Even with my hands bound, I managed to press my palm flat, felt the surface. Smooth and strange. Not stone, not any material I knew from Scalvaris or the territories I'd scouted. This was something else entirely.
And I recognized it.
I'd seen this before, touched it once during the mission when we'd found Terra and the other humans. Her vessel had been made of this, great sheets of it twisted and torn by impact. We'd salvaged some pieces, brought them back for study.
Human construction.
My heartrate spiked. I sucked in air, tried to slow my breathing, tried to think past the panic clawing at my throat.
Where was Lexa?
I'd fallen asleep with her in my arms. Her scent had wrapped around me, her body warm against mine, her breathing soft and even.
Now I was here. Alone. Bound in a room made of salvaged human materials.
And she was gone.
I lurched upright. My head cracked against the ceiling, sent fresh pain radiating through my skull. I dropped back down, crouched on my knees, tested the restraints around my wrists.
The cuffs bit into my scales, tight enough that I could feel my pulse throbbing against the pressure. I pulled, twisted, tried to force my hands through the narrow opening.
The metal didn't give. My wrists started bleeding where the edges cut deeper.
I forced myself to stop. To assess. Panic wouldn't help her. Panic wouldn't get me out of here.
Think.
The room was bare except for me. No furniture, no supplies, no obvious weaknesses in the walls. The door was a dark rectangle in one wall, sealed tight. No handle on this side, no mechanism I could see to force it open.
The air tasted stale. Hot and still, like it had been trapped here for hours. Multiple human scents layered over each other,some fresh, some older. Sweat and fear and something acrid I couldn't identify.
But not Lexa's scent. I searched for it desperately, hoping for even a trace that would tell me she'd been here, that she was nearby.
Nothing.
My chest constricted. She was alive, she had to be. I'd know if she wasn't, would feel the severing like losing a limb.
But where?
I replayed the last moments I could remember. Falling asleep with her wrapped in my wings. The satisfaction of finally having her accept the bond, accept me. The rightness of it settling into my bones.
Then nothing. A gap where memory should be.
They'd taken me while I slept or as I was waking. Ambushed us, separated us, locked me in here like an animal.
Rage surged through me. I slammed my shoulder against the door, felt it shudder but hold. Again. The impact sent pain shooting through my already battered body, but I didn't care.
I had to get out. Had to find her. Had to make sure she was safe and unharmed and still mine.
The door didn't budge.
I tried the restraints again. Braced my feet against the wall, pulled with everything I had. My shoulders screamed. The cuffs cut deeper, blood running down my palms to drip on the metal floor.
Still nothing.
I collapsed back against the wall, breathing hard. My wings throbbed from being held in this cramped position. Every injury from the firebird fight made itself known, a catalog of pain I'd been ignoring.
Useless.
