61. Clash of Stone and Steel #3
He let go of her hand, and she pulled back.
She wouldn’t let him see her flex it in pain, but his words had their desired effect.
She’d forgotten Cyra would be enraged as well.
She’d kidnapped the woman’s husband, and if she did manage to get Bressen out of here, she’d be returning him to his wife in less-than-perfect condition.
Talyn steeled her expression. “You’re too kind, Lord Bressen,” she said. “Be careful or people will think you’ve gone soft.”
He actually chuckled as he started to lay back down on his cot, but he stopped. “One other thing,” he said. “Expect a visit from Morland tonight. It sounded like he had some unpleasant plans for you when he was down here earlier.”
Talyn arched a brow. The lord was warning her?
“Thank you,” she said. “I was expecting to see him tonight, so it’s good to have confirmation.”
He nodded to her and laid down.
Talyn left the cell and secured the door behind her. She breathed a relieved sigh as her power returned and she shifted again into Magdalene.
She shuddered as she remembered Samhail’s bellow of rage when she’d disappeared through the portal with his friend, his brother.
Cyra was a syphon, an impressively powerful perimortal, and she’d seen firsthand how the lady’s self-control slipped when it came to those who harmed the people she loved, but it was still Samhail’s wrath she feared more.
Or perhaps it was just the thought of the hatred he must now feel toward her that ripped her apart.
Samhail would try to kill her if he ever saw her again, of that she was sure.
And she didn’t think even Bressen would be able to hold him back.
Talyn
It was just after one in the morning when the handle of the door to Talyn’s room turned to sand and fell to the floor in a pile. The door eased open slowly so the dim light from the torches in the hallway seeped inside the room and fell across the bed where the covers mounded over a form.
Morland stepped over the pile of sand in the doorway, his eyes fixed on the bed, but he froze when Talyn’s sword appeared under his jaw and pressed to his neck.
“If you even breathe too hard, I’ll slit your throat before you have time to transfigure anything,” Talyn said from where she’d been waiting just on the other side of the door. “Drop the blade.”
The dagger Morland had been carrying clanged loudly on the floor in the silence of the room.
She tsked. “Going to kill me in my sleep? That’s not very fair of you.”
The hint of a smile touched Morland’s lips, but he didn’t answer.
Talyn’s eyes narrowed. “Show me your other hand.”
Morland’s smile faded, and he held up a caronium cuff, a length of rope, and a piece of cloth.
Talyn clenched her teeth so hard her jaw popped.
“Planning to rape me first like you did my sister?” she snarled.
Morland’s brows lifted innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Your sister and I were friends. Lovers.”
Rage boiled up in Talyn. “Liar!” she snapped. “You raped, tortured, and killed her! Admit it!”
Morland remained silent, and Talyn held in the string of curses that begged to be set free. He knew she was waiting for him to confess, so he wouldn’t give her that satisfaction.
She couldn’t kill him yet anyway, Talyn reminded herself. She’d promised Bressen she wouldn’t do it as long as he was in Aidan’s body. She’d agreed to give Bressen a month, so even if she got Morland to confess right now, it wouldn’t matter.
“Get out of my room now,” Talyn said, “or I’ll cut your dick off and feed it to you, as I did to the man I killed in your stead.”
Morland’s smug expression faltered.
Talyn lowered the sword from his neck and stepped back. Gods, she ached to cut him at least, to make him bleed, but she needed to remember this was another man’s body. An innocent man’s. If they did manage to get Morland out of it, Lord Aidan wouldn’t appreciate her cutting him up.
Morland stepped back into the hallway without turning around, and Talyn watched him go. He cleared the doorway, gave her a mocking half-bow, then turned and strode back down the hall without another word.
Talyn sighed and closed the door. It didn’t latch without its handle, but she pulled a chair over and set it in front. It wouldn’t keep anyone out, but she’d at least hear it scrape the floor if someone tried to enter.
She didn’t get into the bed but curled up on the couch at the side of the room to sleep.
She just needed one hour of sleep, then she’d wake and go down to see Lord Bressen again.
She suspected the caronium tip of the crossbow bolt was still in his shoulder, and she’d need to get it out so he could read Morland’s mind.
It needed to come out in general if they were going to escape.
It was too dangerous for either of them to stay much longer.
It was only a matter of time before Morland tried to hurt her or the lord again.
Now that she knew – or highly suspected – what a sadistic bastard he was, getting out had taken on new urgency.
Bressen had agreed to help her, and she was counting on his own sense of honor that he’d follow through.
She just hoped she could trust him to keep his word more than he’d been able to trust her to keep hers.