Page 20

Chapter 19

Selestina

T he dark of the cellar is suffocating, and the floor is chilled beneath my bare feet, the rough concrete lacerating my skin as I am forced to kneel. Dripping water echoes through the space, a soft hum of machinery somewhere in the distance. The metallic scent of blood and rust makes my stomach roil.

“Selestina,” he purrs, “I'm going to make you stronger. You will be able to take on anything. You are going to stand beside me, queen of my empire. You will know your place,” he growls, staring at me like his possession.

I shiver as he draws closer, his lips in a twisted smile. He reaches down and grabs my arm, yanking me to my feet. The chains around my wrists rattle, biting into my skin. The rough metal chafes, leaving raw, red marks. Alexander drags me to a makeshift table in the center of the room, forcing me to lie down. My heart is racing, and I try to squirm free, but his grip is ironclad.

“Stay still,” he says. “If you move, it will only get worse.”

I bite back a sob, my body trembling with fear. He starts tracing a blade along my arm, the sharp edge drawing a thin line of blood. The pain is immediate, a stinging sensation that travels up my arm and makes my eyes water. But this is just the beginning.

Alexander moves methodically, making little cuts all over my body. Every nick of the blade is planned and measured for maximum, excruciating pain, but without causing damage. My skin feels like it's on fire, every nerve ending screams in agony. Tears stream down my face, but I don’t utter a word. I know better.

“See?” Alexander asks, his voice almost soft. “You're learning. Pain is just weakness leaving the body. You will be strong.”

He lays the blade down, picking up a thin iron rod. He heats it above a nearby flame until the tip is red hot. I feel my breathing catch in my throat, understanding exactly what he intends to do with it. I try pulling on the chains, but they do not budge.

“It will hurt.” Alexander mentions nonchalantly. “But this is necessary.”

He presses the hot metal onto my skin, and the pain is unlike anything I have ever felt. It sears through me, a burning agony that makes my vision blur. The air fills with the scent of burning flesh, and I want to scream, to beg him to stop, but I bite into my lip until I taste blood, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

“You're doing well,” Alexander says, his tone approving. “You're stronger than I thought.”

The torture is continuous, cuts, burns, and other methods of giving pain I could not fathom. He uses a thin whip to lash my back, each strike a throbbing or stinging welt. Holding my breath, he makes me do so until I am gasping for air, the world spins due to the lack of oxygen in my brain. He twists my limbs in painful positions to test my endurance.

I'm too tired, too broken, to even speak. He frees me from the chains, and I fall to the floor, unable even to move.

I lay there for what feels like an eternity, the cold floor leeching the warmth from my body.

The darkness starts to fade eventually, and I can tell that the nightmare is over. But the pain, both physical and emotional, persists, a remaining whisper of the hell I've been through.

My eyes flutter open, and I'm back in my dorm room at Obsidian Academy. My body's slick with sweat, and my breathing is shallow. The room is too dark to make anything out, but there's a body next to me. I should be scared; instead, some part of me feels… comfortable. I smell pine and leather. The scent is unfamiliar, yet somehow feels like home. It soothes me for reasons I don't understand.

I close my eyes, falling back to sleep, the memory of the nightmare fading into the background. The heat beside me is comforting, and I drift off, praying for a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, the scent of pine and leather still clings to my shirt. Had I dreamed there was someone in my bed?

Goddess, I need coffee.