Aria’s POV
I was dying.
The cold sting of the dungeon air barely registered as I lay there, bleeding and broken. Every breath I took sent sharp waves of pain rippling through my body. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, my mind teetering on the edge of complete darkness.
My body ached with unbearable agony. It almost pushed me to physical blindness; even every movement hurt like a thousand needles embedded in my skin.
“I told you this was unnecessary!” A female’s voice finally broke through the fog in my head, sharp and accusing.
It was Erinne.
I could hear the sound of heavy boots echoing across the stone floor as someone paced. “You don’t tell me what’s necessary, Erinne. I decide how this goes.”
Logan was angry; I could tell. Even though they hadn’t said anything, I knew exactly who they were talking about. Me.
“And what did that accomplish? She’s half-dead!” Erinne snapped back, her voice growing closer, angrier.
There was a pause. Logan must have stopped pacing. I could feel the tension in the air. “She has to know her place,” he said coldly. “Or do you forget how she betrayed us by lying about the paternity of her son? I won’t let her escape again.”
Erinne’s sigh was heavy. “Dragging her through this torture won’t get you what you want, Logan.”
His response was a low, guttural growl. “Watch your tone. You’re on thin ice. Just because I carry you along on these things doesn’t mean I see you as an equal.”
I could barely make out the sound of their footsteps, growing fainter as Logan grabbed Erinne by the arm, pulling her out of the dungeon. “We’re done here,” he muttered. The heavy metal door creaked as it shut behind them.
Silence fell over the dungeon, save for the ragged breaths coming from my own throat. Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking against the dim light. The world around me spun violently, and nausea roiled in my stomach. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop the dizziness from overwhelming me.
My head felt heavy, pounding with each heartbeat. My body throbbed with pain, especially across my back where the whip had cut into me. I couldn’t move without feeling the sting of every single lash. My limbs felt like lead, weighed down by the agony coursing through my veins. I swallowed, the metallic taste of blood clinging to my tongue.
Forcing myself to breathe through the pain, I managed to turn my head slightly. The women. I had almost forgotten they were there, scattered along the walls in chains. Their eyes were on me-wide, staring, and full of something I recognized: fear.
They stared at me like I was already dead. Like I had become just another one of them.
A woman I faintly remembered from the pit-Sara-was the closest. Her thin face was streaked with dirt, and her eyes, though sunken and hollow, held a trace of recognition when our gazes met. I swallowed hard, willing my voice to work.
“S-Sara?” My voice was hoarse, cracking through the dryness in my throat.
She flinched at the sound of her name, her eyes darting away. The other women huddled closer to each other and their gazes dropped to the floor.
I tried again. “Sara… what… what is this place?”
Sara shook her head slightly, her lips pressed into a tight line. The woman next to her, a younger girl with tear-streaked cheeks, whispered in a trembling voice, “There’s no escape. We’re all going to die here.”
My heart sank at her words. It was the same as the dungeons. The weight of my situation became unbearably real. They were right. How could we ever escape? The dungeon felt like a tomb, and Logan was its grim keeper.
I tried to sit up, but my body screamed in protest. I winced, biting down hard to keep from crying out. My muscles ached. My back felt like it had been torn apart, and the pounding in my skull made everything around me blur. The darkness seemed to close in, despite the flickering torchlight casting eerie shadows along the stone walls.
“There’s got to be a way out,” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else. But the women were still staring at me, their faces blank with defeat. No one answered.
And for the first time, I felt a deep, unsettling despair settle in my chest. My defiance, my fight-all of it seemed to wither under the weight of hopelessness. Was this how it would end for me? Just like them? Broken and forgotten, chained in the dark until Logan decided to use me for his sick plans?
Suddenly, the dungeon door groaned open again, the loud creak slicing through the stillness. The women instantly hushed, their fearful eyes darting toward the entrance.
From the corner of my eyes, I watched Erinne walk in, her steps deliberate and slow. Her lips curled into a smirk as her gaze landed on me, sprawled on the cold floor like a broken doll.
“Well, look who’s awake now,” she sneered.
Anger filled me-a bitter, burning rage as Erinne stood before me, smirking like she hadn’t just watched me being brutalized by Logan. The sight of her, once a friend I had trusted, now standing there with that smug expression, made my blood boil.
I couldn’t believe how far she had fallen, how deeply she had betrayed me. Erinne had been someone I thought I could rely on, someone who would have helped me if things had gone wrong. But no-she had stood by, cold and indifferent, while Logan’s whip tore into my flesh. And now, she stood over me like I was some kind of spectacle for her amusement.
I glared at her, trying to muster the strength to speak. My voice came out in a low, raspy growl. “You just stood there. You watched him, Erinne. How could you? How could you not stop him?”
Erinne’s smirk faded for a second, but she quickly recovered, raising an eyebrow in mock surprise. “Stop him? Aria, you must’ve hit your head harder than I thought. Do you honestly believe anyone can stop Logan? He does what he wants.”
I struggled to sit up, the pain in my back and ribs making every movement excruciating, but I refused to let her see me break. “You weren’t always like this,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “You were my friend once.”
Erinne crouched down beside me, her lips curving into a smile. “Was I? Or were you just too naive to see me for what I am?”
My chest tightened with rage. “You’re a coward,” I spat. “You’re nothing but Logan’s puppet.”
She leaned in closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. “You think you’re so smart, Aria. You think you know everything. But you don’t. You never did.”
Before I could respond, she reached into her pocket and pulled out something that made my heart stop. A small, bloody lock of blonde hair. My breath caught in my throat as she dangled it in front of my face, her expression smug and cruel.
“This,” she whispered, “this belonged to your son.”