afflicted

30: Two days captured...

She spent two days in Maeve's dungeons with no food or water. Her lips were cracked and dry and her mouth was a desert. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to speak if she tried. Her throat was raw from screaming.

Leitch strolled into the room leisurely, his black eyes looking her over with utter amusement. She'd come to learn Leitch was Maeve's right hand. So him being here was not a good sign. She tried to hide her panic, but likely failed miserably.

"It's time little one," Leitch purred. "She has big plans for you." Leitch handed her a glass of water and she snatched it from his hand, guzzling it before she could think twice about it. It felt like liquid ecstasy pouring down her throat. Leitch grinned as she drained the glass. He leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and ankles as he watched her.

The features on his face blurred. Callie's brows furrowed and she blinked. Or she tried to blink. Her head started to spin, and she felt hot flashes burning her skin. She breathed wildly, laying her head against the cold concrete to ground herself. The room spun once more before she was plunged into unconsciousness.

She wasn't sure how long she was out. It could have been minutes or hours. When her eyes finally creaked back open, she was lain on a metal table, legs and wrists strapped down. The lights above her were harsh and stung her eyes. Tears leaked down the sides of her face.

"Oh, goody," a familiar voice sang. "You're awake."

She lifted her head as much as she could, seeing the Queen smiling at her. If she wouldn't have known better, the smile looked friendly. But she did know better.

"What are you doing?" She cried out. "Why am I here?"

The Queen chuckled.

"I have been anticipating killing that High Lord of yours for quite some time, my dear," she cooed. "The rush I'll get from drinking his power will be incomparable." Callie's heartrate skyrocketed.

"No," Callie said, jerking as hard as she could at her restraints. Luckily, they hadn't undressed her. Which meant she still had the stone. If only she could get free-

"Oh, yes, my dear," she chuckled again. "And once I'm done with him, the rest of your little inner circle." She was mocking her.

"You can't," Callie begged.

"Unfortunately, you may have a point. His House seems to be quite the fortress." She absentmindedly toyed with the object she had in her hand. Callie couldn't raise her neck far enough to make out what it was.

"It is," Callie confirmed.

"Which is why I was so lucky to have stumbled upon you," she grinned. "I was lost on how to kill him until you clumsily stumbled right into my lap. You were quite the distance from safety, little bird. Why were you all the way out here?"

"Wait-" Callie said, yanking at her restraints again.

"I have such exciting plans for you," she confirmed.

"There has to be some other way, something else I can offer you-" her throat was raw from begging. The tears that had been streaming down her face began to dry, making her cheeks feel stiff.

"What could you possibly have to offer me?" The voice was distorted somehow, she couldn't make out the source of it. Her vision was blurry. She knew she was on a metal table, hands and ankles bound in rough ropes, sliding and burning her skin as she struggled.

"Anything you want, just please," she whimpered. "Please, please, please. Don't make me do this. Anything but this." The air was heavy with the tinge of copper and salt. She couldn't make her. Once Maeve set her free on the mission, she'd slit her own throat before she'd allow that to happen.

"I think I've been clear on my terms. Perhaps you need a little motivation?"

She heard a feral sound and realized it had come from her own aching body. Everything was still so blurred, her head throbbing with the intense pressure built up from behind her eyes.

"You mistake me for someone who was asking to negotiate, dear," the voice laughed. "Let me assure you. I'm not." A sharp pain in her side sent her eyes scrunching closed, trying to steady her breathing. Her nostrils flared with the effort it took. Leitch stood beside her with a condescending smile. He'd hit her in the face.

"Please don't hurt them," she pleaded, hot tears once again rolling down her cheeks. She still hadn't been able to reopen her eyes. She breathed through the shocks of pain still radiating from her ribs. Leith crushing her with his weight had made her sore.

"Oh, I won't, Calina. I won't have to," the voice was flat, bored even. "You'll do it for me."

"Like hell I will," she growled, fighting with all her might, but it was useless.

"Leith?" Maeve asked. "Do the honors?"

"With pleasure, my Queen," he responded, reaching out his hand for the object Maeve was holding. It was a strip of leather with a stone in the center. Callie's eyes bugged. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it couldn't be good.

Leith stepped forward, gripping her roughly by her hair as he secured the strap tightly around her neck. She coughed, fighting his grip desperately, but it was too late. The necklace had been latched already.

Maeve stepped forward, looking quite pleased. She reached out a long claw-tipped black nail and tapped the stone that sat over Callie's throat. Callie's neck seized backwards involuntarily, and her eyes rolled back into her head. And then there was nothing.