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CHAPTER 19: Trial by Combat
publish date:
2026-03-15 15:51:31
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BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 35: The Price of Survival
The power felt like being torn apart from the inside.Not pain exactly. Worse. Like every cell in my body was being rewritten. Replaced. Transformed into something else entirely.I couldn't stop screaming.Through the bond, I felt Caspian's terror. His desperate need to intervene."Don't move," Nyx called out to wherever he was hiding. "If you disrupt the ritual now, she dies. Painfully."The ritual circle pulsed brighter. The symbols on the ground began to crawl up my legs like living things.The void corruption in my arm reacted violently. The frozen shadows started moving again, fighting against whatever Nyx was doing.Two types of darkness warring inside me."That's it," Nyx murmured. "Let them fight. Let the void burn out against the shadow. That's how purification works.""You said... you said you'd cure me," I gasped between screams."I am curing you. The void will be gone. Completely." She circled the ritual space, chanting in a language I didn't recognize. "But nature abhors
BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 34: Shadows and Secrets
"Get that thing out of here," I said, pointing at the Shadow Crown. "I don't care where. Just away from me."Ezra gestured to the guards. They approached it cautiously, like it might explode."Don't touch it directly," he warned. "Use a cloth. Silver, if you have it."They wrapped it carefully and carried it away.I stared at the spot where it had been. The stone floor was darker there now. Stained."Three days," Caspian said. "We have three days to figure out what we're walking into.""Or to find another option," Ezra added. "The search for Morgessa is still active. Maybe--""Maybe nothing." I turned away from the stain. "Morgessa's in the Shadowlands. Unreachable. And even if we found her, she'd never cure me willingly.""So we're stuck with Nyx.""We're stuck with Nyx."Through the bond, I felt Caspian's frustration. His desperate need to fix this and his inability to do so."I need air," I said.I left before either of them could protest.The Keep's gardens were quiet this time of
BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 33: The Temple Ruins
The temple ruins sat on a hill outside the city walls.Ancient stone. Crumbling columns. The kind of place where bad things happened in stories.Perfect setting for a trap.I rode alone, as instructed. My corrupted arm throbbed with each heartbeat. The shadows had spread to my collarbone now. I could feel them creeping toward my throat.Days. I had days left.Through the bond, I felt Caspian nearby. Hidden in the tree line with Ezra and a dozen warriors. Close enough to intervene. Far enough not to be seen.Supposedly.The moon was full, casting silver light across the ruins. Making the shadows deeper. More threatening.I dismounted. Tied my horse to a fallen pillar."I'm here," I called out. "As requested."Silence.Then movement in the shadows.A figure stepped into the moonlight.Not Morgessa.A woman I'd never seen before. Young. Beautiful. Dark hair and darker eyes. Dressed in robes that seemed to absorb light."Your Majesty," she said, her voice smooth. "Thank you for coming.""
BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 32: Rebellion
The first assassination attempt came three days later.I was in the council chambers reviewing reports when an arrow punched through the window and embedded itself in the chair where my head had been moments before.I'd bent down to pick up a dropped document.Pure luck.Through the bond, Caspian's alarm exploded. He was in the training yards but he felt my spike of fear immediately.Guards burst into the room, surrounding me. Ezra appeared from nowhere, already moving toward the window."Rooftop across the courtyard," he said, scanning. "They're gone."I stared at the arrow. Black fletching. No markings.Professional."That's the third attempt this week," Ezra said grimly. "Poison in your food. The sabotaged staircase. Now this.""Someone's getting desperate.""Someone wants you dead before the corruption does the job for them." He pulled the arrow from the chair, examining it. "They're not even trying to hide it anymore."Caspian arrived within minutes, still in training clothes, br
BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 31: Infected
"Get the healer," Caspian called out, his voice deadly calm. "Now."He was staring at my wrist where the shadows moved beneath my skin. Slow. Deliberate. Like something alive.Through the bond, I felt his terror."It doesn't hurt," I said. Which was true. The pain had dulled. That should've been reassuring.It wasn't."That's worse." Caspian carefully rewrapped the bandage. "If you can't feel it spreading, we don't know how far it's gone."The healer arrived within minutes. The same older woman who'd treated me after the blood ritual. She took one look at my wrist and her face went pale."Shade corruption," she said quietly. "I was afraid of this.""What does that mean?" I asked."The Shade's touch doesn't just damage flesh, it leaves behind... fragments. Pieces of the void it came from." She unwrapped my wrist fully, examining the blackened skin. "It spreads slowly. Quietly. Until it reaches something vital.""How do we stop it?""I don't know." Her honesty was refreshing if terrifyi
BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 30: Consequences
I woke to pain.Not the sharp kind. The deep, throbbing kind that said my body had been through hell and was done cooperating.My hands were wrapped in thick bandages. My wrist was black and purple, spreading up my forearm like a bruise. My broken leg had been reset and braced properly.I was in our chambers. Sunlight streamed through the windows.How long had I been out?Caspian sat in a chair beside the bed, his head in his hands. He hadn't noticed I was awake yet.Through the bond, I felt his exhaustion. His fear. His guilt eating him alive."Hey," I said quietly.His head snapped up. Relief flooded through the bond so intensely it took my breath away."You're awake." He was beside me in seconds, his hands hovering over me like he wanted to touch but was afraid of hurting me. "How do you feel?""Like I fought a demon from the void and won.""You did." His smile was small. Strained. "The healer said you'll recover. The burns will scar. Your wrist, the frostbite damage is extensive b
BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 18: The Road to Thorncross
We left at dawn.Caspian drove. I sat in the passenger seat trying not to throw up from nerves.David had left yesterday, heading back to his own life. Wherever that was. He'd hugged me before he left, whispered "don't let the bastards get you down," and disappeared like the cryptic asshole he was.
Last Updated : 2026-03-17BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 12: Fractured Bond
The symptoms got worse over the next few days.I couldn't keep anything down. Water, crackers, the bland soup David tried to make. Everything came back up within an hour. My body ached constantly, exhausted from throwing up and the lack of sleep.And Caspian barely spoke to me.He'd moved to the co
Last Updated : 2026-03-17BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 9: Breaking Point
Caspian's phone rang at three in the morning.I jerked awake, disoriented, reaching for a gun that wasn't there. The safe house bedroom was dark except for the glow of Caspian's screen as he answered."Talk," he said, voice rough with sleep.I couldn't hear the other side of
Last Updated : 2026-03-17BOUGHT BY THE BEAST CHAPTER 17: Preparations
The next morning, I woke up sore.Not the bad kind of sore. The kind that came from Caspian proving, repeatedly, that he was very happy about me agreeing to be his queen.Worth it.I stretched, felt muscles protest, and immediately decided I didn't care.Caspian was already awake, sitting shirtless
Last Updated : 2026-03-17
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