The King’s Cursed Bride Sneak Peek: Chapter 120

Quint began to drag her by her hair, towards a corner of the cell. She bit her lip as agony ripped across her skull. A bucket sat next to the wall, half filled with scummy water. A memory flickered in her mind—Akar dunking her head in the trough. She remembered to gasp before Quint plunged her head into the bucket.

The water was cold, so hold her head ached, as if her skin were freezing and tightening around her skull. She breathed out slowly, letting the bubbles tickle her chin before shooting towards the surface.

Seconds trickled by, their passage marked by the throb of her head and beat of her heart.

Once her lungs were nearly emptied, she tried to lift her head, but Quint shoved it more deeply into the bucket, slamming her forehead into the wooden bottom. A flurry of bubbles escaped her lips. A heavy pressure gripped her chest, tightening bit by bit until her lungs felt like lead. She needed air.

Her heart buckled beneath her sternum, as if trying to escape the increasing pressure. She tried to twist away from Quint, but he was stronger—and her ankles and wrists were bound.

Against her will, her lips parted and she sucked in a mouthful of water. It reached her throat before she started coughing, only for another involuntary gasp to draw more water in. She’d thought the water cold at first, but now it burned, branding her lungs, her throat, her nose. It felt like she’d breathed in a handful of red-hot nails, ripping and shredding and searing as they went down.

Quint yanked her back out just as her vision began to swirl, and she crashed to the floor, her wet clothes slapping the stone. She gasped and sputtered, her cheeks wet with water and tears. Hot shame engulfed her at her own weakness as sobs escaped her lips.

Quint chuckled as he stood over her. “No marks.”

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