Page 26 of Secrets of Ruin

He managed to get outside the circle of ophidians, but the movement drained him in a way it never had before. Kaylia. Keep going for her.

Thoughts of her sent adrenaline crashing through his system and flooded him with strength, but it wouldn’t last. He was fading fast.

He tried teleporting again but found himself unable to do so. Drawing the shadows to him once more, he’d nearly slid into oblivion while the ophidians closed in on him with a speed that rivaled a vampire’s.

He was almost concealed in darkness as he sprinted toward the doorway. The emperor shouted something but remained unmoving as he watched with an amused smile.

He could draw them away and possibly open a portal if he could get through the doorway. If he could get the key, he’d come back here; if not, he’d get help.

Every cell in his body screamed against leaving Kaylia, but he’d do whatever it took to free her from her cage. He was almost to the doorway when more ophidians entered.

Brokk skidded to a halt as his hope of escape exploded like a balloon filled with too much air. He should have known they’d have more guards in the hall, but he’d been too focused on breaking free to contemplate the possibility.

His heart hammered his ribs while he strove to formulate a new plan. They were all around him now; not even the shadows could keep him safe. They knew where he was because he couldn’t break completely free of the ophidians.

He dodged the swing of a blade and drove the tip of his pole into the stomach of another. When they fell back, it created a brief opening, and the ophidians quickly filled it with more bodies.

Fangs glistened, scales shimmered, and a sea of hostile faces surrounded him. He jumped another tail but missed the one that crashed into his back, whipping him forward a few feet.

Brokk stopped himself from crashing into the ground by bouncing off another ophidian and staggering back. Leaping forward, he encircled his arms and legs around another.

The man reeled back as Brokk seized his face and twisted his head to the side. When his neck snapped, the ophidian hit the ground, and Brokk had the opportunity to break free of the circle.

It vanished when something jabbed him in the side. Electricity, magic, or whatever they used in those poles slammed into his system.

His hand clenched around his pole, and he willed himself not to give in, but as he did so, another tail hit his back, and he face-planted onto the ground. More ophidians jabbed him with their sticks until he lost his hold on the shadows, and his body spasmed beyond his control.

No! Kaylia!

The wordless scream in his head never got uttered as his body was far beyond his control.

“Stop it!” Kaylia screamed, but they didn’t stop.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Kaylia’s hands went to her chest. Brokk remained on the ground, his face in the dirt as more ophidians jabbed him with their sticks.

His feet and hands twitched and jerked as he convulsed while they tortured him. The monsters smiled as they jabbed at him.

“Stop it!” she screamed, her voice surprisingly strong, considering everything in her felt twisted and broken. “Stop it!”

“You’re only making it worse,” Ryker growled. “Your reaction is fueling them.”

She knew he was right; her anguish only encouraged their brutality, but she couldn’t stand here and do nothing. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a choice.

She was as close to the bars as she could get and had to resist the impulse to grasp them while screaming at the monsters torturing Brokk. If she did such a thing, she’d only succeed in launching herself into the back wall, but at least she’d be doing something.

This nothing was more than she could bear, especially since Brokk was suffering because of her… again. He’d tried to break free to save her, and now he was suffering the consequences of it.

And he’d been so close. So. Fucking. Close. He would have made it, too, if there hadn’t been more of those assholes in the corridor. It was almost like they’d planned this but were too arrogant to anticipate it.

“Flog him,” the emperor commanded. “Don’t leave a fleck of skin on his back.”

“No!” Kaylia screamed before she could stop herself. “I’ll take his place!”

None of them acknowledged her as they grabbed Brokk’s arms and lifted him from the ground. His head hung down as they dragged him toward the chains hanging from the ceiling and bolted into the floor. Ryker’s blood still stained the dirt beneath them.

“I’ll take his place!” she shouted.