Mark of Love (Love Mark Fantasy Book 3)

by Linda Kage

  “First, we’ll need to bleed her from the sides of both eyes, so she can reach out and magically see every member of her family. Whenever her blood lands on the map below, it’ll soak it in, only to appear again as dots where each person currently is. And one slice over her heart will eliminate deceased family so only those with a pulse will appear.”

  The king frowned and stroked his beard thoughtfully. “But won’t it find all sides of her family, not just the blood-born Graykeys?”

  Everett lifted a finger, answering, “Yes, so I made contingencies for that. We’ll cut into her tongue, so the magic will be able to speak the given and surnames of each person it finds, which will help us eliminate non-Graykeys. Then two more slices to the wrist will help translate the tongue and write the names of them in blood above their dots.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, and a cold sweat slithered down my back.

  “Very clever,” King Ignatius congratulated on an admiring nod.

  “And since this would only show up where the members were at the time the map was made, two last cuts to the bottoms of each of her feet should track where they go from there on after.”

  “Perfect.” The king smiled slowly and nodded, before murmuring an amazed, “My God, Everett. We might just end this curse after all.”

  “We will, Your Majesty,” Indigo’s uncle assured him with passion. “We will.”

  The king turned my way then, regarding me a moment before tipping up his chin. “This must be our volunteer.” Clasping his hands behind his back, he strolled forward only to stop a few feet in front of me. His cold, discerning gaze washed over me before he asked, “Has she used any of her Graykey magic against you yet?”

  “No. None so far as I can tell. We warded the room to prepare for them, but I honestly don’t believe she has any.”

  “She is the one who shed her magic, then.” The king squinted at me thoughtfully. “Indigo must’ve been telling the truth about that.”

  The mention of his name caused my eyes to flare.

  He’d seen Indy? Talked to him? My heart wrenched just thinking of him.

  Was he okay? Were they keeping him near here? God, had they even let him live?

  I glanced past the king, wondering if Indigo had come along with him. This crazy hope bloomed in my chest that he’d somehow convinced the king to let me go free. That damn man could convince anyone of anything. He’d convinced a unicorn to give him a ride on his back for days. And a mermaid to try out a kiss on ground-walkers. Hell, he’d convinced me to fall in love with him.

  “Indigo?” Everett was saying in surprise, drawing me back to the present.

  The king lifted an eyebrow. “Yes.” Then he hitched his chin my way as he glanced at Indigo’s uncle. “Were you not aware your nephew had mated himself to this one?”

  “What?” Everett reared away from me as if I were contaminated. “No. I hadn’t heard.” Turning to look at me in appalled horror, he shook his head. “That’s a shame. And here, I’d had such high hopes for the boy.”

  “Did you?” King Ignatius seemed amused, as if he didn’t believe a moment of Everett’s claim.

  Indigo’s uncle bobbed his head stiffly. “I trust you punished him fittingly for such a betrayal.”

  Smirking over some private amusement, the king answered, “Oh, there’s no doubt about that.” When I whimpered in worry, wondering what they’d done to Indigo, the king turned to smirk at me.

  “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. Pl
ease, 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.

  “Who is it?” he yelled.

  “It’s Afton, sir. I volunteered to be your assistant for the procedure.”

  “Fuck.” Grumbling, Everett rushed to tie his trousers back together, then yelled, “Come in,” and sullenly added, “You’re early,” as a slim, redheaded man entered hesitantly.

  “I—er—sorry, sir,” Afton answered, bobbing through an awkward bow of apology, only for his eyes to widen as he saw me strapped to the extractor. Just as quickly, he turned his attention away and cleared his throat. “If—if you want me to come back later, I can—”

  “No, no. You’re already here,” Everett answered impatiently. “We might as well start the procedure now.”

  Slapping the metal cuff over the tops of my breasts and causing me to moan in agony over the tight fit, he bolted the strap into place and called over his shoulder, “Well, get over here. The faster we get this done, the sooner we get justice for Axel.”

  Afton nodded and stumbled forward. “Wha—uh—what do you need me to do?”

  “Grab a knife and dip it into that bowl,” Everett instructed. “The blade needs to be submerged into the brew completely.”

  “O-okay.” Fingers fumbling because they shook so badly, Afton did as he was told and pulled a dagger from his pocket before soaking its blade. Everett did the same with a knife he produced. Once they both had their blades dipped in the magic potion, Everett turned to me.

  “We need to cut her simultaneously. The first incision will be on the sides of her eyes, vertically along her temple. Only one to two inches long, remember?”

  Afton’s head quivered up and down, the jerky version of a nervous nod. “How…” He paused to lick his lips. “How deep?”

  “Not very,” Everett answered. “We don’t want the blood to flow too thick. It just needs to be a steady, slow but constant drip.”

  “Right.” Stepping forward, the assistant lifted his blade and accidentally met my gaze.

  When his eyes pleaded forgiveness, I couldn’t help it. I began to beg. “Please,” I rasped. “You don’t have to do this. Please. Stop. Stop him. Help me.”

  But my pleas had the very opposite effect of gaining his mercy. Gaze hardening into a glower, he sneered at me. “You told Everett that Axel begged for his life, too, didn’t you, you Graykey whore?”

  I blinked, not having an answer for that.

  “Well, Axel was the love of my life.” Shaking his head, he growled, “You never should’ve killed him.” And he lifted his attention to Everett, stone-cold rage flooding his stare. “I’m ready when you are, sir.”

  Everett smiled in approval. “Now, then,” he answered.

  They came at me in unison, one on either side of me. A single cut would’ve been bad enough, but two slices at the same time were unbearable. I screamed as my flesh was forced open and split apart. Even after the blade was removed, the stinging in my tormented flesh remained.

  “Good, good,” Everett murmured, studying his and Afton’s handiwork. “Now, you make an X over her heart while I get the tongue.”

  The next round was worse than the first. And I didn’t even feel the X that was made on the top-most swell of my left breast, just above the metal clamp. When Everett grabbed my chin and forced my mouth open, I tried to hide my tongue deep into my mouth, but he didn’t seem to mind slipping the blade between my teeth and gouging.

  I gagged and moaned at the same time. Blood filled my mouth until I coughed, spitting it up to keep myself from choking.

  “We’ll need to hurry through the rest. If she gags to death before we flip her, we’ll have to find a new test subject, and this one was already too much of a sacrifice to catch.”

  The incisions that came to my hands and feet were made quickly and efficiently, yet they still hurt like hell. I moaned through a mouth full of blood, not sure how to reason through all the pains and injustices being done to me.

  “And for the final touch,” Everett told his assistant as he grabbed my face, digging his fingers deep into the joint of my jaws to force them apart. “We need to put this retractor in here to keep her mouth open so she can’t swallow the blood that needs to drop from her tongue.”

  I wished I could’ve struggled more to fight them off when a hard piece of leather was inserted around my teeth, keeping my jaws gaping open, but I was quickly losing my energy. My consciousness flickered.

  “Help me turn her,” I heard a voice saying.

  The sound of grinding metal and whirring gears followed. Then I felt myself swaying, tipping to my side, and falling. Every time my muscles tightened bracing for a fall, cold metal hands caught me, cradling me in a painful grip. Then I flew forward, facedown, and shrieked, only to land with an impact that snapped bone.

  The misery that screamed through me was short-lived because I blacked out for a stretch. And every time I started to come to, piercing cuts and throbbing bones made me recoil from the light again. So I retreated back into the darkness.

  I might’ve stayed down forever in the cool, black nothing, but the sound of Indigo’s voice in my head called to me.

  You were absolutely right, his deep, musical voice murmured. His lively blue eyes and that smile—that devil-may-care roguish grin—wavered through my brain. I would do anything for this. I’d do anything for you.

  I saved back the very core of myself for you. For the mere hope of meeting you. And all that I am now is yours.

  But then
his brow furrowed with urgency, fear, and worry. Go to Earth. Go to your safe place and live a full, happy life. Just get to safety. Live for me. Please, he demanded. I love you.

  “Sir,” a voice broke through the memories. “Do you think there’s too much saliva mixing with the tongue blood?”

  “There’s nothing to be done for it. Though maybe we should make another incision in there to ensure the map’s getting enough blood.”

  Pain filled my mouth, I couldn’t even properly cry out, not with my jaws pried apart like they were, and my tongue and throat bone dry.

  Glad I had the clamp across my forehead, so I could rest against it and not have to work to keep my head lifted, I opened my lashes. A map of the Outer Realms—as large as I was tall—lay open on the floor under me, tacked flat at the corners so it wouldn’t curl closed. I blinked at it, watching splotches of blood hit and splash against the surface. The map immediately absorbed every drop and wiped all traces of red away again…

  Only for another drop to land and start the absorption process anew.

  Time after time, I watched the blood plop and disappear. Plop and poof. I began to make it a song in my head. Plop and poof, and plop, plop, poof.

  But I grew drowsy trying to come up with a rhythm for the disappearing blood, and I blacked out for a while, jarred awake only when my cuts started to dry, and they had to reopen them to keep them fresh.

  “How long will we need to do this, sir?” Afton asked once.

  “A fortnight to a moon cycle, I’d say,” came the answer.

  I nearly laughed hysterically. But a moon cycle? A fucking moon cycle of this? Hadn’t I already been going through it for years? It felt as if we’d been at it for a millennium.

  “She can probably only withstand about eight to ten hours of it at a time, though. So we’ll break for a day of recuperation, and alternate back and forth, resting and bleeding her alternately, for if she’s bled out too quickly, she’ll die before the procedure’s complete. And we can’t have that.”

  But couldn’t we, I wanted to argue. Death honestly didn’t sound all that awful at the moment, not compared to what he was describing. I couldn’t imagine anything being worse than this.