by Kiersten Fay
“Are you done?” he said when her screaming was interrupted by the necessity to breathe.
“Kyra!” She heard Cale’s voice again. “Are you okay?
She took in a few more deep breaths. The Kayadon pulled away from her, not quite out of sight. “I can’t move!” she called back in a panic-laced screech.
“I know. Ginn said that would happen.”
“Ginn?”
“Your cellmate.” Cale was clearly pissed.
Her eyes—the only thing she seemed to be able to move—shifted to the Kayadon. The monster lifted his bony hand to wiggle his fingers at her.
“What is going on?” she demanded. “Cale, why do you sound so muffled?”
“We’re in some sort of medical facility. I woke up yesterday. The paralysis wore off a little afterward.”
That was good news at least. She continued to try to take control of her body. The most she managed was to turn her head a fraction. The ceiling of her cell was high and backlit. Three walls were cream in color and sterile looking. The forth was a solid clear pane.
“Why is there a Kayadon in here waving at me?”
“Ginn,” the Kayadon exclaimed.
Cale replied, “I don’t know. He claims to be a prisoner.”
“Test subject,” Ginn corrected in a seemingly uncaring tone. He was relaxing against the wall now.
Test subject? The phrase sent a spike of dread down her spine. “Is there a Kayadon with you too?” she yelled back to Cale.
“No,” he grunted in disappointed. “They know I would have killed it if there was.”
Ginn didn’t react to Cale’s words. With Cale being awake for a full day, she could only imagine the verbal crossfire that had already passed between the two.
To the Kayadon, she asked, “What do you mean by test subject?”
“I’m in the last stages of a disease that is killing me. Once one of us gets this far along, you either defect or turn yourselves over to the labs for testing and observation.”
“You’re sick?” she asked dumbly.
“Yes. All of us are.”
Kyra filed that away. “What kind of testing?”
“Anything you can imagine,” he responded ominously. And unfortunately her imagination was far too seeded.
“So you’ve signed yourself up to be a lab rat, for what, the good of Kayadon kind?” she sneered.
“No, little one, I defected long before I reached stage five—”
Cale hollered, “Do not listen anything that lying scum has to say.”
“I’ve no reason to lie, demon!” Ginn yelled back, again sounding exacerbated.
Kyra waited, saying nothing.
“Are you from one of the guilds, little Faieara?”
So, the Kayadon knew of the guilds then.
“Don’t tell him anything,” Cale ordered.
“No need to answer,” Ginn said dismissively. “I can tell that you are. Why else would you have been found all the way out here?”
“Why did you defect?” Kyra asked, avoiding the question and unable to quell her curiosity.
“I lost faith in my leaders,” he said, surprising her. “I do not agree with how they have handled our crisis. If it is our destiny to die, then so be it. But there are those who cannot accept it. So, here we are.”
“Why here?”
“Something about your suns slows the process. We have been able to survive longer than anticipated. Also, those of your kind who heal can all but stop the disease in its tracks. Unfortunately, none, that we have found, have been able to reverse it. Would you like me to adjust you into a more comfortable position?”
“Keep your hands off of her!” Cale roared.
“Your male fears I will harm you, but I promise I will not. I’m quite curious where you found a demon, I might add.”
“Why? Because you failed to exterminate them all?” she accused.
“Ah, yes. Our history with the demons is much more complicated than your mate has come to believe.”
“I’m not his mate,” she said automatically, then regretted it.
Cale went silent.
She thought she felt one of her fingers move, but couldn’t be sure.
Ginn paused for a long moment. “I was sure…He acts as though you are.”
If only…
“What happens to one of your kind when they defect?” she asked, hoping to learn as much as possible. The surest way to win was to know the enemy—assuming she and Cale were going to get out of here to pass along anything they might learn.
“Repulsed by the actions of our own kind, we resign ourselves to die, I suppose,” said Ginn. “We did not used to be this way. We were a proud, intelligent race. Then the sickness came and it changed us.”
“Can you tell me about the sickness?”
“We aren’t sure how it started. Many speculate it was born in a lab, the result of ego and carelessness. Others want to blame outsiders. My belief is that we’ll never know for certain. Too much time has passed.” He paused. “The first to die were the children. It swept through them quickly. The elderly passed soon after. Not but a handful of our women still live. Only the strongest of our kind have been able to evade death thus far. Naturally, we sought a cure and our desperation made us ruthless.”
Cale hissed a noise of disgust, but said nothing. She could turn her head a little farther now, and she caught sight of him across a narrow room. He had a cut on his face that looked to be healing, and he watched her with such intensity she was surprised she couldn’t feel it.
Ginn continued, “I wonder at times if the illness changed more than our outer shells. I have looked into the eyes of my oldest friends and no longer know them.” His words were layered with an ancient sorrow.
The opening of a creaking door silenced them all. Kyra, unsure if she should be seen awake, closed her eyes, leaving herself a crack of vision. Another Kayadon walked past, ignoring them. Out of sight, what sounded like drawers opened and closed.
Then the newcomer spoke. “Still angry, demon? I hear it took seven darts to take you down, and still you wake ahead of schedule. Remarkable. But then, your kind always was. It really is a shame that extraordinary strength and endurance could not be tapped. It was so like our own.”
“Fuck you,” Cale grated. She could imagine what his face looked like.
“As eloquent as ever. I would love to know how you got onto this planet, but I suppose I must resign to be disappointed. Your people are extremely hard to break, and I haven’t the time to try.” To Ginn he said, “How is your companion doing? Has she awakened?”
Kyra waited for Ginn’s reply, expecting him to give her up, but he didn’t. “She sleeps soundly yet.”
“No matter. I merely await her blood test to decide her fate.” The male walked away, turning off the lights as he went.
Long afterward, Kyra kept still.
“He’s gone,” Ginn assured.
She peeked one eye open, then the other.
Cale looked infuriated. “What do they plan, you wretch?”
Ignoring the insult, Ginn replied, “Their only interest in you, demon, is as Malachi said, to find out how you got here. Why, and when. She is Faieara. They are testing her blood for the presence of blood magic and for her lineage.”
“Why my lineage?” Kyra blurted, alarmed.
“Blood magic is detectable.” He paused. “Most of the time. Cognitive magic is not. However, we’ve documented the hereditary nature of your people’s magic and have been tracking bloodlines to predict an individual’s abilities.”
Cale barked out a curse.
“What happens when they find out?” she squeaked.
“It depends. Are you a healer?”
“No.”
“Then if your magic is in the blood, they may try an extraction. Or, if your bloodline is promising, they may attempt to breed you.”
Cale spat, “Over my dead body!”
“Obviously,” Ginn said dryly.
&nb
sp; Shoving away the idea of being forced to breed, Kyra probed, “What do you mean by extraction?”
“They take the blood and attempt to genetically alter it for public consumption. If it works, you’ll be transferred to a larger facility to become a permanent donor.”
Teeth grinding, she hissed, “How can you sound so blasé about that?”
“I’m not long for this world and haven’t the energy for tact, but I am not without compassion, little one. I did my best, until my illness made it impossible, to free as many as I could. It may hearten you to know there are still some on the inside who do the same. Not all of us are the monsters we appear to be.” He exhaled a weary breath. “I do assure you that I am sorry for what’s been done to your people, and for what it’s worth, yours as well, demon. But there is nothing I can do to change it.”
Kyra hesitated. “What if there was something you could do?”
“What do you mean?” he said, just as Cale barked, “Kyra, no.”
“Hypothetically, of course.” she added. “What if you could do something to free all Faieara?”
“It would have been done already. Either by myself or others in the Resistance.” As if anticipating her question, he added, “The Resistance is a guild, the first, I believe, and a large one. It’s made up of both Faieara and Kayadon, though I hear it’s dwindled in size. Time is not on their side, you see. Unless they’ve recruited a powerful healer.”
“So…you would help my people? Even if it meant the downfall of your own?”
“I would. Like I said, to me, our destiny is clear. We must accept it.”
“You cannot trust him, Kyra,” Cale warned. “He could have been placed here to gather information from us.”
“I’ve learned nothing from you,” Ginn argued. “Other than she is not a healer, if that be the truth. And in case you haven’t been paying attention, I am not the one prying.”
Kyra was starting to regain some feeling in her body and realized she was lying awkwardly with one leg bent under the other. She attempted to move with mild success.
Ginn noticed. “I can help you sit more comfortably.”
She nodded. Her joints were on fire from whatever drug they’d pumped into her, and when he lifted her, she cried out from pain.
Immediately, Cale began slamming his shoulder into the clear pane of his cell, his irises firing. She realized the sound of his body crashing against the barrier was the thud, thud, thud she’d woken up to. Then she noticed a large heavy bruise darkened the skin of his upper arm.
As Ginn leaned her against a wall, he said, “The pain will ease, but your magic will continue to be blocked for some time.”
“Blocked?” she repeated, partly distracted by what Cale was doing to himself.
“Yes, haven’t you noticed? Surely you’ve tried to use it by now.”
“No,” she replied absently. “Cale, please stop that.”
The skin on his shoulder was starting to break. Thankfully, he obeyed, falling to his knees with an expression that made her chest twist painfully.
“Hmm…” Ginn turned thoughtful. “Must not be useful in situations such as this, then.”
She ignored his observation. “Ginn, is there any way of getting out of here?”
He shook his head, sorrowfully. “They’ll keep your magic suppressed, even if it is useless to you. And although your demon had been putting in a good effort, these walls are unbreakable. Made of a very strong transparent metal.”
“What about when they bring food?”
“That comes through a thin slot in the wall at your back.”
“What about—”
“They’ll only open the door when they come for you or I, and I am too weak to overpower anyone. The demon will be gassed, once the curiosity fades.”
Her head shook as her mind attempted to reject the last statement. The door burst open, and the Kayadon—Malachi—entered in a rush. He stopped in front of the clear pane and gaped at her with something akin to awe.
“Royal blood,” he whispered.
A heavy ball of air clogged her lungs as panic surged. Ginn’s face froze in shock. She wanted to deny it, but words failed her. They both stared at her like starving beasts to a steak.
Cale’s gaze fixed on the floor, eyes wide, as though he had retreated into thought.
She didn’t think it was possible, but Malachi’s expression turned even more horrific, twisting like a decomposed Halloween pumpkin. “Ru may be the first to actually receive his reward.”
Ru?
Cale’s words flashed through her mind. Ru showed me a good location for you to practice.
Why would one of her own betray them?
Cale peeled his lips back, baring his fangs. His eyes burned and swirled with rage. She imagined he was contemplating all they ways to rip Ru to shreds. Hell, she was doing the same.
To Ginn, Malachi said, “And if she turns out to be a healer, Ginn, you could be the first to be cured.”
“She is not.” he replied, still slightly befuddled.
“Even still, all royal blood contains magic, and as you well know, there is always more power in her line.” On his way out, she heard Malachi exclaim, “I can not wait to perform the extraction.”
Adrenalin coursed as her mind seized on the word. Forcing herself to think straight, she said, “What did he mean ‘as you well know’?”
Ginn continued to gape at her. “All Kayadon know of the power-filled royal blood line. We are obligated to alert the heads if we ever come across it. They pray for a royal healer.”
Fear finally overwhelmed her, and tears began to trail down her cheeks. “If I told you I was a healer would you recant your previous statement? Would you change your mind about helping the Faieara?”
His silence was answer enough. She didn’t even know why she’d asked. She wasn’t a healer, but if she were, then of course he’d take advantage. The instinct to survive would overcome.
Chapter 31
Still paralyzed, she watched Cale prowl the length of his cell. He had yet to return from his trip to the Edge. His normally light colored horns burned red, looking as though they would sizzle at the touch. His eyes glistened like flowing lava.
She tried to calm him, but it was hard when she couldn’t keep the fear out of her voice. “We’re going to get through this, Cale, but I need you to stay with me.”
He barely acknowledged her plea.
Hope didn’t fully leave her until she saw the dentist chair from hell being wheeled in by a new set of Kayadon. Just as Ginn had said, her power was stifled. Not even terror woke the beast from its coma. The pounding of her heart threatened to break through her ribcage.
Throat tight, she rasped, “Ginn? What are they doing?”
He’d moved away from her to sit against the far wall.
“Extraction,” he replied.
The word reverberated through her, heightening her building panic. “Will it hurt?”
“Yes.” He didn’t sound happy or sad for her, just apathetic.
The clear pane of the cell slid partway open, and two Kayadon with weapons pointed at Ginn entered. Their dark robes swayed with each step. With a bored expression, Ginn raised his hands as though this were a routine he’d witnessed a thousand times.
Another Kayadon entered and went for her.
Cale’s roar vibrated the walls. It only succeeded in making the Kayadon pause and share a look. Soon enough, she was being strapped in to the chair. First her arms and legs, then her neck. Cale let out a vicious snarl.
Mustering up a steady voice, she called, “Cale, don’t watch. Turn around.” She didn’t want him seeing her like this.
He didn’t respond, just continued to prowl like the caged animal he was. Whatever the Edge was, she got the feeling he had flung himself over it.
Put me there forever.
“No, no, no,” she chanted just before a belt strap made its way between her teeth and was yanked tight. She was completely immobile and even more
frightened because she could no longer see through her tears.
The chair dipped back, angling her toward the ceiling.
The distinct sound of Cale ramming himself against his cell started up again. He sounded monstrous in his fury, and the thudding tuned into a terrible crunching sound. With each blow, she winced.
Someone said, “He’s not going to stop. Just gas him.”
Kyra screamed around the thick, leathery restraint. When a faint hissing sound started, her heart dropped painfully and bile rose in her throat. Her limbs lay flaccid when all she wanted to do was flail.
Cale continued to barrel into the wall with the force of a freight train, but after a moment she noticed he began to slow.
Her mind went wild. She sucked in air, feeling like she wasn’t filling her lungs at all. Panic surged, taking root and spreading like a weed. It filled every cell, every vein. It crawled and clawed like a…like a beast.
Her thoughts froze and then sprang to life.
Instead of pushing it back, she pulled it forward, calling to it like a malicious pet. Her joints became inflamed, but she ignored the pain as magic tried to dig its way out of her. And when Cale roared, so did her magic. It pulsed and pushed and clawed, sensing delicious freedom. Though it might tear her apart from the inside out, and though she heard herself screaming from the agony, she smiled.
Raged coated Cale’s vision in red. These Kayadon would die painfully. His claws itched for their blood. But first, there was nothing more important than getting to Kyra.
Dimly, he registered his shoulder had been dislocated from battering the wall, but felt little pain. Seeing his mate like this was the only thing he could concentrate on. It was the worst kind of torture. Nothing could compare. With each bone-grinding ram, he convinced himself he was making process.
Just as he heard the faintest clink in the barrier, a Kayadon crossed to a panel and pressed a sequence of buttons. Cale rushed the wall harder. At the impact, a crack splintered like a web. He focused all his strength on that spot, bashing himself against it, using his body like a battering ram.
A hissing sounded and the air grew heavy. At some point, his lungs began to burn as though he’d drunk a vile of liquid fire. He only managed one more hit before he was forced to one knee. Beyond the haze of his fury, he couldn’t fathom why.
