Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke and Mirrors Series Book 1)

by S. N. Nair

  "This fire you have might be beneficial to me in the future but first, I am going to tame you, I am going to break you till you beg me for death and maybe, just maybe I will give it to you."

  I watched as he walked to open the door, letting in three men each carrying a heavy-laden tray covered by black cloth, the sterile smell you would usually smell at the Healer’s invaded my nose.

  He pulled the black cloth to reveal gleaming silver instruments that I knew all too well.

  "Like them? I got them cleaned just for you."

  "I. Am. Honoured."

  The coward took a pair of thick gloves from his men before he skimmed his fingers across various instruments, holding up certain ones, caressing each lovingly, all while humming to himself as he was just choosing fruits from the market. To busy myself I thought of ways to kill him, getting him quartered by horses… killing him by a thousand cuts… the possibilities were endless. I was fine with anything as long as it got the job done slowly and painfully. I paused my train of thoughts when his humming did, he slowly held up a black leather whip with shards of silver protruding from its entire length, I watched as he let it run across his fingers lovingly. He turned to me with a wicked grin on his face.

  "Shall we start, darling?"

  Bring on the pain Damien, you won’t hear a sound from me. Using my own claw, he began to carve a path starting from my clawless index finger. My tongue was coated in my own blood as I bit my cheek to stop from screaming out as he forced the claw in deeper till only a silver remained above my skin. He continued to carve what was now a red river, stopping only at my armpit. I forced myself to start into his eyes, I wanted him to know that I did not break easy.

  Chapter Seven: Blood from Stone

  Sapphire Nightborne

  The room was silent as my blood dripped from the various cuts and lacerations on my body. My tanned skin was almost invisible due to the new red dress that adorned my figure. My hair was so matted with my blood that my once big dark curls now hung limply, in bunches, straight framing my face. I was exhausted, I may not have shown my pain, but the torture had taken its toll on my body. My body felt the burden of getting cut open for a long period of time, healing each and every time only to be cut open once again. My refusal to sleep did not help my situation with my body at all. I hung limply from the restraints, using them to support my weight, unable to tell if the pain in my arms was from the shackles or the other numerous lacerations.

  I could feel the grime from the layers of dried blood caked on my clothes, the itch it caused was almost worse than the pain. I watch as the whip marks that covered my arms, legs and almost every surface of my being slowly begin to close and heal. I clenched my teeth as I heard my stomach gurgled, making me aware of my negligence towards it. I winced as I swallowed my saliva, my throat was so dry that even saliva moving down my oesophagus felt like a ball of spikes rolling down, even my tongue had a dry patch that refused to moisten no matter how much saliva I swallowed. It was so sick that the only liquid to moisten my tongue was my own blood from when I was forced to cough it up or when I bit my cheek to stop from letting out sounds of pain.

  I was momentarily startled as the door slammed against the wall with a bang, once again announcing the arrival of my beloved torturer. A look of pure disgust and contempt graced my features as I felt his eyes raked my body up and down, I clenched my jaw as a self-satisfied smirk worked its way onto his face when he saw that my wounds had healed, providing him with a fresh canvas to work on. His eyes conveyed to me the confidence he had, he knew he was in the superior position now and he relished it. He was convinced that he was the stronger one, but I knew the truth. He was a coward, nothing but a dirty coward, he tied me up, using the strongest silver known to us to shackle me, leaving me powerless, he had allowed his men to come gawk and jeer at me to show off his ‘power’. He truly was pathetic. In Blackwater, the Elders trained us to withhold our expressions of pain when we came into contact with silver. This was because they wanted us to handle the silver instruments, used on captives, with our bare hands to make the situation even more traumatising and intimidating for them so that interrogations would be over quickly.

  "Sapphire, it irks me that not a single scream has left your lips."

  He actually had the audacity to look crestfallen as if he were a child that I refused to get a gift for. How could someone like him even exist in this world? Someone so sadistic and evil that they relish in the pain of others, loving the fact that they could do anything to others, regardless if they were innocent or not, just because they could.

  I smiled at him and said with as much venom possible, making the disgust and hate for him painfully evident. I would get my revenge soon, it might not be today or tomorrow but one day I will avenge my family.

  "I told you before, this physical pain will be nothing compared to the emotional pain you have already inflicted on me; besides, I have been with people who have shown me what real torture feels like, so I suggest to not waste the effort."

  "True so maybe I should step up my game."

  With that he produced a syringe filled with a dark purple liquid that glinted against the light, he walked towards me and brandished it in front of my face. Oh no… anything but the thing I was immune to, but I had to give it to him for effort as he actually spent the time and effort to distil a large vat of raw Wolfsbane in order to obtain pure concentrated Wolfsbane.

  "Ready to submit, Sapphire?"

  I smirked as I watched his jaw clench at my nonchalance. Let him try to hurt me again, I had been trialled and tested for my immunity to Wolfsbane.

  *The chains binding me to the chair rattled as I tried to break free. I had lost track of how long I had been in this room, unable to rest as I heard my fellow brothers and sisters screaming throughout the nights. They made us fight during the day, and scream during the night.*

  *I looked down where a needle had been placed in a vein below my wrist, it had tubing attached to connect it to a jar of purple Wolfsbane which had been flowing straight into my system every night since I was taken here. It was uncomfortable but did not cause me any pain, unfortunately I could not say the same for my fellow wolves.*

  *My throat was sore and raw after all the screaming I did in order to trick my captors into thinking that the Wolfsbane did in fact hurt me while I tried to find a way to escape. My wrist was red and blistered from the silver shackles from all the times I tried to pull my hands free. I was running out of time before they started to send us into the arena again…*

  "Your funeral, darling."

  As he said that he injected the purple liquid into my body through a vein in my arm. He injected a small amount first and he stood back, he smiled hoping to see me writhe in pain, begging for relief. I smiled as his smirk twisted into a frown as he saw that I was not affected by the purple liquid, at least not in the way he wanted it to. The whole Wolfsbane routine was starting to get old, at least the hunters had some creativity when it came to torture by Wolfsbane. I could feel it coursing through my veins, yes it was unpleasant but not to the point where I would scream out and plead for my life.

  “Oh the pain is unbearable! I feel… I feel…I feel perfectly fine.”

  He roared in frustration before pushing the plunger all the way down, he waited and I yawned. This was getting boring fast. I wanted him to leave so that i could be left alone with my thoughts, to figure out the best way to manipulate myself out of this situation.

  "You do know that wolfsbane does not affect me, right? And to think you barged in the other day boasting about how you knew everything about me, that you knew exactly how to break me. It has to be a bit embarrassing on your end."

  I knew it was probably not the best idea to tell him of my immunity to wolfsbane but the opportunity to throw his arrogance and complacency right in his face was just too tempting.

  I expected him to rage and hit me, what I did not expect was for him to laugh, that took me back, maybe he had actually lost it this time. />
  "Well played… well played."

  With that he turned on his heel and walked out, leaving me as the confused one for once. I was confused but nervous as well, I was not afraid of the new methods he could cook up to torture me, however, his tone before he left made me feel as though he had something up his sleeve, something bad, something that might actually break me.

  Chapter Eight: Removing the Blinders

  Chloe Black

  I was there when they dragged the unconscious she-wolf into my brother's torture chamber, she was not the first and definitely won’t be the last. I could not clearly see her face due to her dark hair acting as a veil shielding it, but her frame and Warrior's Mark told me that she was someone of high ranking.

  There was nothing on her to cover her nudity, so I asked my brother if I could lend her some of my clothes. He was extremely reluctant saying that I should not waste my clothes on such a waste of space. He finally caved in when I spoke of the leering eyes of the rest of his men. She was still unconscious when I dressed her, and I wanted to wipe away the mud and blood that covered her body but my brother forbade it and made me leave the second I was able to dress her in whatever he allowed me to.

  Truth be told, even though I did not know who she was and she was probably an enemy to my pack, the fact that she was able to bear that mark made me admire her as well as envy her, no woman had borne the mark in the last century and girls now were only given the basic training that would ensure that they were not liabilities during battles. I could not help but say a silent prayer for her after the door closed, leaving her to my brother's mercy.

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  The next few days surprised me though, I heard the crack of the whip as well as the sound of it meeting skin, but no sound followed it, except for my brother's exasperated growls. No scream was heard nor pleas for mercy, the only sound I heard from her was laughter and a few interesting words, which were unusual to the sounds I heard from the previous guest my brother allowed into the chamber.

  Today, I walked down the hall where the torture chamber resided, hoping that my brother would have finally taken mercy on her and just let her be. He had her pack’s land and ended their Alpha’s line so why bother keeping her especially when she meant so much to his existence. I placed my ear against the room of the chamber hoping to hear something different but to my dismay, I did not.

  "Why won't you just break!"

  I winced but felt slightly surprised as I heard my brother yell, which was something that he had never done in those chambers, it was usually the other way around, his victim would be the one doing all the screaming and yelling. What was more surprising was that this was followed by a peal of laughter that sounded just like bells but for some reason cruel as well.

  I quickly moved away from the door as I heard his footsteps move towards it, racing to the nearest corner to hide myself from him.

  I winced again as I heard the door slam shut, my curiosity peaked yet again, it has been days since I last caught a glimpse of that girl and today might give me a chance to get a closer look at her as I did not hear the click of the lock this time.

  "Curiosity kills the cat…well wolf, Chloe."

  I thought to myself, if she managed to get out of her restraints while I was in there, I don't think she would take too kindly to my presence.

  The thought gnawed at the back of my mind, but then again when was I ever going to get a chance like this again, to see the girl that some of my pack dubbed the 'Beast'. I only saw her twice, once on the battlefield and once when I changed her. This could be my only chance as the door was not locked and I did not know how much longer she would last with my brother's constant attention.

  I decided I will see this 'Beast' today.

  Nervousness bubbled in the pit of my stomach as I slowly opened the door, I turned around to close the door and stiffened as I heard the growls coming from behind me.

  "You can do this Chloe, she is restraint after all."

  I psyched myself before gathering all my courage and turning around, my eyes widened as I took in her appearance.

  She was gorgeous but not in a soft, fairytale-damsel way like her sister. She was beautiful in a way you would find a coiled viper beautiful, she was a beauty to admire from afar. Her dark features stood out in a way that made you want to retreat. Her body may have looked broken, but her eyes were alert as they followed my every move. She looked no older than me which surprised me the most as I assumed that for a woman to climb the ranks till Head Warrior Commander , she would have to be in her thirties at least.

  "Are you going to get on with what your sadist of an Alpha put you up to do, or are you going to stand there and gawk all day. Dealer’s choice actually, as come to think of it, I am not going anywhere anytime soon."

  Her voice cut like steel, it was strong and confident, not what I expected the voice of someone who had been tortured and starved for days to sound like.

  "I am not here as an enemy."

  I spoke with caution, like one would with a caged tiger.

  "Says the person who took part in the slaughtering of my pack. Now get on with it!"

  I had to use all my courage to meet the dark pits of fury that glared at me with such intensity that if looks could kill, I would be six feet under already.

  "I am really not going to torture you, I..."

  "Stop toying with me and get on with it! Why would a she-wolf that joined in the chaos that brought my pack down not want to torture someone that killed so many of theirs? Do. Not. Lie. To. Me!"

  "I did not kill any of your pack..."

  I could not finish before her voice cut through mine, dripping with venom and contempt.

  "But you were there, am I right? You watched as your pack slaughtered mine, standing there and doing nothing that to me, is the same as killing them."

  I froze, I never saw myself as a killer even though most of my pack were, I didn't even want to be there that horrible day and yet, her words were like shards of glass, cutting deep with every syllable she spoke.

  “You killed members of my pack too.”

  “We were not the ones looking for death, I simply gave them what they came to find.”

  I decided to swallow the lump in my throat.

  "How long has my brother chained you there?"

  One of her eyebrows went up as she surveyed my face, looking for any agenda I might have. The silence in the room was finally broken as she spoke with much caution and apprehension.

  "Three days or more."

  "Has anyone brought you food or..."

  For the second time, I was cut off

  .

  "Why do you care? Here you are having a conversation with someone that your brother deemed worthy enough to have chained up like an animal, what is wrong with you?"

  "Because I did not want to believe that my brother was as bad as everyone said he was, that there was still good in him, that he would still show some compassion to his mate."

  The exasperation was evident in my voice with every word I spoke. My brother used to be a kind and compassionate person who would sing me to sleep and read me stories, I refused to believe that it was his fault he ended up like this.

  "You are living in a fairy tale…"

  She paused for a moment before looking at me questioningly.

  "How did you know he was my mate?"

  "He tries to hide it, but he growls as every man that comes near you."

  I managed a chuckle at that before I was again met with stone-cold silence. I was about to leave when her voice broke it.

  "I know exactly what you are thinking, you think that I can bring out the good in him, make him into the brother you loved and cherished, you want my sympathy but guess what, you are not going to get it."

  Her words hit home, without me even knowing, I came here with a purpose, I wanted her to change my brother, to make him who he was.

  "He is your mate and you
are his, you both are meant to love each other unconditionally and eternally, meant to accept each other no matter what."

  She listened to my rant with a smirk on her face, she looked like an adult watching a child throw a tantrum, she let me finish before speaking.

  “You actually believe that there is still good in your brother despite all the innocent blood he has spilled, the families he has destroyed.”

  The amusement in her tone caused anger to bubble within me. How dare she be such a hypocrite…

  “You are not a saint yourself. You have spilled more than your fair share of blood yourself and yet you condemn my brother for the same crime.”