Chapter 21
SERATH
A soft beep and click breaks the silence of my prison, then light spills into the room. I close my eyes. They can’t know that I’m conscious. Not yet.
I need time.
Time to reach her. Time to convince her.
“How is he doing?” a cultured male voice asks.
“Wounds were bad, but he’s healed nicely,” another male voice, this one sounding younger, says.
“Strong enough to begin the procedure?”
“I believe so. We can start tomorrow.”
“Good. The sooner we complete the conversion, the better. The powers that be are beginning to get antsy.”
“Do they want another incident like the Basque boy?” There’s a bite to the young male’s voice.
Romi? They’re talking about Romi…
“I raised this precise point. The only reason they’ve been agreeable to taking it slow with this one. How is Basque doing?”
“He’s viable…if contained. We’re working on compliance.”
“Good, good,” the older male says. “Give this one another day, then start the procedure. Take it slow and increase the pain. We need to ensure that?—”
“I know how to do my job.”
“So you’ve extracted the female’s pheromones from the items provided?”
“Of course I have.”
“Good, that should make the process smoother.”
The door clangs shut, and my heart squeezes painfully in my chest because I’m running out of time.