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‘Sit,’ Dane commands, and I go to the chair by the window.
He laughs. ‘No, Harbinger.’ He points at the floor.
I roll my eyes, wondering if this is their idea of torture, but I sit on the floor by the wall, drawing my knees to the side and waiting like a good little slave for my next order.
‘Bet you wish I hadn’t bound you so you could kill me and escape, eh?’
I don’t answer.
Dane puts his pack down and takes off his tunic before lying on the bed and closing his eyes.
I take the rope off my neck and let it thud to the floor, rubbing where it’s chaffed my skin.
‘Almost forgot,’ Dane mutters with a click of his fingers, and the discarded rope wraps itself around my wrists and ankles tightly, drawing them together. ‘Until I can sort it properly, you’ll be tied up when one of us isn’t watching you.’
‘You’re more powerful than you used to be,’ I remark.
He doesn’t answer, and I hear a soft snore a moment later.
I lean against the wall and close my own eyes. I try to sleep as well, but every time I start to doze, I slide down the smooth plaster. After the third time, I stay where I land and just curl up on the floor.
Sleep doesn’t come for a long time, though, and it’s not just because I’m used to a bed these days. Thoughts of Varrik and the keep, of things I did long ago, play on my mind. They make me even more anxious to get away from Grey, Dane, and Kal. It wasn’t so bad before Grey told me they plan to make use of my skill. Even though I knew that’s why they’d bothered to bring me, him saying it aloud made it so horribly real.
I try not to think of the last time I used it as Varrik ordered me to, but it’s impossible, and I find myself in nightmares of wailing and begging, of screams and death.
* * *
I sneak through the wall into Dane's room, feeling as if I’m going to explode if I don’t tell one of them about the new facet of my skill. Full invisibility was just the beginning. As of tonight, I found that if I focus, I can pass my body through solid objects as well.
Though I’m giddy with exhilaration, I force myself to calm down and put the excitement of my newfound magick to the back of my mind as I walk across the room silently; I don’t have long. Grey only popped out to buy a few more supplies that I couldn’t get a hold of before we left Alcana, so I need to hurry before he gets back and finds me missing.
She’s on the floor asleep, and I can see Dane’s boots hanging over the end of the bed. Knowing how deeply he slumbers, I’m sure he’s not going to wake as I sink down beside her. The floor creaks as I do, and I freeze, but neither the Harbinger nor Dane stirs at the sound.
I frown as I watch her closed eyes moving and her brow furrowing in a bad dream. I glance at Dane in the comfortable bed behind me, and my eyes narrow.
The three of us made a bet this morning. Whoever can make her the most miserable over the next weeks will be the winner. I eye the tight ropes, the hard floor, the lack of a blanket. Looks like Dane is in the lead. Grey’s only taken her meals away so far and that was because she tried to run. I suppose it counts, though. That, and the choking.
I roll my eyes at their feeble attempt to repurpose my focus since they saw my interest in her on the boat. I mean, I’d already announced that I was going to fuck her before that, so it can’t have been much of a surprise to them that she’s in my sights. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything, but I wanted to stake my claim first, and I know I should have been a bit more covert on the boat, too, but she was so afraid. It was my best chance to get her on my side.
I definitely shouldn’t have drugged her so openly, though. I’ll need to claw back a little trust with her after that, but she was upset and in pain, and she needed to rest.
I let out a sigh. I haven’t told the others that I easily saw through their plan to manipulate me, and I’m not going to. I’ll play my part and pretend I’m doing nothing but trying to win like I’d usually do. I’ll let them see me treating her as badly as they are, but I’ll make sure they don’t see the rest of my actions.
Like what I’m about to do.
I feel for the pouch at my belt and take out one of the many sachets of pain powder that I stocked up on before we left. I huff a little as I realize I’ll need to check it’s one of the ones I’ve mixed with sleeping draught, so I let myself become visible again to see it before I tear it open and pour it very slowly into her mouth, hoping she doesn’t wake up before it can put her into a deeper slumber.
When I’m finished, I sit carefully in the chair and wait. Her eyes stop moving a little while later, and when I nudge her with my boot, she doesn’t move.
I kneel next to her and take a small pot from my belt, glancing behind to make sure Dane is still asleep as well. I don’t want my little ruse to be found out before I’ve even started.
I’m sure I’m not being watched, but I go back to my invisible state anyway, and I begin to apply the salve I brought carefully to the cuts on her legs and the grazes on her knees. I scowl at the red welts on her neck from the rope where they keep yanking her around. I’ll have to do the same soon, though I don’t relish the idea.
I’m hoping that if I’m cruel enough with her in front of them, they’ll ease off her a bit. Neither of them really wants to be anywhere near her after all. The plan was that I would see to her … until I ballsed it up. If I can make them believe she’ll be more miserable at my cruel hands, they’ll leave me to my own devices with her.
And then, I can do the things I really want to do with her on the way home.
I sit in the chair and watch her a few moments more before I bend down and pull the sack that’s always riding up back down to her upper thighs. I’m annoyed that I didn’t get her something longer. Though, to be honest, I assumed one of the cocks I’m traveling with would have brought her some actual fucking clothes. The oversized shoes Dane threw at her by the river don’t count. They’ve rubbed her feet raw.
