Page 110 of Degradation

My arms are locked into shackles that keep me pressed against a freezing stone wall. My legs are curled under me. I don’t know when they stripped me down but I’m naked. Completely naked.

I shudder, wondering what horrors come next. Will Magnus auction me off? Will he sell me to the highest bidder? Or willhe parade me out, let all those degenerates have a go with a Founder?

The thought of it, the thought of enduring more pain, more abuse, I hang my head praying that my body might break, that god will be merciful. That he’ll look down on me in this moment and just strike me down, give me a heart attack, a stroke even. Something that could be quick and relatively painless. I at least deserve that after everything my husband put me through.

My thoughts falter as I hear the lock click and then the heavy door swings open.

One pair of boots scraps across the floor as whoever it is struts in.

Is this my new jailor? My new guard?

I gulp and then my body trembles with horror as I realise who it is. As I get a whiff of him, of his stench.

“You’re mine now, bitch.” Guthrie says as he squats down, getting right into my face.

“No.” I gasp.

He grabs hold of me, grabbing hold of a part he has no right to touch.

Behind him, someone else walks in and I pray that this is a mistake, that this is my salvation. Is this Antonio or my mother? Please, let them be here, let them save me.

Only, it’s not either of them.

“Magnus.” Guthrie says.

Magnus says something back as if he’s bored of me, bored of my existence.

“Well?” He adds.

Guthrie gets to his feet, stepping back but I can feel that he doesn’t take his eyes off me for a second.

“You want to save your brother then this is the deal.” Guthrie says. “I get her. I get the bitch. As far as anyone else knows, she’s dead. She died in the attack…”

“And what about Devin?” Magnus cuts across him.

Guthrie lets out a huff like he wants to call out the interruption but thinks better of it. “You can have him. I don’t give a fuck what happens to him. The bitch was the one to do it anyway. There’s no connection…”

“It was his knife.” Magnus states.

“Only, you, me, your brother and this whore know that for a fact. I’m willing to keep it secret in exchange for a few favours.”

Magnus shifts just enough to set a voice screaming in my head. “What favours?”

“Ten million.”

Whatever Magnus’s reaction is, it’s enough for Guthrie to give a chuckle that sends a chill down my spine. “How much is your brother worth? How much is your family’s reputation worth? Ten million is pocket change to you.”

“Are you threatening me?” Magnus snarls.

“No,” Guthrie says. “I’m stating facts. You want your brother out of this mess. We can both ensure that. All you have to do is give me what I want and all of it will go away.”

I can practically hear the clogs in Magnus’s head as he thinks it over. Why wouldn’t he? Why wouldn’t he save Devin? And for only ten million, that price is a steal and we all know it.

“Fine.” Magnus replies.

“And the bitch stays here. I know you have private cells. Elite slaves, owned by one individual. That’s what she becomes.”

“Fine. The bitch stays here. But if anyone finds out, anyone at all, I’ll slit her throat myself.”