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‘No one can hear you outside my apartments, Harbinger,’ he snarls. ‘But I can, so if you’re going to make noise and be a nuisance, I’m going to gag you and leave you like this until we can leave the city. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ I grind out, taking in the fact that I was right.
They’re taking me with them. I was half afraid they might not now that I’m injured and weak because I’ll slow them down. It would be easier to just dispose of me like they told Sharpe they were going to.
But if they are bringing me along, it’s not to be benevolent. I’d wager they want me for something … well, they want the Harbinger for something anyway.
Dane steps back. ‘And are you going to be a very good, very quiet human?’
‘Yes,’ I say, conceding that while I deserve to pay for my part in the jailor’s death, I’d rather take my punishment when my body isn’t so close to giving out if I have the option.
The magick keeping me stuck leaves me in a rush, and my feet drop to the floor. My knees give out as I land, and I'm suddenly on all fours in front of him.
‘What are you going to do with me?’ I ask, sitting back on my knees and trying to glean whatever else I can. ‘What’s the point of all this?’
What do they want me for? How do they think they can use me? How disappointed are they going to be when they realize I won’t be doing whatever it is they want?
Dane squats in front of me and smiles darkly. ‘You haven’t figured it out yet?’
His fingers dig into my chin hard, and I know he’s added to my bruises as he looks into my eyes. I feel him doing something, magick making my skin tingle and then burn. I grunt but steel myself to the pain, not wanting him to see how much whatever he’s doing hurts. My body trembles with it, but I don’t look away until he stops. When he finally lets me go, and the agony melts away, I collapse back to all fours.
He rises and laughs from above me.
‘Revenge and repayment, Harbinger.’
I don’t look up as he closes the door and locks it again, leaving me alone.
I’d hoped they wouldn’t know it was me who killed Varrik when I escaped his keep, or maybe they’d have somehow realized why I did it, but I should have known better.
I shuffle to the corner and try not to cry, but after the events of the past few days, it’s hard. I thought they might hate me if they knew, but I’d hoped that perhaps time might have mellowed the worst of their feelings.
But it looks like it’s done the opposite.
* * *
Whatever Dane did, he’s at least made her be quiet, I think as I see him walking from the room we’ve decided to keep her in. He’s looking down at his hands, an unreadable expression on his face.
‘Everything all right?’
He looks up at me and sneers back at the door he just came through. ‘She’ll learn her place soon enough.’
I nod. ‘You received a message under the door just now. They’ve moved the vote up.’
Dane nods, looking unsurprised. ‘Sharpe won’t trust our promises. We’re still outsiders, even after seven years of loyalty to that cunt, and he’ll want to get ahead of the rumors. I was surprised that he let us have her without a fight.’
I nod. ‘I was as well. I really thought he’d want to keep control of her even if it was just to incinerate her later.’
Dane shrugs. ‘After they open the fucking Gate and we can finally leave this place, it won’t matter. We can leave all these provincial political games behind. Did the note say when it’s happening?’
‘Tonight.’
We share a grin. Our task is almost at an end after seven long and very monotonous years.
Kallum opens the door and comes into the room in silence. He sits heavily in one of the overstuffed chairs by the open window, looking out over Alcana.
‘I can’t believe it’s almost over. I can’t believe we’ll be able to go back,’ he says almost to himself.
Dane snorts. ‘I can’t believe she was under our noses all that time.’ He shakes his head slowly. ‘If events hadn’t played out in that exact sequence, we’d never have found her. She’d have left as soon as she could, and we’d never have known she was even here. We wouldn’t be going home.’
