Chapter Twenty-Nine
MY BODY WAS SO TIRED, and the only thing that mattered was rest. I tried to shake off the foggy mist that surrounded my mind. Wasn’t there something important I was needed for? My eyes wouldn’t open, and I couldn’t lift my arms. The daze I struggled with drained what little energy I had left, but I fought against the fog, knowing my life was in jeopardy. I didn’t want to die, especially not now.
Very slowly, I emerged from the haze in which the drug had held me. When my eyes finally opened, I squinted against the glare of a nearby oil lamp. I was lying on a bed in my shift, my arms tied above my head to the iron bedposts. My feet were secured to the footboard.
My mind spun. Travis must have gotten free; it was the only explanation. If he had escaped, that meant Aldwin and Soren would find me soon. I would just have to survive until help came.
I never thought my heart could get ripped out, or that some little part of me could die, but that’s exactly what happened next. A low laugh echoed through the room, bouncing off the rock walls, causing a chill to slither into my heart.
“You, of all people, shouldn’t be surprised, Sage. Someone who has shut everyone out of her life, who has so many personal demons and well-kept secrets…”
I almost gagged on the bile that rose in my throat.
“I didn’t want all of this to happen. I had hoped to use you and your powers a little longer, but I miscalculated how strong you would become and how you would side with those filthy creatures even though they’d almost killed you twice.”
The lamplight reflected in her crazed eyes, and I flinched when I finally recognized her achingly familiar face. Elaine looked down at me with a disgusted sneer on her face, and the wounded beast inside me wanted to howl in denial. Not Elaine.
“Why?” The word slipped through my dry lips before I could stop it.
Her eyes went wild. “Why?” She paced back and forth at the foot of the bed, and I caught a glimpse of the long knife she gripped in her hand. “I loved him! I loved him, but it wasn’t enough. My love wasn’t enough to make him stop dealing with the preternaturals or Cerberus. He poured everything he had into them, and when he was done, he had nothing left for me.” She pounded a fist against her chest.
“And then, how did the vile creatures repay him?” She looked at me, her eyes wide in question. “They killed him, that’s how. He died because he dealt with demons and other spawns of Satan.” She spat the words as if the act of saying them would rid the world of their filth. “I will make every one of them pay, one way or another. I have enjoyed using Cerberus’ money and resources to wipe out the very creatures it’s supposed to be protecting. Even though you stopped me today, the inevitable will happen; they will be exterminated. It will be so much easier when you are gone.”
My body went very still as I searched the face of the woman in front of me for any sign of the person I had once counted as my only friend. God, I had wanted her friendship so badly. The pain from this wound would never fade. What were my options? I only saw one exit, but what would freezing time accomplish if my hands were bound?
“Don’t even think about time freezing,” she spat. “I put enough of the neurotoxin into your bloodstream to make it impossible for you to draw on your little power.”
I tried to tug on my power to test it. “Crap.”
She grinned. “This once, I’m in total agreement with your word choice.”
If looks could kill, I’m pretty sure she would have exploded in an oozing mass on the floor.
“Like I give a damn what you think. So, what are you going to do, just kill me while I am tied up?” I asked.
She smiled as if I had finally asked the right question, but it didn’t make me feel all happy inside.
“No, I have plans for you, Sage. You’ll love it; it’s very sporting.” Her tone put me on edge, but before I could respond, she leaned over and pricked me on the leg.
“Oh, hell,” I mumbled as the darkness claimed me once again.
Time Warper: Fated, A Sage Hannigan Novel Page 30
