|[ DEATH'S APPRENTICE ]|

[Chapter Twenty-Three]

I unbolted the door and moved outside into the bitter cold. The wind lashed against my skin as cruel and keen as a whip and I lifted my hood back up to spare my raw cheeks. Haleck was dead. Now I was going to find the Zealots. And then I would be finished. No... there was still Nathan... I sighed. I wasn't even sure I could do it. Killing a stranger was becoming easier by the day, but to kill my brother... to kill the last family I had left. Maybe I could get away with letting him live – just leave before I do it.

I had once told Malik I didn't want to leave – that I liked being alive in this place with my brother and without abusive parents of men. But I wanted to go. Everything was cold, and rainy, and empty. And everything had memories tied to it. True some were good – I never wanted to forget those brief moments I had with Malik, both in this life and past ones, but the bad far outweighed the good.

I stared down at the dark depth below me, wondering how I was going to get down. Climbing down would be far more difficult that the ascent. I bit my lip, thinking. Maybe I could try to sneak down through the inside of the castle, but no doubt the servant would enter the unlocked door and find Haleck's body, and then I would have far too much trouble trying to sneak past everyone. There was the sound of something tears beside me and I ducked as a figure popped into existence beside me.

"Come with me." the Zealot said, deftly blocking my sword as I struck, "I have someone who wants to see you." I growled at him, moving to slice his head off when another appeared behind me, grabbing my sword arm. I lashed out, kicking him in the stomach, but he didn't let go. A second later felt as if my body was being torn apart. I screamed as pain seared through my shoulders – surely both of my arms had been torn off, and my legs seemed to be enduring the same torture. My skin was burning, being flayed from my body. This was worse pain than using my Mark – worse pain than having your heart torn out.

And as suddenly as the pain had started it was over. I blinked in shock, gasping for air, watching as the world around me swam into focus. I shuddered, feeling weakness sway through me and my legs buckled. Stone walls splattered with muck and dried blood suddenly became a solid barrier around me and I couldn't stop myself from flinching. Where was i? I looked around, aware of the two zealots still with me – one now had my sword. As I fell to my knees the tightened their grips on my arms, yanking me back up. But they couldn't make me stay standing. I let my legs go limp. There was a high-backed throne behind me, made of glittering black stone and for a fleeting moment I thought it was Death who sat on it. But the figure before me was certainly not Death. He smiled pleasantly at me with a charming smile. He had dangerous dark eyes and ashy blonde hair that almost glowed in the dim light of the chamber. I bared my teeth at him in a feral snarl. I could feel dark magic and deceit rolling off him like a physical thing.

"Where am i?" I demanded, keeping my voice firm. I ignored the fear bubbling away under my skin like boiling water. The man's smile widened slightly, straight teeth gleaming.

"Cora, my dear." He said smoothly, "Dear, dear Cora."

"Who are you?" I snapped, my voice cracking slightly, "What do you want with me?"

"I do not want anything from you," the man smiled, "I have something to offer you." I narrowed my eyes at him. Whatever it was...

"I don't want it." I snapped angrily, "Let me go."

"Oh, I didn't expect you to accept It." the man laughed. "That would've been no fun at all!" His smile had an eerie edge to it, "Get her on her feet. And bring her to the Arena." The two zealots grabbed me by the shoulders and hefted me to my feet. The man stood and walked to the passage that branched out of the room. I was roughly shoved forwards, a hand on my head, keeping it bowed. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the grinding pain in my shoulders, and walked. As we passed through the passage entrance the arch sealed over behind us and we were plunged into darkness. I could barely see, but the zealots seemed to know where they were walking. Within a few minutes light appeared before us and the man's silhouette stood in a new doorway.