Page 2 of Flesh & Divinity

“If I see your face tonight or tomorrow, you’ll be punished. Am I clear?”

I meet Ava’s hateful look and kept the disdain from showing on my face as I answer her. “Yes, Stepmother,” I grit out through clenched teeth. The three of them sigh as if it was a big job coming down here to remind me I am nothing but wasted air. The instant the door closes behind them, I growl in frustration. I have two hours left before the land is bathed in darkness and I can finally flee this fucking shit hole and start over somewhere else without those cunts breathing down my neck.

The instant night has fallen, I gather what meager possessions I own and attempt to make a run for it. I manage to make it out of the servant quarters, then out the basement hatch. I see the tree line ahead. All I need to do is make it to the docks, then I can barter my way off this fucking rock and escape to one of the islands.

Freedom is within reach.

I can taste it.

I’ll finally be free of those bitches and that disgusting pig of a king⁠—-

“Lights out, bitch,” is all I hear before I feel a blow to the back of my head and everything goes dark.

A scream tears from me when an electric current flows through my body!

I snap my eyes open, cringing from the pain of the shock and the throbbing ache at the back of my head. The bite of the cold night air has me shivering. I groan as I slowly push to my feet, swaying slightly. My vision is hazy but I blink it away and ignore the pounding headache as I take in my surroundings.

Where the fuck am I?

I turn in a circle and begin to panic when I see nothing but open land.

Where is the palace?

I was running— Fuck, Shannon was there and that’s who had to have hit me but… where am I?

I try to take in my surroundings when suddenly another shockwave flows through my body with enough force to pull another scream from me. The power of it brings me to my knees. I flop forward and rest on my hands and knees, gasping for air.

“You have—” I yelp in fear as I dart forward, jump to my feet and spin around. My breath hitches at the sight of three men standing there. No shirts, just ripped jeans that hang low on their waists and tattoos visibly covering every inch of their exposed flesh, except their faces. They are shielded by masks. Not just any masks, these are made out of glass. The light from the moon reflects off them, making them glisten. “Three minutes to cross the boundary line or the shocks won’t stop,” the one standing in the center warns.

My eyes widen as my mouth parts on a gasp. “Who the fuck are you?”

A cruel laugh stabs through the air, sending a shiver down my spine. “We are your reckoning, Cinder Soot,” the one on the left says.

“Bibbi-boppiti-boo, start running because we’re coming for you,” the guy on the right taunts. My survival instincts take control, so without thought I spin on my heel and run. I have no direction, no way to navigate this strange terrain. I’m running on pure instinct. I crest a hill and bite back a whimper when I hear their feet pounding the ground behind me.

Father above, if you are listening to a lowly peasant like me, then fucking help!

CHAPTER TWO

JAQ

We fan out and herd her toward the fence line, the second she passes those stakes in the ground she’ll be trapped.

She will be at our mercy!

The three of us had no idea who this bitch was until we were banished to this island. Forced to remain here like fucking criminals for a crime we never committed! The worst part? We were never told what the fucking crime was, all we were given was a fucking name.

Cinder Charming.

When an inmate is brought to this island, all the occupants are made aware by the blare of the horn, signaling the boat's arrival. The Keeper—that is what he was named by others before us—told us her name. The instant we heard it, we stole her from the others and ran to our side of this shitty island.

There are only four others here that hold the same amount of power we do: The Huntsmen, Bear Isle, Sand Vipers and Thorn Vale. They have no interest in the bitch and never put up a fight when we took her from The Keeper.

She spots the rotting cabin ahead and I know she’ll choose to barricade herself inside, just like we planned. I smile behind my mask when she does exactly that, then I slow my pace and walk toward the front door. The dumb bitch has just trapped herself. Gus moves to watch the back as Duke creeps along the side of the house.

I raise my fist and knock on the door. “Come out, come out, wherever you are…” I taunt and grin at the sound of her strangled gasp on the other side of the door. “We promise to only hurt you a little, Cinder Soot.”

“Leave me alone!” she screams.