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“I see the truth in Wendel’s eyes.”
Hieronymus twisted my left arm and exposed the veins in my wrist. Oh, fuck, oh, fuck. I curled my fingers into a fist and forced myself to look away.
I had never been tortured before. I had to be strong?—
Hot liquid spilled over my skin, chased by a blinding bolt of pain. I gasped and glanced at my wrist. Blood trickled down and pattered on the floor.
He cut my wrist. That fucker cut my wrist.
Hieronymus grabbed my right wrist. Amarant sliced my skin like a razor through silk, so mercifully sharp I felt nothing until my nerves responded a second later.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I muttered.
With every heartbeat, a searing hurt pulsed along the length of my arms. I clenched the muscles in my legs and moaned through clenched teeth. An alarming amount of my blood pooled on the floor by my feet.
When I looked at Wendel, he had a perfectly blank face, but he was shaking badly. If he couldn’t keep it together, then this whole ruse was useless.
They would know we cared about each other.
“How do you feel?” Hieronymus asked me.
I bared my teeth. “Like I want to kill you.”
Hieronymus inspected his handiwork. When he cupped his hands, his gauntlets crackled with a green glow. Temporal magic. I had seen it before when Konstantin healed Wendel, and I remembered Wendel’s agony. My heart raced so fast the beats became uncountable.
“Too much blood,” Hieronymus said, “too quickly.”
He grabbed my wrists and squeezed the magic into my wounds. Pain roared through me and obliterated all thought. I doubled over, my muscles in spasms. A scream ripped through my throat and left it raw.
“There,” he said. “Better.”
I blinked back tears. The technomancer’s gauntlets still bruised my flesh. Blood seeped between his fingers. He lifted his hands and revealed pink scars running the length of my arms.
He had healed me, but he would only hurt me again.
“Thanks,” I rasped.
Hieronymus hardly seemed amused by my sarcasm. He strode over to Wendel, who slumped with his head bowed, his ragged hair shadowing his face.
Hieronymus lifted his chin. “Disappointing.”
Wendel stared at him, blankly, his eyes ice cold.
Hieronymus smeared my blood on his jaw. “Perhaps I’m wasting my time.” He brought the dagger back to me. “I may have to simply kill her.”
39
Cold seeped into my skin. My emotions floated higher than I could reach. Hieronymus lifted Amarant and tilted the blade. A drop of blood rolled to the ground.
“Wait,” I bluffed. “You don’t want to do that.”
“Why not?”
I took a deep breath, stalling for time, and?—
The window nearest us shattered. An iron beam flew through the air and crashed against the opposite wall. Shards of glass chimed on the floor.
Swearing, Hieronymus ran to the window.
