\[Rosalie’s POV\]
“You're shaking like a limb,” Diego chuckles, finding amusement in my fear. “What exactly do you fear I will do? Do you think I will fuck you here in the open for all to watch? Or do you think I will kill you?”
Opening my mouth, I prepare to respond with the latter but remain silent, knowing my response didn't matter.
“Just do it!” I hiss, closing my eyes. “Why waste time taunting when you've already won?”
For a moment, Diego doesn't speak, and all that can be heard are groans and guttural snarls that indicate that the hunt is over and all those who have been auctioned lost. And when he continues to remain silent, I open my eyes to find that he is looking down at me with disgust in his eyes as he too listens to what is happening around us.
“Is that what you want?” He suddenly asks, taking me by surprise. “For me to rape you right here and now?”
My eyes widen as I take in each and every one of his words, which are laced with venom. Wasn't that why he bought me so that he could do as he pleased? If not, then what exactly was his reasoning, and why did he remove my shirt?
“I hate to break it to you, little criminal,” he continues, baring his teeth in rage. “I am not one to force myself on anyone, and when I do fuck, my partners are willing participants.”
“Then why…” I begin, but stop as he pulls something from his back pocket. It looks like a simple box, but when he opens it, I see a glowing ring.
With wide eyes, I watch as he puts it on his finger and then brings it down between my breasts, burning the flesh there.
“STOP!” I shriek, unable to ignore the burning pain I’m feeling while the scent of charred flesh reaches my nose, threatening to make me hurl. “PLEASE!”
At my words, Diego pulls away the ring and takes in his handy work, and once he is sure that it is to his liking, he gets off of me.
For a moment, I don’t move as I examine his proud face while trying to determine exactly what it was that he was even up to. If he didn’t buy me to use me as a toy, then what other reason was there?
“Get up,” he orders when I continue to not move. “Don’t you dare think I’m going to pick you up.”
Despite his words, I continue to lay there, listening to the sounds around me and fixing my gaze on the labyrinth ahead. What exactly would happen if I were to just get up and run again? Would he kill me for my lack of obedience? I was half-tempted to try.
“Do it, and you’ll regret it,” Diego warns, seeming to read my mind. “I’ve already won this game.”
Giving the chance at freedom one last look, I slowly get to my feet, and once I’m up, my throat is being cuffed and I’m being yanked.
Eyes widening, I reach up and claw at the collar that Diego has placed on me, making me no better than an animal.
“Did you think I was just going to let you follow on your own?” He chuckles. “You’re my pet, and as such, you should be treated like one.”
Pet. He was saying that I was a pet and much lower than a sex slave or breeder.
‘Kill him,’ the darkness hisses, attempting to come forward only to be blocked by some invisible force. ‘What?’
Instantly, shock rushes through me as I understand the purpose of the collar.
He knows. Diego knows what I’m capable of, and this collar he has placed on me is his way of making sure that I don’t retaliate and attempt to kill him like I did my husband and his bastard guard dogs.
“Don’t look so shocked,” Diego calls, watching me over his shoulder. “Did you really think I would allow you to freely use your gift?”
Gift? Was he really calling the thing that threatened to consume me on a daily basis a gift? If anything, it was a curse. One that would end up destroying not only me but all those around me one day.
“Don’t just stand there!”
Gasping, I find myself being pulled forward so that I’m sent crashing to the hard earth below, and instead of stopping to allow me the chance to get up, Diego continues to move, dragging me along behind him while all those present watch in amusement. It is only when we reach the exit of the labyrinth that he pulls me up by my leash to show me and my marked body to the crowd.
“You see this woman!” He booms, continuing to hold me up while the collar around my throat chokes me. “She is mine, and if any of you dare to touch her, I’ll fucking kill you without a second thought.”
“Why?” I hiss, not understanding the point of him staking his claim on me like this. “Why are you doing all of this?”
“Because you’ve got something I need,” he responds simply, releasing me, so I go crashing to the ground once more. “And once I’ve used you to the foolest, I’ll personally kill you with my own hands.”
After that, I’m dragged forward and out of the game arena, where I am thrown into the trunk of a car. Once I’m in place, it is slammed shut, leaving me in complete darkness that reminds me too much of my dark cell back in Blood Moon.
“No,” I whisper as the phantoms from that time begin to swarm me. “No! Go away! Please!” I cry, feeling their claws scraping against my skin. “PLEASE LET ME OUT! NO!”
However, no amount of pleading frees me. Instead, I feel the car jerk forward, taking me from my latest hell to another, while I wish that it would just all end.
“Please let me die!” I beg the goddess while squeezing my eyes shut in hopes of making the phantoms disappear. “Please just end my misery!”
“I can’t.”
The voice is faint, so faint that I’m not sure if I heard it or if I imagined it.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?” I gasp, my eyes flying open. “Why?”
Nothing more is said after that, and I truly begin to think that I just imagined the whole thing, but something deep down in me knows that what I heard was the goddess. But why couldn’t she end me and free me of this pain? Was she forsaking me just like everyone else had in my life?
‘You’re alone,’ the darkness giggles. ‘All alone! You’re a monster, and no one will ever love or want you!’
‘You’re right,’ I respond, curling in on myself. ‘I’m a monster.’
I was a monster from the moment I was born. That was the reason mom’s village didn’t accept me and the reason I was locked away, and now it was the reason I would be used as a tool for Diego.