The Bully's Hated Mate
The Bully’s Hated Mate – Chapter 60

CASSIA’S POV:

Two weeks had me on my knees repeatedly being flogged.

I could no longer feel the skin on most parts of my back and while I couldn’t feel the skin, I knew something else now resided there, but what was worse was the way Lucius shrunk further and further seeing me being tortured.

He would repeatedly tell me how sorry he was and even though I never had the strength to reply, I always heard him and I believed it.

Not a hand had been laid on Lucius but I, on the other hand, had whip marks that would stay for days and even when I thought they’d heal up and just leave marks, the sounds of the gates to the dungeon being opened gave me another different idea.

As I laid on my stomach flat, trying my best to gather enough strength before anything happened, I tried to heal myself but Maya was so exhausted.

I couldn’t blame her.

As I lay here, on the cold, dirty floor, I prayed to the moon goddess to let me go, to by some miracle set me free from this torture that now had no end.

That was when the familiar thumping that came from the stairs made me start whimpering.

I already knew what was going to happen and as they came closer, I heard Lucius stand up and go to the bars.

“Take me instead! Please, let her go” Lucius cried.

I already knew that there was no hope for me, my eyes let out a tear as my dungeon gates cracked open, making a wheezing sound.

Familiar hands picked me up and dragged me, my feet leaving trails on the ground as they took me to the spot.

Right infront of Lucius’ cage.

To be whipped like a mere dog.

“That’s enough!” Someone shouted from the shadows as the men’s whip was carefully lowered back to the ground.

I was unhanded and thrown to the floor, my sore back hitting the hard surface.

I let out a scream.

“Quiet!” He said.

Damon carefully walked out of the shadows with Ariadne trailing him from behind.

“I’ve heard enough from you to last me for an entire week. Throw her back to the dungeon.” He said, and the men who had picked me up threw me back into the cage, again making me hit my sore back.

I hissed out another cry.

“Why are you doing this?” Lucius suddenly asked, his voice filled with so much venom and hate.

With no answer forthcoming, he banged the bars super hard.

“Answer me, you a*****e!” He shouted at Damon.

” Goddess. Has anybody ever told you how dumb you are?” Damon asked.

I turned over and found the courage to sit while making sure not to rest my back on any surface at all.

Lucius looked over at me, his eyes bloodshot and dark circles embarassing his face. He looked like s**t.

” You’ve asked this same questions in many different ways and I keep answering it. Well, I do what I do because I can and you deserve it. Get that into your head.” He said.

” Now, before you sour the mood, I didn’t come for this or for her. I came to ask you a few questions actually,” he said, a smile crossing his lips like he had just done the most special thing in the world.

Anger created fumes as Lucius balled his fists behind him.

“How have you guys been, huh? Eating three times a day? Is the service down here any good?” He asked and smiled some more.

“Do they let you use the grounds a bit? Does your feet hurt at all?” He asked.

I was suddenly irritated and anger surged through me like a chimney. He had the audacity to come here after what he’d done and ask us meaningless questions?

“If you’re mocking us, do so with some balls,” Lucius said through gritted teeth, every word coming out as a hiss rather than a word.

“Chill your horses, Lucius. Don’t you know how to take a joke?” He asked and moved to my cage a bit.

I instinctively drew back, enduring the stinging pain my back made immediately it touched the death cold wall.

“What do you want, Cedric?” His name comes out like an abomination to my ears.

“Ariadne dear! How can you like such an unlively and very serious guy? How do you cope?” He suddenly turned to his daughter and asked, surprised and marvelled with Lucius’ tone.

His hands rested on his h**s in surprise and then, he shook his head as though to dismiss whatever just happened.

“What do you want? Haven’t you had enough?” Lucius screamed from behind the bars, startling me and everyone else as he violently shook the bars that seperated him from Cedric.

I was fairly certain that if not for the bars that seperated both of them, he would have crushed Cedric with his bare hands.

“Settle down, Lucius. You need to start using your brain.” Cedric calmly said.

Something about the deadcalm in his voice made whatever he wanted even more monstrous and disgusting to want to hear.

“Now, I’ve noticed you scream a lot. Both of you,” he began

My expression was that of confusion, and why the hell was he so cherry about everything?

“Left to me, I’d rather you scream all day and all night. Screams help clear your voice,” he said and gave a short chuckle alongside it.

“Get to the point, Cedric,” Lucius said.

“Well, this conversation can only be held with you, Lucius — alone,” he gave me a short glance and winked.

” What?” I finally spoke after so long, bringing everybody’s attention to me.

“What do you mean by the conversation can only be held by him alone?” I said again, gathering up courage and standing to my feet.

“You can’t take Lucius away from me!” I shouted through the bars.

If they took Lucius away, they wouldn’t bring him back. They’d kill him up there and I wouldn’t know about it, and then I’ll have to decide how many hours I had left to either reject the bond or die with him.

“Oh, shush! I wasn’t talking to you,” he said to me, waving his hands in the air in a bid to tell me to shut up.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, and I’m not giving you what you want either,” Lucius said, his voice deadcalm too.

I was relived that we both stood on this, I wish we could hold hands so the bond would show even better. We looked to each other simultaneously, and looked back to Cedric.

“He’s not going anywhere and we’ll be out of here in no time,” I shouted at Cedric.

I didn’t know why I said what I said but it gave me this immense feel of power.

Cedric burst into the unholiest laughter I have ever heard. I didn’t let it faze me as I stood my grounds and looked him straight in the eye.

“Oh, gosh. You made me dizzy with your comics,” he said and then went ahead to wipe a tear from his eye.

“We’re going to get out of here,” Lucius repeated. I nodded my head in agreement.

“Where do you think you’re going to go? No, humor me! How do you even plan on escaping, huh?” He suddenly raised his voice.

“For your information, every soldier that ever bore your crest or even carried your royal seal on a vest has their heads hanging on a stake, at a place where crowds and vultures come to rest their feet. So, except by some miracle you decide to vanish from here, I don’t see how that is possible,” he said and looked at me piercingly.

The air left my lungs as my head did an image of what it must be like outside.

“Now, as for the offer of having an audience with you alone,, it wasn’t a request. It was a heads-up,” He said.

” What do you…”

” Take him!” He shouted at the men that had been standing guards.

Like a flash, the doors to Lucius’ dungeon were opened and he was grabbed like a bird.

“Release me!” Lucius growled.

“Lucius!” I shouted and tried to grab his garment through the bars as they passed my dungeon and carried him as though he weighed nothing upstairs.

“Now. You lots, take good care of yourself. ” He winked again and walked behind the guards.

Ariadne gave me the look of death as she too disappeared into the shadows.

I screamed and cried for Lucius but anything that happened up there wasn’t heard and anything that happened down here had the same fate.

I waited for hours as finally the doors to the dungeon cracked open and the thumping footsteps descending the stairs was finally heard.

I smelt him but something was off.

I could tell.

“Lucius!” I shouted and he made his way, still being carried by the arms into his own dungeon.

I pressed myself against the bars, trying to see.

I watched as he walked into his dungeon and sat on the ground, his back to me.

“Lucius?” I asked but he never answered.