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“Alive, yes. But their fate depends on your cooperation, Mira.” His tone is casual, almost indifferent, but I know better than to believe it. Something desperate and ravenous lurks beneath that callous exterior. It’s cold and ancient and clearly tricked us the moment we walked in here.
A chill runs down my spine. I need to find Bobble and Sunder so we can get out of here.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been in this cell, but the pain of my wounds has subsided enough for me to think clearly again. He continues speaking in the same monotone manner. “If you cooperate, they may be released. If you do not…” he waves his hand vaguely towards the ceiling.
“What do you want me to do?” I try to hide my desperation, but I fail completely. I cringe at the tremor in my voice.
The apprentice girl chooses this moment to pull back the towel from the tray on the floor, revealing a row of metallic tools like the ones you see on surgery shows. I scramble back until my back presses against the wall, my eyes wide and wild.
“You have three choices,” he says quietly, completely ignoring my obvious distress. “We can start with slicing, bruising, or breaking.”
My mouth goes dry, and I stare at the knife sitting on the table next to my food bowl. The girl watches me, totally void of emotion or thought. A zealot just blindly following commands.
Tears sting my eyes.
What choice am I supposed to make now? I’m too weak to fight them off. I swallow hard and force myself to meet Yurghen’s gaze. “Bruising, I suppose.”
I feel a semblance of control return as he nods and smiles. He moves away from me to gesture towards a larger man, a figure darkening the doorway that I hadn’t noticed before. I close my eyes as the hulking man approaches, his teeth clenched tightly, waiting to determine my fate.
If Sunder and Bobble can meet their destiny with dignity, then so can I.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Bobble
The metal enclosure is small and dark when I wake up. Through the slats of the cage, I can see a carrier hastily set atop a stone work table, the kind used for ancient runology - the same vile practice that Malicryn used against Dan’thiel long ago, that fractured us out into our much smaller parts.
My head is pounding, and my throat feels parched. I attempt to move my neck, but the muscles refuse to comply. Perhaps I’ve been drugged, or at least magically subdued. I shift; the pads of my orange paws throb painfully from the week’s journey. A house cat was never meant to walk that far, especially one that’s been confined to a two-room apartment for the past three years.
Even for one such as me.
I’m more than a cat, less than a human.
And I’m completely fucked right now.
Moonlight streams through an open window, and I hear voices of men arguing outside. Their words are indistinguishable, so that’s not going to help me. I peer around the metal bars of my cage to better understand my surroundings.
Next to a closed, heavy wooden door lies a cabinet filled with vials and leather-bound tomes. I squint to make out the labels or titles, but the darkness prevents me from reading. I have no idea how long I’ve been held captive here.
Gods, I hope Mira is okay. I shouldn’t have acted so impulsively, jumping foolishly on Yurghen. As if I, a small tabby cat, could do anything to him. Instead, I forfeited any chance of staying with her.
Stupid. So stupid. And for what?
Because I was enraged that he struck down Sunder, of all people. That guy has been asking for a punch since the day I met him. I don’t know why it affected me so deeply.
Well. I do.
But it was stupid of me to not at least try to escape. That’s the whole point of my cat-shape; to be small and quick and able to escape danger quickly.
And, to soothe Mira.
I’ve known since the moment I found her that she’s my mate. Being stuck in this form was helpful because sheneededa cat. A friend, a companion, someone to soothe her when her worries were too big and to make her laugh when she needed it.
My sole purpose for the past handful of years has been to care for her.
And I had to be dumb enough to get trapped in a metal cage in a magi’s house instead.
The voices in the corridor grow louder as they approach, and I recognize one of them.
