Scorched Treachery by Rebecca Ethington

comfort him from his own cell.
    I looked toward the staircase, terrified that someone would hear him and come down, but no one came. So far, Sain’s shield was holding.  It was obvious we didn’t have much longer as Sain’s orb of light began to flicker and dim.
    Ryland’s eyes began to droop as Sain’s repeated muttered comforts began to sink in. His movements slowed until he dropped to the ground, his breathing still erratic and labored, but his voice now silent.
    “Save her,” he whispered, his voice strangely dead and monotone.
    “No!” Sain suddenly yelled, the light disappearing. I stiffened at his outburst. I didn’t know much about Sain, but I did know this, he did not yell. He did not get scared.
    I froze, my hands still intertwined with Talon’s as loud footsteps sounded on the stairs. I didn’t move as I attempted to regulate my breathing. I didn’t know what was happening, but Sain was scared and that was enough to terrify me. I laid down and rested my body as best I could, hoping that feigned sleep would be enough to keep them at bay, praying that they would not notice me.
    Part of me wished I could re-shackle my wrists, yelling at me that that was Cail’s game the whole time, but it was too late to fix it now. So I laid still as voices began to filter down to us.
    “I like this plan, master,” Cail said as he addressed Edmund, my insides turning to ice even more. “Trap her and dispose of her that way.”
    “Or at least turn her into a weapon,” Edmund said, his voice light with a laugh. “Either way ends in her death, so what does it matter?”
    A dim yellow light filtered through my eyelids, but I kept them closed in the hope that they wouldn’t notice me.
    “And once she is dead,” Cail began, Edmund’s voice cutting him off quickly.
    “The end of the Mortals,” Edmund finished, the sneer on his lips evident in his voice. “All I need is her blood.”
    “Yes.”
    Their voices were cut off by the deep grinding sound of a cell door opening. I tried to keep my shoulders relaxed but was not sure it worked.
    “Get out of there old man.” I heard a kick and a grunt after Cail’s words. I closed my eyes tighter, not even wanting to imagine what might have just happened.
    “So compliant now, Sain,” Edmund said, his voice full of the same taunting malice I had heard in Cail’s. “It’s no wonder. You want some of that delicious water don’t you? You can’t wait until I give you the mug.”
    I heard a groan of deep guttural need come from Sain as they locked him in with Ryland.
    “Will you do something else for me too? Do this and I will let you eat tomorrow.”
    I tensed in the silence, every nerve in my body on alert as I fought the desire to turn and find out what was going on. I squeezed Talon’s hands, in a desperate attempt to alleviate my stress and wished the silence would end.
    Then it did, and I jumped. My body jerked as the sound cut through the silence in an ear splitting scream.
    I recognized the scream at once, the same scream I had heard when Sain and Ryland had been forced to use the blood connection the past two nights, and obviously this one was no different.
    The two howled, and I moved myself into the bars, my arms desperately grabbing at Talon as the screams died off.
    “When will we end this, master?” Cail asked, his voice almost sounding bored.
    “Ovailia is due back tomorrow,” Edmund said, my shoulders tensing on their own at the sound of his voice. “Let us see what she has to tell us, and then we will make our final decisions. I still have many more tricks up my sleeve after all,” he chuckled. “Now, let us go make the little girl pay.”
    “Yes, Master.”
    I let their words wash over me. Something infinitely more important was taking all of my attention. Talon was squeezing back.

Chapter Seven

     
    I stared into Talon’s eyes, his beautiful brown eyes. I felt his thumb rub across the skin of my hand, as his other caressed every inch of