Nothing Dark Can Stay, Either

Chapter 41

Beatrix was trapped with the Strix for nearly a month.

One agonizing month of torture. Every other day, they pumped her full of vervain, the IV pushing more into her if she struggled against the binds.

On the days the vervain wasn't being pumped in, they tortured her. They sliced and beat her, wanting her to submit, but she never did. In fact, she wouldn't even speak. She just grunted in pain, but mostly tried not to scream. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

Every Saturday, she'd get to rest. No vervain and no torture. But she knew that was only so that she could heal up in order for them to do it again. They didn't want to kill her just yet.

Without her magic, she healed slower. She had less strength, and with the already limited food that they gave her, she was growing weaker every day. They gave her a single drop of blood every morning, just so that she wouldn't dessicate. But it was nowhere near enough.

They hadn't come to save her, and she'd been thankful. How could she vividly tell them that she had heard them saying that anyone who tried to save her would be imprisoned with her, if not killed? She had said there were more important things, which there were, but her true fear lay in the fact that if anyone dared to try and help her, they might all fall victim to the Strix.

The others had been unsuccessful in finding her, either way. Tristan had specifically kept the information from Marcel. Locator spells did not work, not with Beatrix's magic away from her to keep her cloaked better. They couldn't recognize where she was from the background of the video— not even when Freya fixed the film.

They taunted her often enough to rile her up, but after the first week, she no longer let their words get to her. She hardly acknowledged when they came into the room with her. She was tempted to turn off her humanity once more— just for a chance to escape. But without her daylight ring, still infused with vervain and wolfsbane, she could only hope to get out at night, which was impossible, considering someone was always guarding her.

One morning, on a day they were supposed to torture her, the Strix failed to show up. Hours after they were meant to have brutally cut into her, they dragged in two bodies with bags over their heads, forcing them into chairs and connecting IV bags, though they held wolfsbane instead.

When they removed the bags, Beatrix gave a hoarse gasp.

"Recognize them, do you?" said Tristan plainly when the unconscious heads of Hayley and Jackson lolled to the side. "They'll wake up soon, and you can have a civil conversation. They haven't tried to rescue you after your little warning, so we needed more... leverage."

Hayley and Jackson were both covered in blood and bruises, and Jackson's leg in particular was bleeding quite a bit. Beatrix didn't dare speak as the Strix left. She stared at the two, wondering how the hell they managed to snatch them up.

Jackson was the first to wake, half an hour later. He started to struggle against the shackles on his wrists, but Beatrix coughed and waved for him to stop. "Don't," she whispered hoarsely. "It'll pump you with more wolfsbane."

The wolf was shocked to see her. "B-Beatrix?" he whispered quietly. "What—"

"W-What day is it?" she whispered. "What day?"

"The— the twenty sixth, I-I think. December."

The Heretic gave a harsh sigh and let her head fall back. "O-Okay... listen... I d-don't have my m-magic..." she felt herself starting to cry. "I-I'm so sorry, I can't protect you."

Jackson shook his head weakly. "Not... your fault. I'm sorry. We didn't save you."

"I-I said n-not to," she breathed. "D-Don't blame yourself."