Page 87 of Catastrophe

“A leg isn’t something small.” The other one harrumphed and crossed his arms as I tried to calm down my breathing and distance my mind from my body and the pain.

“Whoops.” He shrugged and waved the hammer.

“It doesn’t seem to heal instantly.” The unbloodied one shook me. “Titan. Titan. Tell us, do you heal instantly? How is it you healed overnight?” I couldn’t heal instantly, but I would be damned if I’d tell these evil creatures that. I wouldn’t let them hurt another in my place.

The hammer wielding monster sighed. “He will not answer us. They never do.”

“It would really help with our results if they just told us. We can’t afford to kill this one since we don’t know when or if we’ll get another.”

A cheery female voice greeted them, “Good morning gentlemen,” as the door opened.

“Mary. Why are you here?”

“Just checking in on my favorite golden guy. I heard he healed overnight. Isn’t that interesting?” She stared at me with intense, knowing eyes as she entered the cell, stepping over the bar and coming to my side.

“What do you know?”

She was all too happy to tell them my secrets. “I know this titan has found his soul pair and that it’s likely to have been her that healed him.”

“A soul pair match? Where is she? There was no entry to his cage. How could she heal him from another place?”

“When a soul pair form a bond, titans get their power back. Who knows what he has?” He has. She doesn’t know that Clawdia also shares in our power.

“You knew all this about our patient and didn’t think to share?” He waved the hammer under her chin.

She wasn’t intimidated. She lowered it and replied happily, “I’m sharing now, aren’t I?”

“We’ll need to do some more research on the theories about soul pairs and titans before we experiment any more. We are basing all our results on a titan who is more powerful than others. It will not be accurate.” His gaze refocused on her and he glared. “While we reassess this new information, you find the soul pair. If she’s here somewhere, we’ll need them together to get a better reading on their power.”

“Oh, I’m more than happy to help,” she said and smiled down at me. I clenched my fists and shook from the anger she caused to riot under my skin.

“And if we come across anything in our research, you’ll be able to fill in any blanks.”

“My knowledge is yours. I want nothing more than to serve your cause.”

They both stared at her before the science one said, “Our cause is to find the weaknesses of supernatural creatures so we can kill them more efficiently.”

“I’m aware. I love supporting the underdog.” She gave a little fist pump, and they shook their heads at her before leaving, slamming the door behind them and abandoning me to the clutches of this evil witch.

“That looks painful,” she said with mock sympathy as she examined my leg. Even from my angle I could see the bone poking out from the skin and I swallowed thickly against the nausea rolling in my stomach and the lightheadedness.

Without preamble, I took my shot at tearing her down in the only way I could.

“Female drakorians only gain their dragons once they consummate their bond with their soul mate,” I whispered.

Mary’s reaction was exactly what I wanted. She stopped mid-motion, her hand inches from my injury, and tilted her head to indicate she was listening.

“I asked someone who has lived in Drakor for many years now, and he told me female dragons are rare. They don’t emerge unless for their bond. Fafnir cannot help your dragon emerge unless he knows the location of your soul mate, but I doubt that is the truth. Honestly, he doesn’t know much about his origins and has most likely made this up to force your action. You are falling for his game.”

“And what game are you playing?” She sneered and pressed painfully on my leg.

“Survival,” I gritted out my body, rattling the chains loudly from how badly I was shaking. “I am not asking you to do anything, but I want you to doubt him.”

“Even if what you say is true, it must be different for us.” She shrugged and smiled smugly, as though I was the fool. “We are his descendants. He knows how to help us. He wants our dragons as much as we do, which is why he’s captured the other one.”

Captured the other one? Charlie?

“You are a fool.” I couldn’t say anymore.

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