Page 24 of Jagged Souls

“The ones who helped me will be healed from whatever Antonio did to you. You know his mother can do it.” There’s another ripple around the table. More hope flares through me even as Sadist’s glare gets harder, the fury in his eyes burning bright. I hold his gaze head-on. “But anyone who fucking hurts me will be tortured far worse than whatever you do to me. Whatever Antonio’s done to you already.”

The silence is crushing.

The fear so palpable, it makes me want to weep.

I’m going to be okay. I’m going to make it through this.

But then the door opens.

And I don’t need to turn my head to know Antonio has just walked in.

Five

HER

The men immediately tighten their grips on me, the fear of their own Boss keeping them in line. But Antonio’s mere presence isn’t enough to jolt them into action when Varius’ wrath will be coming for them if they do.

As Sadist moves aside, Antonio takes his place between my legs. If he were human or a witch, my eyes would be on his hands, checking for weapons, for the upcoming strike. But he is a werewolf, and he doesn’t need his hands to deal damage. His teeth will work just as well.

So my eyes stay on his, meeting his approach with false bravado. I sneer at him, injecting laughter and certainty into my words. “He’s going to kill your entire Family.”

“They’re already dead,” he says as he passes something to Sadist. My eyes dart down to their hands to see what it is. I jerk on a scream, now fighting like a hellcat, violent curses and threats spewing from my lips.

Laughing, Sadist raises the phone.

The holds on my arms and legs suddenly lift as the men step back, away from the angle of the camera. A few turn to hide their faces, and I clock them even in my wild fury, in my raw desperation to escape. If they’re hiding their faces, that means they fear identification; it means they might have something orsomeoneVarius can get to to hurt them.

But my attention is on Antonio right now. On sitting up and swinging my elbows into his face, on doing anything I can to get him to stop. I open my mouth to call on the dark magic that swarms around every witch, that fills our souls and sings siren’s songs when we are at our lowest, our most desperate.

I was there when Antonio first ripped my baby from my womb. I pulled back when I realized calling on dark magic might end up killing every Shadow brother. It could choose them as the blood sacrifice as I’m not experienced enough to control it.

But I’m back at my lowest point.

At my most desperate.

Because if Varius sees the video of my rape, it’ll break him. Break me.

I’d rather risk trying to find him in the next life, hoping that our bond is strong enough to pull us together across all the worlds and timelines even though it isn’t finished. Even though there’s no guarantee – hel, not even a good chance that we’ll ever find each other again.

Because I can’t bear the thought of my husband seeing me this weak and helpless. Can’t bear him witnessing my shame. My body’s eventual betrayal.

So I open my mouth to sacrifice the entire fucking world if I have to.

But Antonio’s hand wraps around my neck and slams me back down onto the table. My attack did nothing but cause more pain to flare up my arms. And yet, I still try, bucking against him and slapping at his hand as he calmly cuts off my air. He stares down at me, cold and efficient, until my head goes fuzzy and my limbs drop, unable to defy biology.

Then he loosens his grip just enough for me to breathe but not speak. He wants me conscious, wants me to suffer for the video, and my heart slams around in my chest.

“Fuck, look how hard her nipples are,” Sadist purrs as he reaches forward to pinch the one closest to him. Tears burn my eyes as I struggle to inhale. “All that adrenaline has got her wet.”

No, it hasn’t, I want to say.

He’s lying.

I don’t want this.

But I can’t say anything due to the damage to my larynx. Can’t defy biology purely because I will it.

When Antonio casually raises his free hand, Sadist pulls back. This alpha doesn’t need to speak for his orders to be heard. He holds up one finger, and it shifts into the claw of his werewolf form; being over two hundred years old, he’s mastered the ability to change only parts of himself at will.