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Sora gasped as one of the guards locked a malarite collar around her neck. Shapechanger or not, whatever magic she possessed was now gone.
Meat turned to one of his comrades. “Send word to Lord Thrailkull about this. I think he would beveryinterested to know about another tribe, don’t you?” With a quick nod, the guard ran off.
“Is this the girl who attacked you?” one of the guards asked Meat, pointing toward me.
Meat’s muddy eyes fell on me, his thin lips curving into a smirk that silently revealed his intentions. “Actually, it was all three of them.”
No!
“He’s lying!” I cried. “They had nothing to do with it. It was just me.”
Ignoring me, the guards attached chains to our collars and dragged the three of us to the main area of the mine. I stumbled up the rickety wooden steps as they hauled us onto the platform. The permanent bruises underneath my collar throbbed.
“No matter what happens, don’t tell anyone about the map,” Sora whispered in my ear as the guards chained Hen to the large post in the middle of the platform. Sora’s face was composed as she spoke, but she couldn’t conceal the quiver in her voice.
She seemed relieved when I nodded. I wanted to ask her why anyone would care about a map that led to my brother—plus a thousand other questions—but there wasn’t time. “Thank you for finding me,” I said instead. Whoever she was, whatever our history, I knew she’d risked her life to reach me. After feeling abandoned and alone for so long, I wanted her to know how much that meant.
“This isn’t the end,” she said right before the guard pulled her away to the post.
Meat moved in front of me to bind my hands. I winced as the rough rope cut into my skin, catching a glimpse of the secret map that was now on my palm. It looked like a circular-shaped tattoo.Thankfully it wasn’t glowing anymore. I just had to hope Meat didn’t notice it.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Does that hurt?” he said, cinching the rope tighter as he tied me to the post beside Hen and Sora.
I glanced away, refusing to let him see the fear in my eyes.
I noticed Hen’s eyes were closed in silent prayer. Unlike her, I didn’t believe in the sky goddess—or maybe my belief in her had been lost along with all my other memories—but if there was ever a time to ask for divine intervention, it was now.
Inaya, please, please, please help us.
My whole body began trembling as the minemaster ascended the platform steps with a whip dangling from his fingers. By now, the other workers had paused to watch the commotion. This was nothing new to them, but the guards would make sure they paid close attention as the whip delivered our punishment.
“You! Towerguard!” the minemaster hollered, turning toward one of the guards standing below the platform. “Get up here. You’re not officially one of us until you’ve cracked your whip on a disobedient malack.”
My mouth fell open as the minemaster handed his whip to the young guard who’d helped me last night. For a moment, I thought Meat would rat him out, but the smug look on Meat’s face said that watching this guard whip me was the perfect revenge.
Without hesitation, the young guard grabbed the whip and turned toward me.
Our eyes locked. The same animal-like intensity that I’d seen last night rippled through his muscles as he straightened his back to reach his full height. His fiery eyes burned into mine, showing no signs of backing down.
I glared up at him. What a fool I’d been to think a Rathalan guard would ever take pity on a worker like me. He was just likethe rest of them. I hated that I’d almost let myself believe he was different.
The entire mine fell silent as he advanced toward us.
No one was going to help us now.
6
Jeddak
The minemaster handed me his whip, and I grabbed it quickly so he couldn’t tell my hands were shaking.
What had I done? Last night, I’d promised this girl that I’d handle the situation, but instead, I’d shoved that ugly guard in a dark corner and spent the remainder of the night searching for the Zavien stone in every hidden crevice of the mine. Of course, he’d tracked her down the moment he’d regained consciousness. I should’ve killed him when I had the chance. Or never gotten involved in this mess in the first place. Now, it was all I could do not to strike that blazen smirk off his face. He was clearly enjoying watching me do this.
“What are you going to do?” Kah whispered anxiously from the necklace.
I surveyed the scene. I knew exactly what we’d do if Kah was here in the flesh and Averee was at my side. With one swipe of his huge paw, Kah would knock the four guards behind me off the platform like empty bar stools. Averee would gut the ugly guard and untie the girls from the post. And I would take down the minemaster.
Wishful thinking.Even if wecouldwin this fight, how could we escape from Malengard once word got out that there was a rogue Kovak on the loose?
