Page 9 of Shadow Warrior
He wrapped a hand around mine, his palm warm and reassuring, and pressed his forehead to the bars.
Oh, God. He was here. He was okay. “I want to hug you.”
His throat bobbed. “Trust me, Indigo, I’d like nothing more right now. But you’re in danger if you stay. They don’t want anyone knowing what happened to me. They don’t want to incite panic. If they know you’ve spoken to me, I don’t know what they’ll do.”
“What happened?”
“They experimented on me. Took blood. Injected me with stuff. I was held in a cabin, chained up, drugged most of the time. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but … They did something to me.” He held out his arm and pulled up his sleeve. Green veins stood out starkly under his skin. “I can feel it inside me.”
“What is it?” Devon asked.
“I don’t know.” Harmon pulled down his sleeve. “There’s a weaver here from headquarters. She’s been trying to extract it. Trying to purge it from my system, and then they’ll make me sign a Sworn.”
I’d heard of those. Magically and legally binding documents that the council loved to use to control access to classified information. It wasn’t enough to give your word, you needed to agree to have your tongue magically bound. It was like the shadow knight oath.
I moved closer, so the familiar heat of his body brushed against mine. Damn the bars. “How did you escape?”
Harmon’s gaze flicked away, and he shook his head slightly. “I don’t know. I woke up in the mists, and I ran. The fortress was closest. I got there, and the knights brought me down here.”
“The fomorians dumped you?”
He looked uneasy. “Yeah. I know. It makes no sense. Why send me back?”
Unless they had a plan. Unless they wanted to use Harmon somehow. Henrich’s reticence made sense now. The vetting made sense, but it didn’t make me feel any better about my best friend being locked up like an animal.
Wait … I ran over what he’d just said.MeandI… notus. “What happened to Venrick?”
Harmon looked blankly at me. “Venrick?”
“He was taken too,” Devon said. “He was with you beyond the mist.”
Harmon shook his head. “I didn’t see Venrick. It was just me.” His eyes widened. “Wait. They took Venrick too?”
“You both went missing at the same time,” Devon said.
It made no sense. “The knights didn’t ask you about Venrick?”
“No. They didn’t …” Harmon frowned. “They don’t trust me. Not with this shit in my veins. Not until they get it out.”
“And how will they do that?” I studied his face, noting the tightening around his eyes. “Harmon?”
His throat bobbed. “They have a machine …”
“Do they hurt you?” I gripped the bars tighter.
“I can handle it.”
A low humming sound filtered into the chamber through a door at the far end.
We fell into silence.
Listening.
My scalp crawled, and my intestines tightened in response to the sound. “Is that it?”
Harmon made a sound of frustration in the back of his throat. “There’s nothing you can do for me, Indie. You need to get out of here.”
“They’ll be coming for you again?”
