Page 41 of Blood Ties (City of Blood #1)

Elina

Four more meals. The same.

The darkness. The same.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

What day is it? Is it day or is it night?

Find me, Bash. Find me. Find me.

I sleep in short, fitful naps.

I lay on the cold stone floor and let silent tears run down my cheeks.

I stand and walk the perimeter of the room. Stone walls. A single door.

Not a sliver of light.

I sleep.

Bright light bursts against my eyelids. I am temporarily blinded. I shield my eyes looking toward the source and find that the door is open, a tall body, silhouetted in the harsh brightness, behind it.

“Bash?” I croak, my throat dry and unused.

A cruel laugh.

“Of course it isn’t Bash, you fool.”

I’m thrown into a memory- “Seriously, Bash? A fucking human child? Out in Pirate’s Alley, on a Sunday night? What the actual fuck is wrong with you.”

I gasp. “Talia?”

“Time to wake up, little human,” she says, her voice as sweet as poison. “Much to do today.” More people stream into the room. There is another prickle on my neck and everything goes dark once more.