“Switch back to Furinian if you have anything important to say,” I said to Talonius in his language. “They're listening.” I nodded toward the camera.
He didn't even glance at the cameras but nodded as if he'd already known.
“Talonius, this is Rainvaren. Rain, this is Talon,” I introduced them.
“I said you could call me Talon,” Talonius said to me. “I didn't sayhecould.”
“Fuck you, Fury,” Rain huffed. “Like I give a shit.”
Talon chuckled. “Right back atcha, Dralmar.”
“Oh, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship,” I declared as I rolled my eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hours later, after a bland meal of rice and boiled chicken, I was sitting on my bed, wondering where in all the realms my men were. They should have found the island by now. I knew there were a lot of islands in the South China Sea but how many looked like the one I was on and was in the same general area? It couldn't be a lot. So where were they?
Then the sirens sounded again.
“You've got to be fucking kidding me,” Rain growled.
“Bishop still doesn't know what my magic is,” I muttered. “This is probably another attempt to find out.”
I had told Rain about everything that had happened during my last visit with Bishop, even the Bleiten. He had laughed at that, but now it wasn't so funny. I hoped Bishop wasn't hurting the Bleiten warrior in some kind of brutal interrogation. He'd already proven that he had no qualms about torture.
The supe inmates went to the doors of their cells, eager to be released. The joke was on Bishop; I didn't have my magic back yet. Unfortunately, that meant I was about to be in a world of hurt. Bishop would be able to watch whatever happened, but it wouldn't reveal anything about me, other than how I screamed.
“I don't want either of you dying for me,” I said grimly to Rain and Talon. “Stand down this time.”
“What?” Talon growled.
“I don't have my magic back yet, which means that neither do you, Talon. You'd have to fight with brute strength, no shrieking, and I can't help you.”
“So, you admit it was you who dropped those supes?” Talon grinned.
“Fuck you, Amara,” Rain growled before I could respond to Talon. “You can't expect me to stand here and watch as you're gang raped.”
“Maybe they won't try it again.”
Rain grimaced at me. Talon snorted. Yeah, I didn't think so either.
The doors opened, and the supes burst out of their cells. Rain rushed out of his and straight to mine. Talon joined him, but he didn't sink into a fighting stance as Rain did, just stood there in a casual, crossed-arm pose and stared at the brawling supes disdainfully.
“Don't do this,” I begged Rain and Talon. “I can survive it. I have healing abilities.”
Talon glanced back at me with a look that said,Shut the fuck up.
Fire flared. Electricity danced over metal. Water swept through the cells. So many different kinds of magic filled the room that I couldn't keep track of them. Men started to scream and blood gushed. I tried to keep calm. The other supes were tearing each other apart just to get to me. Just for a few moments of pleasure with an unwilling woman. I almost pitied them, but I was too terrified to be that benevolent. I had become the prize in some kind of twisted gladiatorial event. The inmates had completely given up on their plan to share me. Or perhaps after what had happened the last time, they didn't trust each other. Whatever the case, it was every man for himself.
Supe bodies fell. Most would recover, but some took their final breaths on that cold, metal floor. It was worse than a battlefield. These men had no honor and no weapons other than their bodies. The fighting was brutal, magic flaring through the entire space along with the sound of roars, screams, shouts, and a terrible cackling.
I really didn't want to find out who was cackling.
A supe made it through the gauntlet. I didn't recognize him as a member of an alien race, but his gray skin reminded me of Davorin's magic. A stone man then. That would be how he had survived. If he was like Dav, he could also turn other people into stone—except they wouldn't be able to shift back as he could. I searched the pile of bodies behind him, but didn't see any that resembled statues. Then I realized that he wasn't stone at all but had some kind of thick hide like a rhinoceros. He was built a bit like a rhino too, his hulking shoulders bowed with muscles and his jaw prominent. He came barreling toward us.
Talon stepped forward and just stared the rhino down.
The thick-skinned man came to a stumbling stop and glared at the Fury. “Get out of my way.”
