“That’s right, my dear,” he murmured, addressing me for the first time. “If you had any expectation that he’d follow his mark here to find you—that he’d come to save you—then you may squash them right now. Because I’ve made sure he can’t. He’s no longer able. You’ll never see your true love again.”
I hiccupped a sob and bit into the gag, straining against the pain that washed through me.
Had he killed Indigo, then? Was my true love dead?
The king hadn’t said as much, but what else could he mean? Nothing in the Outer Realms could keep Indigo from finding me through his mark unless he just wasn’t alive to feel it anymore.
My face heated as a rush of grief overwhelmed me. I began to weep.
Everett grabbed a chunk of my hair and pulled. “What did I tell you about crying, bitch?”
But the king fluttered out a hand. “Oh, go ahead and let her have a moment of mourning. She just lost her only hope for survival. Besides…” He tipped his head as he inspected me with a critical eye. “Tears look quite fetching on those soft, rounded cheeks, don’t you think?” Voice turning intimate, he pursed his lips. “She’s a little too comely to be a Graykey. Younger than I thought she’d be.” Then he sniffed. “Fuck, if I didn’t know what she was, I’d toss the chit in my harem and copulate with her on a weekly basis.”
As I narrowed my eyes, trying to tell him how vile and disgusting I found him to be, Everett snorted out a sound of amused agreement. “As would I, Your Majesty.”
King Ignatius picked up a piece of my hair, sneering at it. “Cut off these resplendent curls before getting started, won’t you, Everett? And mutilate her a little, if you wish. No Graykey deserves such a lovely package. It deceives us innocent folk into thinking there might be something other than pure evil inside them.”
Everett bowed. “As you wish, Your Majesty. I’ll take care of it personally.”
“Good.” The king nodded as he turned away from me, dismissing me completely. “And don’t worry, Teller. I remember our deal. If you conduct this procedure successfully, and we eradicate every Graykey from the Outer Realms, I’ll restore your kingdom back into your hands, letting you rule it as you see fit.”
Everett’s eyes lit up eagerly. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” He bowed again as he trailed the king toward the exit. “I will find success, I assure you.”
“See that you do,” King Ignatius intoned. “And keep me apprised with updates.”
Then he left the chambers, abandoning me alone with Indigo’s uncle as the rest of his entourage filed out behind him.
The moment the door closed, Everett turned slowly to face me, his face lit with relish. “Did you hear that, girl?” he asked, strolling toward a table with an assortment of jugs and containers on top. “You just became the key to making all my dreams come true. I can avenge the death of my son and get my kingdom back, all at the same time.” He picked up a jug in one hand and a rag in the other, then tipped the opening of the container onto the rag, soaking it with liquid. “And all I have to do is make you bleed.”
A maniacal laugh reverberated from his lungs as he set the jug down and started toward me, raising the wet rag as he came. “You know what’s going to make this even sweeter?” He grabbed my chin, holding my head in place.
The pungent aroma of whatever he’d soaked that rag with hit my nostrils, making me struggle against his hand. But he just held on tighter, bruising my flesh.
“The moment I get my crown back,” he confessed, leaning closer and whispering confidentially into my ear. “I’m going to build Teller’s army until we can invade High Cliff and knock that pretentious fuck, Ignatius, off his throne. Then I’m going to gut him in front of his people and take over his kingdom, just like his worthless ancestor did to mine.”
Then he slapped the rag over my nose.
The overwhelming smell made my eyes water and my throat close until there was no more.
Chapter 34
Quilla
When next I woke, I was naked. I could tell immediately by the cool wash of air that brushed over my nipples and between my legs.
Alarmed, I started to sit upright, only to realize I couldn’t. I was tied to the bed and quite unable to rise at all.
Wait, this was not a bed.
Hardwood under me jostled when I moved, threatening to spill me off the sides, only for the metal straps that were clamped around my ankles, wrists, head, and hips to hold me steady. With a bolt of horrifying clarity, I realized I was lying on the extractor.
Dear God. Not this thing. Please, no. No one could survive long on this contraption.
The sound of a door opening caused me to jolt as it sent a draft of more cold air over me, shocking my genitals and wafting across my bare head, letting me know all my hair was gone.
Everett had kept his promise to the king and shaved me bald.
Holy shit, my hair was gone. All my long, beautiful golden hair...
“Ope,” his voice called as he entered, quickly shutting the door behind him. “You’re waking up, I see. And here, I hadn’t completely gotten you strapped down yet.”
He hadn’t? Mind spinning as I tried to feel where I was still free, so I could somehow manage to escape, I began to wriggle, not realizing where he hadn’t confined me until a hand clamped around my breast.
I yelped—realizing the gag was gone from my mouth—and I tried to squirm again, hissing, “Stop,” but he only tightened his grip, hurting me.
“I was loath to cover up these beauties just yet,” he explained. “I knew Ignatius wanted me to mutilate them, but…” He released a breath and shook his head, his fingers kneading the flesh painfully. “I’ve always been a sucker for full, plump breasts and large, thick nipples.”
Arousal filled his gaze, and I growled deep in my throat, glaring at him to fight off my panic. “Get your filthy fucking hands off me, you monster.”
He slapped me, then fondled my breasts more roughly in reprimand as he leaned over me. “You don’t tell me what to do, whore. Hear me? I own you now. I touch what I want. In fact…” His gaze lowered to between my legs. “If I wished to release myself in your vile, Graykey cunt, I would.”
I bit the inside of my lip to keep from crying and having a complete mental breakdown, and I glared up at him as mutinously as I could, all the while my breathing picked up, as my lungs reveled in my terror, working in overtime.
Everett smiled, knowing exactly how frightened he had me. Then he answered, “But I’d never abuse my cock like that. Although…” Sucking his bottom lip in between his teeth, he returned his gaze to my breasts. “Releasing myself on you does sound tempting.”
“I will kill you,” I swore, shaking my head as much as I could inside the metal belt strapped across my forehead that held me in place.
Everett merely laughed as he reached down to untie the fastening to his trousers. “In that case, I’d like to see you try.”
Just as he reached inside his pants to pull his member free, a knock rapped against the door.
“Dammit,” he hissed with a scowl as I closed my eyes and silently screamed, Thank God.