The Sleeper's Harp (The Arcane Artifacts, #1)

Chapter 19 - Trading Stories

Bastian went rigid. I kept my gaze fixed on the mats, it was easier to talk this way, to avoid his gaze. "It went downhill from there. He started taking a keen interest in my studies. I was...I don't know, flattered? Desperate to please him? Desperate to make things normal between us? So, I told him whatever he wanted to know. When I started going out with Professor Miller to track down artifacts, things got especially bad. He got suspicious, thought I was seeing other men, so I had no choice but to tell him what I was doing.

"Then one day he asked me about a particular artifact, Foust's Drum. It's famous, on display in a small art house here in Walton. I told him what it did—"

"What does it do?" Bastian asked, his words measured.

"It..." I swallowed. "It freezes time for a short period, when it's struck. The information varies, but...about ten seconds."

"Huh."

"He wanted it—Luke, I mean. It shocked me at first. He'd always taken a keen interest, but for him to talk about wanting something like that. He'd gathered a band of friends and began planning a heist, to break into the art house and steal it. The humans displaying it had no idea what it did, so, security was lax."

I hesitated, cleared my throat, then continued, "The day before the heist, I tried to talk him out of it. He got so angry..."

Bastian sat frozen. I wasn't sure he was breathing. It was like he was spun up, holding on by a thread. "Keep going, Sugar. I'm right here. It's all right." The calm in his voice spurred me on, encouraged me to get this off my chest.

"He beat me, then raped me and beat me while he did it. I could barely walk the next day." My eyes filled, and everything turned blurry. Not again, my thoughts whispered. I didn't want to think about it again.

A low growl spread through the room. The hairs on my arms rose. I glanced about, momentarily shocked by the sound of it, only to realize it was coming from the goblin in front of me. Bastian didn't move.

I swallowed. If I didn't keep going, I wouldn't be able to finish the story. "That morning, when I was supposed to be surveying the perimeter of the art house, I contacted the authorities in secret. I revealed his plans. I...I betrayed him," I said, gasping at the last words.

"You did nothing of the sort," Bastian said.

I shrugged. "The cops showed up, and most of his team was apprehended, but...Luke got away. He found me the next day and he...he attacked me. Dislocated my shoulder, did...a lot of other things." Heat filled my face, embarrassment, shame. "The only reason he stopped was because Professor Miller showed up."

I slumped, hiding my trembling hands beneath my thighs. I felt the relief in that moment like it was happening all over again. That profound moment when Jane appeared, while I was lying there in my own blood and pain. Hearing her voice dragging me back from the dark pit I'd fallen into.

"I think he would have killed me—no, I know he would have, for what I'd done." I started shaking, trembling with the memory.

"Fuck," Bastian whispered, scooting closer, pulling me into his lap. "I'm right here, Elle, baby. It's all right. I'm here."

I barely heard his words.

"She found me, and he fled. But right before he left, he told me that the next time he found me, he'd make sure I wished I'd never been born." A sob rose in my chest. "When I saw him at Vortex, everything came rushing back. I panicked. It's...it's been two years."

Silence fell. I exhaled, and with that fleeing breath, a weight lifted. My chest lightened, and yet, I still felt a lingering ominous press of tension.