by Aliya DalRae
Technically, the extra mental torture Raven was dealing with was karmic as well. The back and forth between them was like a house of mirrors, bouncing from one to the other and then back again. It continued into infinity, until he wasn’t sure where the pain had begun or where it might end.
Every once in a while, Nox would hear Jessica in his mind, asking if he was okay. Bad part about having the shields down, meant he was open to everyone. He’d asked, no begged, her not to contact him during this ordeal, but she was a stubborn thing, that girl. He’d sent back a terse acknowledgement and asked her not to speak with him again. So far, she hadn’t, but there was always tomorrow… and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
Nox’s head fell to his chest, the fight for consciousness becoming a struggle.
A commotion arose at the barn door, and Nox jerked his head up, determined to face whatever it was head on.
A girl stood in the doorway, morning light bouncing off the highlights in her long, dark hair. She was a tiny one, even among the cats, and she was looking at him with something close to hatred.
“You can’t come in here, Kythryn,” one of the cat guards was saying. Apparently, the daywalkers had arrived while Nox was out. They stood ready as well, hands in their pockets where they’d hidden knives or other weapons.
“I just want to look at him,” the girl grumbled, but the cats did not relent.
“Overlord would have our asses,” one of them said.
“He’d be okay with it since it’s me.”
“We’d be in even worse trouble because it’s you,” the second cat chimed in.
“Please, Kythryn. Give us a break why don’t ya?”
The girl’s eyes darted between Nox and the monitors where Raven was on constant display.
“Fine,” she mumbled, then shot a hissing sneer at Nox before exiting the way she’d come in.
We deserve this, he reminded himself. It didn’t make it any easier, but it helped to remember that it was just.
Chapter Seventy-Four
T he second night of the ritual was basically a repeat of the first. As the sun set on the world high above him, Raven paced his stone prison and waited for the next wave of pain to hit him.
His accommodations were holding up pretty well, considering. Proof that Merlin and Viper had put a lot of effort into their task. Had to make sure Raven and his alter ego would not be able to break free and leave a wake of destruction behind them on their way to rescue his brother.
Not that he hadn’t tried.
There were five-inch deep holes in the concrete where Raven had beaten his fists against them. Walls, floor, even the ceiling bore the marks of his efforts to escape.
Pain tore through his back and Raven jerked away from invisible claws, bellowing in agony. Whatever they were doing to Nox, it was coming through loud and clear.
Razor sharp claws tore through the soft skin of his cheek, and he screamed, slapping a hand to his face. With each strike he expected to find blood oozing from the imaginary wounds, but it was never there. Only the pain.
He tried to catch his breath, but the emotions pouring through him, the guilt, the despair, were more than he or his beast could bear. These were emotions he kept locked away, nothing he would ever let loose within his own mind if he could help it. It’s how he had survived the long years after the woman whose name was now branded on his chest had cursed him.
But this was much worse, because the despair? The guilt? They were not his own.
Nox’s emotions tore through him like hot knives, sharper than any of the claws or canines that were tearing through his brother’s flesh. They ripped at his mind, reminding him what it was to feel.
On the other side, he had Jessica. Her emotions surged through him as she still insisted on watching this whole thing go down. Not only did the Legion have cameras on Raven, but they were keeping an eye on the cats as well. That meant Jessica was getting double trouble. She bore witness to his brother taking the lashes meant for him, then watched the resulting reactions as they bled through that familial bond and exploded inside of Raven.
If Raven was feeling her, that meant she had her shields down as well. While she wouldn’t be experiencing Nox’s pain directly from the source, she was certainly getting it from Raven. They had both tried to talk her out of this, out of watching any of it, but she wouldn’t give. Even Harrier had tried to make her see the folly of it, but he’d failed as well.
And so, she watched.
Fire burned up Raven’s calves, the sensation of his tendons separating taking him to his knees. He felt the pull on his arms as the chains that bound Nox became all that supported him, and the shackles dug into his brother’s wrists.
He’d held it in as long as he could, but his beast had had enough. As it had the night before, the animal within burst through.
The spark in Raven’s eyes grew brighter, painting the room with striations of purple light. His fangs lengthened, and his claws extended, and his attempt at demolishing his prison resumed.
Chapter Seventy-Five
A fter two days of this nonsense, I was about at the end of my rope. Nox had pretty much shut down. He wasn’t talking to me at all anymore. Not that he’d had much to say the first couple of nights, but his silence was telling. I wasn’t sure he or Raven either one would be able to get through five nights of this, and I was completely helpless.
I tried to send as much love and happy juju as I could to both of them, Raven through our Link, and Nox that special connection we shared. But how much joy could one woman give when circumstances were so dire?
I was in Merlin’s control room, my butt plastered to a comfortable office chair in front of the tech geek’s wall of information. I’d stashed myself here two days ago, and other than the occasional potty break, hadn’t left my post. I was grateful to Merlin for many things: the food he’d brought to me—which went mostly untouched—and the moral support. But mostly I was thankful for his choice in furniture.
Computer monitors plastered the wall in front of me, showing everything from interior and exterior surveillance feeds to CSNBC.
Then there were the two screens I was most interested in: one showing Raven, and the other his twin. The third night of the ritual had started, and neither male was handling it very well.
Raven’s beast was out already, after only a couple of cats had taken their turns at his brother.
Nox looked utterly defeated. The injury he’d taken to his Achilles the night before had scarcely healed, and he was having trouble staying on his feet. It was determined that this was not a foul, that the injury would heal, and so the cat who had administered the damage had escaped any punishment of his own. I still thought it was a low blow, but nobody was really interested in what I had to say.
I looked up when the door opened and Mason walked in. I’d become used to his visits throughout the night, as he checked on things frequently. What I wasn’t expecting was the presence of one of the cat Shifters, and not just any one. The Overlord of the local Clowder on the Legion Compound? What kind of political shit had gone down to bring this about?
I couldn’t help the growl that rumbled from my throat at the sight of the man. He was the one who had come to take Malcolm away, which was strike number one. And as unrealistic as it was, I sort of blamed him for what was going on with Nox and Raven. I know, I know, they had to answer for their crimes, but it was so hard to watch, and I wasn’t inclined to be reasonable, sleep-deprived as I was.
When Leonard Brandt made his way to the wall of monitors, I rolled my chair back, not only to give him space, but to provide myself some as well.
“This is just another monitor, another feed. I could have seen the same thing back in my barn.”
I could tell Mason was doing his best not to bite the man, the clenching of his jaw a dead giveaway. But he was polite as ever in his response.
“As I’ve told you, taking you to the actual room would not be safe.”
“So, you say,” the Overlord
sneered.
“No wonder Malcolm ran away from you,” I muttered, but if they heard me, nobody said anything.
“We brought you here in good faith. You are seeing exactly what we see as we watch over our males. Merlin has no prior knowledge of your visit, so he has made no adjustments. This should be sufficient.”
Merlin had remained at his seat in the middle of his command center, and while he had barely glanced at the Shifter, his shoulders had tightened, and his keyboard strokes were much more aggressive than usual. He wasn’t a fan of the cat either.
“You speak of good faith,” Brandt was saying, “so in keeping with that, I insist you show me the murderer.”
Mason glanced at the monitors and then over at me before motioning toward the door.
“As you wish, Overlord. Follow me.”
Brandt did as Mason bid but stopped in the doorway and addressed me for the first time.
“Does he know you are watching this?” he gestured at the monitors, where Nox and Raven were both dealing with a lot of pain.
“Of course,” I said. “What of it?”
“Good,” was all he said before following Mason into the hall.
Chapter Seventy-Six
M ason and the Overlord exited the elevator and continued down the corridor to Raven’s cell. Viper was still standing guard, the only thing between Raven and the rest of the world should their precautions fail and Raven’s beast escape.
Viper looked at Mason, his eyebrow raised at the presence of the Shifter, but left the unspoken question hanging between them. “Boss.”
“How’s it going?” Mason responded.
“See for yourself.”
Brandt pushed around Mason, his short stature a poor indicator of the apparent size of his balls. He had to stand on his toes to see inside the room, as Viper had installed the twelve-inch square, reinforced window at a height with the Legion’s Warriors in mind. It was small of him—pun intended—but Mason couldn’t help the bit of satisfaction he derived from this.
“Want I should get you a box?” Viper offered, but Brandt ignored the comment and Mason chose to avoid eye contact with his Warrior.
When Brandt reached into his breast pocket, Viper dropped the humor and reacted as a Warrior should. He’d drawn his weapon and had it pointed at the Shifter’s head, even faster than Mason’s own draw and aim.
The Overlord put his free hand in the air as he deliberately withdrew the other, revealing a cell phone pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
Viper glanced at Mason, then returned his weapon to the holster at his hip as Mason did the same. “Non-Legion cell phone’s not gonna work down here,” the Warrior said as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tapped one out.
Brandt curled his lip and said, “It’ll work.”
Mason peered over the Shifter’s shoulder as Brandt tapped out a text. What is happening to the Vampire?
Mason missed the response when a commotion exploded inside the cell. On the other side of the door, Raven was clutching his arm, then he twisted as though someone attacked him from behind. That was all Mason could see before Brandt obstructed his view by raising on his toes once again.
“Good,” Brandt said as he tapped on his phone. “And now?” It appeared he was one of those people who had to say the words as they typed them. Mason looked at Viper, who rolled his eyes and took a long draw off his cancer stick.
Brandt peered through the window again, watching Raven for whatever reaction it was he expected. After a bit he lowered his heels and stepped back.
Mason peered through the window, unobstructed now that Brandt had moved on, and it was worse than the monitors displayed. Perhaps bringing the Overlord down here to bear witness in person had been the right move. There could be no question that what the male was experiencing was real.
Raven stood in the middle of the room, his face streaked with scarlet tears. His chest was bleeding, scored by his own claws as he fought invisible assailants, clutching his body to stem the pain of wounds inflicted on another.
The Overlord tapped on his phone again, then returned the device to his pocket.
“Satisfied?” Mason asked, not caring one way or the other.
“Quite,” Brandt replied, then stalked down the corridor toward the elevators.
“Asshole,” Viper whispered around the cigarette between his lips.
Mason, glanced at the male and smiled.
“Quite.”
Chapter Seventy-Seven
H arrier stood before the crowd of cats. He was back far enough that he wouldn’t be in the way of their happy torturing, but close enough that he could step in should the need arise. He was restless, though, tired of the whole ordeal. The only thing keeping him here was the promise he’d made to Jessica.
After the previous night’s tendon-slicing incident, Mason decreed that Allon should be present for the remainder of the ritual. He, and only he, would know if the cats had gone too far. Mason had insisted the cats allow the doctor to examine Nox at the end of each of the remaining sessions. They had balked, but eventually relented.
It was getting on toward morning, and the crowd was thinning out. Most of the cats had had their turns at beating the shit out of Nox, but there were always those who got back in line for seconds and thirds.
The barn door slid open and closed again, letting in a touch of moonlight and a lot of frigid air. Harrier looked but couldn’t see who had entered, as the person wore blue jeans and had a hoodie pulled down over their eyes.
A chill ran down Harrier’s spine that had nothing to do with the cold. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, as the person took their place at the end of the line.
Harrier glanced around. The crowd had thinned to a small group of observers who insisted on sticking around until the very last strike when the Overlord called an end to the session. Whispers crawled through them like baby snakes in tall grass, one word chief among the mutterings.
Kythryn.
Harrier swung his attention back to the newcomer just as she looked up. Their eyes met, but she didn’t acknowledge him, made no indication that she recognized him at all. Knowing her, she was probably still in a snit about their last encounter, but that felt off somehow. He raised an eyebrow at her, but she merely blinked before turning her gaze forward, toward Nox.
Something wasn’t right.
The line progressed with a few more people falling in behind her, but Harrier couldn’t shake that disturbing feeling that the shit was about to hit the fan. Harrier signaled the Soldiers stationed to either side of Nox, and they nodded, on alert. Rachel, who had insisted that she needed to be there tonight, stood by Harrier’s side, wringing her hands. Even the good doctor was shifting on his feet as though he were feeling it, too.
When Kythryn reached the front of the line, she glanced once again at Harrier before stepping onto the platform in front of Nox. This put her nearly at eye level with the male, and she looked him square in the face.
Unable to resist, Harrier took a moment to admire the girl. The memory of her reflection in his rearview mirror, standing in the snow in nothing but that oversized sweatshirt stole his attention.
She was talking to Nox, and though Harrier heard the words, they weren’t really registering. He blamed his wandering mind and her damned fine ass for his inability to stop what happened next.
“An eye for an eye,” Kythryn said.
Nox nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Harrier saw the flash of steel just as he heard her say “For my father.”
“Kythryn! No!” He dove for her, knocking her from the platform and landing square on top of her, but it was too late. The blade was protruding from Nox’s left eye, and he was roaring like holy hell as the purple light faded from the damaged orb.
Pandemonium broke out amongst the cats, who were either cheering and rushing the platform or running for the door.
Rachel was screaming bloody murder, doing her best to help the Soldiers in forcing the
aggressive cats away from Nox. “Cut him down,” she demanding, searching the crowd for the Overlord, who was an inconvenient no-show. “Cut him down, now!”
Allon was at her side, trying to calm Nox, but none of the cats were able or willing to help.
“Perry,” Harrier called to the Soldier. “Get him down!”
Perry and Kyte each tackled a post, and when they couldn’t knock them down, they pulled out their blades and hacked at them until they were able to lower Nox to the ground.
Allon shot something into Nox’s neck, and the male quietened enough for the doc to be able to examine him. Rachel held onto him, just in case, while the Soldiers worked crowd control.
Harrier turned his attention to Kythryn. The little cat was swearing up a blue streak.
“Get off me, you big, stupid Vampire asshole!”
“What the hell were you thinking Kitty?” Harrier couldn’t reconcile what he’d just witnessed. He’d known the girl bore a grudge, but she had single handedly crossed the line drawn in the sand between their races. Nox and Raven had submitted to their laws with honor and faith, and she had just destroyed it.
“I’ll thank you to unhand my daughter.” A man had approached and was standing over Harrier with a shotgun pointed at his head. Harrier rolled his eyes. Her father? Great.
With one last look at Kythryn, who was beating her wee fists against his chest and kicking up a storm, Harrier stood, leaving her pounding the air before she realized she was free.
“This is over,” Harrier said to the man, Kythryn’s father.
“There’s still two days.”
“And your daughter, here, just violated the agreement. Get those shackles off his wrists so he can be properly treated, or I’ll give the order and we’ll kill every last one of you.”