.” I was being harsh, I knew that, but I no longer remembered how to be anything other than brutal. Brutal was how I survived. Brutal was how we survived. If they hated me, good.

They should hate me.

After a few long seconds, fabric rustled behind me. Thank fuck. I fought the urge to turn, to watch her slide the trousers up those toned, pale legs. And then I hated myself even more for picturing the way her thighs would look spread open for me.

I laid back on the cot and turned on my side, putting my back to the two.

“He wasn’t always like this,” Mags whispered loud enough to ensure I could hear. “He used to be fun.”

New Girl snorted. “I can’t picture that.”

“It’s true! I remember when he used to put me on his shoulders and jump into the lake by our house. He taught me to swim by pretending to be a monster in the water. We had so much fun together before?—”

“Shut up, Mags,” I warned, my gut twisting. “Don’t say another fucking word.”

And by the grace of fucking god, she listened.

I loved Mags. I wanted to love her, anyway. I felt a deep urge to protect her. I once loved her. I was certain of that.

Now? I feared I lacked the ability. I felt nothing, not even happiness at the memory she mentioned. Because those memories only reminded me of how fucked up our world had gotten. How fucked up I had gotten.

It was my fault Mags was here with me.

And I would stop at nothing to get her out.

Eyes closed, I willed myself to sleep. It was nearly impossible. I was too attuned to the breathing beside me. The women settled into the cot, too, but though my back was turned, I could feel the way New Girl was assessing me, as if searching out my weaknesses. She wanted to break me. She wanted to control me.

But what did she know? I was a monster. An empty being with only one goal.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Mags stood over me with her hands on her hips. “In private?”

I closed my book with a groan and kicked my legs over the edge of the cot. “Good luck finding privacy in here, Mags.”

She sat next to me and surveyed the area around us, looking for prying ears. “Are you really going through with this? The claiming, I mean?”

I swallowed. I’d been waiting for her to question me. “I’m not sure I have much of a choice anymore. If it’s what will get us out of here, then yes.”

Her shoulders sank a fraction. “You always have a choice.”

“You, of all people, should know that’s not true.”

The way she flinched in response to my words made my chest sting. “I don’t want you going through with this for me, okay? I know Director has spoken to you before, and I know you’re trying to protect me.”

Director did a hell of a lot more than speak to me about Mags. When the Ministry found us, they all but tortured her to get me to do what they wanted. And the worst part? It worked.

Mags was my weakness. And I’d never allow another person to have that kind of power over me. Because when it came to her, I would do anything the Ministry asked.

Even completing the claiming with New Girl.

“You don’t need to worry about me. After the ceremony, I’ll get us out of here. All three of us. We might not have another chance like this again.”

Mags looked down at the hands she kept folded in her lap. “It’s just that after what happened, you swore you’d never claim with anyone?—”

“Don’t.” The word was harsh. Harsher than I meant. But the last thing I wanted to think about was that memory.

Memories wouldn’t help us get out of here.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I appreciate your concern, Mags, I really do. But I’m okay. And as long as she is also willing, I’m going through with this.”

Mags finally looked up from her lap, blinking away a tear. “Well, good luck with that, brother. She really doesn’t like you.”

I growled, my chest rumbling.

“What?” She huffed. “It’s true! If you were a little nicer to her, maybe she wouldn’t be so repulsed!”

I blinked. “Repulsed?”

“Her words, not mine.” Margaret surveyed the dungeon with a sigh. “We’ve been down here a long time. It would be nice to join the real world again.”

“Yeah.” I followed her gaze. This disgusting dungeon had slowly become a comfort to us—as depressing as that was. But we’d been down here in the darkness for so long, I’d almost forgotten what the outdoors actually looked like. Smelled like. “It’ll all be over soon, Mags. I promise.”

I zeroed in on New Girl, who was talking to Leon on the other side of the dungeon. I didn’t like him. I didn’t like anyone in this damn place. But she’d begun to relax around him over the last day or two. When she was speaking to him, her body lost a little of that constant rigidness.

With a grunt, I nodded in their direction. “What is she doing hanging out with that guy all the time?”

Mags straightened her shoulders beside me. “Oh, Leon? I don’t know, he’s nice to her. Something you should try sometime.” With a waggle of her brows, she stood, then trotted over to join New Girl and Leon. The sound of the three of them laughing sent irritation coursing through me.

I didn’t want her laughing with another guy. Looking at another guy. Speaking to another guy.

For now, I’d have to keep my focus fixed on what mattered. This would all be over very, very soon.

I just needed New Girl to agree to the claiming.

The locks of the dungeon clanged. It was too early to be food. There were too many footsteps to be a supply check.

I was up before the door was even fully open.

One deep breath reassured me that my power was still in check, that I could control it for one more day. One more fucking day.

Don’t lose it now. Not when you’re so close .

It was a challenge to remain in control when Director walked through the damn door again.

The last time I saw her, she’d had one of her men drive a knife into New Girl’s leg. So no, she was not on the very, very small list of people I could stand.

In fact, I spent a lot of my free time imagining how it would feel to strangle the last breath from her weak, brittle neck. It was one of the few things that gave me enjoyment.

“Good morning, mystics!” She entered the room, her shrill voice echoing off the damn walls.

My fists tightened, aching for the moment I would wrap my fingers around her throat.

As the girls stirred beside me, I stepped to one side, putting myself in front of them. I didn’t give a fuck about New Girl, but Mags was in the same damn bed.

“What’s going on?” a man a few cots down asked.

Director stopped in the middle of the dungeon, chin lifted and hands on her hips, surveying the group like she was about to give a damn speech, like she wasn’t at all disturbed by the half-alive prisoners she kept locked away down here. “You’ve all been patiently waiting, and I applaud you for that. So much, in fact, that you are all being invited to a grand ball this evening! A celebration!”

“A celebration?” Carter asked. “For what?”

Director spread her arms out and scanned the space. “Our gifted team is making great strides. We’ve officially taken the eastern continent of Ashora.”

The room was silent, the only sounds were the breathing of the guys around me and water dripping from the ceiling in the corner.

My chest tightened, my stomach twisted violently.

“Many of the mystics have returned from battle, and they’ve shown interest in meeting you. They’d like to show you what you have to look forward to. You’ll all be sent appropriate clothing for the event. Try to look your best. Especially you two, ladies. I have something special in store for you.”

They stayed silent behind me, thank fucking god, but every inch of my body tensed as Director peered around my frame.

“I’ll see you all tonight!” She clapped twice, the sound nearly as fucking piercing as her voice, and then she was gone.

Great. As if it weren’t bad enough that we were trapped in this lifeless dungeon to mate like cattle, she now wanted to parade us around her troops as if we were a grand prize to be won.

She wanted to play? Game. On.