Betrayed: Dark beginnings by Rebecca Weeks Page A

suddenly, that Elizabeth felt fear cut into her, something she had not felt for centuries.
    She couldn’t ignore the sickness in her stomach as she watched Lorcan. Cecile stared at the floor, her head felt numb. As bad as it sounds, she wished she had never stayed with Elizabeth. She wanted to leave years ago, but had looked at Elizabeth as a sister, she couldn’t leave her behind.
    “NO!” The old man shouted. Lorcan twisted his hands. Their bodies twisted with them, their bones snapped, and they screamed in agony but they did not give in. Lorcan clenched his fists and the sound of their bones crunching filled Elizabeth’s and Cecile’s ears. Lorcan looked at Tokala and Rosina disappointed and snapped their necks.
    They dropped to the ground, and he threw them to one side. No one had ever seen powers like this. He dragged Elizabeth to the chair in which the old woman was sitting. She sat down obediently as he sat in his. Cecile stood by her side, not saying a word, her face expressionless.
    He looked to the small group of warlocks in the corner of the hall.
    “Gather everyone; tell them to come here immediately. If anyone chooses not to, then they will end up the same way as Tokala and Rosina.” He gestured to their dead bodies.
    They scrambled out the door quickly and ran down the staircase. The sound of sobbing disappeared with them.
    “See Elizabeth, I told you we will live like royalty. You have no idea what I have planned for us.” He said brightly.
    He put his hand on hers. She went to pull away but his grip was firm. He disgusted her, which was a difficult task, as it was rare for her to be surprised or disgusted anymore.
    He had let the power completely go to his head. He had turned arrogant; she hated that. If she could throw up, she would have. She kills people, scares them but never tortures them.
    That is what Lorcan had done. He had caused them unbearable pain with no mercy or remorse. She remembered when she was younger and she had broken her wrist. The pain, back then, felt unbearable. The sound of the bone snapping had made her pass out.
    She couldn’t begin to imagine how that would feel, if it was all of you bones being crushed. She looked down to their bodies sorrowfully. She tried to capture Cecile’s attention, but she seemed as if she was in her own world. Daydreaming, she was simply concentrating on a spot on the wall.
    Witches and warlocks walked in the hall. They all looked at the dead bodies of their former leaders and gasped in horror. The room filled quickly there must have been sixty maybe more witches and warlocks. There was a loud echo of rushed whispers.
    “Friends, as you can see Tokala and Rosina are dead. They did not agree to step down from their thrones. I am now your new leader, and you will serve me.” He stood up and opened his arms as if to welcome them. A young witch stepped forward, looking amused.
    “Lorcan please, you do not rule us.” She said smirking. Laughter filled the room. Angrily Lorcan lifted her off the ground and snapped her neck, like he did with the elders. Everyone’s eyes followed her lifeless corpse as it was thrown to the side of the hall carelessly. Silence protruded throughout the hall.
    “Does an yone else have anything to say?”
    He looked around. No one moved or said anything. They just looked at the corpses of their fallen friends.
    “Good, now you’re probably wondering what happened? You see I have gathered more power than any of you can imagine, and I am now immortal. The young woman sitting next to me is Elizabeth, and she will be my bride. You will all treat her as your queen, is this understood.”
    Whenever he said bride it gave her goose bumps, and not in a good way. A man in the crowd stepped forward and shot a hex at Lorcan, but it did nothing to him.
    The other witches and warlocks joined in, throwing spells and muttering hexes. But they just bounced off of him.
    They all rose off the ground at once; he threw his hands in the