“No. It’s just a feeling.” I walked out into the hallway, my fingers running across the dusty rock walls. My feet led the way, an invisible string propelling them forward.
We moved deeper into the heart of the castle, the odor of moist earth intensifying with each step. I reached a stairwell and followed it down, one floor, two, and finally turned down the corridor of the bottom level. Talon remained tight on my heels.
“Where exactly are you taking us?” he whisper-hissed.
“I’ll know when we get there.” I picked up the pace as anxiety twisted my insides. Flashes of the dark passageway streaked across my mind, fuzzy images ricocheting around my skull. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to place them, but they were too flimsy to hold onto.
We turned a corner, and a towering iron door loomed in front of us. A pit of dread formed in my gut, completely filling my insides. I swallowed down the bout of nausea and jiggled the rusted handle.
Talon hissed out a curse as the dark room came to view. Iron manacles lined the floor and walls. A long wooden table sat in the center of the chamber fitted with rusty metal cuffs and spikes that ran the entire length of the torture contraption. Two more chairs similarly outfitted sat along the far wall, blood spattering the worn wood. An iron wheel stood between the two chairs, metal spikes jutting out of each spoke and encrusted with more dark blood.
Sweat dripped down my back despite the chill that had overtaken me. I ran my hands over my arms, but it did nothing to chase away the frosty sensation. “I was here,” I muttered as I moved closer to the torture rack. A smaller table sat beneath it filled with potions and tinctures. The messy handwriting froze the blood in my veins: remna venom, chirus blood, shika urine, drestia poison and more and more.
Screams echoed across my mind. Shrieks of pain. My pain, my screams. I closed my eyes and gruesome images flew by: scorching hot pokers, whips, gleaming blades of varying sizes.
My knees buckled, and I reached for the table, but my sweaty fingers slid right off the edge. I waited for the smack of hard cement, but it never came. Warm arms encircled me, and I fell into a firm chest. I buried my face into his shirt as hot tears burned my eyes. “Oh gods, what did they do to me?”
“I don’t know, Azara, but I swear I’ll make Thax pay.” Talon’s arms tightened around me, and I sunk into his embrace as sobs racked my chest.
What if GG had been right, and I was better off without my memories?
Talon swept a tear-soaked tendril of dark hair behind my ear and muttered soothingly. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay, I promise. I’ll never let him hurt you again.”
I glanced up to meet blazing irises so full of emotion they stole my breath.
“I’m so sorry I failed you, Azara.” The agony in Talon’s voice was mirrored in his expression. Something broke inside me. Another sob racked my chest, and he pressed me closer. A rush of fiery emotions swept my insides and bubbled to the surface.
Raw energy crackled to life, seeping through my veins and raging to be freed. I squirmed from Talon’s embrace and splayed my hands out. Flashes of crimson energy exploded from my palms and demolished the torture rack. Shards of wood splintered across the room, shooting from one torture device to the other until nothing remained but piles of ashes.
Darkness seeped into my vision, and my demon scraped her way to the surface. I welcomed her this time, the pain too much for me to take. I wanted out. I didn’t want to remember.
“Hold on, Azara. Please.” Talon’s warm breath ghosted over the shell of my ear an instant before his arms came around me once again. He cradled me in his chest, and the black receded. He rocked me back and forth, the strength of his arms and warmth of his tone grounding me. “Stay with me, Azara. Don’t let her win.”
When I opened my eyes, the darkness had disappeared and the tears had been swallowed up by Talon’s shirt. The roar of blood across my eardrums had passed, and a strange calm settled over me.
Talon’s chin rested on my head and the slow, steady thrum of his heart tamed the erratic beating of my own. I hazarded a glance up and met his concerned gaze. “You okay?”
I scanned the destruction and couldn’t help the ghost of a smile tipping up my lips. “I think so.” I curled into his lap and nuzzled the soft fabric of his shirt. “Thank you,” I muttered.
“I’m the last person you should be thanking, Azara.”
I shook my head as my fingers dug into his shirt. “I may not remember much, but I know you’re wrong. I have a feeling you’ve saved me more than once.”
“But not when it really counted.”
“And yet, here I am.”
He arched a brow but didn’t utter a word.
I closed my eyes, happy to revel in the sudden calm and reassurance of his firm embrace. We stayed like that for a while, a peaceful bubble of security within the terrors of Thax’s torture chamber.
Finally, I must have nodded off. I vaguely remembered Talon lifting me and his warm breath against my ear. “Let’s get you home.”
Chapter Sixteen
The dull roar of voices and clatter of trays in the busy mess hall jumbled together in the background. I couldn’t focus with the slew of new images floating around in my mind. More than random images, they were memories. I was still having a hard time deciphering them, but GG’s potion was working. In the past few days, bits and pieces were starting to come together.
Vander threw a limp fry from across the table, the golden flecks in his hazel eyes twinkling. I ducked, anticipating his move, and the soggy potato smacked into an approaching Flix.
“Hey,” he squealed as the fry slid down his pale-yellow jumpsuit, leaving a greasy track down the front. “Not cool, wolf.”
“Sorry,” he laughed. “That wasn’t directed at you.”
“Whatever.” Flix folded into the empty chair beside me. I’d rekindled my friendship with the pixie, under the watchful eye of one of my bodyguards, and despite not remembering much about him, I could totally see why we’d hit it off in the first place.
“That was a ninja move, Azara.” Vander beamed at me as he sat back in his chair. “It didn’t seem like you were with us.” He pointed at his head. “More memories resurfacing?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek and nodded. “Something like that.”
“Don’t pressure her, Vander. Her memories will come back when they will. Let the poor girl have some fun. With me.” Flix turned to me with a mischievous smile. “I convinced Logan to let you help me and Valeria set up for the big moon fest party tomorrow night.”
“Party in prison?” I quirked a brow.
“It’s a Darkblood tradition.”
Dallas sauntered over and took the seat beside me. “More like an excuse to get wasted on moonshine and tear up the boneyard.” He smirked and flashed his fangs. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing of course.”
“So did I forget about this or is it new information?” I couldn’t imagine a penitentiary holding a party for a bunch of psychopathic inmates.
“New information,” said Hayden as he appeared behind Dallas, carrying a tray filled with an assortment of mini cereal boxes. “The warden was trying to keep it from happening.”