Page 51
He’d seen that spiral burned into an arrow that had killed one of his fellow Warden defenders.
“Do you want to ask him anything, Ryneth?” the Imperial asked.
“I…” Ryneth’s throat felt dry. Now that his gaze had locked on this proof that Concordant was not a rumor but a real nightmare that had made his home tremble, he couldn’t look away.
The prisoner’s head snapped up. His eyes locked onto Ryneth’s. A sneer twisted his mouth. “Look at you,” he barked. “So the stories are true. Helion pumps its sons full of filth. They really do create monsters.”
Was that what Lysa and Karo had meant on the shuttle, when they’d called the Imperial family cruel and just in the same breath? He’d thought they were trying to scare him. Now he wasn’t sure anymore.
Ryneth’s throat went dry. “Where do you hide on Düren?”
The man laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know. But I’m not telling you shit. I’m not—” He cocked his head, gaze tightening. “You. It’s you.” His laugh turned obscene. “Good Light. It’s you. From that night in the skyscraper, when you lit up half the top floor trying to get away. They should have killed you then and there.”
The man’s laugh sounded like grinding stones that made Ryneth clench his jaw.
“Beaten and caged, and look at you now,” he taunted. “Think you’re so tough, huh? You think those fancy clothes change what you are? You’re nothing but a dog in a silk collar.”
“Shut up.” But the insult burned. The memory…tore him apart. Ryneth felt the heat rising in his neck. Had the others heard?
He looked at his hands. He saw the faint blue glow beginning to ghost over his knuckles.
“Your owner’s coming,” the man whispered.
The fear hit Ryneth like a physical blow.
I’ll come when it’s time.
Rage rose so fast it made his head spin.
“They’re going to shackle you, and cage you, and—”
“Stop!” The word cracked out of him.
Did you dress up for me?
The room went thick around him. Shame crawled up his throat so fast he could barely breathe. The message on his slate, the word ‘owner’, the heat in his body, the way everyone was watching him. It all blurred together into something ugly and unbearable.
He didn’t want them to hear. He didn’t want them to know. He didn’t want to feel any of it.
His gums throbbed. Heat surged up his spine. If the man said one more word, Ryneth would break him open.
“Make me,” the prisoner egged him on. His grin widened to show blood-stained teeth. “Show the Helion Imperial how a monster screams when the voltage runs too high. You’re nothing but a broken tool.”
“He’s lying,” Ryneth whispered. His body didn't believe it, but his cock was hard inside his pants. He felt the hunger Milanov had promised. The need to kill slammed into him.
“Lying, huh?” The man looked up and even without looking back, Ryneth knew he was looking at Daven. “Weren’t you just holding this monster’s hand? Has he not told you—”
“Stop!” Ryneth bellowed. The surge thundered through the room, making the doors rattle.
Daven couldn’t know about the message. About the promise that someone was coming to collect him.
The prisoner snapped his mouth shut. Ryneth released more static. It was messy, not meant to kill, and it broke a light bulb and all the glasses inside the cabinet.
“If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Give us a show.”
Ryneth looked over to find Kylix devouring Mirel’s mouth, his grip tight at the other man’s waist. Mirel’s breath came in fractured gasps.
The others were watching. A room of predators waiting for entertainment.
