Page 40 of Galadon
“I don’t think my injuries are going to be enough to stop me, and I’m starting to lose control. It’s harder to focus when I’m in a lot of pain.” She sucked in a breath as a wave of agony swept through her abdomen, where her body tried to reform the kidney she’d lost. “So if anyone does come, you need to leave me.”
“I can’t do that,” he growled.
She glared at him and made herself say words she didn’t entirely mean, but she had to get through to him. He needed to survive. “Galadon, you were right about me. I’m a slayer, and in the end, we all turn on dragons. Even if we care about them. I didn’t want to admit it because I always believed my control was better than that, but right now, I’ve never felt weaker. The only thing holding me back is the chains.”
Rayna’s need to kill him and any dragon nearby had been intensifying by the hour since she was last given a drink, more than she’d ever felt in her life. She wondered if they’d put something in the water they gave her, aside from the potion to make her sleep. But why would they bother if she couldn’t act on the urge?
“I’ll find a way around it,” the shifter vowed.
She let him see the crazed part of her through her eyes. “Don’t bother. I’m not worth saving, and like you’ve implied before, you’re better off without me.”
Galadon cursed in the dragon language, and it almost made her smile. Then he glared at her. “Be that as it may, the world still needs you.”
Footsteps approached, and dread filled her. As much as she liked to think of herself as strong, the Kandoran torturer wasproving she wasn’t as tough as she thought. Her body trembled at the prospect of more pain. While little of Rayna’s skin below the neck remained intact, he’d taunted her with what he had planned for today.
She knew he hadn't lied as he and his minions came into view. One of them held a heavy mallet in their hands. He’d said he’d go for bones, and he’d meant it. Her body might have dulled the agony from her injuries to a more bearable level, but the sorcerers hadn’t broken any bones yet. How much worse would that hurt?
“Did you miss me, slayer?” Astaroth asked with feigned curiosity.
“In your dreams, maybe.”
He chuckled and turned to Galadon. “I thought I’d let you know your friends have been trying to reach you for several days now. Sadly, they are failing. The wards my followers and I installed are holding up well, and your cohorts have no hope of cracking them. I’m certain they’ll give up soon, considering neither of you is so beloved as to be worth the trouble.”
Rayna swallowed. People had come for them, but how much trouble would they go through for a slayer with no clan ties and a lone shifter who was feared more than liked? Surely, not much.
Galadon glared at Astaroth. “We’ll see.”
He shrugged. “I’ve decided we’ll work on your legs today. That will surely get you both screaming for mercy, and if you do it loud enough, your friends might even hear you. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“Do what you want,” Galadon said with a growl, “but you’ll never get us to plead for mercy—not from you.”
“I suppose we’re about to find out, aren’t we?”
Rayna worked to control her breathing. She had a feeling this would be the worst day yet, and it would take all her strength to get through it—what little she had left, anyway.
Chapter 18
Rayna
Rayna woke to new aches and pains that had her moaning before she opened her eyes. If she’d thought she was broken before, she was truly wrecked now. They’d smashed her bones, rendering most of her body unrecognizable. She was trying to be strong, especially with Galadon watching, but each day was getting more brutal than the last. How much longer could she go on like this?
Wishing she could escape her body, Rayna rolled onto her side. Her legs screamed at the movement as the crushed bones failed to support her change of position. It took her a moment to realize that she could move, but once she did, her eyes shot open.
No manacles covered her wrists anymore. Looking down, she found only one of her ankles had a cuff and chain attached. They hadn’t broken that one, and now she knew why. For the first time in a week, she was practically unbound. Except her body was so damaged that walking was out of the question, and even crawling felt overly ambitious. She started to rise onto her arms but paused in shock when she found a dagger beside her, glinting in the sunlight. How in the hell had that gotten there?
Horror filled Rayna as she realized its purpose. She twisted her body enough to locate Galadon, noting only his ankles—both unbroken—were chained to the ground ten feet away. With his legs smashed to a pulp like hers, he wasn’t going far, regardless. His deep, even breaths told her he hadn’t woken yet. She looked at her chains, coming to the terrifying conclusion that they would extend enough for her to reach him.
A few days ago, she would have used this opportunity to try getting one of them free. Instead, all her slayer instincts came rushing to the forefront, urging her to kill. Even her vision turned a hazy red, which was one of the last signs she was going to lose control.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening now!
Rayna groaned as the primal part of her mind took control and forced her to grab the knife and edge toward him. The skin on her arms might have been cut in dozens of places, but the bones were intact. That was likely why the Kandoran had only broken their legs. They wanted to make movement difficult but not impossible—all for this last torment. She fought a battle within herself as she crossed each inch of space between herself and the shifter.
“Kill, kill, kill”kept running through her mind, and she had to keep reminding herself that she cared about him. That he mattered. Still, she couldn’t stop, gripping the blade in her hand tightly as she moved little by little. All Rayna could do was force herself to pause and take a few breaths now and then.
One moment she was scooting toward him, wanting to slit his throat. The next, she remembered him carrying her to safety when he found her dying and how he’d been so gentle with her broken body. That memory gave her a precious minute before murderous rage took hold again.
Rayna didn’t see the man as she scooted a couple more inches toward him, using her arms to drag the rest of her body as the chain clinked behind her. She saw a dragon. They were a menace to humans and needed to be eradicated—nothing else mattered.
