Desperation clawed at her as she tried to shield herself, curling into a ball to protect her arms and face. But Ravon's fury was unchecked. The whip cracked down again, this time against her arms, the coarse leather biting into tender flesh.
"Remove your hands!" Ravon roared, his voice a thunderous command.
"I—I can't! Please, stop!" Violet sobbed, trying to cover herself even tighter. But her pleas fell on deaf ears. The whip lashed her again, her screams tearing through the corridor, raw and filled with despair.
Pain became her world, drowning out everything else. The stinging, burning sensations layered on one another, until she could hardly tell where one lash ended and the next began. Her body trembled uncontrollably, her tears soaking into the floor beneath her.
And then, abruptly, it stopped.
