This door also opened without trouble. Too bad trouble waited for him on the other side. Big trouble. Pain drilled through his skull.
28
YELENA
Disoriented, dry-mouthed and dizzy—the all-too-familiar aftereffects of sleeping potion. My blurry vision sharpened, along with the ache in my temples. I wished I hadn’t opened my eyes, but I couldn’t unsee the bars surrounding me or unsmell the wet, mucky dungeon stench mixed with the acrid odor of burned lantern oil—another aspect that I was well acquainted with.
Perhaps it was time to reexamine my life.
Bruns no longer knelt by me, and I no longer sat in a chair, but was sprawled on a pallet of straw. Better or worse? I pushed to a sitting position and groaned as intense pain danced behind my eyeballs. Nausea rolled, splashing up my throat.
Resting my head in my hands, I willed my stomach to settle and hoped the repeated dosing of sleeping potion hadn’t harmed the baby.
“It’s about time you woke up,” Janco grumped.
Oh, no. “I’m not awake. Because you’re not in here with me. You’re outside the garrison, rounding up the cavalry.”
“I hate to break this to you, sweetheart, but the cavalry is hanging with Bruns in the canteen, quaffing down Theobroma and kissing his rich ass.” The strain in his voice failed to match his flippant tone.
I swiveled. Janco stood in the next cell. Even in the dim lantern light, a bright red bruise shone on his swollen right cheek. His fake ear was gone, replaced by bloody scratches. His uniform was torn and blood stained the fabric.
“Is it as bad as you look?” I asked.
“Worse.”
“Don’t tell me.” I scanned the small cell, searching for a way to escape.
“I’m all for denial, but it won’t last.”
“Ignorance is bliss.” I ran my fingers through my tangled hair. The lock picks were gone, along with the set I’d hidden in the uniform Bruns made all of us wear.
“He’s smart, Yelena. And pissed off.”
I spotted a cup of water near the door. At least he wasn’t cruel.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Janco said when I raised it to my lips. “Unless you want Bruns to be your master.”
Stopping, I sniffed the liquid. Theobroma muddied the water.
“Can you say hunger strike?” Janco joked.
His words slammed into me as I realized that the joke was on me. I had to drink and eat for the baby’s sake. If we didn’t escape soon, eventually I’d consume enough Theobroma to be turned into one of Bruns’s supporters.
“Where are we?” I asked, setting the cup aside...for now.
“I thought you didn’t want to know.”
“Changed my mind.”
“We are in the special holding cells under the administration building.” He gestured to the four others—one next to him and three more across the aisle, which were all empty.
“Special how?”
“This place is saturated with magic. I can barely stand it.”
“Do you have any of your...toys?”
“No. They took everything, and the building has only one entrance. It’s probably surrounded by dozens of guards.”
Alarmed, I asked, “What happened? How did you get caught?”
In a rough voice, Janco told me about Leif’s plan to stage a fake rescue and his own reconnaissance. “...checking the basement of the dining room and...”
“And?”
He leaned on the bars as if they alone held him upright. Alarmed, I stood, reached through the bars and put my hand on his shoulder.
“And,” I prompted again, but more gently this time.
“And I walked right into a nest of nasties. We gotta start confirming dead bodies, ’cause I’d like to avoid being surprised and mind-raped again.” He scrubbed a hand over his face.
At first, he didn’t make any sense. I repeated his words in my mind, picking up on the significant bits. “Who isn’t dead?”
“The brother-sister team of horror who was with Owen and Ben.”
A cold knot gripped my insides tight. “Loris and Cilly Cloud Mist?”
“Yeah, them.”
That meant Bruns and the authorities in Lapeer had lied. No surprise about Bruns’s deceit; I was more concerned about Captain Fleming in Lapeer. Had he been bribed or coerced, and why the ruse? “Are you sure?”
“No doubt,” he said drily. “Loris is living below the dining room. He claimed his sister is alive, as well. She’s at one of the Cartel’s other garrisons.”
“Was Ben with him?”
“No. I didn’t see him.”
I gestured to his bruise. “Did they—”
“Nope. I turned tail and hopped right on out of there like a good little scared rabbit. Made it about halfway through the dining room before he aimed his magical mind mojo onto the soldiers eating supper. At least I managed another couple steps.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “You couldn’t have predicted they’d be here. They were reported dead by Devlen—a reliable source.”
“And Dev trusted the captain. Which ya think would be an okay thing to do, considering all Fleming did to help rescue us from Owen.”
“I guess that’s a puzzle to be sorted out later.” If there was a later.
“Yeah. Too bad I knew exactly what was gonna happen when they dragged me to Bruns.” He shuddered.
And now his mind-raped comment made sense. “Bad?”
“Oh, yes. They know everything, Yelena. Leif’s hiding place, Dax and Hale’s involvement, where Ari’s located...everything.” His covered his pained expression with his hand.
While I wished to panic over the dire news, I suppressed the emotion so I didn’t upset Janco any further. Pressing closer to the bars, I pried his hand away from his face and held it in both of mine. “Ari and the others are smart, Janco. Plus three of them have magic. They’ll be okay.”
He stared at our hands. After a long moment, he met my gaze. “What are you doing?”
“Uh...comforting you?”
“The pain’s gone.”
“See? It’s working.”
“No, not that.” He pulled his hand free, scowled at the air, then grasped my fingers for another moment. Letting go, he signaled, The magic disappears when you touch me.
Like a null shield?
“Not quite,” he said.
“Then what?”
Switching back to the silent communication, he signaled, It’s like...my ability to sense magic has been turned off. But when you let go, it returns.
I concentrated, deciphering Janco-speak. Like something is blocking your ability?
“Yes, that’s it!”
“Lovely.” I’m contagious. I yanked my hand back and tucked it into my pants pocket.
No, that’s a good thing. Janco bounced on his heels. Think about it. If Brother Horror tries to read your mind, you can touch him and stop it!
“I don’t know.” I considered. Owen had no trouble using his magic on me.
Did you touch him? Skin to skin? It didn’t work on me until you grabbed my hand.
The horrific events that I’d been suppressing for the past two months sprang to life. Owen had tried to erase all my memories. Except he’d been interrupted, and the events that followed jumbled together into a blur of being dragged along behind him, then tossed onto the ground. Valek had arrived, and Owen pressed his fingertips to my forehead. His magic had sliced right through me like a bolt of lightning.
Yes, he touched me and almost killed me, I signaled.
Janco rubbed his chin. Well...your blocking power was new then. Maybe it’s growing stronger.
Jolted by the word growing, I placed my hand on my abdomen.
Janco noticed the gesture and he grasped the bars, stiffening in horror. “You’re—”
I pinched his lips shut. “Remember where we are.”
He used the hand signals to admonish me for risking the baby’s life and asked if Valek knew.
?
??Yes,” I said aloud.
He relaxed, grinned and signaled, Valek will bring an army to rescue you.