Soft footsteps approach, and light floods this old, crumbling space. Regina. My heart races, and I try to shield my mind, but while I can fight Thorn—for a time—I can’t resist the Fae.
“Bring her,” she orders, and Gregory unlocks the cell, grabs me by my ankle, and yanks me out. I lunge for his hands, but I’m too weak and slow. “You will not fight back, my dear. You want to obey. To please me, yes?”
No!
“Yes, Regina.” My voice holds no emotion, like I’m suddenly two people. The real me, and the mindless shell she controls who only wants to do her bidding.
“Pick her up and follow me,” she says, and Gregory throws me over his shoulder where I hang limp, unresisting, even as my mind struggles to break free from her control.
Regina hums as she walks, a tone I remember from my first life here. “Tie her down next to the other one,” she says when Gregory stops moving, and two sets of hands maneuver me face down on a hard, cold block of stone. My wrists and ankles are each bound to a corner, and Gregory presses my left cheek to the rough slab, while someone else buckles a leather strap around my head so tightly, I can’t move it at all.
A few feet away, Dion sobs quietly, bound just as I am, and our gazes lock. So much fear and pain churn in her amber eyes. She’s in her fully human state, and along with the bloody wounds on her back that mirror mine, there’s a strange symbol drawn on her forehead. My powers aren’t limited to Thorn, and I reach out and try to connect with Dion’s mind.
Oh, God. I understand now. That symbol is a rune to stop her from shifting. She’s trapped in her most fragile form, unable to heal herself, unable to use her enhanced strength to fight back. And she’s hungry. So hungry.
“Zoe,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry...”
“Not your fault.” My eyes burn, but I’m so dehydrated, I can’t cry.
Thorn's heavy footsteps make us both flinch. “What’s happening?” Dion asks, and I don’t want to tell her. I can’t. If I do, he’ll realize there’s more to me than he knows.
“It is time for you both to stop fighting,” Thorn says, his voice full of anticipation. If I could see him right now, he’d be smiling. I’m sure of it.
The hiss of the blowtorch pulls a whimper from my lips, and the sudden burst of heat in the otherwise frigid room makes goosebumps prickle all over my body.
He waves the faery brand between us, the metal already glowing red hot. “I have perfected this over the centuries, my beautiful toys. Enchanted ink, the right amount of heat. This mark will bind you to me forever.”
I should end him now. Stop him from hurting Dion any more than he has. Maybe someone would find her? Sin has to be looking for us. For me. Fuck. I’m so scared.
“See her fear, Zoe,” Regina says, her voice close to my ear. “You will feel it, too.”
Thorn chuckles, and his influence prods me, tries to connect me with Dion, but he doesn’t have to. Regina’s words are enough for my own power to take over. I can’t focus enough to reach Thorn's mind, and Dion starts to scream.
“Dion,” I manage as the blowtorch snaps off and a strange scent fills the room. “Close your eyes. Please.”
Regina pulls Dion’s dirty black hair off her neck, whispering something into her ear, and Dion squeezes her eyes shut. I can’t, though. I have to watch. It’s my punishment for failing the last time. For falling in love with Sin and forgetting the reason I was created in the first place. I have to bear witness. I’ll honor my only friend by doing what I can to lessen the pain. Regina should have considered her words more carefully.
I’ll feel Dion’s fear. All of it. By taking a fraction of it away. Just enough that maybe, her broken mind won’t shatter into dust.
Her scream is like nothing I’ve ever heard. Pure hopelessness, agony, and despair. The stench of burned skin and of the enchanted ink makes me want to vomit, but I swallow it down and focus all my energy on her. Thorn holds the brand in place for what feels like an hour, but is probably only a minute or two, and when he pulls the metal away from her body and Dion opens her eyes again, they’re glazed over.
I try to sense her, to give her an ounce of comfort, but...it’s like she’s gone. Like the woman she was no longer exists. Her thoughts...they’re all focused on Thorn. On serving him. On being whatever he wants her to be.
Oh, shit.
This mark will bind you to me forever.
He didn’t mean we’d be seen as his. That others would view the tattoo as a mark of ownership. He meant our minds would be bound to his. The enchanted ink. It augments his power. His will. Fuck. If I’m not strong enough to resist him, this could be my last chance to send his consciousness to Hell.
I was so trapped in Dion’s fear and my own panic, I didn’t hear the blowtorch turn on again. Didn’t smell the burning ink. I gasp for breath, trying to focus my power, but Regina moves my hair aside and leans closer. “Accept his control, my dear. Let him in and stop fighting.”
The searing pain consumes me. My muscles struggle against the Fae’s compulsion, desperate to thrash, to do something to stop this agony, but my mind floats in a tranquil sea. I can hear myself scream, feel my throat burn.
I was supposed to do something. Something important. Wasn’t I? I had a purpose. A reason I was sent here.
“You are mine now, Zoe Dawes. Mine to control. Mine to own. Mine to use as I see fit. And I have so very many plans for you.”
Thorn's voice fills my thoughts, and I welcome him in. He’s my entire world. I exist only to please him.
Sin
We re-enter the mortal realm outside of Bureau headquarters, and when we reach the bullpen, we’re greeted by complete chaos. Kunchin is yelling at the commander, Amber and the other witches are hunched over a map of the city, pouring all of their magic into scrying for Zoe, and everyone else is on the phone, working their contacts.
“Listen up!” I shout, and all eyes turn to us.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Commander Eve screeches. “It’s been three days, Sinclair! For all we know, Zoe’s dead already, and you’ve been doing God-knows-what with...who the hell is this?”
“The Almighty knows exactly what Sinclair has been doing,” Gabriel replies, a touch of boredom in his tone. His wings unfurl, and a collective gasp comes from the room. “He’s been with me, trying to sort out this mess.”
“And you are?” Eve asks.
Straightening his shoulders, Gabriel arches a brow. “I am the Archangel Gabriel, and we have a great deal of work to do. Zoe Dawes is not human, and she has been given a terrible burden to bear. She is the only one who can stop Thorn, but in order to do so, she must die along with him. If you do not want that to happen, you will all listen up and do exactly as I say.”
“Sinclair?” Commander Eve reaches out and clasps my shoulder, her talons digging into my torn leather coat. “Tell me you didn’t abandon her.”
“Did you not hear me, shifter?” Gabriel says.
I wave him off and meet the commander’s gaze. “I would never abandon Zoe. She and I...we loved one another once. In another life. One she does not remember. But I do, and I will fight for her until I have nothing left to give.”