Chapter 9 The Edge Of Drowning

~LEILANI RAVENWOOD~

There was evil in my world.

Men and wolves had always found reasons to fight, spill blood and to claim power over the other. I had grown up knowing violence wore many faces, fangs, claws and crowns. But now, I had come to understand that there was a greater evil. One that slept dormant for decades and awakened only to tear the world apart piece by piece. To tear my world apart, piece by piece.

And the name of this evil of Sebastian Kol.

As promised, he showed me no mercy. I remained hung with the chains for what felt like an eternity, my feet barely grazing the cold stone floor. I was suspended like meat. No food. No water. No one to answer my cries. Thirst burned at my throat until swallowing felt like tearing flesh. The pain felt as though I was being flayed from the inside, as if something was slowly peeling my soul away from my body.

Not even prisoners were treated like this in the western district tribe.

I had begun to wish for death.

The thought came quietly at first, then louder, more persistent. Death would be mercy. Death would be rest. Death would free me from the beast who had claimed me as his spoil. But even that escape was denied to me.

The enchanted chains suppressed my wolf, muffled her voice until she was nothing but a distant echo. I could not shift. I could not heal properly. I could not even muster the strength to slam my head against the wall hard enough to end it.

I was helpless.

That was the cruelest part.

When the iron lock finally rattled, the sound scraped against my nerves like a blade. Footsteps followed. Measured and unhurried. I couldn't tell if hope or dread settled heavier in my chest.

It was the same woman. The one who had come before with the male executive. The one who I fought with.

Her mouth curled up in a smirk when she reached my front, slow and deliberate, like she was savoring the sight.

Another woman stood beside her this time. Broader, stronger, and her presence felt wrong too but it differed from the male. Her scent wasn't as tainted as his was.

"Well," the first woman drawled, circling me. "Look at you."

Her fingers brushed my arm, not gentle, not curious. Mocking. "The great Ravenwood heir. Reduced to a hanging carcass."

I swallowed, my throat raw. My lips cracked when I tried to speak, but no sound came.

She laughed softly. "What's wrong? No fight left in you?"

The second woman didn't wait.

Her fist slammed into my stomach with brutal force.

Pain detonated inside me. I choked, coughing violently as something warm filled my mouth. Blood spilled down my chin, splattering onto the floor beneath me. My vision flashed white, then black, and I sagged against the chains.

Fight back.

The thought screamed inside my head, but my body didn't respond.

Panic surged, hot and suffocating. I tried to draw my knee up, tried to swing, tried anything. Nothing worked. My limbs felt like they no longer belonged to me.

I forced my mouth open. "S-stop... please..."

The first woman clicked her tongue. "Still begging."

The second woman stepped closer, holding a syringe filled with clear liquid. "Hold her still."

I thrashed weakly as the needle was plunged into my shoulder. Fire raced through my veins, followed by a cold that spread too fast, too deep. My muscles locked instantly, every nerve screaming as my body went rigid.

I couldn't move.

Not my arms. Not my legs. Not even my fingers.

The chains loosened.

The sudden release sent a jolt of relief through my shoulders as my arms fell limply to my sides. However, I collapsed instead, my body feeling useless and paralyzed. My face hit the stone floor, cheek scraping painfully.

Tears blurred my vision.

"Please," I whispered, my voice slurred. "I need to speak to your master."

The woman laughed. "The only thing you'll be speaking to is water."

Hands grabbed my hair, forcing my head up and a huge bowl was shoved underneath me. Within mere seconds, my face was shoved into the massive bowl filled with cold water. Panic exploded instantly within me. I tried to scream, but the water rushed into my mouth, my nose and my ears. It burned. It invaded every space, stealing my breath.

I thrashed, but my body wouldn't obey.

I was drowning.

My chest convulsed violently. My wolf howled weakly, trapped and suffocating alongside me.

Darkness began to creep in heavily and my body was mere seconds away from giving up. My struggles slowed as I began to accept my fate. This was the death I had wished for. Finally, I was going to get it.

"She's gone silent." I heard the second woman mutter. "If she dies, the High King will be furious."

My head was yanked up violently, water fallinh from my hair and I was thrown against the wall in one push. Pain flared through my spine, but air rushed into my lungs in a desperate gasp.

I coughed uncontrollably, dragging in breath after breath like it might be taken again at any moment.

My father's council was right. Those that tasted Sebastian's blood couldn't be sated. They were far stronger, ferocious and mad. My experience with this two female and the other male had proven that correct.

I had to do something.

I lifted my head with what little strength I had left. Blood and water dripped from my chin as I met their gazes.

"Tell your master," I rasped, my voice barely holding together, "that I have something he desires."

Both women paused.

I swallowed painfully. "A way to tame the wildlings he's created. The ones he can't control." I finished, referring to their kind.

Silence stretched thick between us.

I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth. The bargain I was offering. The risk I was taking. But my pack was ruined. My friends were captives. And a lifetime of chains awaited me if I did nothing.

Rashidat's voice echoed in my mind, soft and grave.

I could reverse what Sebastian had corrupted. I could undo him.

He was building an army of tainted wolves corrupted by his blood, but they appeared to be out of control. Perharps that was an inconvenience to him.

And if my blood could calm his monster... maybe it could do the same to them.

The women narrowed their eyes, a chuckle escaping their lips. "It appears your time here has driven you mad if you believe that you're in any position to bargain with the High King. You don't set the rules, he does. And just in case you haven't noticed, there is nothing you can offer him to buy your freedom. He owns you now. Everything you have belongs to him, including your precious blood and he will do with it as he pleases." One said to me with a cruel sort of delight.