Page 162 of House of Crimson Cloak and Silver Teeth

“We’ll ship him to Tiamat headquarters,” she says, crossing her arms as she looks down at me. “Let the Judges decide his fate personally.”

Stark and Quinnlan exchange a glance.

They know what that means.

The Quartermaster pauses, tilting her head as she considers me. “Though I imagine they’ll send him straight to the crypts.”

My stomach drops.

She snaps her fingers and two guild members appear from the shadows.

They materialize like they were always there, just waiting for the signal. Both wear standard blacks and are armed. Neither speaks.

“Put him in holding until the transport arrives,” the Quartermaster says without looking at me.

“Goodbye, Wolf,” Quinnlan says as the guards reach for my collar. His tone is almost friendly as if we’re parting colleagues.

“Maybe they’ll use you to train the novices instead,” Stark adds with a cruel smile. “At least you’ll finally be useful for something.”

The image forms of me in a training yard, young assassins practicing and using me as a living target. They’ll use me as a punching bag and a demonstration of technique.

Heavens fucking help me. It will be years of that before they finally get bored and finish me off.

The collar compels me forward with Quinnlan’s command. I have no choice but to follow the guards when the magical leash tugs. I’m a puppet on invisible strings, animated by someone else’s will.

The journey is a blur of stone hallways and locked doors. We go deeper into the building and the sounds change. There's less activity and more silence as we reach a small cell. This is where they keep the things they want to forget. The bars are made of poisoned malachite stone designed to neutralize any magic a prisoner might try to use. Even standing near it makes my skin itch. The green stone glows faintly in the darkness, pulsing with suppressive magic.

“Get in.” The guard shoves me forward with the blunt end of his spear.

Metal clangs as the door slams shut behind me. The guards leave without another word, their footsteps fading up the corridor. Complete and crushing silence follows, broken only by my own breathing. Suddenly, I feel the magical compulsion releases.

What?

The constant pressure against my thoughts vanishes. I’m alone in my own head again. For the first time in days, my thoughts are my own. Even if all they contain is despair.

My legs give out and I sink to the floor. The stone is freezing against my belly, my chest. I don’t care. I lie there and let it all wash over me. All the emotions I’ve been suppressing just to survive come flooding back at once.

They’re going to ship me to Tiamat tomorrow.

Kitty is out there somewhere and the thought that five hunters are closing in on her is worse than anything they’ll do to me in those dark catacombs.

She’s good, but five hunters against one target? She might already be captured. Maybe she's in her own cell somewhere, waiting for her own fate.

There’s not a damn thing I can do to help her.

I’m locked in a cell and cursed into an animal form. I can’t do anything except lie here and know she’s in danger and it’s partially my fault for dragging her into this.

I press my muzzle to the stone and close my eyes.

Chapter Twenty-Four

My captors leave me alone in the cage as night falls, assuming the iron bars are enough to keep me here. The guards’ footsteps fade up the corridor. I hear a door slam somewhere above, then silence.

They’ve done their job and moved on to other duties. In their minds, I’m secure and contained, no longer their problem. The iron bars have held countless prisoners before me. Why would a wolf be any different?

The collar still burns against my throat. It sits heavy around my neck, warm and alive with magic. But something’s different now. The active compulsion has gone slack. Quinnlan’s commands were tied to proximity or perhaps intention. Without active commands from the sorcerer, I can think clearly for the first time since the transformation.

My thoughts are my own again. I’m not clouded by someone else’s will pushing through my consciousness. The relief is almost dizzying. I can plan, strategize, make decisions without fighting through the barrier spell.