Rasp’s face went red, and he stepped back, muttering under his breath. “Got it. I’ll just go fuck myself then.”
“What does a dream walk entail?” I asked, my nerves rattling inside my skull and chest. “Is it similar to what, uh, Jolon did with me?”
Sahalie nodded. “Somewhat. You will walk into the wellspring, and it will cleanse you. It will peel away the insecurities, the fears, hatred, trauma, all of it. When that is complete, it will judge you worthy or unworthy.”
“That sounds easy enough,” I said.
“It’s not,” Sahalie said with a grin. “It’s incredibly dangerous. You can become lost within the depths and never venture out. Some fail in the cleansing and return gibbering and insane. Very rarely some even die.”
I swallowed hard and did my best to ignore the strange, gleeful smile on Sahalie’s face.
“Like I said, these things are rare,” Sahalie said, “But safety can’t be guaranteed. If the wellspring returns you to us, it will mean you are worthy. It will mean you have been blessed with its acceptance. If that is the case, we will follow your lead. The
Hikshil fae will align with the royal house of Decimus. Do you accept?”
I glanced at Delphine. Her face was almost paper white. Rasp looked worried as well, and Vincent’s face was twisted in a grimace of worry and anxiety. Steadying myself, I turned back to Sahalie and the other fae.
“I accept.”
AURELIUS
“How’s that feel?” Bastien said as he straightened. He wiped the sweat from his brow with one hand, gripping a knife edged in blood in his other.
I gritted my teeth to keep the scream at bay. The blade was saturated in Dragon’s Blood sap, making the dozens of cuts on my foot burn with exquisite and almost mind-numbing pain. The lacerations were barely more than paper cuts, but Bastien had taken his sweet time with them. Sweat beaded on my forehead and upper lip, but I hadn’t cried out. Not once. This was the third time he’d come here trying to get information out of me.
“Why don’t you go a little deeper next time?” I said, my voice remarkably calm. “You’re free to do it, if you like.”
The grin on Bastien’s face vanished.
“You think you’re such a badass, don’t you?” Bastien sneered. He flung the knife aside, the blade pinwheeling over and over until it lodged in the wall behind me.
I wasn’t strapped down anymore. Bastien and his men now had me strung up, my arms tied above my head with poisoned ropes. My shoulders ached, and my body begged to lie down, to rest, to sleep, but I couldn’t give Bastien the satisfaction of seeing me miserable. As the ropes bit into my skin and he continued torturing me, I eased my suffering by thinking of everything I had to live for and all the people counting on me to stay strong. No amount of pain or agony Bastien rained down on me would be enough to break me. Remembering what rested on my shoulders fueled my resistance to the abuse. That, and thinking of Elle. Her face, the sound of her voice, her touch on my skin… It filled me with more strength than I’d thought possible. Had things gone differently, it might be her in this room suffering Bastien’s torture. I’d do anything, suffer any torment, as long as she was safe.
“All right then,” he muttered as he stalked to the rear of the room and started slamming and banging tools around.
“You know, Aurelius, you’re only making this rough on yourself for no reason. Regardless of whether you give me the counterspells, I will gain access to the wellspring. You’re only delaying the inevitable. Why not give me the spells and end all this pain and torment, huh?”
“Nah,” I said. “I’m good.”
“Fucking prick,” he hissed as he carried over a stool and set a little cauldron on it.
“Are we making soup?” I asked.
“You wish.” He placed a few small red stones-hardened Dragon’s Blood sap-into the cauldron, then snapped his fingers. Flames appeared beneath the pot. The fire did nothing to the small wooden stool it sat upon, but it heated the cauldron quickly, melting the sap until it boiled.
Despite my resolve to stay strong, I swallowed hard. What the fuck did he have planned?
Bastien vanished behind me again, then returned with a long, metal rod tipped with a dull spike.
“Do you know what I haven’t done yet today, Aurelius?” Bastien asked, studying the tip of the tool. “I haven’t heard you scream. It’s been a while since I heard that sweet sound of agony come from your mouth. I have to admit, it’s been impressive. Most people don’t last through one of my little sessions. We’ll have to fix that.”
He dipped the tip of the tool into the bubbling sap, then held it up. The steaming hot, viscous liquid clung to the metal. Before I could say anything in reply, he lunged and dragged the tip across my bare chest. Pain, the likes of which I’d never experienced, burst across my flesh, searing into my very soul. But screaming wasn’t an option. In fact, I clenched my jaw so hard, I thought I might break a tooth.
Agony lanced through me, sending white spots dancing across my vision. Each second felt like an hour, and my entire body vibrated with pain. It was like having acid or boiling oil thrown across my skin. Bastien’s leering face faded and dimmed as my mind crashed and went blank. Rather than passing out or crying out, I slipped into a place that was far more pleasant and soothing than what was being done to my body.
Elle and I were in the gardens, having tea. She smiled at me as she took a sip.
“Elle?” I asked, glancing around. “What is this?”
“A garden. Duh.” She giggled.
My heart lurched joyfully at the sound of her laugh, and my dragon gave a deep, rumbling purr within my mind.
“Am I really here?” I asked.
Elle shrugged as she bit into a small cake. “Maybe. Who knows? What if everything that happens from this moment was nothing but a dream? That would be crazy, right?”
“It would,” I agreed.
As we sat in happy silence, I wondered whether this was a construct of my mind, or if I really had gone back in time. Finally, Elle sat forward, resting her hands on the table.
“Why aren’t you fucking screaming?” she asked, her lips quirking up into a confused smile.
I put my cup down. “Huh?”
Elle stood up and placed her palms flat on the table. She leaned forward and stared into my eyes. “Why the fuck aren’t you screaming, Aurelius?”
In a flash, the fantasy burst apart, and I was no longer in the gardens at my family’s estate. I was hanging by my wrists in a cell with Bastien Laurent growling in my face. He looked more than a little crazed.
“What does it take to make you scream?” he hissed.
The pain returned in full force, and a moan escaped my lips, but nothing more. Jamming my tongue against the roof of my mouth, I stifled whatever other sounds might try to rip free from my throat and glared back at him, forcing myself to grin.
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