Torn(Demon Kissed Series)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The same thing happened as before. Mid-effonation the poison turned to a shard of ice and felt as if it was cutting my skin away from my body by slowly leaking out acidic poison. A scream erupted from my lips, but the sound was only absorbed by the void. When we finally arrived wherever Eric took us, I fell face first onto the floor. Gasping for air, I curled into a ball cradling my wounds.

“Get up, Ivy. Effonating can’t kill you. And I fully intend to take pleasure in that, so this little stint won’t work.” When I didn’t move his swung his foot into my side. The pain from his kick shattered the pain from splicing my skin off during effonation for half a second. My body uncurled and he could see the wounds covering my body. “What the hell?” He bent down to me, and moved me like a hurt baby. His touch was gentle, as he examined my arms and shoulders. This time the spliced skin was on my throat as well. “What is this?”

Through gritted teeth I told him, “From effonating. I can’t.” I stifled a scream as his fingers touched an open wound on my arm. He released me and I curled back into a ball with tears running down my cheeks.

He kneeled over me asking, “How do I fix it?”

Although I was in so much pain that everything was spinning, that question broke through the agony. I glanced at him. The expression on his face was odd. It was like he enjoyed watching me writhe, but that he needed me to stop for some reason. Taking advantage of his momentary compassion, I blurted out the things he needed. He raised an eyebrow at the milk, but did it anyway. When he drizzled the slop over me, it burned and hissed. Slowly, the pain subsided as my skin regrew. Lying on my back, I stared up at a ceiling and wondered where we were.

Then I looked at Eric, confused. “Why’d you heal me?” I asked sitting up, and he backed away from me.

The anger that lined his face returned. “You can’t die by accident. When I kill you, you’ll know. And that I want to watch for a long time. Not some shitty effonation wounds.” He gestured toward me.  He walked across the room and sat down. Slowly, I realized where we were; or at least in part. The carpet that I was laying on was musty and had one of those unidentifiable brown patterns on it. The single bed in the room had an equally heinous bedspread, which Eric sat on as he looked down at me. A sink and dingy mirror were at the back of the room. He’d taken me to a hotel room somewhere.

Eric terrified me like nothing else. Looking up at him, I asked, “What do you want?”

Folding his arms, he smirked, “That’s the thanks I get for saving you? And after I was so kind and shared my blood, too.” The corner of his mouth pulled into a crooked smile. I didn’t want his words to affect me, but they did. Valefar blood was powerful, and he made me drink his. I had no idea what that would do, besides corrupt me further. He stood and walked behind me. I refused to turn around, even though his movements intimidated me. Suddenly he was next to me whispering in my ear, “That shouldn’t have happened. Effontating both of us shouldn’t have spliced your skin off… And you know why it did. Tell me.”

Repressing the urge to run, I sat rigid. “You screwed up,” I lied. “You lost focus. Effonating two people is hard and you weren’t strong enough. It had nothing to do with me.”

His fingers were around my forearm before I could blink. He threw me across the room like a ragdoll. My head hit the wall, as my back crashed against the headboard at a weird angle. My muscles flexed, wanting to fight back, but I was so weak from effonating that I couldn’t. Eric was watching me. He leaned back against the nasty sink, staring.

He finally said, “You’re weak. Why?”

I looked away from him trying to figure out how to get out of here. It was a room. I just had to get to the door. A bead of sweat rolled down my spine. I shoved my shaking hands into my pockets, so he couldn’t tell how much he rattled me. “You fed me Valefar blood. What did you think would happen?” I stood and faced him, blank-faced.

Eric’s eyes turned to slits, “I’ve fed others Valefar blood and took them with me, too. They arrived with their skin on. You did not.” He straightened and walked slowly towards me. The pit of my stomach fell into my feet, as I swallowed hard trying to hide my fear. “No,” he said, “something happened to you. Something happened after I left you in Hell. After you sent me looking for Shannon, without telling me what you did…and lying to me about where you sent her.” His eyes were rimmed in red. His expression was dark, as the look in his eyes intensified. “But I found her. And now I have you, so we can find out what happened in the Lorren.”

Eyes wide, I asked, “You have Shannon?” I looked around, but Eric laughed.

“Yes,” he answered, “But she’s not here. I wanted to talk to you first, and maybe drain your powers a little. Just so you can see what you’re in for, but something’s wrong with you.” He stopped in front of me and leaned in, almost touching my face. His breath washed over me as he spoke, “Tell me or I’ll find out the hard way.”

I shoved him. The new Eric made me feel guilty as hell, but his constant intimidation irritated me. If he was going to kill me, just do it. Don’t sit there and play first. The shove didn’t knock him off balance, but it was enough for me to throw in a punch. It connected with his jaw in a loud crack. The sound reminded me of the Guardian’s tooth shattering, and fear filled me. I couldn’t kill Eric, not after I’d done this to him, but I had to get him away from me. The noise made me hesitate when I shouldn’t have. His fist clipped my cheek and sent me flying. My back hit the bed so hard that all the air was knocked out of my lungs. Frantically trying to get up, I tried to catch my breath, but couldn’t suck in air fast enough. Eric leapt on top of me, pinning me to the musty mattress so that I couldn’t move. With a quick yank, I tried to pull out of his grip. He barely had me. I should have been able to do it, but I couldn’t. Panting, I rested my head against the mattress and stopped struggling. I was too weak. His eyes raked my body, looking. His fingers brushed over every inch of me, feeling. I gasped as hands went places they shouldn’t go, and tried to punch him again. But he wasn’t interested in sleeping with me. He was looking for something—for the thing that was causing my weakness.

“Tell me Ivy, or this search is going to become much more invasive,” he commanded. He grabbed my neckline with two hands and tore my shirt open down the front. I didn’t have to say anything, because he saw it. Eric was smart when he was a Martis, and even more cunning as a Valefar.

Breathing hard, weakness consumed me. I needed to sleep. My eyes were heavy, but Eric was examining my scar like I was a piece of meat. His thumb pushed back the top of my bra and he held it there. His hands felt like lead, groping at me. I slapped him away, sitting up, “You found it,” I gasped. “Someone else killed me first. I’m dying. You lost.” Weakness overcame me as I fell back onto the bed and passed out.