Chapter 44: Chapter 44

REYNA

I told myself that I was strong enough to fight whatever was making me weak. I tried to move, tried to sit, but nothing I tried worked.

I was as weak as an overcooked vegetable. So I lay there, devastated beyond what words could ever describe, feeling my heart and soul ache.

My thoughts went back to what crazy Elizabeth had said. I couldn’t help thinking. What if Cassandra did know? What if everything that witch told me was the truth?

That my biological father was a beast, that he raped Cassandra. That I was the product of that rape, and that’s the reason why my mother never loved me—because I reminded her of him.

My heart squeezed with pain, and a sound between a growl and a groan slipped from me.

~Must be Casvan. Please be Casvan.~

I shook my head, desperately wishing I could go back and change things, free Casvan instead of getting distracted with passion. But there was no changing that.

Although there was denial heavy on my tongue, in my throat, choking me. A mantra in my head, louder than anything.

My situation was so jarring that I knew deep down I was just deluding myself, because if I accepted my reality, I wasn’t sure that I would ever recover from it.

And yet, so many questions popped into my brain. Questions like—

What were the claws that protruded from my fingers earlier? Why did fangs suddenly slide down from my aching gums? Was I truly a half beast?

No, no. I couldn’t be. I couldn’t be a half beast. I wasn’t.

I lifted my head barely and instantly tried to shake it, trying to fight the dizzying heaviness plaguing me. Instead of dislodging the feeling, my entire world swayed and my head fell back on the bed.

All my life I’d wanted only three things. One, join the Roses and protect my people. Two, see and explore the outside world.

Three, for my mother to see me for who I was and love me for me. Earlier, after my induction, I’d achieved two of these things.

Cassandra had told me she was proud of me; she’d smiled at me with something like love shining in her eyes. So I didn’t want to believe doctor psycho.

I tried to sit up from the bed, my entire being screaming in pain, but I couldn’t give up, my will too strong while my body was so weak, like a newborn foal.

I listened to both Dr. Elizabeth and Benjamin talk about how many hours and bags of the blue liquid I needed before it would be enough. Words like beast, freak, abomination, and no longer human were said about me, as both discussed my fate.

I didn’t know how everything suddenly changed. My brain kept turning, wondering if my mother’s hatred ran so deep as to condemn her own daughter to Dr. Elizabeth’s experiments.

There was something on my chest; it hurt whenever I moved. I tried to yank away the IV attached to my hand to stop the liquid from entering my bloodstream, but I couldn’t.

The aftereffects of whatever Dr. Elizabeth injected me with had made my body weak, and what little strength I had was useless; I couldn’t control nor coordinate my movement.

I couldn’t even raise my head from the lying position I was forced into without feeling like purging the contents of my stomach. And yet, it was better than the agonizing pain of earlier.

Chained to a hospital bed, naked with only a hospital gown, in a secret part of the infirmary I’d only been to once. With several wires and tubes feeding only God knew what into my body, I was helpless against the cunning old woman.

Oh, how the tables had turned. How many times had Casvan been here like this? In so much pain, getting tortured by Dr. Elizabeth and Lydia under my mother’s orders.

I wondered where he was; that connection between us had been silent since I woke up in this hell. There was no writhing, no warmth, no pull and push… There was nothing! I’d never felt so alone, so achingly alone in my life as I did in this moment.

I’d been suspecting Elizabeth of conducting evil experiments ever since I saw how Jako’s internal glow was gone and the Y-shaped stitch on Casvan’s chest. And now I was in the hands of the crazy scientist.

Mark’s voice broke the silence. “What do you think is going on?” he asked, voicing what I myself had wanted to know, but could not ask in my current state.

“I don’t know, wait here,” Dr. Elizabeth replied. “I will go check and see if it’s what I’m suspecting this foolish girl has brought upon us.”

I pivoted immediately out of the room, which gave Mark—that creepy bastard—the opportunity he’d been waiting for. He palmed my breast painfully, squeezing and groaning like a pig. Bile churned in my throat.

“Reyna, Cassandra’s little princess, I can’t believe I have you where I’ve always wanted you,” he said.

I moaned when he squeezed my breasts hard again. With how hard he was squeezing, combined with the burning of his hands on my body, the pain was unbearable.

It hurt, and I couldn’t help the revulsion deep in the pit of my stomach. There was no one here to save me from this monster, and I wasn’t strong enough to save myself.

Now I knew why I never really liked him. A part of me must have sensed how utterly revolting he was on a subconscious level.

“What are you doing, Mark? Leave her alone,” Dr. Benjamin said, standing at the door and glaring at the other man with disgust.

“Get the fuck out, doctor, if you don’t want to watch,” Mark said, reaching for the gun strapped to his waist.

I wanted to warn Dr. Ben. At this point, he was the only one standing between me and the old bastard. My tongue felt so heavy, stuck to the roof of my mouth.

“You’re one sick man. She’s the princess, and you’re old enough to be her father. I won’t let you rape her,” Dr. Ben said. He moved and stared him down.

“I was right. I knew you were weak. I told Dr. Elizabeth you couldn’t handle this type of work—you’re too soft,” the older man spat with anger, but backed down, taking a few steps away from me.

When he was sure Mark wouldn’t try anything, Dr. Benjamin looked at me with something like shame before he turned around to check the beeping monitor.

“Weak bastard! We don’t fucking need you,” Mark shouted. Before the other man could try and defend himself, Mark hit him with his gun on the head.

He knocked him out. My heart plummeted to the ground.

A sudden rush of warmth and vibrant energy of awareness punctured my lungs. I gasped, drawing breath greedily.

I sobbed shakily, relief so great coursed through me at the familiar feeling. Casvan was alive—I could feel him through our bond.

“Princess, did you think he could save you? No one is going to get in my way. You also don’t get to die before I sample you.

I have to hurry up before Liza comes back. I hated that you let that abomination have you first, but I’ve waited a long time for this,” Mark’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“You and that disgusting monster are going to die very soon. That would compensate for what he’s taken from me.”

His eyes were full of malice and lust as he quickly yanked my hospital gown and lowered his pants around his ankles.

~Casvan, where are you?~ I thought.

My heart pounded with terror. I tried to fight, tried to kick—anything at all other than lie there and allow that piece of garbage to rape me and take what was never his.

But I was so weak, my movements uncoordinated.

Summoning all my strength, I raked my fingers over the man’s face, drawing blood that enraged him.

He sneered and smacked me so hard my head whipped to the side and I tasted fresh blood.

Then the old sleaze widened my legs and climbed over me.

Everywhere he touched me, my skin burned, adding to my agony.

He was about to shove inside me with his small, disgusting penis when a loud growl suddenly filled the room.

Guttural, feral, and primal, Casvan stood tall and massive in the doorway, eyes glowing crimson like a window to hell.