by Lexi C. Foss
“Take her to holding.”
Grigory had sent me to the dungeon.
To a jail cell.
To be alone.
For how long? What evidence did he plan to review? Why wouldn’t he talk to me? Listen to me? Hear what I had to say?
“I don’t remember doing it,” I whispered.
The guard grunted but didn’t yell at me or shove me again. Maybe he felt bad for the push down the stairs. Or maybe he’d heeded the warning by the other guy.
We ventured down another set of stairs, into the depths of hell, the ground here cool rather than hot. Every step seemed darker than the next, the candlelight sparse in this area of the dungeon.
This seemed rather deep into the dungeon to qualify as a holding area, but I didn’t ask because of the curling staircase beyond us. If he pushed me down that, I’d break something for sure, especially with my hands clamped behind my back.
Goose bumps danced along my arms the longer we walked, my neck prickling with awareness.
Something wasn’t right.
He shouldn’t be taking me so far underground.
When we finally turned off the staircase, it was into a dark corridor with only one light at the very end. He flicked on a flashlight, leading us through the murky tunnel of rocks and mold and unspeakable scents.
I swallowed. “This is holding?”
“It is for you,” he replied, pushing me forward. “Now don’t get funny. There’s no one here to see you accidentally fall.”
I shivered, his threat not lost on me, especially as nudged me sharply from behind, nearly causing me to lose my footing.
I didn’t know this guard.
Didn’t understand why he would treat me this way.
Maybe Yakariah was a friend?
At the end of the hall, he unlocked the heavy door, unlatched my cuffs, and shoved me inside onto a raggedy mattress.
“Enjoy your stay, princess,” he said, slamming the iron bars behind me before lighting a few candles outside my cell. It left me in the shadows, with only a few feet of vision in front of the bars.
I jumped to my feet, clutching the poles. “Please don’t leave me down here.”
He chuckled, turned, and started whistling as he strolled away from my new cage.
“You can’t leave me here!” I shouted after him. “I’m innocent! I didn’t do this!”
He ignored me, the sound of his whistling echoing in the distance the farther he went, leaving me to my fate.
I shook the bars, screaming at the injustice of being left down here. Alone. Wet. Cold. Surrounded by darkness with only a sliver of light coming from the candles beside my door. The wax dripped ominously onto the stone floor, denoting what little time I had left.
“Grigory!” I shouted, aware it was futile, that he couldn’t hear me way down here.
Why had I let that guard drag me here?
This wasn’t holding.
This was the depths of the prison.
“Somebody help me!” I should have fought back. I’d been frozen in my fear, complicit due to my confusion, and it’d landed me in this iron cell plagued by a cold draft through the cracks in the concrete walls.
What had I been thinking?
What the hell happened?
“I didn’t do this,” I said for the thousandth time to myself. “I… I don’t know how…” I swallowed, another treacherous tear tracking down my cheek.
Be strong, I told myself. You’ll be fine.
“Grigory will come for me.” He had to. Just holding. He’d review the evidence and… and… and see that I did it. That I ripped Yakariah’s heart out.
But I had no memory of it. I woke up with the blood coating my hands. Yet I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me.
“I saw the attack on camera,” one of them had said.
He witnessed me kill Yakariah. So why couldn’t I remember it?
I crumpled to the ground, shaking.
“I didn’t… I wouldn’t…” My head moved back and forth, my knees tucking into my chest.
I was still covered in the other man’s blood and whatever unspeakable grime that coated the floor below me.
Grigory would come for me.
He’d ask me what happened.
He wouldn’t leave me here to suffer.
I just had to wait.
It’s going to be fine. It has to be.
Grigory didn’t come for me.
And it wasn’t fine at all.
My stomach clenched in hunger as a shiver rippled down my spine.
What day is it? I wondered, not for the first time.
I blinked into the darkness, the candles doing little to light the grungy space around me. They were burning low again. Soon they’d flicker out, leaving me alone and frozen in the darkness until someone came by to magically relight them.
I always tried to talk to the figment, but he never spoke back. I wasn’t even sure he existed.
Grigory had left me down here to rot, not bothering to check on me at all. That hurt worst of all—his lack of faith in me.
Maybe I deserved that part. I had snuck out of his room, breaking my promise, but I’d just wanted to change my clothes.
What a mistake that had been.
I curled into a small ball in the blankets on the floor, my skin crawling with goose bumps.
So cold.
So damp.
So… alone.
I tried to sleep again, hoping Grigory would come to me in my dreams. But every itch and bite against my limbs yanked me back to awareness.
Are they real?
Are there bugs here?
Am I dying?
My heart fractured a little more in my chest, my bond to Grigory seeming to shatter with each passing breath.
How could he not believe me? Was I that unpredictable to him? He was always two steps ahead of me. Why couldn’t he see my innocence now?
I yawned… allowing sleep to take me once more.
“Grigory?” My voice echoed back at me, waking me from a dream. One where Grigory held me and told me everything would be all right. Except it wasn’t okay at all. He wasn’t here. And I didn’t feel him in my mind either, not like before.
Bizarre.
Broken.
Perhaps I’m losing my mind?
I frowned and drew an invisible pattern on the floor. It was so cold. Damp. Dark.
How had my life come to this again?
Reduced to weakness at the hands of others.
No, not weak. Just… shattered.
And I hated myself a little in that moment. Hated Grigory, too. Because I never wanted to feel this way again.
“I’m stronger than this,” I told myself, ignoring the raspy quality of my voice. “He’ll come. It’s going to be fine.”
“Oh, I don’t think he’sss coming for you at all.” The triumphant hiss came from the darkness, causing all my hairs to stand on end.
Napia.
I searched for her slithering hair. Had I made up the voice? Was I hearing things now? Was this another nightmare?
Napia stepped out into the dull light flickering beside my cell door, her snakes twirling around her head and snapping their jaws at me through the bars. “Shh. She won’t hurt usss.” She petted the writhing serpents, her lips curling into a sinister grin as she lit a candle of her own, casting her face in eerie shadows. “I’ve come to deliver some newsss to you.”
“News?” I repeated, my voice groggy with disuse. How many days have I been down here? Where’s Grigory?
“Yesss, gloriousss newsss,” she hissed, the creases of her cheeks amplifying her wicked expression. “My union to Grigory hasss been brought forward to two daysss from now. He asked me to let you know. He’sss been very busy with mattersss more important than your trial. But don’t worry. He still intendsss to punish you before the court. You’re a murderer, after all.”
“He asked me to let you know” repeated in my head, my mind not comprehending the statement. Why would he
ask her? Why not Queen Lux? Or a guard? Or even Valora? Why would he send Napia?
Unless she’d somehow won him over.
No. That didn’t feel right.
Or had he lied to me about his feelings for her? He claimed he had no interest in fucking her, but we rarely spoke about his betrothal. Grigory always came across as playful and a flirt. His duty, however, meant a lot to him. And his marriage to her was his primary responsibility at present.
So maybe he had moved up the date.
Maybe he also sent her here to inform me.
Because he thought I killed Yakariah.
Did he hate me?
“Can I see him?” I asked out loud, not thinking through the request.
Napia laughed before I could retract the question, her snakes shifting in the shadows over her head, chilling me to my core.
Being on the ground put me at a distinct disadvantage, but my legs felt too weak for me to stand. Demons could go weeks without food. However, I was a halfling with a human father. That weakened my genetics.
I wouldn’t last as long down here as a normal demon would.
I needed food.
Water.
Warmth.
“He doesn’t want to see you,” Napia said, her tone cruel. “He’sss busy with more important thingsss. Your tantrum didn’t work. The only reason you’re still alive isss because Queen Valora demandsss it.” She tsked. “You are so very lucky to have friendsss in such high placesss. But soon I will be queen, and what then? I say we let you rot.”
My usual snark failed me, my spirit crushed from days—weeks?—of living in these conditions. “I didn’t kill him,” I muttered. “Or if I did, I don’t remember doing it.”
Napia laughed again. “A poor defense. Perhapsss you should choose a different statement?” She tilted her head to the side. “Maybe I can help you when I become queen.”
“In what way?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I have friendsss, too. Friendsss with keysss that unlock doorsss.” She stepped back into the darkness, allowing another to move forward.
I scrambled backward, unfamiliar with the male inserting a key into my door. The light didn’t reach the features of his face, creating a dark, ominous mask that sent my heart racing against my ribs.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my back against the wall now.
My limbs shook from the effort of moving into the wall behind me, adrenaline pumping through my veins with the growing need to fight.
If he touched me, I’d lose it.
I’d rather die than allow a male to violate me again.
“Grigory said to feed you,” Napia replied. “We brought food.”
Something landed on the ground, the scent of seaweed making me want to vomit.
“Enjoy,” she said, blowing out her candle. “Grigory expectsss me to report back to hisss room now. He doesn’t believe in waiting until our wedding night, and I wholeheartedly agree.”
The door clanked closed once more, her mysterious male returning to the shadows as their footsteps carried them away.
My stomach rolled from the stench of whatever food they’d tossed into my cage, and the very heavy sensation of betrayal.
She intended to go to Grigory’s rooms and fuck him while I rotted away in this cell.
And knowing Grigory, he’d allow it.
Everything he told me was clearly a lie. He’d sent his new pet serpent down here to deliver the news of his accelerated timetable. His wedding to her was more important than obtaining my side of the story.
He’d never believe what really happened.
I’d attacked Yakariah in front of all those guests.
Then I was found drenched in his blood.
What did I expect, a miracle? I nearly laughed. Those didn’t happen to me.
I moved forward to poke at what smelled like raw fish. Eating this would make me sick. Not eating it would leave me weak and dehydrated.
I shook my head. It was an impossible choice.
I can’t live like this.
I can’t stay here.
I need to get out of this prison.
I curled back up on the bed and allowed the darkness of exhaustion and sleep to claim me once more.
“Zaya...”
A shiver danced down my spine, urging my feet faster as I ran down the endless corridor.
Nova Kingdom, I recognized, spinning in a circle, my mind dizzy. How? How am I here?
Another damn nightmare.
A warped reality.
Please. Please don’t let this be real. Not again. Not again!
“Oh, Zaya,” the deep voice taunted, causing my heart to race in my chest as I pushed myself to my limit, searching for a way out, a door, anything, to end this lengthy torment. “You can’t escape the inevitable, little one. I’m inside you. I made you what you are. Don’t try to run from it. You’ll never be free from me.”
I stopped, my lips curling down.
I’m so tired of running.
Why not just… face him?
He’s not real.
He’s a nightmare.
He existed in my head because I allowed him to stay. But what if I forced him out?
I turned slowly, exhausted from the fight, tired of my surroundings, and ready for a new beginning. To escape my new prison hell, I needed to defeat the monsters of my mind once and for all.
Necros grinned, his vile words floating around me in an intoxicating wave that demanded submission. His lecherous guards stood by waiting, all wanting to intimately destroy me. But I no longer feared them. The majority were dead. The other three would die by my blade.
This isn’t real.
“You’re not real,” I told Necros. “You’re dead.”
“Am I?” He reached for me, but his hand went right through my skin as if he were a ghost.
“You are,” I confirmed. “You don’t scare me anymore.” This prison terrified me more, the very idea that I might end up here for eternity.
Grigory wasn’t going to save me.
Just as he didn’t join my nightmare now.
He’d given up on me, left me for dead, but I was a fighter and I would survive this, just as soon as I finished battling the demons of my mind.
A knife appeared in my hand, my brain conjuring the item out of thin air. I glanced at it, contemplating my next move. Then I looked Necros directly in the eyes and slit his fucking throat.
His smirk died.
And his men began to run, but I was already moving, my training kicking in as I fought them to completion, their blood creating a river in the hallway that stuck to my feet.
I was no longer the woman they tried to break once upon a time.
I’d grown.
I knew how to survive now.
On my own.
Without him.
Rewind.
Play.
There. I paused the footage and zoomed in on Zaya’s blank expression. It was as if she felt absolutely nothing while she ripped Yakariah’s heart out. He’d pled for his life, begged her to stop, and she hadn’t even flinched.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t make any fucking sense.” I’d watched this tape on repeat for three damn days, and rather than feel satisfied with the results, I only had a million more questions.
“Everyone handles trauma differently,” Adrik said, exhaustion heavy in his voice.
He and Valora had refused to leave, mostly because Valora feared for Zaya’s life. It put us all in a political bind with Yakariah being a Nova Kingdom demon.
Napia was convinced Zaya had no understanding of decorum and might very well attack a member of her court as well. When I explained the situations weren’t linked, that Zaya’s history with Yakariah played a key role in her behavior, Napia had just laughed and accused me of favoring my pet over doing the right thing. Her father had agreed, saying I should get rid of the plaything and find another.
Apparently, they all believed Zaya was my mistress.
We were
linked by blood, something a serpent demon would never understand.
My mother had been oddly quiet on the whole issue, allowing me to lead, but I felt her stern judgment from the shadows. If I fucked this up, she’d react accordingly.
And my claim to the throne would likely be suspended.
If that allowed me to postpone my marriage to the viper princess, I’d probably consider the option.
I clicked Rewind again, hit Play, and watched the footage again.
And again.
And again.
Adrik focused on the screen as well, his brow furrowed. “It’s like she switched off all her emotions.”
“I know.” That was the part that really bugged me. As well as how she killed Yakariah. “I don’t understand why she went for his heart.”
“It’s a rather inefficient method of death,” Adrik agreed. “It made one hell of a mess, too.”
“And it goes against everything I taught her. She did this knowing she’d be caught.” Which confused the hell out of me. “Her technique here is almost elementary.” I pointed to the screen, watching in slow motion as she hit Yakariah upside the head, causing him to stumble forward. “She ruined the element of surprise and almost lost the fight.”
“It’s an odd move.” Adrik fell silent, observing more of the footage, then shook his head. “I’ve not spent enough time around her to know her style, but I know you, Grigory. If you think something isn’t right, then something isn’t right. Your gut is rarely wrong, even when it’s biased toward a woman you want to fuck.”
I sighed. “I haven’t.”
“I know.”
“And I won’t.”
“That I don’t believe,” he replied, his lips twitching at the edges. “Unless you condemn her to death, in which case, maybe.”
“I’m not going to execute her.” I couldn’t even muster up the courage to visit her in holding, let alone punish her. There was no way I could kill her.
“You need to talk to her,” Adrik said. “Hear her side of the story. Personally, I’d like to know how she got one up on Cyprus.”
Yes, that was another mystery I couldn’t solve. He’d been knocked out cold in her suite with no signs of a fight. “How could she subdue him so easily, then fuck up Yakariah’s murder so catastrophically?” I asked. “The two methods don’t match.”