Unending Suffering

RHIANNON

I try to peel my eyes open, but the pounding in my head makes my vision blurry. Through the distorted vision from my barely open eyes, I know exactly where I am.

A dungeon.

My teeth chatter, and my body shakes in the freezing cold.

“Mirele?” I call into the darkness. Was it really her? It couldn’t be.

Through the pounding in my head, I try to make sense of what happened. I must have dreamed it, my mind mixing up reality and hallucination.

I try to pull myself up, to move off of the hard stone floor. As I try to push up, an excruciating pain radiates from my shoulder.

Oh no.

I tried to block this from my mind. I turn my head, carefully, to see a large hook of sharp metal protruding from the stone wall behind me.

The thin hook goes through my shoulder blade, running under the skin. It hooks my wings together from the inside.

A sob racks my body, and I can’t help but scream out in agony. The pain is unendurable.

“Isaac? Isaac, help me,” I whimper into the darkness.

He will come for me. I know he will.

The only comfort I find in this place is knowing that it’s not forever. My mate won’t let me stay here long.

A loud thud draws my attention to the door. The vampire king enters the room, and the temperature drops further.

He’s tall and thin, his pale, papery skin draped over lean muscle. His long velvet robe is open, exposing his tattooed chest.

The red ink almost glows against his skin. He stands silently before me, the graphic images of blood and gore staring me in the face.

The hideous depictions of human suffering, of death and dying, make my eyes burn.

He stretches a long bony hand toward me, grabbing my chin painfully, his nails biting at my skin. “I’ve missed you, pet.”

His voice makes my body shudder. He pulls my face forward harshly, causing the skin of my back to strain against the hook.

I bite back a scream; I know he likes it, he feeds off of it. I won’t give him the satisfaction.

I close my eyes as he draws closer and pushes his mouth against my neck, licking the skin.

“Tsk tsk.” He yanks my head back by my hair, exposing my neck. “You let one of those filthy fucking dogs mark you?” His voice shakes with rage.

He plunges his fangs into my neck, and a painful cry pulls from my lips. He drinks until I feel woozy. The room spins, nauseating me and causing my vision to fade further.

“We killed him, you know,” he whispers against my ear before licking the bite to stop the bleeding.

My heart stops beating.

“You’re lying.” My voice is a broken whisper in the darkness.

“Your precious mate is dead. You are mine, forever.” He laughs maniacally before standing and watching me, reveling in my pain.

When he finally leaves, my sobs choke me. I can’t catch a breath. My body shakes as a pain that I have never known courses through me. My heart physically aches in my chest.

No amount of physical mutilation amounts to even a fraction of this pain. I search desperately, every part of my mind, feeling for any sense of our connection, of the bond that holds us together.

I only feel cold and alone in the dark.

I weep openly. I don’t care if King Julius hears, I don’t care about anything.

“Isaac,” I call his name into the air as my body loses consciousness, the frigid darkness welcoming me.

***

Rough hands pull me back to awareness. I’m awake in body only—my mind is silent, empty, dead.

The guard pours healing waters into my mouth, choking me. My physical body heals, aside from the wound on my shoulder that can’t heal while still impaled by the hook.

My eyes barely open, my body reacts instinctively to cough and clear my throat. I would gladly let myself drown.

I let my head fall forward as the guard leaves the room, leaving me alone with my misery.

I wonder if they killed everyone. Madelyn? Rhodes? Alpha Hunter? My heart burns at the thought but that’s the only grief I can muster.

Isaac.

Isaac.

Isaac.

My wicked mind torments me with images of his honey eyes and dark hair. His wolf, beautiful and proud, moonlight reflecting in his fur.

His boyish grin. The way he throws his head back when he laughs. The carefree side of him that he only showed to me.

I can feel his hands on me, large and rough but somehow always soft. A wail rips from my throat as I remember our last night together.

“~I love you, Rhiannon, forever.”~

The words that, only a short time ago, brought me immense joy now splinter and crack my heart.

His voice, deep and masculine, raspy but still smooth.

“~Little mate.”~

~“Little mate.”~

~“Little mate.”~

Endless tears fall unhindered, soaking my face and hair. I don’t try to stop them, it would be a useless effort.

Time has no meaning here. I don’t know if I’ve been locked in this frozen version of hell for hours or days. Each minute passes like an eternity.

The only sound cutting through the intense quiet is a constant dripping, water falling onto the stone floor from a crack in the ceiling.

I hear a faint clicking sound. It sounds far away but with each second it grows louder and closer. The loud thud of the door being pushed open makes my body shake.

Is it time for him to feed again?

When I finally drag my tired, weak eyes to the door, a mangled sob pushes through my chest and scrapes past my throat.

“Rhiannon.”