He tilts his head, that infuriating smirk returning. “Last I saw her, she was attempting to fight off two full-sized gorillas.”
I narrow my eyes at the amusement in his voice as he leads us to the left and down another dim hallway. “And you didn’t think to help her?”
He shrugs, moving to put his hand into his pocket, only to remember he doesn’t have any. “I found you instead. Besides, she seemed to be doing just fine. The female knows how to fight.”
My hand braces the wall next to me as I observe him. “Howdidyou find me?”
Kane looks at me, a thin ring of gold forming around his irises. “We should keep moving. We need to get you to a healer before you bleed out.”
I swallow down my unease but grip my spear more tightly. We walk in silence for another few minutes, my focus entirely on him and the sword he is holding. I slow my steps as the walls begin to change from elegantly painted wood to cold and rough stone.
“It’s a good thing you weren’t in your room. I was up on the second floor, and the rebels trashed it,” he says as we reach a set of double doors. My steps halt again, fear licking up my spine as Kane slows his steps.
“How did you know I wasn’t there?” I ask, watching as he slowly turns, his gaze flicking away from me for a blink before returning to my own.
“Kai was gone,” he drawls, his fingers flexing on the hilt of his sword. “It wasn’t hard to guess that you’d be with him.”
Fair point. Still, the mention of my room… I had only told one person that I’d be there tonight. Something sharp pricks at my neck, making me gasp. Reaching up to the stinging area, my dread grows when I feel not smooth skin but a small vial. I yank it out and bring the dart with the tiny glass bottle attached to it out in front of me.
Swaying on my feet, I look to Kane. “What the hell is this?” Yet he looks just as stunned, his fingers trailing over his neck. I try to stumble away from him, every instinct screaming that something is horribly wrong. An acidic fire rips through my veins, shooting down my neck and over my entire body. I can’t suck enough air in, and a dark haze begins to creep around the edges of my vision. Shit. Shit.
I go to move another step and fall instead, my hands and knees unable to brace my weight from hitting the ground. Boots step in front of me, and then everything goes black.
Drip. Drip. Drip
The incessant sound drags me from the black hole of sleep and into consciousness. The smell of damp earth and mildew mixes with something lighter, citrus maybe.
My body feels heavy, and my veins are on fire. There’s a pulsing pain in my back and leg, a soreness on my chin and palms. I have the vague awareness that I’m sitting with my head lolled to the side. My eyes are slow to open, the clarity of my vision even slower to come in. When it does…
Fucking gods.
Bodies. There are bodies hanging from shackles anddripping bloodon the wall in front of me. Nausea burns up my esophagus, but I force it down, lifting my hand to cover my mouth only for it to come to a stop halfway up. The rattle of chains startles me, and I turn my gaze down to see that I’m shackled at both wrists.
“What the fuck,” I rasp, my throat raw as I wince in pain.
“Ah, she is finally awake.”
I turn my head in the direction the voice came from, only to see the blurry outline of a body leaning against the adjacent wall, his legs extended out in front of him. “Kane?”
“The one and only.” His speech is slurred, the sound of his own voice harsh as it echoes out into the chamber? Dungeon? It looks like a combination of both. The walls, ground, and ceiling are made entirely of thick dark stone bricks, only illuminated by a small flame gem hanging from a glass orb centered overhead. The light is just enough to make out the gruesome details of the three bodies chained by their wrists across from me. Blood stains their exposed skin, dripping incessantly onto the floor.
“What did you do to them?” I ask, my head swimming as my stomach clenches with unease.
“Afraid I can’t take credit for that whole mess. They were already like that when I woke.”
Chains rattle, and I look down at my own to make sure it isn’t me. “Areyoua prisoner?”
Kane scoffs as his chains shake again. “We got attacked at the same time, Bahira. Of course I’m a prisoner.”
“You weren’t leading me into a trap?”
“What?No,I told you. I was taking you to the fucking healer.”
My head rolls to the side as I stare in his direction. “I thought you were working with the rebels. That you were one of them.”
“Well, I’m not.”
“You can’t blame me for being suspicious,” I chide, attempting to stretch out my legs before I hiss in pain. “It’s no secret that you hate Kai and Jahlee. And then there’s that scar on your arm.”
