Cassian’s wrath continues winding its way through me.
“Look at her,” one of the lab coats exclaims. I’m almost tempted to look down at myself to see what he’s talking about.
There’s a rustle of quick, panicked movements, and then my mouth is sealed with duct tape before I even have time to react. I guess they know enough to know what I am. What I can do.
The lab coat stands back. “There. That will do for now, until she’s processed. She won’t be lighting anyone up.”
Smothered, I grunt. My gaze swings wildly, searching for Will, needing to see him again, just once more before I’m taken away and “processed.”
Another hard yank, and I scramble to my feet. I’m pulled forward quickly down the corridor, past the others. Caged bulbs of light emit a merciless yellow.
I’m moving. I can’t see Will or Cassian anymore.
But Cassian’s fear and frustration still reach me. The blistering ice of those emotions wash over me. I look over my shoulder for a final glimpse of them.
Cassian stands statue still, staring after me. Will is talking to one of the lab coats. His gaze slides to me once, briefly, and then away. He looks unusually pale, his hand chafing at the side of his neck as if there were something there he could rub out.
Then I reach the end of the hall. We’re through the door and I can’t see Will anymore.
There is only what lies ahead of me now.
The elevator descends with me in it, surrounded by my captors. They hold themselves distant from me, hugging tight to the walls, weapons at the ready.
Even with my mouth taped, it’s reassuring that they still consider me dangerous. I feel the absence of Will and Cassian as keenly as a knife’s blade. Even as my heart longs for Will, it’s Cassian’s void I feel more intensely as his cold rage fades, departing with him. And it’s not just his rage I lose. His concern, his worry and fear … his doubts. All that evaporates like smoke into the air.
Now it’s just me with my feelings, but at least I no longer have to muddle through my emotions and struggle to separate what’s me and what’s Cassian.
I don’t need to fake my fear as I’m led into the bowels of the stronghold. I’m not sure what I expected … maybe a castlelike dungeon? Either way, the white walls and brightly glowing ceiling aren’t it. The tiled floor is chilly and smooth under my bare feet, and while I usually prefer the cold, I shiver. This is no cool forest floor soft with pine needles and yielding soil. The sterile floor is hard and lifeless beneath me.
We approach a door that slides open silently from ceiling to floor.
I blink at the sudden glare of the room before me. As my eyes adjust to the light, my throat constricts at the sight that greets me.
A long observation table stretches before several cells. They all have Plexiglas fronts with three plain white walls. And inside each cell is a draki. All shapes, sizes, and colors.
I don’t get an exact count. Maybe ten all together.
It’s too much to take in and I can’t move. I’m jabbed in the back so hard that I stagger. The lab coat in front of me shouts, his lips twisting in a snarl as he jerks on my wrists and pulls me up the moment before I fall to my knees. Pain lances through the joints in my shoulders. The plastic ties tighten, cutting off my circulation.
I really am an animal to them. Less than that. A touch of disgust lurks in their eyes, but also a hint of fascination. For all that I’m a beast to them, I’m similar enough to them to creep them out. If I were just a simple animal, a common creature of the forest, they would treat me with more kindness and courtesy.
But I’m not.
I’m this alien thing to them, some freak they view as an anomaly even though my ancestors, dragons, have been here longer than man.
My heart beats a wild rhythm in my chest as I’m shoved forward into the wide room. I quickly scan each cell, not absorbing any draki individually in my search for Miram.
I spot her. My nostrils flare with excited breath to see her alive. She lies curled on her side, her tan, nondescript skin dull, not as vibrant as any of her neighbors. Her eyes are closed and her hair trails over the floor, lank and bland, like dried wheat.
I shout to her in our draki tongue. Despite the tape covering my mouth, I make a lot of noise. Several draki lift their heads in my direction.
But she doesn’t react. Not even a flicker of her eyes.
I scream against my gag, saying her name over and over.
Her eyes flutter open, and I think she’s heard me. She even looks in my direction. Then, no. Her lids close again. I deflate inside. It’s like she doesn’t care. Or maybe she can’t process it’s me. Maybe she’s been drugged. Who knows what they’ve done to her.
Then I can no longer see her because I’m led to an empty cell. The Plexiglas slides open and I’m thrust inside. Several lab coats follow me. They stick me with a new prod and this one jolts me with an electrical current.
I drop, dead weight, choke on a scream. They make quick work of unbinding my wings and wrists as I twitch on the cold floor, able to see and feel but unable to control my movements. In short, hell. They leave the duct tape over my mouth, but I lack the strength to rip it free.
All of them leave my cell except one. He lingers, staring at me with mild interest. My pulse stutters against my neck as I endure his scrutiny, knowing he can do anything to me and I can’t lift a finger to help myself.
He bends down and strokes my arm with a slow drag of fingers that makes my stomach twist sickly. Scalding bile rises to the back of my throat.
Another lab coat appears behind him. “C’mon, Lewis.”
Lewis shakes his head, musing, “This one sure has pretty skin.” He watches me with cold curiosity.
“Yeah, and she breathes fire, so if I were you, I’d get out of here until we’ve studied her properly and know how to deal with this particular dragon. Remember the stories from those hunters who last captured a fire-breather?”
“Think this is the same one?”
“Dunno. Doesn’t matter. My point is she escaped them. Don’t underestimate this one. Now, c’mon.” The lab coat dispensing advice moves away.
Lewis continues to watch me, his head cocked at an angle. “Yeah. But you can’t do anything right now, can you? You’re harmless.” His hand glides over my belly. He palms my flesh leisurely before his fingers grab and pinch me, twisting my skin with swift savagery. “How does it feel to be defenseless? You’re at our mercy now. There’s no escape. Understand?”
After a long moment, he gives a satisfied nod and releases me. “See you later.” He steps back several paces until the Plexiglas slides shut between us.
Alone, I lie still and press my trembling lips shut. It’s all I can do not to scream.
2
I lie on the floor, shaking, my belly still throbbing from where the bastard hurt me. The effects of the electric jolt gradually fade from my limbs and I clutch my knees close to my chest, staring vaguely at the enkros moving back and forth outside my cell. Is this what happened to Dad? Was he here? I didn’t have time to see much before they forced me into the cell. If I called out “Magnus,” would he answer me?
The ghostly, white-coated figures shuffle around, preoccupied with their tasks. Minutes pass before I feel ready to move again. Uncurling, I push up with my palms, my muscles trembling from the effort.
I catch a voice, a draki whispering softly from somewhere to my right. I strain to hear beyond the faint clicking of computer keys and the hum of human voices at the observation table. Two enkros sit there, looking up occasionally. Sometimes at me, sometimes at the other cells. I would bet someone sits there at all times, watching, studying us for anything the cameras in the corners might miss. I hate this. That I can never make a move without being noticed.
I begin to piece together the words drifting through the wall. IwanttogohomeIwanttogohomeIwanttogohomeplease …
It’s a female draki, and I can’t help but wonder if she isn’t a little insane. Who knows how long she’s been here. How long any of them have been captives.
I shiver and quickly remind myself that I only have to survive one day. I can do this. Twenty-four hours and Will and Cassian will come for me. This reminder works—brings me back to my purpose.
I rise, ignore the eyes watching me, the camera lens recording my every move. My fingers grasp the edges of the duct tape covering my mouth and peel it free in one burning rip. I wince and drag in air through my tender lips.
“Miram!” I call hoarsely at first, then again, firmer, beating the glass with the flat of my palm.
The enkros watch me, but I ignore them, knowing that they can’t understand me.
“Miram, it’s me, Jacinda! Don’t worry, Miram. I’m here to rescue you.”
Nothing. Just the girl next door to me muttering her endless mantra. I stop myself from shouting at her to shut up.
“Miram, can you hear me? Please say something. Cassian sent me. He’s here, too. Just outside. We’re here to get you out!”
Nothing. I thought the mention of her brother would rouse her as nothing else could. That’s why I came in. Aside from being here so Cassian can locate us via his connection to me, I’m here to warn Miram … to prepare her for the breakout.
With these urgent thoughts in my mind, I press on. I have to try.
“Miram,” I shout. “You don’t have to answer me, but be ready. We’re busting you out of here. In the next twenty-four hours, we’re escaping. Be ready for it.”
Laughter carries from the cell to my left. Draki laughter. The lab coats on duty seem fascinated by the growling bursts of sound. They fall into a flurry of activity, documenting the strange sounds. Of course. They probably haven’t heard much laughter within these walls.
The sound grates. I press my hands against the wall I share with the laughing draki. “What’s so funny?” I hiss.
The laughter only continues.
I cover my hands over my ears. “Enough already!”
Suddenly the laughter stops. I lift my hands. For a moment, I think I won’t be answered; then suddenly the guttural tones of a male draki scrape the air. “That you think you’ll ever get out of here alive. That I find highly amusing.”
At these words my bravado wavers. I manage to snatch it back and demand through the wall, “So what? You don’t have any hope at all? You’ve just quit? Accepted your lot in here?”
“No, I haven’t quit.” He sounds indignant now. Better that than the draki on the other side of me that sounds half mad with incessant whispering. “I’m just trying to stay sane and alive down here. The friend you’re calling—Miram? She gave up a long time ago.”
I shake my head. “You’re content to live out your days here?”
“It’s living.”
“Hardly. We’re breaking out of here,” I vow. “Just watch.”
The grating laughter returns. “Well, if that happens, I’ll be close on your heels.”
I lower back to the cold floor, resting my legs that still feel as insubstantial as jelly. I eye what I can see of the room on the other side of the Plexiglas: the long observation desk, various cameras positioned at every corner. The few enkros in the room talk in low voices. They seem to be in the process of deciding something. One lab coat glances at his watch and motions to all of us lined up in our cells. Another lab coat looks at me pointedly and shakes his head, clearly disagreeing about something.
I lean to the side until my shoulder touches the Plexiglas. I try to decipher their muffled voices, sure that whatever they’re talking about has to do with me. I need to be ready.
More enkros arrive, and the ones behind the observation table practically bow and scrape before them.
I’m taking it all in, when another draki speaks, her young voice carrying from a couple cells over.