Chapter 39
The second Manu woke, he knew he was in trouble. Agony lanced up his arms, his muscles screaming, and joints pulled to the edge of tearing. He hung suspended by his wrists, and with the numbness in his fingers, it seemed he had been there awhile.
His head was bent forward, and he cracked open one eye to see where he was.
He noticed that someone had removed his boots, and his feet dangled several inches above the ground.
His stomach curdled in horror as he recognized the flooring as Gita’s torture room at Shaldorn.
He stopped himself from jerking away in disgust, just in time.
Each time he drew in a breath, it felt as if dozens of blades scored his lungs. He wouldn’t be able to keep himself still for much longer. He might as well let his captors know he was awake and get things moving.
Manu took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he would find, and lifted his head.
At first, he didn’t see anything but the many torture devices.
He looked up to see that he dangled by a metal bar, his arms outstretched.
They had bound and covered his hands as an extra precaution against his magic.
As torture devices went, it didn’t seem that bad at first glance.
But Gita wouldn’t have something in the room that didn’t deliver the utmost agony.
His coat had also been removed. The pain from hanging was so severe that he hadn’t realized he was freezing until that moment.
His body began to shake uncontrollably, making the chains rattle.
He continued to scan the room until he spotted Chanda standing by Gita’s desk, her arms crossed over her chest.
“It’s about time you woke,” she said. “I was growing weary of waiting.”
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
“You’ve always believed yourself smarter, stronger, and faster than the rest of us. Surely, you know the answer.”
“I’ve known you for my whole life. You’re like a sister. This isn’t you.”
Her smile was cold and filled with malevolence. “You know nothing about me.”
“Then tell me,” he bade. “Tell me why you hate me so much that you would do this.”
“I knew you were the wrong person to lead Navara when we were only ten. Your inability to grow into your full potential would allow someone else to rule the Peaks and all the tribes. I realized then that I had to find a way to remove you.”
Manu’s blood ran with ice as he stared at the woman he had considered a friend. He had been afraid that someone in Navara had betrayed him, but he never would’ve suspected Chanda. “When did you join the Masters?”
“I found Gita when Shaldorn was being constructed,” she said, dropping her arms to her sides as she walked to him. “I saw the power Gita wielded, and she saw how I hungered for more.”
Chanda had been working against him all these years. Now, he knew how the Masters had learned about Ravi, Yasmin, Dain, Arya, and his identity. He had been the one to share how he’d helped them with Jalall and Chanda.
“You might kill me, but you won’t get to Jalall,” Manu said.
Chanda grinned. “I wouldn’t waste what little time you have left worrying about him. If he isn’t already dead, he will be soon. As for your precious Navara, I will take over.”
“And hand our people over to the Masters?”
“Of course. Right after I take control of all the tribes.”
He shook his head. “It’ll never happen.”
Chanda snapped her fingers.
Manu saw movement on his periphery and turned his head.
A jolt of surprise ran through him when he spotted Inej.
He stared at her, waiting for her to meet his gaze, but she wouldn’t look at him.
Her eyes were focused on Chanda. Manu looked at his childhood friend and saw Chanda’s obvious delight as she looked between them.
Chanda waited until Inej stood beside her before slowly walking around the human. “You came racing after us, but you haven’t asked about Inej once since waking.” Chanda tsked.
Manu stared at Inej, silently willing her to look at him. He hadn’t forgotten her. She had to know that.
“Ever the champion, you brought your executioner into Navara and right into your bed.” Chanda laughed as she stroked Inej’s hair while looking at him with unbridled glee. “I bet that stings.”
He waited for Inej to deny it, but her silence spoke volumes.
An image of Inej straddling his hips, her head thrown back as he massaged her breasts, filled his mind.
The pleasure had been real. But she had said she didn’t believe in love.
All the while, he had thought he could love enough for both of them.
She had, indeed, been a blind spot that nothing could have prepared him for.
Chanda pulled a small vial from her pocket and held it up.
“Gita gave her poison to use. We fully expected her to administer it within the first few days since she held such hatred for you. Of course, that’s because her employer told her you were the one who led the kidnapping group. Gita played her part marvelously.”
Manu had never thought to ask who Inej worked for. It hadn’t seemed to matter at the time. Even if he had, he doubted that Inej would’ve told him the truth. She hadn’t spoken much about her past, and he hadn’t asked. She had been looking for a fresh start, and he had wanted to give it to her.
“You can also thank Inej for the device you’re in now.” Chanda winked at him as if this were some game.
Manu’s arms were going numb. At least it helped alleviate some of the pain. “You killed Tahmine.”
Chanda’s smile slipped as she turned away. “She went against my order to leave Inej alone.”
“She was working with you, then?”
“She only saw you and the future she wouldn’t let go of as your wife,” Chanda bit out as she spun back to him. “Then you flaunted your affair with a human in front of her. How did you think she would react?”
There was something more there. Something Chanda didn’t want him to know. Manu had always known how to push her to get what he wanted, and he used that knowledge now. “I was clear with her about where I stood. It was casual and nothing more.”
“You should’ve cut her off! Then, she might have seen me!”
He frowned at Chanda, taken aback by her shouted confession. “You should’ve made your intentions clear to her.”
“There’s nothing you can do for her anymore.” Chanda turned Inej toward him and leaned close to her. Then, in a fake whisper, she said, “It’s time.”
Manu slid his gaze to Inej. He had held her, kissed her, and pleasured her untold times.
Chanda had cautioned him about her, but he had ignored everyone’s warnings.
Nothing had mattered but what he felt for Inej.
He was a fool for not seeing what had been right in front of him.
He didn’t care about his life. He was only concerned about his people and Jalall. Where the fuck were Rhi and Con?
Inej didn’t move. Chanda’s lips twisted angrily as she dug her fingers into the sleeve of Inej’s coat and whispered something in her ear that he couldn’t make out.
Inej reluctantly lifted her gaze to him.
Her brown eyes shimmered with a weight of what couldn’t be undone—and the apology that she couldn’t say.
Did he believe her? Could he? Damn, but he found himself doing just that.
“Stop stalling,” Chanda said to Inej between clenched teeth. “Remember what I said.”
Manu shot Chanda a withering glare, but she wasn’t paying him any attention. Inej jerked her arm out of Chanda’s grasp and took a small step forward. Manu’s gaze followed her as she reluctantly made her way to the handle on the side of the machine.
Chanda moved to stand before him. “What does it feel like to know that you fell for someone who sought to end your life?”
His feet were free. He could kick out his leg and stop Inej from reaching the handle.
It wouldn’t buy him much time, but it would be something.
He engaged his abdominal muscles and started to lift his leg, when a white-hot sting pierced his arm, sharp and sudden like fire slithering across torn skin.
He hissed and looked up to find a crescent-shaped push dagger connected to a telescoping pole.
The cut from the blade’s kiss was shallow, yet pain thrummed like a drumbeat beneath his skin as blood ran down his arm.
Chanda chuckled. “Tiny cuts. Each time you move, another blade will come out and slice you. How many do you think you’ll be able to take before you succumb? Or, you can hang there and eventually freeze. Either way, it’s going to be a slow death.”
“You might kill me. You might even defeat Jalall. But you’ll be crushed,” he taunted.
“By whom?” Chanda demanded. “You have no idea what’s happening. Your supposed friends have left you to deal with things on your own. You have no way to contact them and ask for help. I doubt they would come even if they could. They certainly wouldn’t get here in time. Pull the lever, Inej.”
Manu slid his gaze to Inej. “You don’t have to do anything but get out of here. Run and don’t look back.”
Chanda sighed loudly. “She won’t go anywhere because she knows what I’ll do to you if she does.”
“You plan on killing me no matter what I do,” Inej said as she turned to Chanda. “I came to the mountains looking for revenge. I let my anger and hurt cloud my judgment.”
Chanda rolled her eyes. “Stop. I have no wish to hear that you’ve changed your mind. You made a deal with Gita. There’s no getting out of that.”
Blood was soaking the sleeve of his tunic. Manu wanted to do something, anything. He was used to fixing problems, but this was one scenario he couldn’t do anything about. Not for himself or Inej. And that distressed him the most.
“Now, pull the damn lever!” Chanda shouted.
Inej took a defiant step back.
Manu saw Chanda’s rage about to explode. “Just do it,” he urged Inej.
She shot him a puzzled frown. She didn’t want to hurt him. Yet, she needed to. He didn’t know what was keeping Rhi and Con, but it was crucial that he buy as much time for them to find him as he could. He dipped his head, telling Inej it was okay.
“Do it,” he whispered.
Tears filled her eyes as she lifted her hand and placed shaky fingers on the mechanical lever.
“How sweet,” Chanda said sarcastically. Then, in a tight voice, she ordered, “Pull it now.”
Manu steeled himself as Inej tugged the switch down. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The glee on Chanda’s face was all the warning he got, right before nine searing lines sliced open the flesh on his back, each tail of the blades from the whip biting deep and dragging pain in jagged arcs.
He attempted to brace for more, but nothing could dull the first strike.
His skin felt flayed, his nerves lit like a battlefield.
His muscles locked, and a strangled sound he barely recognized as his voice escaped between his clenched teeth as blood welled and heat pulsed through his raw, burning flesh.
Then, the next strike came. He pressed his lips together to keep his agony inside, but his bellow escaped on the third assault. One of the blades hit the bone of his spine and caused him to bow his back. Before he knew what was happening, dozens of blades cut into his arms and legs.