Page 64 of Road To Runes

"Shall we continue?" Pearl straightened up and strode back over to her sofa, whipping the nail file out of her cardigan pocket.

Thornton heaved out of his seat, making it look like a monumental effort. But before he had even straightened up,a crashing noise above made the light fitting swing from the ceiling and dust cascade down onto me.

“Is Lucille trying to brew potions again?” My grandmother glared at the ceiling, but Thornton shrugged.

“She gave up on that, mother,” he said. “She’s waiting until she gets her power back to even attempt it again.”

Oh good. Without their powers, they couldn’t cast magic or brew potions, either. That was an extra special added bonus. But if aunt Lucille wasn’t making a mess up there, who was?

Apparently, the same question had piqued Pearl’s interest because she stared up at the ceiling a little longer before heading to the door. “Carry on.” She waved a hand at Thornton.

He strolled over to me as she left, making a big show of putting on his torture glove again. My skin prickled with each idling step he took closer, and a dark hunk of despair weighed down my stomach. How long would they do this to me before they got bored? Or would there be a point at which I actually broke?

Pearl didn’t give up. Her persistence was the only part of her personality that did her any favours, at least when it came to her interests. She wouldn’t let me die, if that’s what it came to. In fact…

As I watched Thornton come to a stop in front of me, his shadow casting a more monstrous gloom across my mood, a thought occurred to me. Whyhadn’tthey killed me all those years ago? When I was a baby and they had just learned about my prophecy? They could have gotten away with it. It wouldn’t have been the first time my grandmother had been responsible for someone’s death. Instead, she had gone to great lengths to keep me oppressed and under her control.

What was I missing?

But the moment Thornton touched the blue crystal at the tip of his forefinger to my chest, all thoughts vanished, destroyed by the electricity that coursed through my body. My back arched,straining against my restraints, the chains digging yet more dull pain into my skin, and a muted cry forced its way between my gritted teeth.

When he finally removed the crystal, my head drooped and I inhaled as much air as my lungs could accommodate in one ragged gasp. Thornton held his finger directly in my line of sight, a warning.

“You could make this stop,” he said. “You just have to tell me where they are.”

“But…” I took a few more deep breaths, “...we’ve never spent such quality time together, uncle Thorn.”

“Oh, you want attention? I’ll give you attention.”

Thornton lowered his finger toward my skin and I braced myself by taking another too-large breath. My head spun as the oxygen saturation and the whiplash of the agony teamed up to disorient me. But maybe being out of it would help deal with the next round of torture. With any luck I would lose consciousness and make them give up to try again tomorrow.

A yowl filled the air that I was surprised to hear I could generate with my human vocal chords. It sounded just like Hecate. But Thornton bellowed his own cry and staggered backward, his limbs flailing.

My head jerked up to see Hecate wrapped around Thornton’s face, hissing, spitting, and clawing at every inch of skin she could reach. Thornton reached up with his gloved hand to grab Hecate.

Chapter 33

“Hec!” I couldn’t bear to see her suffer under the effects of those torturous little stones.

But Hecate leaped out of the way and Thornton pressed all five of the stones to his bloodied face instead.

His eyes rolled into the back of his head, blood trickling across his lips and into his open mouth as his entire body convulsed. Hecate leapt onto my lap and pressed her paws to my chest, leaning up to give my nose a lick.

Tears streamed down my cheeks and I smiled weakly at Hecate as I nuzzled her back, Thornton toppling onto the floor behind her.

“We knew they’d kidnapped you,” Hecate said, continuing to lick my face. I couldn’t have tasted very good, covered in a thick sheen of sweat.“You promised me salmon.”

I choked out a laugh. “Sorry. I didn’t have much time to go to the market.” Hecate licked at my tears and nuzzled me, making me cry all the harder. "How did you get in?"

"Asher blew up the front door."

Sothatwas what Pearl had gone to investigate. Seemed like overkill.

"You guys came to get me?" I muttered.

The grateful part of me drowned in the fear of the danger they had put themselves in by coming.

"Of course we did."Hecate nuzzled my cheek."It didn't take a genius to figure out who took you and we wouldn't just leave you here."

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