POV Luella
The castle dungeons were cold and damp, but that wasn't what made me shiver. It was the bond. Even separated by stone walls and iron bars, I could feel everything Kyrell was experiencing.
They put us in separate cells, but they can't separate our bond.
The connection that should have brought comfort instead became a source of mutual torment. When they hurt him, I felt it. When his fear spiked, mine did too. When rage coursed through him, it flooded my veins as well.
This is torture for both of us. Every blow he takes, I feel.
Through our shared link, I experienced every moment of his interrogation. Tobias's cold voice asking questions about treason and rebellion. Kyrell's defiant refusal to confess to crimes he hadn't committed.
Then came the pain.
They're hurting him. My mate is being tortured and I can't help.
I doubled over in my cell as agony shot through the bond. Not my pain—his. But the mate connection made it feel like my own body was being broken.
I can't breathe. Can't think. The pain is too much.
Through our link, I felt Kyrell's memories flooding out as the torture continued. Years of abuse from Tobias that had been hidden from everyone. Physical torture disguised as training sessions. Psychological manipulation that made the entire court believe Kyrell was the problem.
All those stories about Kyrell being cruel—Tobias made him that way. He broke his own brother.
I saw flashes of them as children. Tobias smiling in public while systematically destroying Kyrell in private. Teaching him that cruelty was the only way to protect himself. Isolating him from anyone who might care.
No wonder Kyrell doesn't trust anyone. Tobias taught him that love was weakness.
The systematic isolation had left Kyrell with no allies except his own reputation for cruelty. Everyone feared him because Tobias had engineered it that way.
He made Kyrell into a monster so no one would believe him if he told the truth.
Hours passed in shared agony. I felt every moment of Kyrell's suffering, every wave of pain and despair. The bond that should have united us instead became a tool of torture.
They're breaking him. I can feel his strength failing.
That's when Celeste appeared at my cell door, her face pale with determination.
"My lady," she whispered, pulling out a set of stolen keys. "I'm getting you out of here."
Celeste. Thank the goddess.
"How did you—?"
"Questions later," she said, unlocking my chains. "Your mate needs you."
She's right. I can feel him fading through the bond.
Celeste led me through winding corridors to the deepest part of the dungeons. The scent of blood and pain grew stronger with each step.
Please let me not be too late.
I found Kyrell in the lowest cell, broken and bleeding on the stone floor. His black eyes were clouded with pain, and he didn't seem to recognize me at first.
They've hurt him so badly he can't even see clearly.
"Kyrell," I whispered, rushing to his side.
He flinched away from my touch, his body broken from whatever they'd done to him.
He thinks I'm another torturer. He can't tell it's me.
I had to pour all my love and strength through our mate bond to bring him back to himself.
Feel me, my love. Know that I'm here.
"Kyrell," I called again, letting our bond flood with warmth and love. "It's me. It's Luella."
Slowly, his black eyes focused on my face. Recognition dawned, followed immediately by broken relief.
He knows me. He's still in there.
"Luella?" His voice was barely a whisper. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I made you wait so long to claim you properly."
Even now, he's apologizing to me.
"Don't apologize," I said, gathering him carefully in my arms. "None of this is your fault."
My poor, broken mate. What has Tobias done to you?
Through our bond, I could feel his injuries—broken ribs, cuts, bruises covering most of his body. But the emotional damage was worse than the physical.
He's been carrying this pain for years. All alone.
"I love you," I whispered against his hair. "You're safe now. I'm here."
I need to get him out of here. Need to find somewhere safe to heal.
I was helping him sit up when slow applause echoed through the dungeon. Tobias appeared in the doorway, his perfect princely mask completely gone.
"How touching," he said with cold satisfaction. "The happy reunion."
He's been watching us. Enjoying our pain.
"You monster," I snarled, holding Kyrell protectively.
"Monster?" Tobias laughed. "I'm a visionary. Everything I've done has been for the good of the kingdom."
He actually believes that. He thinks torture and murder are justified.
"The artificial bond was merely a tool to keep you compliant," he continued conversationally. "Just like the poison I've been giving father for months."
Poison? He's been poisoning the King?
"You're killing your own father?" I asked in horror.
"He's old and weak," Tobias said with a shrug. "The kingdom needs strong leadership. Once he dies and I eliminate all threats to my rule, I'll be free to build the perfect realm."
All threats. He means us.
"You're planning to kill us," I said, though it wasn't really a question.
"Of course," Tobias replied. "I can't have my psychotic brother and his mate running around causing trouble. Though I must thank you both—your suffering has provided excellent research data on mate bonds."
He's been studying us like laboratory animals this whole time.
Kyrell stirred in my arms, his strength slowly returning through our bond.
"Hello, brother," he said weakly. "Still the same sociopathic bastard, I see."
Even broken and bleeding, he's defying Tobias.
"Still the same defiant failure," Tobias replied. "But not for much longer."
He's going to kill us both. Here, now, in this dungeon.
"Any last words before I end this?" Tobias asked, drawing a poisoned blade from his belt.
This is it. After everything, we're going to die in this cell.
But through our mate bond, I felt something I hadn't expected—Kyrell's strength returning, fed by our connection. He might be broken, but he wasn't defeated.
My mate is stronger than Tobias knows. And together, we're stronger still.