Triton's Oath - His Hybrid Princess

11 - One down...

****Warning, this chapter contains torture!****

Ava

“Before we go in,” I stop walking and turn to Triton, my hand still in his. “This is my fight. It’s up to me what happens to them. I want you with me, but I don’t want you to treat me like some kind of fragile little flower. I can handle this. If I need your help, I’ll ask for it. Okay?”

He smirks at me. “I don’t, for one moment, think you’re a fragile little flower, Ava. You are anything but. I will leave this to you, though I cannot promise I won’t be angry. However, I will do nothing unless you ask it of me.”

I smile because he gets it. Triton is becoming more and more appealing as the minutes tick by.

Lucky me, huh?

I nod at the guards outside the dungeon, who tip their heads and let us pass. The smell of dust and stale air fills my nostrils as soon as I walk the long corridor to the part of the dungeon kept for the worst criminals. I know where Philip and Yolanda are; Thane mind-linked me to let me know.

The dungeon is eerily quiet, yet I can’t shake the feeling of being watched. My fingers tighten around Triton’s. I’m not scared or nervous; I’m furious! I can feel the rage bubbling inside, and I am trying so hard to pull it back.

“It’s okay, my love. I’m here with you.”

I smile. “I know you are. It means everything to have you here with me, Triton.”

“Ava? Is that you?”

Hearing Yolanda’s voice calling out like an echo makes me growl. That evil, twisted bitc.h is going to get it!

The floorboards creak as I approach a door at the end of the hallway. The paint is chipped, the wood warped with age, and I wonder how many secrets it has kept over the years.

With a deep breath, Triton and I descend the staircase into the dungeon’s bowels. A cold draft brushes against my skin, carrying with it a scent that makes my stomach turn—the unmistakable metallic tang of fear.

Damn, Thane was not messing about. He wanted Philip and Yolanda to suffer before I made them suffer. Nice!

There isn’t much down here – four small cells with nothing in them but a bucket for the prisoners occupying them to do their business. There are no guards down here because there is no way for anyone to escape. Fools like Philip and Yolanda don’t even have the brainpower to try escaping.

Goddess, it’s grim down here. It’s also dark, but for the torch candles flickering on the walls. I can’t see where I’m going.

“Any chance you could make it lighter in here?”

Triton chuckles at my question and waves his hand, filling the place with enough light for me to see where I’m going. Good. I want those bastards to look in my eyes when I end them.

“Thank you, handsome.”

He chuckles again. “You’re welcome, beautiful.”

Our footsteps echo through the emptiness as we walk toward the cell that Yolanda is locked inside. She looks like shi.t. Her once vibrant red hair is all over the place, her clothes are rags, she has bags under her eyes, and the burns from the silver around her wrists, ankles, and neck are visible even in the dull light.

She gasps and clambers to her feet. “Ava, you’re here.”

I roll my eyes, then narrow them as Yolanda’s eyes zone in on my hand in Triton’s. Her eyes widen, and she growls.

“What the hell is this?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but this is Triton, my mate.”

Yolanda’s eyes widen to the size of Mars as she takes a step back. Stupid bitc.h is stunned.

“I want to know why, Yolanda. Why did you hurt me the way you did?”

“I didn’t hurt you.”

I chuckle darkly. “You didn’t hurt me? You assaulted me and then left me in the woods like trash! Why!? What did I ever do to you?”

“I didn’t mean to, Ava. You have to believe me. I was drunk on Kathien. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“You didn’t mean to do it,” I nod.

I look at Triton, tip my head to the bars of Yolanda’s cage, and he smiles. Silver can’t hurt Triton, but he has not yet marked me, and it could cause me pain. With a wave of his hand, the bars open on Triton’s command. I’m not worried about Yolanda getting out; she won’t.

Yolanda stares at me with tears in her eyes, quivering because she’s scared of what I’ll do. Tears won’t work on me. I give not one shi.t how upset she is; she didn’t care how upset I would be when I woke up and realized what had happened!

Yolanda’s eyes search mine, looking for a glimmer of the friend she once knew. She’ll find no friend in me. The moment she touched me, she ruined any friendship we had!

“Please,” She whispers, her voice cracking. “I’m sorry you feel hurt by what happened. I did it because I love you. I have loved you since we were fourteen.”

The confession hits me like a sledgehammer. I was not expecting that. Yolanda never told me how she felt about me. We were friends, nothing more.

Love, she said?

What she did was not love. Love does not rip apart souls and leave them shattered. But it is a confession that only fuels my rage.

“You call what you did to me love? Love does not betray. Love does not hurt! And you did hurt me, Yolanda.”

“I know.” She mumbles.

I shake my head. I don’t want to hear any more about why she betrayed me the way she did. I don’t need to hear her reasons because they mean nothing to me. Knowing why won’t change the fact Yolanda aided in assaulting me in ways no one should ever do to another person.

However, there is one thing I want to know.

“Whose idea was it? Which one of you decided to drug me and assault me?”

Yolanda licks her dry lips. “Philip’s. I swear, I was only going to walk you home. But Philip said that no one would know, that you wouldn’t know. We were going back for you, Ava. I would never have left you there to wake up alone. But I was so out of it that I didn’t know what I was doing. When I went back to the forest, you’d gone. I knew then we’d be in trouble.”

I roll my eyes and scoff. “You pathetic cun.t! I don’t give a damn how out of it you were, Yolanda. You still managed to get yourself home. Do you know what? I don’t care. It’s done. But I want my locket back. Now.

Yolanda is caked in dirt and sweat, and she trembles as her eyes flick from me to Triton and back again. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She stammers, her voice a brittle whisper. But the lie is evident in her eyes, a desperate attempt to cling to a shred of power.

Triton’s voice fills my head. ‘Here, a little gift for my love.’

I furrow my brow and look at my right hand and the dagger I’m now holding. I look at my mate and smirk. He winks at me. Damn, I could get used to this. It’s like Triton just knows what I need and when.

I step closer to Yolanda, the light from the candles on the walls glinting off the silver bars. “Do not test me, Yolanda. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve seen my locket many times. Now, where is it!?”

Yolanda hisses and whimpers as the tip of the blade grazes her cheek. Blood flows down her face, and I smirk at the fact she won’t heal from it.

“I know you have it, and I want it back. Now!”

I feel sorry for Yolanda’s Lycan. She doesn’t deserve any of what’s about to happen, but it cannot be helped. Yolanda brought this upon herself, and she will have to answer to the Moon Goddess when the time comes. I only hope Yolanda’s Lycan gets to be reborn to someone worthy of her.

Yolanda suddenly laughs, a broken sound filled with spite. “You think I’d tell you? After what you’ve become? I’d rather see you burn in hell!”

“What I’ve become?”

“Yes. A whor.e!”

Triton growls loudly, but I shake my head. I don’t need him to be angry on my behalf, even though that’s a stupid thing to say. However, I can handle this.

I turn back to Yolanda. “I’m the whor.e even though you were the one who attacked me. I see how it is.”

Yolanda sneers at me, and I wonder how we were ever friends.

My eyes narrow, and I grab a fistful of Yolanda’s hair, yanking her head back. “You’re going to tell me where my locket is,” I whisper, my breath hot and menacing. “And if you don’t, I will make you wish for death.”

The silver chains that bind Yolanda are a testament to my power over her—a power born not of friendship but of the hate I feel for this woman and what she did to me. Yolanda isn’t sorry. If she were, she wouldn’t keep laughing. Maybe she’s lost her mind, or perhaps she was always deranged, and I just never noticed.

I’m fast losing my patience. Yolanda knows where my locket is, but she’s holding out on me. She knows there’s no way out of this, and I won’t even pretend I’ll let her go if she tells me the truth. I don’t play games because they’re pointless. But if she doesn’t tell me what I want to know, I’ll make the torture last days!

With a snarl, I slam the dagger into the stone wall, mere inches from Yolanda’s face. “Where is it?” I demand again, my hand tightening around her hair in my fist.

Yolanda’s laugh is manic now, a cackle that echoes through the damp dungeon. “You’ll never find it,” She taunts. “Even if you torture me to the brink of death, I won’t tell you. It’s lost to you now.”

The air grows thick with tension, the flames of the candle torches seeming to pulse in time with my ragged breaths. I know I can’t kill Yolanda, not yet. The locket is the key to my past and true self, and I won’t give up until it’s in my possession. But I can make Yolanda suffer and make her understand the depth of her betrayal.

‘Don’t let her off easy, Ava.’ Amarni growls inside my head.

‘Show her the meaning of pain.’ Amelia pipes in.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll show this bitc.h why she should never have messed with me.’

‘That’s our girl.’

I smirk at Amarni’s words.

The worst thing Yolanda could have done was underestimate me. I look at Triton, who smirks before waving his hand. I marvel at the thick leather gloves now on my hands.

‘To protect you against the silver, my love.’ I hear my mate’s voice inside my head.

I wink at him before turning back to Yolanda.

“Very well,” I say, my voice icy. “Let’s begin.”

And with that, the screams fill the dungeon, a symphony of pain and regret that resonates through the very stones. I have never felt more alive, more in control, as I wield the power of the silver chains and the agony they bring to Yolanda every time I yank on them and smack them against her body. The sound of sizzling flesh does nothing but make me laugh.

Each cry from Yolanda’s lips is a sweet note in the cacophony of my own shattered heart. But it’s not enough. The locket remains lost, the truth of my past just out of reach.

“Tell me where it is!” I yell while grabbing Yolanda’s left hand. I yank the dagger from the wall and bring it down on her fingers. One by one, I cut her fingers from her hands. Her screams do nothing but spur me on.

“Please! Don’t! Please stop!” She screams through her sobs of agony.

“Please don’t? Please stop? Did you stop when you assaulted me? Did you think of the pain you would leave me in? No, you didn’t give a damn! Pathetic! The hands of those who touch me without permission will be severed.”

I cut her hands off and watch the fingerless mess fall to the floor. But I’m still not satisfied. So, I continue with torture, not stopping for anything. I want Yolanda to feel pain before she dies. I want her to feel a little of what she’s left me with!

Yolanda’s screams grow hoarse, a testament to the pain I’ve inflicted. Her once smooth skin is marred with burns from the silver. Stumps now sit where her hands once were, and the stench of fear permeates the cell. But the bitc.h remains defiant, her eyes flashing with a twisted love that only angers me further.

Triton watches from the shadows, his eyes never leaving me, his silent presence a comfort and a warning. If I ask him to, my mate will end this right now, but he’ll stand there and do nothing until I’m ready.

Chopping and hacking at Yolanda’s body is exhausting, but I won’t stop. The silver chains sing a macabre melody with every strike, their tune a grim reminder of the bond of friendship that has been shattered. My mind is a maelstrom of emotions—hurt, anger, disgust, and a deep, gnawing need for the truth.

Yolanda’s sobs irk me. But finally, she opens her mouth to speak. “I’m sorry,” She whispers, her voice barely audible. “I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I just wanted to be close to you, to have a piece of you.”

I pause, the chains in my hand suddenly feeling heavier than the world itself. “You had me. You had my friendship, my trust. That should have been enough.”

Yolanda’s eyes search mine, the madness slowly draining from them. “It wasn’t,” She murmurs, her breaths shallow and pained. “It was never enough.”

“So, instead of being the friend I thought you were, you partnered with the man I cannot stand to attack me. You stupidly left me in the woods where anyone could have found me. You had to know it would come to this, Yolanda?

“You attacked a Royal Princess with no thought to the consequences. Okay, forget the Princess thing. You were my friend, and you should never have hurt me the way you did! I can’t and won’t forgive you. When I leave this place, I will never think of you again. You won’t even be a distant memory because you will be nothing.”

“Just kill me,” Yolanda whispers with her eyes closed. They’re heavy with pain, and I know she won’t last much longer. She’s losing too much blood because she can’t heal. But I won’t let her die until she tells me what I want to know.

With a heavy sigh, I lean in close to Yolanda’s ear. “Where is it?” I ask my voice a whisper that carries the weight of a scream.

Yolanda’s eyes, now open, flick to the dagger in my hand. She knows this is the end. There is no reason to beg for mercy; she won’t find any with me.

“Philip took it as a keepsake,” She rasps. “I don’t know what he did with it, I swear. But he had it all along.”

My grip on the chains tightens, and I nod curtly. “Good. I guess I’ll be paying him a visit.”

Yolanda’s chuckle is weak, a mere echo of her earlier laughter. “He’ll never tell you where it is, Ava.” She says, a sly smile twisting her bruised lips. “Be careful, Ava. He’s not as forgiving as I am.”

I step back, my eyes never leaving Yolanda’s. “You think I want forgiveness? Stupid bitc.h! It’s you who should be begging for forgiveness! Though you will never get it. All I want is justice.”

I slam the dagger into Yolanda’s right eye with swiftness and strength I didn’t know I possessed. Her left eye stays on me, even when the light leaves it.

One down…