Page 90 of Bought to Break
‘What is this? You collar me like an animal?’ she shrieked.
He put his hands up in front of him as if that would placate her. ‘It’s just to deaden the effect your presence has on those around you. It’s only until we are bound and your power can be controlled.’
By him.She stepped forward and slapped him hard.
He cried out and gasped, holding his cheek as if he couldn’t believe what she’d done. Then he flew at her, his dark nature suddenly visible in his eyes, making her stumble back. He grabbed her arms and held them at her sides in a punishing grip on her wrists that made her wince. Then he took a deep breath and took her hands gently instead, his face trying very hard to maintain its mask of serenity.
‘I won’t punish you for this,’ he said with a small smile. ‘I know the past days have been taxing. Truly, Lana, you will feel differently after we are bound together. I will prepare everything for sunrise tomorrow,’ he promised, licking at a drop of blood forming on his lip where her blow had split it.
He bent his forehead to hers, closing his eyes as if trying to will her to be thankful to him as she stared wide-eyed at him. She had thought him odd yet harmless, but she had been so wrong. He was unpredictable and unhinged and very dangerous indeed. In truth, he scared her much more than the Collector did.
He kissed her head and left, remembering to lock the door behind him this time. A few moments later, food was brought, and she ate what little her churning stomach could take simply to keep her strength up. She paced the room, hands shaking. She had no doubt that Viktor and Kane would come, but what if they didn’t make it before tomorrow? What if she was bound to the Collector’s sycophant for her mind to be taken and her body …bred? She shivered. Time was not on her side and she still had no idea where to find the Vessel.
She took the poker, the only thing in the room that might work, from the hearth and began to work on the door’s large old-fashioned keyhole. She couldn’t just wait here like a lamb for the slaughter.
Chapter 41
Viktor
The tunnels had been difficult. Viktor didn’t care for enclosed spaces, but he had followed the men holding Lana as closely as he was able to this time for fear of losing them again. He waited in the darkness long after they’d climbed the ladder into the fortress until he was sure there was no one guarding the door. He had come out slowly and quietly, surprised that none of the horses had been frightened, though he supposed they saw men rising up from the passage all the time.
He made a quick survey of the cloister that followed the perimeter of the central courtyard, locating the buildings that they’d need later and realising almost immediately that the fortress wasn’t a fortress at all. It was an old monastery, though there were no priests in sight. And the soldiers he could see standing on the walls weren’t the usual sell-swords, either. There were more of the men who looked like Brothers of the Dark Army. Kane was adamant that the only units on long-term secondment were in the capital city of Kitore. It wasn’t possible and he wouldn’t have believed it unless he’d seen it with his own eyes, but here they were.
Brothers’ secrets were dangerous. They should not leave the confines of the Brotherhood and hadn’t in a thousand years, so Sorin had told him once. Someone was breaking the most important laws by teaching these men, but who?
Drawing his gaze away from the guards, he caught sight of the answer walking nonchalantly across the square to what looked like the armoury. Kilroy. What the fuck was he doing here? And if he was here, where were those mangy curs, Uth and Fen? He had to get Kane. Now. If nothing else, they hated Lana. If they didn’t already know she was here, they would soon. He eased back into the stables and slipped down into the tunnels, feeling his way through the maze in the gloom and trying to ignore his unease.
Luckily the path was quite straight, though narrow in places, and soon he emerged from the small temple in the Forge. He walked quickly through the busy streets back to the room they’d taken and found Kane sharpening his knives, something he did when he was worried.
He didn’t look up as Viktor closed the door softly. ‘You didn’t fail this time, then?’
Viktor felt his lip curl and bit back a retort, reminding himself that this was something Kane did to distract himself from his fears.
‘They’re in an old monastery just outside the town to the east.’ He sat down heavily. ‘I didn’t see Lana, but there are more of those soldiers. The ones who look like Brothers.’
‘How?’ Kane murmured to himself.
‘I saw Kilroy.’
Kane’s head shot up. ‘Fuck.’ He stood and began to pace. ‘They’re fools, but they wouldn’t be here without orders.’
‘Greygor? Why betray the Brothers? If the Army finds out, he’s as good as dead.’
Kane shrugged. ‘He’s old and weak. If someone challenges his leadership by combat, he’ll lose.’
‘If he’s working with Vineri, that’s why we were in the Islands, and that attack we watched in the forest at the exchange was a ruse.’
‘If that’s true, then he let at least one Brother and twenty soldiers died for nothing. Uth’s unit has been teaching Vineri’s men to fight like us. They’re the weakest Brothers, but they’re still part of the Army.’
Viktor rubbed his eyes.What a mess.‘Uth hates Lana. If he finds out she’s within his reach, he won’t care about orders. He’ll kill her.’
‘We need to move tonight.’
‘Agreed.’ Viktor hesitated. ‘I know we aren’t Brothers anymore, but …’
‘Greygor needs to pay,’ Kane finished, and Viktor nodded. ‘I’ll send Quin a bird once we have Lana and Sorin back.’
‘Quin?’
