Prologue
This book is undergoing some construction - I will not be removing anything but rather putting the edited version behind a subscription wall. Hopefully you understand without me needing to explain. Please feel free to leave feedback, and to everyone who already has, thank you so much! For those who have liked and reacted, you are my heroes. ☺♦
***Please be warned that this book will contain graphic scenes as well as non-consensual sex as torture and/or mentions thereof. Do not read if this is a sensitive subject for you. Thanks
All that remains of her heart is an empty shell. She has withdrawn so far into herself that she barely registers anything around her or everything happening to her. But she knows when he is coming. It is the only time when the girl feels anything. It is as if his very being has been etched into hers.
The air suddenly evaporates from the cell beneath the castle. Her soft breathing becomes faster and shallower. Just when the girl thinks she is going to hyperventilate and lose consciousness, he has reached the door. She does not look up - does not want to try to look at him through her swollen eyes. Although there is no need to - his features have been burned straight into her soul.
He unlocks her cell and moves agonizingly slow toward her. When he turns her chin to face him, she wants to shut down once more, but he looks into her eyes and waits for her to see him. He has an uncanny ability to know when she has checked out of herself.
“Ready, my love?” He questions softly and a whimper escapes her throat. Releasing her from the bonds against the wall, he catches her when she tumbles forward. This gentleness when she is not on his table eats her alive. This time will be bad if he’s using small endearments. Her body is already trembling in his arms when he picks her up and leaves the cell.
“Don’t fret too much my love. Today will be special, I promise.” He whispers into her ear as his Fun Room looms ahead.
“We’ve come to the end of our fun together,” he says, strapping her onto the stone slab he uses for a table.
“Did you know I’ve had you to myself for one year? Happy anniversary my love.” The monster takes his time, alternating between shackling her body to the table and removing the slips of fabric that were stiff with dirt. There is no way to know how long she had been wearing these rags - it might have bothered her in another life, but not here, not anymore, not with him.
“You have to be aware how beautiful I find your screams, they are irresistible. In all honesty my love, I will miss you for the rest of my life. And no other will be able to fill the void you leave today.”
She knows it right then – there will be no leaving this chamber alive. The way he whispers the words so tenderly, so lovingly, is enough to make the girl’s stomach cramp with the need to vomit.
When he finishes with the restraints, the monster returns to stroke the hair away from her brow, gently tracing her cheek and jaw. Then he leans down, coaxing the girl’s mouth open with his tongue while cupping her face between his hands, kissing her like she was the sole purpose of his life. There can be no mistaking the light in his eyes as he pulls away. The love shining there is genuine.
The girl retreats into the furthest, tiniest reaches of consciousness inside herself when he runs those harsh fingers everywhere - realizing that being violated would be the least of her pain today - since this is how he starts. She wonders how he would end her and can’t help but look forward to after… Whether she would be at peace or not, that did not matter. She only prays that nothing comes after death. That would be complete bliss.
Saber settles back into her body. This must be it; she thinks with more emotion than expected. The pain he caused her this time courses through her body all at once. Unbearable agony almost sends her skittering back into her hiding place. Her screams buzzed in her own ears - but that does not lessen the torment of the moment. He watches her face expectantly for when she can manage her eyesight again.
“Most wouldn’t last one hour with me, yet you’ve lasted twenty hours, of every day, for a full year. You are remarkable - to say the least.” The monster says with adoration.
“Now, before you bleed out completely, my Queen wishes the location of the Heart. Please tell me, my love, for it is my wish for you to die quietly. To slip into the void of nothingness with nothing to hold you here.”
His words make her heart ache for the first time since all this became her normal. She croaks and he thoughtfully brings her some water. She tries again, “You… were all… misled. Your queen…” More water fills her mouth and slips down her throat.
“You all killed the Heart… when she killed our pack.” He brings the water closer once more, and she sips gratefully.
“Our pack was… the Heart of the Wolves… and when I die, there will be… nothing to keep the other packs… from turning rabid.” The girl's eyes were now rolling everywhere on their own, as if trying to take in any scenery before it was too late.
“Are you telling me there was never an artifact?” He demanded incredulously. His pet had spoken only once before, to scream her name at him in a beautiful rage. Her throat must be bleeding with all this effort. But even this thought did not quench his alarm at what she finally revealed.
Saber barely hears his question as she closes her eyes. They burn. Complete anguish has been her whole existence for the past year - if she could believe him. No wonder she felt dead inside. It was a good thing she was dying anyway. She could never be alive again. Not like this.
Just before the darkness takes her, she swears the Fae monster speaks again, “Happy birthday my love…”
