V I

nd distance, and all that remains is the sound of my own voice tearing itself apart as I scream, curse, threaten, b

ed me grow, watched me bleed, watched me train until my body shook, and now it watches me be ripped out of it without protest. Servants press themselves

cts with a rib, followed by a grunt from one of the guards holding onto me. I feel the grip around my right arm loosen for half a second, and that's all the time I need. I rip my arm free long enough to

my c

ay in hell I am

ding my hair and twist sharply, ducking low before driving my knee up hard towards his stomach. I feel it connect, then hear the man grunt out loud, the air leaving him completely, just as he finally lets go of my hair. Another man lu

not exp

snaps to the holster at one man's hip... A gun... s

, the feeling all too familiar, as I tear it free and spin, raising it wi

nte Ac

watched me take down h

ver. Years of drills, years of muscle memory have all led me

me carefully, his gaze momentaril

being shot. His gaze is locked on me, dark with intent, and s

thinking

he exact same moment, hands clamp around my wrists and wrench them upward. The shot tears into the open sky, sp

I stare at him in disbelief. I have nev

e my chest might split open. I quickly snap out of it, realising that no matter how handsome he is, this is the same man who is trying to kidnap me and force me into a marriage I never asked for. And so I begin to thrash, trying

quietly and smoothly, as if stati

y. My wrists twist painfully, and that's when he reaches up to my hands and takes the gun away.

y neck where his breath would lightly fan my skin. For a moment, I shut my eyes, trying my best not to let him get to me

o I'm facing him again, and bends slightly, hauling me u

diately rushes to my head just as I yell out

k, my voice cracking, shredding itself apart. "Put me down!

venting me from striking or clawing. I twist and scream, my rage spilling out of me in ugly, broken sound

mly behind the windows, my home standing tall and indifferent a

s i

s how

roat to tighten as my chest seizes, and suddenly the fight drain

ie

body betrays me completely. Tears spill from my eyes, hot and furious

orn from somewhere deep and wounde

drop me or toss me aside. Instead, he sets me down carefully, still holding my w

d to me. Instead, he lets out a sigh and

ss and humiliation. I cry not because I am weak, but because everything I was has been ripped out of me in one night, because my fathe

the tears, beneath the pain, beneath the rage, a burning feel

is the end of me... but they

e of the Cost