Page 146 of Terror Tuesday

Shadows erupt from the closet beside us. A scream rips from my throat as hands grab me from every angle, yanking me off my feet.

“You’re coming with us,” a deep voice states behind me, gripping my arms tight behind my back. The way they position me, I can’t see my love. And can’t hear him either—no struggle, no calling out for me.

My throat is raw from screaming, my muscles sore from thrashing against the enforcer’s unrelenting hold. I kick. I twist. But then?—

A brutal blow to the back of my head steals the world from me. The last thing I see isn’t the black of my mask.

It’s Valen—hitting the floor in front of me.

forty-one

A sickening,putrid stench of mildew and decay yanks me toward consciousness. Pain pulses at the back of my skull, scattering my thoughts, pulling me violently between clarity and oblivion. When I pry my eyes open, I immediately wish I hadn’t. The world spins, sending a whirl of nausea through my gut, but anchored in the center is the worst sight I’ve ever beheld.

My love lies naked, strapped to a wooden table, trembling beneath two looming figures dressed in black robes, their faces hidden in the shadows. A tall, skinny one crosses his arms, but the big guy presses the tip of a gleaming knife to her abdomen, eyes fixed mockingly upon me.

“You awake now, Vanquish?” he taunts, and his thin companion’s snide chuckle echoes through the small room.

Big man trails the blade slowly down her quivering body, eliciting a sharp whimper as she twists helplessly against the bindings that bite into her skin.

If I could force myself to move, I would. I strain with every ounce of strength, yet darkness drags me back under. Again. And again. And again.

Every time consciousness returns, I shove my back against the craggy wall, the rugged edges carving into my skin. Clanging rattles in my ears, and I catch a glimpse of the chains binding me to the ceiling.

We could be in the cathedral crypts—in a room I don’t recognize. Or some place else entirely.

“Look away, Valen. Please. Just go to sleep,” Olivia pleads from the void.

I struggle to lift one of my eyelids and vomit on the floor when I wake again. The larger guy has his robe open and grips himself obscenely, stroking his dick above her chest with sickening intent.

“Don’t watch,” she begs, a broken sob escaping her throat. The sound hits me like a bullet, splitting my mind in two.

“No, let him look. This is what happens when you disobey the orders.”

A raw, anguished wail cuts the silence, wrenching me awake. The skinny guy backs up from her figure. “Fuck! The bitch bit me!”

My eyes close again, a bitter smile touching my lips as I sink back into oblivion, the discordant sound of his cruel slap fueling an urgent promise: I will burn this world down to save her.

“My Monarch…”I whisper and rip open my eyes.

This time, we’re alone.

She’s softly sniffling, her head turned toward me as she lies naked and shivering on the table. Crusted marks mar her skin, vile evidence of what they’ve done to her. A dark bruise blossoms on her cheek.

“I’m going to kill them,” I try to say, my words slurred and distant.

“Valen… Shh. It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“You’re not fucking okay. This is not okay. You’re crying, and they hurt you. Do you realize how dead they are? I have to stop them.”

“Look at me!” The fierceness in her voice makes me snap my head up. “This is fuckingnothing. It doesn’t matter.”

“They’re going to try to use you against me.”

“And you against me.”

She’s right. What twisted plan do they have for us? Will they make us kill each other?

As if we both hold the same thought, our eyes lock, and for the first time since I got knocked out, I’m wide awake. Her throat visibly tightens as she swallows hard.