Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
“Let her go,” Henri growled, finding strength to sit up.
It cost him everything.
His eyes fogged with creeping death and pain.
But he stayed upright, swaying and swallowing hard. “Vic—”
Victor dragged me in front of his chest, keeping me pinned. Grabbing my breast and tracing his fingers where my heart pounded, he smirked. “Stab here, mon ami. In your own time.”
Henri shuddered.
Our eyes met.
The world fell away.
The connection between us blazed bright, and I knew.
I saw his decision before he did it.
Don’t. I tried to shake my head.
I love you. He sighed. Always.
And then he flipped the knife so the blade landed in his palm and threw it as hard as he could at Victor beside me.
The glint of the dagger as it spun in the air.
The clang of it hitting the cave wall as Victor ducked wickedly fast, taking me with him.
And the godawful crunch of Henri’s skull as a guard rammed the butt of his gun against his temple.
Henri flopped backward. Unconscious and barely breathing.
This time, the guards bound him.
Buckling the leather straps around his ankles, one of the guards looked at Henri’s arms, flopped wide and loose. “Eh, Sir?” He looked at Victor. “We can’t strap his arms down, he’s not wearing cuffs for the hooks—”
“Roland.” Victor looked at the despicable Master holding Peter. “Grab the spare box in the cupboard, will you?”
Tears streamed down my cheeks as Victor shoved me to my knees.
“Be my pleasure.” Roland snickered and waddled across the cave. He wrenched open the cupboard doors, and my heart pounded as a hundred empty eye sockets stared back. He reached into the bottom shelf, slipped a black box free, then shuffled back to Victor, his tourmaline mask sparkling and cape billowing.
Victor smiled. “Thank you.” Taking the box, he placed it beside Henri’s hip. Tapping Henri’s cheek, he waited for him to wake up.
He didn’t.
Victor huffed in disappointment, but his navy eyes narrowed as the Masters gathered closer.
Ferdinand asked, “You gonna give him the Kiss, Vic?”
Victor shook his head with a regal sniff. “I’m afraid any Diamond Kisses have been postponed for the evening. My deepest apologies.”
“What?” Larry coughed. “But—”
“Why not three Diamond Kisses?” Ian asked. “Her, Peter, and him.”
“Because I have a better idea.” Victor grinned as he opened the box. “And I need them alive. For a little longer.”
My heart fell out of my chest as the glint of gold bounced around the cave.
I froze on the cave floor, drowning in a puddle of icy seawater.
“No.” I scrambled to my feet, but a guard kicked my ankle, sending me down again. “Don’t do this. Don’t—”
“It’s already done.” Victor smirked. With tender fingers, he pulled out the golden collar and, without a word, snapped it into place around Henri’s bruised neck.
I gagged in horror.
I couldn’t breathe as he nodded at a guard who held up Henri’s slack hand. With a grin, Victor secured one cuff, then two, shackling Henri in gold just like every jewel on this island.
Wiping his hands with a smug smile, Victor said, “Take him to—”
“You bastard!” I lost myself.
Soaring upright, I launched myself at him.
I managed to send him tripping backward.
Until something struck me in the head.
And everything went dark.
Chapter Three
………………………….
Henri
FOR AN ENDLESS ETERNITY, I existed with one foot in this world and one in the next.
Some days, I woke with coherency. I’d stay awake long enough to follow the black roof of the dungeon, trace the walls dripping with icy dew, and focus on Ily and Peter shackled by their collars across the small cell.
I’d count the bars locking us from freedom.
I’d trace the scratchy woollen blanket I lay on and groan as every bone throbbed as if they’d splintered into pieces.
But then the thickness in my head would win.
The fog would return…and I’d slip away.
I’d rouse as something hot was ladled down my throat. I’d wake spluttering as someone fed me water, reminding me too much of drowning as the guards chucked a bucket of ocean on my face.
I winced as someone tended to my injuries and begged anyone and everyone to let Ily go and me to die.
I didn’t remember what I said, but I knew I’d entreated every entity I could think of. I prayed when I’d never prayed before. I tried to make my shattered mind find that oasis of calm and concentration.
But no matter how hard I clung to living, death was a fierce undertow.
I dreamed of running in the black.
Being chased.
Being hunted.
Being butchered and eaten and burned.
I’d wake screaming, only for Ily to speak softly in our prison, telling me things I couldn’t recall, sending me back to sleep with her unconditional love.
I didn’t deserve it.
Didn’t deserve her.
But I slipped again, and more time passed.
Days.
Then weeks.
No light.
No sun.
No way of truly knowing how many nights had passed.
We existed in a perpetual one.
Never-ending.
All consuming.
Nothing but pain and misery.