Page 37 of Fated to the Orc

Low and long, the sound pierces the walls, vibrating in my bones. My blood sings with it.

They’re here.

My warriors. My brothers. Myclan.

They found me. And they’re tearing this place apart looking for me, brick by brick.

The guards outside my cell shout something into their comms, then suddenly sprint away.

The heavy iron door shudders.

Once.

Twice.

Then it’s blown inward, slammed off its hinges.

Garomshir steps into the cell. His axe is red with fresh blood, his chest heaving. He sees me and grins.

“Found you, warlord.”

“About time. These chains are starting to irritate me.”

“Allow me.”

Garomshir lifts his heavy axe. With a single swing he shatters the chains around my wrists. Another breaks the ones around my ankles.

The moment I’m free, I surge to my full height.

“Evelyn,” I growl. “A human female — we must find her.Now.”

Garomshir looks confused. “We’re burning this place to the ground, Warlord.”

Worry squeezes the air from my lungs. My orcs do not even know what a human female looks like. In the throes of battle, anything can happen.

Hold on, Evelyn. I’m coming.

Evelyn

I’ve beenin this cell for five days.

I think. It could be seven at this point. It’s hard to tell.

Five days of recycled air, cold walls, and total silence.

No one talks to me. Not the guards who bring me my food. Not the med-tech who scans me for signs of pregnancy. The only sounds I hear are the hiss of doors opening and closing and the air conditioning turning on and off.

They’re trying to break me down. To make me forget who I am. To forgethim.

They don’t know that every time I close my eyes, Ifeelhim. Varkul. Somewhere in this facility, bound and possibly drugged, but still fighting. Still alive.

I don’t know how, but I think I can sense him.

That’s the only thing keeping me sane. If I think too long about my predicament, or about my sister, I want to scream into the void… but I won’t give them that pleasure.

Instead, I sit on my thin cot, back pressed against the wall, my knees drawn to my chest. I sit, wait, listen, and endure.

It’s all I can do for now.

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