Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Nino cocked an eyebrow. “I have to check her injuries. Pain is inevitable. I assure you, attacking me with a bone won’t do you any favors. I advise you to sharpen and treat it with a fixative to preserve and harden it before putting it to use.”
I blinked at the absurdity of the situation, but sank my teeth deeper into my lip when Nino twisted my hand again. “It’s definitely broken and has been mended wrongly due to a lack of treatment. I need to break it again and then fix it with a cast for it to heal properly.”
A tremor went through me at the prospect of more pain.
“I won’t allow you to hurt her,” Nestore rasped.
“I’ll inject her with something for the pain.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I want it to heal properly. I can handle a little pain.” I wasn’t really sure. After eight months in the basement, I just wanted to be free of pain. I wanted to be free. Free to go where I pleased, eat what I pleased, sleep when I pleased. Freedom.
Though who was I to complain, considering that Nestore had suffered so much worse than I had?
Nino checked my other wounds, mainly bruises and smaller cuts where the belting had split my skin, before he gave me something for the pain in my wrist. “This will help you to sleep. To treat this accurately, I need to take you to a place where I can perform X-rays and have the proper equipment. I’d wait until the morning. One day more won’t change the healing progress.”
Nino glanced at Nestore, who still hovered beside us, covered in grime and blood, and clutching the bone. “You should shower so I can treat your wounds.”
“Maybe I can see Flavia in the meantime?”
“No,” Nino and Nestore said in unison.
I moved toward the window and peered outside. The gardens were unkept. The maze had grown out of control, thorny tendrils rambling across the entrance, reaching into the sky and out to the sides, like spindly arms. A few bodies littered the lawn.
“Will you be okay?” Nestore asked quietly.
“Yes. Take a shower.” I just wanted Nestore to finally drop my father’s bone. Maybe getting rid of all the blood would help him return to himself, to let the beast he’d unleashed against the guard and my father lie dormant.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Nestore disappear into the bathroom, but he left the door ajar so he could hear any sounds of distress from me. Nino looked quite strong and capable with violence, so I didn’t want Nestore to engage in any fights, especially not while his body was still so broken.
A shift to my left made me tense. Nino appeared in my line of vision but still gave me a wide berth. The hairs at the nape of my neck rose.
“You don’t have to fear me. My brothers and I want our territory, and we’ll protect those who stand loyal by our side. Soon, Nestore will have the power to protect you and his other possessions, and you won’t have to fear anyone ever again.”
“I’m not a possession,” I said, bristling at the suggestion. I had felt like a possession of my father all my life, like something he could do with as he pleased. I wanted to belong to myself. I wanted to belong to Nestore too, but because I gifted myself to him, not because he owned me.
“He regards you as his, and I got the impression that he won’t let anyone take you from him. Do you think you’d be free to go if you so desired?”
I frowned. “Nestore loves me.”
Nino tilted his head as if what I said was curious and didn’t make sense. “Is he still capable of such a thing?”
Such a thing. He made it sound as if it were something useless, almost like a superstition he couldn’t understand. “Now that he’s out of his prison, he’ll heal.”
Nino gave me a look that made it clear he thought I was wrong. “Some things heal, but they alter what was there.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. My wrist didn’t hurt anymore. The painkillers had finally taken effect.
“You want him to be a monster, don’t you?”
Nino’s expression remained emotionless. “It’s what he is.”
“He’s not.” I swallowed because he had acted like a monster today. “It’s not his fault.”
“I didn’t say it was. Nothing’s wrong with who he’s become. If it is for you, leave. If he lets you.”
As I emerged from the shower, clean for the first time in forever, I felt reborn. My body still ached with past injuries, but those would heal. Soon, I’d be stronger than ever, and then I’d get revenge on every person who had wronged my family and me, but especially on those who had wronged Amelia. I took Lamorgese’s bone from the heap of my old clothes, turned it in my hand. I could still hear his howls of agony as I ripped it from his living flesh, remembering the look of terror in his eyes. Now that I knew the taste of power, the heady sensations linked to it, I would never give it up again.