Well if he puts it like that. I swallow the lump in my throat and croak, “I don’t know.” Skeptism is written all over his face. “Really, I have no fucking clue who they are. They ambushed me last night and I woke up here.”
“How did you manage to get past that collar?” His eyes are so intense, it’s unnerving. I’m only able to manage direct eye contract for a few seconds before the pressure becomes too much. Not to mention the ancient entity I feel lurking just below the surface. If I thought the other talnarins were old souls, well, Abel’s brother has nothing on them. Whatever soul inhibits his body is no ordinary soul at all. There are no words to describe the exact feelings I get from this talnarin. It’s as intriguing as it is terrifying.
“I don’t even know what you’re asking. The bastard mentioned a collar too but I don’t know what that is. Is it this?” I gingerly touch the metal piece encircling my now tender neck.
A calculating gleam enters his eye and I don’t like it. I know whatever he’s thinking about won’t bode well for me. “Yes, that’s the collar. It prohibits a talnarin from accessing their core. Yet, you surpassed it and I want to know how, girl.”
I huff. “Some block this turned out to be. Perhaps its defective.”
He purrs, “Yes, perhaps. Did it burn you?” How did he…? I nod my slowly, unsure of where this is going. “Why did you run?”
“I didn’t want to die. I thought that would’ve been obvious.”
He leans in close and his breath whispers against my cheek. “That just makes you look guilty. Things aren’t looking very good for you right now.”
What was I supposed to do? What am I supposed to supposed to do now? What can I say to get me out of this mess? That’s why I ran in the first place. How does someone prove their innocence through words alone?
He’s finally moving away from me, but he won’t shut up. “Though I must say, saving the kid earned you some points.” I grimace and look up at him from underneath my lashes. I didn’t save her for points, as he said. I saved her because I can’t let the innocent suffer.
As I watch him, he starts back intensely, almost daring me to speak. So, I do.
“I didn’t save her for points.” I spit. “I did it because she didn’t deserve it. And you? Do you work with these sick assholes?” I stare at him with open hostility.
He laughs suddenly. It’s a deep and husky laugh. “I don’t work with anyone girl, and if I did, it would be with these bastards.” He pauses for a moment to study me. “No, I’m hunting them as I’ll hunt you, if I find out you’re part of this mess.” All amusement is gone from his face and tone. In its place is pure malice, a threat I have no doubt he’ll follow through with.
I stutter out a reply, “I’m… I’m not… they’re not…” I take a breath to collect myself. Now is not the time to show weakness, I need to pull myself together. “I don’t know who these people are, I’ve already told you that. I’ve never met them before today and I don’t know what they want.” I put as much confidence into my voice as possible.
Before he gets to say anything more, Zeke and three other talnarins are back. For the first time, I notice that the courtyard is empty except for us and a burnt body against the tree. I don’t bother lingering on the body, figuring it’s dead. The child is no longer in sight either, making my anxiety spike. What did they do with her? And what of the others in the cells?
Zeke spares a quick smirk at me while the other three ignore my presence completely. One guard has shoulder-length dirty blond hair and forest green eyes. Another one has long white-blond hair pulled back and dark yellow eyes. The last has slicked back brown hair and purple eyes. The asshat still stares far to intently at my face for my liking and it’s then that I realize he still grips my arm.
“Perimeters clear boss.” His tone is playful. “Though, there are more humans and talnarins in cells in the basement. We’ve placed them in the drawing room with Drako and Orion standing guard. A few needed some medical assistance but nothing huge. The one with the worst of the injuries is the kid. Orion took a look and there’s nothing he can do. Kid just needs some rest and down time is all, nothing life-threatening.” He looks to me with a smirk. “Out of all six of the talnarins, four are dead, one is in critical condition, and the other is paralyzed. Nicely done.”
Oh shit. I did that? That’s terrifying and gruesome. Not that they didn’t deserve it, but still. To know I’m capable of all that is horrifying and impressive all at once. I’m not entirely sure what feeling is dominating right now either. But this time, I was able to save someone with this power. This time I was able to control it.
This time I did something good with this curse.
I don’t even know when I started to accept this part of me but I have. I’m glad I have this power. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to save the little girl. I’ve started to rely on this new-found strength it gives me. The emptiness I had felt when reaching for the energy left me hollow and frightened. It was like a piece of me was missing, like I wasn’t quite me anymore. Now, I don’t know what I would do without it.
Abel’s brother speaks up and pulls my attention back to reality. “Who are the two alive?”
“A Sentinel and Lord, boss.”
“Which one is critical?”
“The Lord, but he’s conscious.” They both look to the body lying against the tree before facing each other once more.
“Good.” Asshat looks to the other three talnarins as he addresses them. “I doubt the sentinel knows anything but I need confirmation before we kill him. Zeke, you’re with me. Adrian, Kellog, you know what to do. Mikhail we’re staying for the night so make sure everything is in order.”
Whatever he says, they do. They look perfectly in tuned with each other, eluding to a long past together and a close bond.
I’m dragged by my arm to the large tree sitting in the center of the courtyard. The closer we get, the more I can assess the damage I inflicted. There isn’t a spot on his body that isn’t fried.
Oops. I’d feel sorry for the talnarin but he beat a little girl, imprisoned a bunch of people, and kidnapped me, so, I don’t really care. I’m forced to a stop a few paces from the man. I look at the fried talnarin in disgust, sick bastard.
I’m dying to know if he planned to experiment like the Others seeing that he stole humans as well. It’d the only reason I can think of to take humans but still, I hold my tongue. I’ll wait to see how this all plays out before I decide to say something.
“Here’s how this is going go.” Asshat’s voice is low and deadly. The hair on my neck stands on end. “I’m going to ask my questions once. You don’t tell me what I want to know, you’ll suffer. It’s as simple as that. So, question one, why the fuck are you kidnapping talnarins and humans?” I wince in anticipated pain as the talnarin opts for silence. What I don’t expect is for the fried body to start convulsing uncontrollably. Pained moans echo loudly in the silence.
I stifle a gasp and stare wide eyed and confused. Holy shit, what is going on?
After what seems like a lifetime, the shaking subsides and the asshole is able to speak, sort of. “F… fo… for… t… t.. testing.”
Voice harder still, Abel’s brother pushes. “What tests?”
There’s no hesitation this time. Head low, the talnarin cowers. “A n… n… new species. We… we need them for the trials.”
This is all wrong. Before the asshat or Zeke get a chance to interrogate him further, I lean forward. The words spill from my mouth, unexpected but harsh. “I won’t let it happen again. Never again. I stopped you just like I stopped Them. I thought He was the only one, but I was wrong. It doesn’t matter how many more of you there are, I’ll stop kill you all. You bastards need to die. All of you need to burn to ashes and I’ll make sure it happens. I’ll hunt you down one by one until there’s nothing left, scum. How many others? Where are they? Do you work with Him? And the machine, you have it don’t you? Where is it?”
I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t expect the laugher from the broken man. It throws me off guard and angers me. I call for my energy only to find it still empty inside. Tears of frustration burn my eyes. How dare he laugh? How dare he toy with lives? If this sick bastard was going to experiment in the way He did, I’m going to make is death a painful one.
He was going to poison a child for Valina’s sake! An innocent youngling with a whole future ahead of her. She’s around the same age as my little sister and it breaks my heart. Deep overwhelming emotions sweep through me in a great wave. I want to scream and curse the heavens for what’s been done.
I hate Them all, they ruined me. They need to pay and this son of bitch is just like Them. He too needs to die. A foreign presence rushes through my body in a whoosh. Much like the heat from my energy, it’s all encompassing. But this presence is unfamiliar and far colder than the flames. It isn’t a subtle build inside me either. Like a flicker, one moment the presence is there and the next, it’s not.
Chapter 26
I stare wide eyed and slack jawed at the place where the burnt man once sat. He simply disappeared in the blink of an eye. My mind refuses to accept whatever the fuck I’ve just seen. I flick my head back and forth between the two remaining talnarins and the empty tree. They did that, right? They had to have. Only… they look as surprised as me. If they didn’t do it, then who did? I whip my head around looking for the source, only to come up empty. We are completely alone in the courtyard.
My anger peaks as I realize the man with the answers is gone. With him goes my chance at finally understanding what happened to me. With him goes my chance at finally knowing why. With him goes my chance at possible finding Him. With him goes my chance at finding out who else is involved. With him goes my chance of stopping Them.
Without thinking, I scream, “What in the hellvian did you do? He’s gone and so are your answers.” Their faces freeze, stripped of emotion. It’s terrifying to see. They both turn and face me with only the blaze in their eyes depicting their fury. I fucked up. I need to think quick and get myself out of this mess. He might just kill me now. What can I say? “Will you help me?” I blurt and internally cringe. That’s it Alanna? Really? Well I need to roll with it now, “I need to find someone.”
“Why should I, girl?” Asshat’s voice is so cold I can’t help but flinch. He has a point, and it’s not like I want his help anyway. I panicked and that was the first thing that came to me. These assassins, or whatever they are, would just get in my way. Or they’d kill me, whichever comes first, I suppose. Keeping them around is just asking for trouble, and trouble is something I could use far less of these days. I pinch my lips closed and will my mind to shut up. No need to dig myself any further in this hole.
I’m suddenly yanked forward by my arm and wince. He gets in my face and growls low. It sends chills all along my body and I work to repress the shudder. “I told you I don’t like asking twice. I’m going to assume you don’t want your insides cooked. So, I highly suggest you don’t make me any angrier. Understand, girl?”
Ah, I’ll gladly take the hole I’ve dug over being cooked from the inside out. “The one I’m looking for is somehow connected to this.” Again, not what I wanted to say and now it’s too late to take it back. What is wrong with me? Clearly the filter between my brain and mouth isn’t working today.
“You know this how? Why are you looking for them and who exactly is it that you’re looking for?” He’s looking at me like he could crush me in seconds and like he might even enjoy it.
I hesitant only briefly. “I don’t know His name, I just know what He looks like. I don’t know how it’s all connected, but it just is.” Please don’t ask me anymore. Please. I can’t afford to give anything else away.
Of course, that was far too much to ask for. What was I thinking? “You don’t know his name? Of course you don’t, that would be too convenient. It seems to me you know nothing useful. Stop wasting my time, you won’t like what happens if you do. Either give me more than your ‘I don’t know’ or I’ll drag it out of you, painfully.” His expression is all the warning I need. It promises pain, lots of pain.
I exhale in a rush in vain to slow my racing heart. “Because of what that talnarin said about the experiments. The one I’m looking for experimented on humans too. They should have similar equipment in this place, but I’m not completely sure. That’s all I know, honest.”
Both Zeke and the asshat look at each other sharply. They exchange an unreadable look before directing their intensity at me once more. “Only humans?”
“I don’t know.” I flinch back at the sight of his heated glare. “Really, I don’t know. I just know about the humans.”
“If I find out you’re holding anything back, you will beg for death before the end. That I can promise you.”
I gulp audibly. “I don’t know anything else. I was planning on dragging the answers out of the talnarin, but now he’s gone. The only lead I had disappeared. Where did he go, anyway?” After a long and uncomfortable pause, I babble on, nervous. “I really don’t know. They inject humans with something. A liquid of some kind. Uh… It’s golden colored though. And after a while the humans change and they mutate or something. They’re faster and stronger than normal. Oh, they’re mindless too, all they do is kill things. They’re no longer… no longer able to recognize anyone.” I trail off. I brave a look at their faces and find them scarier than ever. Even his grip on my arm gets tighter, if at all possible.
His tone suggests that he’s a little on edge as he clips out, “How do you know all this?”
Shit, I should have expected that question. I fumble for a weak reply, “Because I was there.”
“You were where?”
I just keep digging this hole deeper and deeper. Soon I’ll dig my way to Hellvian, but at least then I wouldn’t have to answer these damn questions anymore. “At a place where they did bad things. A place where they experimented on them.” I stare at my feet as my mood darkens.
“Tell me what you saw there,” he demands harshly.
I look up with unshed tears in my eyes, my lips tighten. “It’s a place where you saw the sort of things that you can never unsee. Things no one should ever experience. Terrible things. Don’t ask me to talk about it. I can’t. I won’t. Those memories need to stay dead.”
Asshat looks like he’s seconds away from wringing the memories from me by force, when suddenly his face blanks. “Then answer me this, why were you there? Did you have a hand in any of it?”
I glare at him with so much hate and disgust that he seems taken aback. Amusement flickers across his features. “Did I help them? Did I have a hand in it? No. No, I wasn’t there by choice. Just like I’m not here by choice either.”
Before the asshat can say anything more, Zeke interjects. “So, you’re saying that the person you’re looking for is connected to this manor? This man, I’m assuming he’s talnarin?” At my nod, Zeke continues, “This talnarin experimented on humans, experiments you witnessed but can’t speak of. Now you’re hunting this talnarin down, because why? Why is it so important for you to kill this man?” His almost nonchalant expression is so deceiving. I can almost feel the tension and aggression beneath his exterior. It makes sweat bead down my back.
I mumble, “He… He took something from me. Someone.” I swallow hard and harden my voice, “So now He has to pay. He’ll be mine to kill, even if we do find him. I need answers first, but He will die by my hands. He’s connected here, to this place somehow. I don’t have proof yet but I’ll find it.”
Asshat seems to consider his next words carefully, as if somehow not entirely satisfied with my response. “Where did you last see this talnarin?”
“I’ll take you there” I say without hesitation. Like I’d just tell him so he can kill me and check it out himself. No thank you.
This doesn’t seem to sit well with either of them. Zeke speaks over my head to the ass
hat. “Malik, she could lead us right into a trap. There’s no way confirm that what she says. We need to tread carefully. Do we really want to take this chance? This could end badly.”
So that’s his name, Malik. I was wondering one someone was going to say it. It’s irritating just referring to him as the asshat, though it is a fitting nickname. I roll it over my tongue quietly, before biting it. Disgust rolls through me at the thought of my reaction to his name. These talnarin want to kill me, Malik has made that abundantly clear on several occasions.
“It could be. But it’s also the first real lead we’ve had since the start of this mess. You know we’re stronger than them. Besides, if it’s a trap, we’ll just kill her.” At that, he looks into my eyes to drive the point home. Sweat trickles down my back at the reminder of my possible slaughter at the end of this. He directs the rest of his words at me. “You will do exactly as I say when I say, understand?” He waits for my jerky nod before continuing, “Any complications and I will kill you no questions asked. I don’t trust you, girl.”
I narrow my eyes in response. “Feeling’s mutual, I don’t trust you either.” Do I have an even greater death wish? Why am I purposely antagonizing him? Sometimes I just don’t think shit through.
The corners of Malik’s lips turn up in the corners. He slowly leans in to whisper in my ear, “And don’t even think about using your energy on me or my men. I’ll sense it instantly and take you out. You won’t even know what’s happened until it’s too late.” With that, he finally releases my arm and moves out of sight. A brief thought of running passes through my mind, but I shut it down immediately. Somehow, I just know that they’d stop me before I even got outside.
Fractured Past (A Talnarin Novel Book 1) Page 16