Still, the longer Josiah drew this out, the better chance she had to get herself out of here.

Her heart galloped in her chest, and she slid the knife against the knots.

Maybe she deserved this, after what she’d done to Malphas. Josiah had told her that the incubus had brutally raped and murdered three women just days before. He’d said that the demon had left their naked, broken bodies in a Walden Woods. There were the pictures of three brutalized corpses, shown to Rosalind in the cell as she stood just inches from the incubus.

As she’d stared at them in horror, Malphas had eyed her evenly, his breath rasping. He hadn’t said a word.

Josiah had done all the talking: “That’s what an incubus will do if you ever get near one. This monster would tear you to pieces if we let him free.”

The pictures of the broken corpses had twisted her gut with disgust.

After Josiah had wrapped the demon’s head with the towel, he’d told Rosalind to pour the water over his face. All part of her training. She was too soft, apparently, since she made the fatal mistake of viewing demons as humans instead of as cold, sadistic predators. In a fight for survival, there was no room for gray areas.

She scraped the knife against the rope.

It was too late by the time she realized Josiah had a bad habit of passing on shitty information. There was every chance that Malphas had never been anywhere near those girls.

The watering can scraped across the floor as Josiah shifted it, and fear rushed through her body. She’d gotten nowhere with the ropes. You couldn’t seriously cut through a thick rope by slowly rubbing a blade against it—

Her mind froze as the cloth dampened. It started with the slow flow of water trickling into her nostrils. She held her breath, still rubbing at the robe with the knife, trying to rip through the fibers. She held her breath for what seemed like an eternity, one agonizing second after another, and pain exploded through her lungs. When she couldn’t hold it anymore, her body forced a breath out.

She knew not to breathe in, but her lungs burst with agony, and she couldn’t control it anymore. Involuntarily, she breathed in, sucking the wet cloth against her face. No air. Panic burst through her mind. There is no air. I’m going to die. Her body shook, rebelling against the suffocation. Her vision burst with images of Malphas, his body convulsing as she poured the water on to the towel, the stake still protruding from his chest.

I’m going to die. All rational thought flew from her mind. She’d beg Josiah for mercy, do whatever he wanted to get out of this.

I poured the water. I’m the monster. Sheer terror and agony warped her mind.

After ten lifetimes, she felt the chair tilt up again. Please.

Josiah pulled the towels off her face before yanking off the hood. She gasped for breath, sucking in air. Her wet hair plastered to her face. Icy water soaked her shoulders.