Chapter <b>116 </b>


    ATASHA’S POV


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    55 vouchers


    My stomach twisted, but I kept quiet. Cassian didn’t exin himself, didn’t even look at me, he just waited, the dagger still wet in his hand.


    Just as he instructed, I stepped closer to Reina.


    Almost immediately, she flinched, chains rattling as she tried to jerk away. “No! Don’t touch me!” she screamed, her voice hoarse. But bound as she was, she couldn’t stop me.


    I pressed my palm to the wound. Heat surged out of me, rushing into her arm until the torn flesh knit back together. In seconds, the blood stopped, the skin smoothed, and there was no trace of what he had done. I pulled back quickly, my stomach heavy with dread.


    “You- Witch! I was right! You are a witch!”


    I ignored her. Without saying a word, Cassian drew his sword.


    The de whistled once through the air before it struck. The sound of steel against flesh cracked through the cell, followed by Reina’s scream as the chains rattled violently.


    I froze, my breath caught in my throat. Cassian’s silence said everything, this was what he wanted. He would cut, and I would heal. And it would go on until Reina finally broke.


    I watched as Cassian moved with the same calmness as if he were sharpening a de, not carving into flesh. His sword rose again, and this time it came down across Reina’s thigh. The cut was deep, slicing muscle until the steel rang against bone.


    Her scream tore through the small cell, shrill enough to scrape at my skull. She bucked against the chains, but there was no escape, only the sound of her rattling cuffs and the gush of blood spilling onto the filthy floor.


    “Monster!” she spat between cries, foam and blood flecking her lips. “You’ll burn for this! Both of you! You-” her wild eyes snapped to me. “You’re no consort, you’re a cursed witch! Everyone will see you for what you are!”


    The words were sharp and ugly, but Cassian didn’t react. He only turned his head toward me, his expression t as he ordered. “Heal her.”


    My hands trembled as I stepped forward and stared at the wound. The gash was brutal, raw meatid bare, blood pooling so fast it coated my fingers the moment I touched her skin.


    I knew Reina did something with the intention of hurting me, but seeing her like this made my stomach roll, bile rising in my throat, but I pushed down the nausea and forced the warmth out of me.


    The wound slowly knit back together under my palm, muscle pulling taut, skin stretching until the blood ceased and nothing remained but a slick smear over her leg.


    She let out a ragged gasp, her chest heaving. “Demon… you’re both demons…” Despite this, the anger in her eyes didn’t disappear. She looked like she was hoping that somehow, the chains would break so she could


    <b>20:33 </b><b>Wed</b><b>, </b><b>Sep 24 </b>


    strangle me.


    <b>42 </b>


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    Still, Cassian didn’t respond. He shifted his grip on the sword, then swung again, this time across her abdomen. The steel bit deep, opening her from hip to hip. The sound was worse than the sight, a wet tearing noise followed by the heavy p of her entrails pressing against the gap.


    I couldn’t hold back the gag that rose in my throat. The smell of iron and bile filled my nose, thick and suffocating. My knees threatened to give, but Cassian’s voice cut through the haze. “Heal her.”


    My breath shook as I pressed my hands to her stomach. Warm, slick blood gushed between my fingers, hot enough to scald. The gaping wound pulsed under my palms, her body convulsing with every cry. I forced myself to close my eyes, not to see the way her insides strained against the cut.


    The energy poured out of me, stronger than before, flooding her broken flesh. Slowly, impossibly, the skin drew back together. But just like earlier, the torn muscle stitched, the blood flow stopped. When I finally pulled my hands away, her stomach was whole again, unmarred except for the stains coating my arms.


    Reina slumped against her chains, her voice breaking into hoarse sobs. “Kill me,” she begged. “Kill me now…”


    I staggered back, chest heaving, my hands sticky with blood that wasn’t mine. My stomach clenched hard enough to hurt. But part of me was not surprised when Cassian only let out a snort. Then he approached her again.


    Cassian’s boots scraped against the filthy stone as he closed in on Reina. His shadow fell across her, and for <i>a </i>moment she stopped struggling, frozen like an animal that knew the predator was too close. He didn’t rush. He tilted his head, almost studying her face, then without warning, he dragged the edge of his sword down


    her cheek.


    The steel cut from her temple to her jaw, leaving a raw, gaping line that instantly flooded with blood.


    Her scream split the air, higher and sharper than before. The chains ttered wildly as she writhed, her head jerking from side to side as if she could shake the pain away. Blood poured down her neck, dripping to the floor in steady streaks.


    My body jolted forward on instinct, my hand already lifting, ready to stop the bleeding, to knit the skin back together before she drowned in it.


    “Don’t.” Cassian’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and final.


    I froze, my hand hovering uselessly in the air. My chest tightened. “But-”


    “Not yet.” His eyes didn’t even flick to me. They stayed locked on Reina, and there was no anger in them, no satisfaction. Just calction. As if she wasn’t even human, just another problem to solve with a de. “No one gets to harm you and not suffer from it,” his words sent chills down my spine,


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    You’re mad-” Reina’s shrieks cracked into sobs, blood bubbling at her lips. “You’re both mad, kill me already!”


    Cassian almost smirked. “Not until you’re useful.”


    He raised the sword again, and this time he didn’t aim for her face. The t of the de mmed down across her thigh with brutal force. The crunch of impact echoed, followed by her strangled cry. Her legs


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    convulsed, the cuffs biting into her ankles as she thrashed.


    <b>42 </b>


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    I thought she’d pass out then, her eyes rolling back, her body sagging against the chains. But Cassian’s head turned toward me, his voice calm, almost amused. “Now. Heal her.”


    My stomach dropped. He was breaking her apart piece by piece, and I was the one keeping her alive long enough for him to do it again.


    I stepped forward with shaking hands. The wound on her leg was grotesque, the skin split open, the muscle beneath swollen and already purpling from the blow. Blood oozed thick and hot. I pressed my palm against it, forcing myself not to recoil at the slick heat under my fingers. Energy pushed through me, rushing into her flesh, and the wound sealed slowly, the skin smoothing, the bone knitting.


    Soon enough, her sobs turned into gasps as the pain eased, but her eyes stayed wide and wild. I looked at Cassian and I immediately knew… he was far from being done.