Heartless

❆ Eight ❆

Eight

I froze at the threshold to the cellar. Coggington's words echoed inside me. Forbidden, he'd said. And it hadn't felt like he'd said it to keep his secret safe, but rather to keep me safe. Whatever was down there was something I wasn't allowed to see, nor should I want to. If I went down there, what would I find? Tools of torture and corpses, or something much worse?

Kenji's screams were like a flame igniting inside of me. My feet raced down the steps of their own accord. Beast had his arm wrapped around my brother's throat like a vice as he dragged him down the stairwell. He lifted his hand to open another door at the bottom.

"Stop!" I cried. He whirled around. I jumped back in anticipation of his lash or maybe a raised hand, but he did neither. His face was utterly calm in all the chaos, a portrait of horrifyingly beautiful serenity. Kenji's hand shot out to grab at me. I reached my own to take it but Beast yanked him away. "What are you doing?" My voice trembled when I spoke.

His jaw clenched. "I told you there would be a price, Adaira. I am owed a sacrifice."

My heart lurched into my throat. "No!" I leapt forward and latched onto Kenji's shirt, pulling him toward me. Beast slapped his hand around my wrist and wrenched me off of him. Hot tears poured out from my eyes. "Beast, please!" I dug my nails into his skin but he never budged. "Please!" His eyes burned into me with a haunting look. "Stop!" I glanced between him and Kenji. I am owed a sacrifice, he'd said. A sacrifice- not Kenji.

"Take me," I blurted numbly. My strength abandoned me along with those two syllables. My knees quaked and would have buckled out from under me had he not been gripping me so tightly. His eyes narrowed. "Take me instead."

"No!" Kenji wailed. He thrashed in Beast's arms. "No, Ada don't!"

Ignoring him, I locked onto the silver eyes and felt a tear escape my own. "Take me, Beast. Please. But don't hurt him."

He stared down at me for a moment with his lips pursed and his gaze narrowed in hard concentration. I caught the faintest twitch in the corner of his mouth. A small smirk touched his lips. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recalled his chilling words. You interfered to save your brother's life, risking your own, his voice rang in my head. Struck a nerve... Good to know. I gaped at him.

He'd expected this.

"Coggington!" he roared. I flinched at the deafening echo, but I couldn't tear my gaze from his face. He smiled. He reached inside his back pocket. Before I could move he smacked a cloth down over Kenji's face. His green eyes widened and he bucked wildly, his hands clawing for me. My feet became part of the ground and melted into the floor. I couldn't move even as every part of me screamed to stop him. His struggles slowed, his eyes drooping. Then he slumped back and his head lolled against Beast's shoulder. His arms fell down to his sides.

Footsteps padded down the stairs. Beast greeted Coggington with a nonchalant nod and carefully draped Kenji in the older man's arms. "Bring the carriage to the front, Coggington," said Beast. "The castle is getting a little too crowded for my taste." Coggington cast me a pitiful look before climbing the stairs with surprisingly nimble steps for someone so old.

Beast snatched up my arm again, tightening his fingers to restrain my clawing fingers. He stared down at me blankly. "Your courage is admirable, Adaira, but it's very predictable," he said with a sarcastic laugh, plunging us into the darkness of the cellar. My feet rapidly moved to keep up with him. The torchlight from the stairwell illuminated a long, decrepit table with shiny tools laid out on top. Beast snatched one up and whipped around toward the stairs again. I stumbled behind him, glancing over my shoulder at the cellar before we were back in the corridor. Another whimper blubbered from my quivering lips.