Seeing his confusion, Gawain smiled gently. "It doesn't seem to matter how carefully we treat you as allies. From where we stand, you've done nothing to help us."
Van's jaw worked as he nodded. "If that's the case, we don't need to play nice any longer."
"Not to mention if they're not going to talk, they become dead weight," Gawain said. "I say we kill them now and free ourselves of the trouble."
Van's smile was fierce. "I like this idea."
"I thought you might," Gawain said.
The two grinned at the Tenrin.
Through it all, Caden never took his gaze off Tim. He let knowledge of the other man's death fill his face, his expression merciless as he stared the other down.
"Wait, I'll tell you what you want to know," Tim pleaded.
"It's far too late for that."
Caden no longer cared what he had to say. Gawain was right. Tim and the other prisoner’s usefulness was at an end. There was nothing they could share that would be of help.
The Trateri already knew they were being pursued. They knew their enemy sought their deaths.
Everything else was just details.
Keeping the two alive would only cost them. Better to send them on their way to the afterlife.
Because Caden was watching Tim so carefully, he didn't miss the way the other man's eyes dimmed, madness filling them.
"This isn't how it was supposed to go," Tim whispered, glaring at the ground.
Caden frowned as the man rocked back and forth.
Sensing a change in the prisoner, Jane moved closer.
Tim reached up, grabbing handfuls of hair on either side of his temple. "This isn't right."
The behavior caught the attention of Gawain and Van, the two turning serious.
"What is he doing?"
"Not right. Not right," Tim screamed, the other prisoner echoing his cry as the same madness that affected Tim spread to him.
"Does anybody else find this creepy?" Van asked. "This is just unnatural."
Both men had thrown themselves face first onto the ground, madly scrabbling at the dirt until nothing remained of their fingernails but bloody stumps.
Even then they didn't stop.
A disgusted look filled Van's face as he drew back. Gawain moved around them, his head moving as he studied their behavior.
"Have you seen anything like this before?" Gawain asked.
Van sent him an incredulous look. "Are you joking?"
The men's breathing accelerated until they were panting. Just as quickly, their faces flushed red, the veins in their temples popping out.
"How about you? Is this behavior familiar to you?" Gawain asked the Tenrin.
The mythological shook his head, his features uncertain. Almost as spooked by the situation as Van.
