I closed my eyes, and opened them again. But she was still there.
She’d come for me.
I opened my mouth and managed to croak, “Riley.”
Her eyes dropped to Laila’s body, and then rose to meet mine for a second. I caught a glimpse of her horror. At what I had done?
She dropped to check Laila, and then pulled her off to the side.
“I did that,” I whispered. “I lost control…”
The slim young man’s doubt showed in his eyes, but Riley didn’t hesitate. “We are here to rescue you,” she said. Then they darted to my wrists and ankles. “Dammit. Lucas, can you deal with those?”
He moved close to peer at them. “Yeah. It will take a bit to do, though.” His gaze rose to my neck. “Can’t do a thing about the collar, though.”
“Just get him loose, and Cara can deal with the rest when we get him back,” Riley said.
Lucas looked at me. “Are there guards outside?”
I had to swallow twice before I could speak, and even then, I was so hoarse it was barely decipherable. “Yes, usually two. But—the ones who strung me up left a while ago. Shouldn’t be back for a few hours.”
The other young woman gazed around the dungeon. “I’ve got it,” she said after a moment. “But if they come in and start crashing around, it will unravel in a hurry.”
When I stared at her in confusion, Riley provided, “Maddy’s a Blocker.”
A Blocker? Seemed like I had a pretty exclusive team of rescuers.
The young man pulled something out of his cloak pocket—an oilskin cloth that he unrolled to reveal a set of wicked-looking metal instruments. He stood before me, peering into the manacles.
Riley pulled a bag out of her pocket and upended it into her mouth. I saw a sparkle of white—crystal dust? When she swallowed and looked up at me, her eyes glowed emerald. “Hello, Rafael. You’re taller in real life.”
“Stretched,” was all I managed. My voice refused to do anything but croak. Had I been screaming? It was all a bit of a blur. But the one thing I wanted to forget, I couldn’t. Laila’s body lay in a heap off to one side.
I’d killed her. My mind kept sheering away, and then returning to it, unable to block it out.
As Lucas bent over my right wrist manacle, Riley’s eyes chased over me. “What have they done to you?” she whispered.
I shrugged. “I will heal.” And I would. Was starting to already. Physically. Just wasn’t sure about anything else.
The spark of understanding in her beautiful eyes almost undid me. I didn’t deserve it, not after what I had just done. I set my jaw and fastened my gaze on the ceiling, struggling to hold it together.
Maddy looked at the bodies and the various apparatuses, she looked like she wanted to vomit.
I understood that sentiment. Perfectly.
The right manacle fell free, and Lucas bent to my right ankle.
“You’re good,” I croaked.
“Don’t lack for experience,” he replied. “These are fancy ones, though. Nothing but the best for you.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t quite know what to do with my right hand, now that it was free.
Riley reached out and folded her own around it. “We’ve got you.”
Hellfire. Her touch sent zings straight through me, but it was the empathy in her words that almost catapulted me straight over the edge. I shuddered. Her fingers tightened in mine, and I held on.
Barely.
