Page 65 of Wind and Water
Heat sears my flesh as if I’ve stepped too close to an open blaze. A moment later, the pain and heat vanish as if they’d never been there.
Removing his hand, he moves out from behind me. His voice is in my head.The longer we can keep our feelings for each other from the witch queen and Ciaran, the better.
I suppose he’s right, but I miss his touch and his body against mine. Stretching as I did before, I’m astonished that the pain is more of a dull memory. I nod. “Thank you. That’s better.”
Sitting on the hard ground, we lean against the wall. No one comes. The sounds that reach us are grating and make me cringe. I don’t know what it is, but it sounds like metal upon metal. “Have I gotten used to the air here as well as the oil on my clothes?”
“Yes. It’s not deadly. Only disorienting and admittedly horrible.”
My stomach growls. “Do you think they intend to starve us?”
“I wish I could say no, but I have no idea what they intend. Venora needs you, or she would have had Ciaran kill you. She thought Birdie was you, and your mother suffered for it with torture. That indicates a desire for knowledge rather than destruction.” He gets up and walks around the room, touching the black walls and muttering in the elven language.
“How can you be so casual about these things?” My voice bites despite an attempt to be rational. He’s a soldier. He’s seen much more than I have. He’s trained to stay calm. I shouldn’t be upset with him for being what he was trained to be.
“You mistake calm for casual, Wren. I’m not without feeling, and since you’ve been in my head, you already know that.” The only hint that I’ve touched a nerve is a slight twitch in his left eye before he returns to searching our cell.
“I’m sorry. I know you care. This place has put me on edge. I wish they’d do whatever they plan. Sitting here for who knowshow long is wreaking havoc on my nerves.” I pick up a small black pebble and hurl it across the room. It clanks as if it were metal rather than stone.
Liam cocks his head. “Coire is not what I expected.” He walks to the wall where the pebble landed. Careful to avoid the oil, he picks up the stone and puts it in his pocket.
Before I can ask him what he’s saving that for, the door opens with its vault-like clicks and pops.
Standing, I back away.
Heat permeates the chamber as three creatures enter. One carries a skinned, charred rabbit on a platter. The scent would be tempting if not for the stench of hell that’s mixed in. The others haul a small cauldron and a larger tub, both filled with water that sloshes over the sides.
The creatures have arms and legs, but that is where the similarities between them and us end. They are half my size yet carry at least one hundred pounds of water, and I can’t even guess the weight of the containers the water is in. Their eyes are black, with no light within and no whites, deep-set into faces shaped like foxes, but without fur or hair. Their skin is black like tar and has an oily sheen.
They do not speak or make eye contact as they place the items on the ground in front of us. Walking with heavy feet that leave tracks on the floor, they exit the way they came, with the large door slamming shut behind them. Their footsteps shine in the torchlight for a moment before being absorbed as if the stone were sand.
“This place is wrong.” My stomach lurches despite my hunger.
Liam pulls a bite of meat from the bone and tastes it, then does the same with the water. “You’ll get no argument from me.” He hands me a piece of meat.
I push his hand away.
“Eat it. Who knows when or if they’ll feed us again.” He scoops water with his hand and sips it.
I force the bland rabbit down and sip some water. My hunger is at war with eating anything that comes from this place or the creatures who brought it. Still, I manage to eat enough to satisfy Liam, and I drink the slightly metallic water. “Is that for bathing?” I point to the larger tub.
“I think so.”
Rather than soaking my clothes, I use the bathwater to rinse my arms, then splash some on my face. Once I’ve done as much as I’m willing to, I sit next to Liam. “We’re going to die here. I wonder what will happen to our souls when we perish in such a place.”
“I don’t think our souls will be condemned by their location at our death. She can only steal our souls if she makes us shadow demons, and let’s hope she wants something else from us.” He shivers.
Becoming nothing but a shadow bound to an elf witch is a fate far worse than death. I hope that if that happens, one of the centaurs or one of Liam’s people finds a way to kill me and set me free.
His mind at the edge of mine, he nudges my shoulder. “We’re not dead yet. Don’t lose hope.”
It’s hard not to laugh. We’re in hell, and he’s telling me not to lose hope. If that’s not irony, I don’t know what is. “Thank you for coming with me.”
His eyes are warm and filled with emotions that he doesn’t share, even through our mental connection. “You are welcome.”
Part of me wants to pry and know precisely what he’s feeling because I doubt it’s hope. That was to keep my spirits up. We’re probably going to die here, and who knows what we’ll have to endure before that inevitability.
He pulls me close to his side. “We’re safe for now. Let that be enough.”
