Page 47 of The Great and Terrible

CHAPTER 12

BROKEN CONNECTIONS

“You can’t do this,” Leona called as Keren led my group into a small room that could easily pass for a torture chamber. The furnishings consisted of a table bearing a stack of folded rags, two crooked wooden chairs, and a blood-stained bucket. Zero windows.

I eased into a chair, fighting a flood of unease. Nugget jumped on my lap, rocking our uneven perch, his glare hot on Keren, who took her place at the other side of the table. She unrolled a velvet cloth that contained a scalpel, sewing scissors, a syringe, four vials of liquid, and what might be a mini cauterizing iron.

Jasher stood behind the blonde, his arms crossed over his chest, biceps straining. And I wasn’t upset by his chosen position. Nope. Not even a little. Sure, I could’ve used a warm, comforting hand upon my shoulder, offering moral support as I braved the unknown. Instead, the guy who’d dropped his guard with me the tiniest bit last night preferred to be near the woman about to carve out a hank of my hand. Fine. No big deal. Except, big deal!

“Explain the process to me,” I invited, unable to mask my tremors.

“Exactly what was done to me when I escaped the witch of the north,” Keren muttered, selecting the syringe, and a vial of liquid.

I blinked. “A literal witch?”

Jasher shook his head. “There’s no magic in Hakeldama.”

But. “The water maiden.” She’d materialized the compass around my neck. Among other things.

In the process of reaching for me, Keren froze. Terror glazed her eyes. “If you led a water maiden to our door, I’ll hang you upside down with your skin inside out.”

“Sounds gruesome,” I quipped, not the least bit afraid as Nugget bared his teeth at her. I flipped my gaze to the executioner, silently asking how to respond. The truth might blow up the deal I’d so expertly negotiated.

“The water maiden isn’t a worry, Keren. Proceed.” To me, he explained, “They use trickery, sleight of hand, and often times mind bending herbs.”

Okay, so, which had Iris used on me? It was a combo of all three, wasn’t it? Foreboding chilled my blood, but I shoved the queries to a shadowed corner of my mind, where a thousand questions about my parents brewed. One disaster at a time, thank you.

“Continue,” Jasher commanded. “And Keren, if you speak to my charge in such a manner again, you’ll die screaming.”

My eyes grew as wide as saucers. Such vehemence. He left no doubt he meant what he said.

A visibly shaken Keren filled the syringe with whatever liquid swam inside the smallest vial, then waved her fingers at me. “Let me see your brand.”

Even though I wanted this, I hesitated, clinging to Nugget, my lifeline, giving my ring time to suss out the threat level. When no burn sparked, I stretched out the palm with the scar somewhat reassured. “Tell me you’ve sterilized your equipment, and I might believe you.”

“Remain still.” Keren jabbed the needle into the tip of my middle finger.

Sharp pain tore through my entire body, a scream rocketing from my lips. My insides heated, quickly boiling. In seconds, sweat sheened my brow and dripped into my eyes. “What did you inject in me?” I screeched between panting breaths. I’d expected a number, but this wasn’t that.

“I killed the signal being broadcasted by the nanoparticles,” Keren replied, exchanging the syringe for the scalpel.

They utilized nanoparticles in this primitive land? Seriously?

Nugget growled his displeasure, and I hunched over to press my cheek against his. He calmed and even helped me fight my budding panic as Keren poured the contents of a vial over my hand. Clear liquid frothed into white foam, spreading to my elbow. Icy cold I felt in every bone invaded, no hint of the heat remaining. My teeth chattered. Breathing required great effort, air suddenly thicker than jelly.

“Look at me,” Jasher ordered, his firm tone brokering zero argument.

I ripped my attention from the butcher responsible for my condition and focused on the executioner. My enemy, ally and only friend in this awful world, all rolled into one.

“Breathe with me,” he commanded. He held my gaze captive, forcing me to obey. To center. In. Out. In, out. “Good. That’s good.”

Okay. All right. I could do this. In, out. A flash of common sense. This was this the reason he’d chosen to stand behind Keren. Not to help her but to sooth me. Ooooh.

He didn’t release me from the visual cage as Keren worked, filleting the flesh from my palm, injecting a mystery substance into the pulpy meat, and searing the surface, leaving a charred crust. I felt none of it, thank goodness, until the non-medical professional injected the remaining liquid into my middle finger. Pink returned to myskin, the cold evaporated, and my wondrous numbness vanished.

Only my link to Jasher helped as nerves sang with agony. At least my connection to the Wests had been severed for good.

“Serpens-rosa,” I managed to gasp out. Please! He had one pellet remaining, and it belonged to me. Part of the payment for the compass.

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