Page 93 of Bought to Break
Uth shrugged and pulled Lana roughly along the hall, his grip on her arm painful as he wrenched her this way and that.
‘He’s in the hole giving that slave of his a good seeing to,’ he whispered in her ear with a chuckle. ‘Your precious Sorin loves it – moaning like a whore earlier, I heard tell.’
Fury coursed through her as she thought about what was happening to him. She flung herself at Uth with a scream, her nails biting into his neck. He swore and casually threw her down the stairway as they neared it. She cried out as she hit her head and shoulder on the hard stone and rolled until the momentum ran out. Luckily, they weren’t steep, so it was only a few steps. He drew her to her feet by her hair and she gritted her teeth, trying not to make a sound. He wanted to hear her pain. Blood trickled down her face.
He pulled her across the yard and down the steps to the dungeons, running her face first into the wooden door that led to the cells and laughing as her head lolled and she fell to her knees. He grabbed her again and thrust her through the door. It was lighter than before. The torches were lit. She was in a daze as Uth pushed her forward. She stumbled into the iron bars and he grabbed her hair again.
‘Look who I found.’ It took her a moment to realise he wasn’t speaking to her, but to Viktor and Kane, who sat on the other side of the bars. Neither of them made a sound, just watched. Then Kane shrugged and Viktor leant his back against the wall casually.
‘Got yourself caught, eh? Thought you were long gone,’ Viktor drawled.
‘Do you two fools really think you can make me believe you don’t care for her?’ Uth smirked, grabbed her face and licked the blood that had tracked its way down her cheek, watching them. She struggled against him in disgust and he laughed as he pushed her into the adjacent cell, locking it behind her. ‘I’ll be back soon with Kilroy and Fen. Then we’ll have some fun.’
He left, shutting the wooden door behind him with a bang.
As soon as he was gone, Lana slid to the floor of her cell. Unbidden, tears began to track their way down her cheeks. She tried to stop, but it only got worse, and soon she was sobbing.
‘It’s all right. He’s truly gone,’ she heard Kane murmur, and Viktor’s hand came through the bars to take hers.
She clasped it tightly until her tears dried. ‘I’m sorry,’ she choked out.
‘Come closer to the bars.’
She did as Viktor asked and felt him dabbing at her head. ‘There’s nothing to be sorry for. What happened? What did he do?’
She shook her head. ‘Nothing, just threw me around a little. I’m all right.’ She waved Viktor away, stood up on wobbly legs and held onto the bars beside her.
Viktor cursed. ‘The first thing they’ll do is use you against us if they think they can break us that way. And it will break us. We can’t watch them hurt you, Lana.’
Kane nodded in agreement and suddenly she felt better except for her aching head and throbbing shoulder.
‘What happened?’ Kane asked, standing as well.
‘I found Sorin. He’s in the lowest dungeon beneath us.’ She stifled a sob. ‘Uth told me they’re doing terrible things to him.’
Kane’s hand came through and gripped her shoulder gently, pulling her around to face him. ‘Remember, you’re a prisoner, Lana. He’s already using tactics designed to break you. It was most likely a lie.’
She nodded and wiped away more tears.
‘I said you wouldn’t escape from here, girl,’ rasped the crone from the other side of the room.
‘Who are you?’ Kane growled.
Lana hushed him. ‘She helped me find Sorin. What is your name?’ she called to the woman.
‘Xeta.’
‘Thank you, Xeta. I found Sorin because of you.’
The old woman made a scornful sound. ‘Lot of good it did you. Now you’re in here with me.’
‘Why did Vineri put you in here?’ Viktor asked her.
‘Because I knew him before he called himself Vineri, when his famed collection was nothing more than an old book and a useless amulet and his home was a one-room hovel by the docks in Kitore; one we shared with our da. I knew him when he was a lowly mercenary, fighting others for scraps from the high tables.’ She cackled. ‘I know where he comes from; I know him. That makes me dangerous.’ She pulled herself up the bars, her gnarled fingers and long nails looking like claws. ‘If you have a chance to escape, just go. You won’t be able to kill him. He’s too powerful now.’
As she came into the light, Lana saw that she wore a collar like the one Dugal had put round her neck.
‘You’re a witch,’ Lana gasped.
