Callie

I'm woken up by freezing cold water being thrown in my face, the fact that I'm lying naked on a stone slab not bothering me near as much as the feeling of shackles around my wrists and ankles. The Fireside's nephew has a sadistic twist to his lips as he stands at the end of the stone table while three other men stare at me as though I'm a prime steak.

"Good morning! How was your nap?" The nephew asks sarcastically as he places his hand on my leg and walks up to stand at my chest, his hand running along my skin the entire way. Goosebumps follow his movement, and I shiver while glaring at him defiantly. A growl of outraged fury escapes my lips, and my claws extend when his hand starts fondling my br*ast, making him chuckle.

"There's no escape for you now, p*ssycat. I'll have you primed and broken before the night is over. Then you will tell me who you are and why you were in my study."

Turning to one of the men standing around he instructs, "Dose her good before you bring her to me and tell Grenitch we'll need more in the next few days for the next collection."

I hiss in pain when he twists my n*pple cruelly before striding out of the room.

One of the men standing around me comes forward with a thin wooden tube in his hand and wraps his free hand in my hair, while another grabs my chin. Grunting and fighting against them and the chains, I scream as my head is pulled back.

The tube is inserted up my nose as the last man comes forward, pouring what looks like Nightshade into the end of the tube from a rolled up piece of paper. It feels like molten lava is being poured into my nostril, and I scream louder, this time in agonizing pain. Tears escape my eyes as I squeeze them shut, trying without success to escape the torture.

After a few moments, the tube is removed and the men release me as my body starts to spasm with enough force that I can hear my joints pop. My sight fades into shadows as my body stops moving, and I can feel a line of drool flow down my cheek, but I don't care.

The shadow men come forward to unclasp the metal from my wrists and ankles before backing up quickly, but it's too much trouble to move. A collective sigh of relief escapes them as the one who had poured the Nightshade down my nose heaves me up into a sitting position while the others get me dressed in the servant dress and cloak that Shara had given me earlier. A piece of twine is wrapped around my wrists tight enough to make my hands tingle from the lack of blood flow.

In the back of my mind, I know I should be fighting back and outraged at the men as they run their hands all over my most intimate areas, but I don't have the energy. It's taking all my concentration just to keep my eyes open.

I stumble when the man pulls me off the table, knowing that I would have slammed my face into the floor if he hadn't kept his hand on my arm.

"Master doesn't like damaged goods unless he does the damage hisself," one of the men snickers as I'm led out of the room.