Page 145 of Bonds of Pain
I tested the restraints earlier, when genuine agony from his procedures made my struggles look authentic. The leather gives slightly under pressure—old enough to have loosened with use. My left wrist has slightly more give than my right, plus it isn’t my dominant one
What’s a little more pain when every cell is already in agony?
The Inquisitor’s breathing grows heavier as he reaches Maya’s cage. “You’re offering yourself to save him? How touching.”
“I’m offering myself because I finally understand what I am,” Maya purrs. “What you made me. Your creation.”
Her words send a chill down my spine, but they’re working. I can hear the hunger in Thane’s voice as he responds, completely focused on his prize.
This is my moment.
Pain explodes through my left wrist as I deliberately hyperextend it, feeling the small bones shift and crack. I bite down hard on my tongue to keep from making any sound, tasting blood as tears spring to my eyes. But the joint compresses just enough…
My hand slides free.
The relief is immediate, followed by a fresh wave of agony as blood rushes back into my compressed fingers. I keep my arm positioned exactly as it was, fighting every instinct to cradle my injured wrist against my chest.
“That’s it,” Maya coos to the Inquisitor. “I’ve been such a fool, fighting what I was always meant to be.”
I carefully flex my freed hand, working feeling back into the deadened fingers. The monitors attached to my chest continue their steady beeping—I need to keep my heart rate controlled or the machines will give me away.
Through slitted eyes, I watch as Thane approaches Maya’s cage like a moth drawn to flame. His clinical detachment is cracking, replaced by the same possessive hunger I’ve seen in Logan’s eyes.
“You escaped me once,” he murmurs, close enough to her cage that I can see his fingers gripping the bars. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
“You won’t need to,” Maya whispers. “I understand now. I belong to you. I always have.”
The words are like acid in my ears, but I know she’s lying. I can’t feel her through our severed bond, but I know Maya well enough to recognize the steel beneath her silk voice. She’s buying me time, giving me the opening I need.
Now I just have to not waste it.
I draw on the last reserves of my strength, the pain from my injuries falling away as pure desperation takes over. Maya’s sultry voice continues drawing Thane closer to her cage, his breathing growing heavier with each word she speaks. This is it—my only chance.
I explode from the table with everything I have left, my injured wrist screaming in protest as I launch myself at the Inquisitor’s back. The monitors attached to my chest tear freewith sharp pops, wires snapping as I throw my full weight into the attack.
Thane spins at the last second, his eyes widening in shock as he realizes I’m no longer unconscious. My tackle catches him around the waist, driving both of us to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The concrete floor rushes up to meet us, the impact driving the air from my lungs.
“Impossible,” he gasps, struggling beneath me. “The sedatives should have?—“
I drive my elbow into his solar plexus, cutting off his words. Years of combat training take over, muscle memory guiding my movements even as my vision blurs from exhaustion and blood loss. I’m operating on pure adrenaline now, the knowledge that Maya’s life depends on this the only thing keeping me conscious.
But Thane is stronger than his slight frame suggests. He bucks beneath me, rolling us both across the lab floor. Glass vials and medical instruments scatter, the sharp sound of breaking equipment filling the sterile air. I grapple for control, trying to pin him down, but my injured wrist collapses when I put weight on it.
Thane takes advantage, flipping our positions with surprising agility. Suddenly he’s on top, his hands closing around my throat with crushing force. His clinical mask has slipped completely, revealing the savage satisfaction beneath.
“Pathetic,” he snarls, pressing down harder. “Did you really think you could overpower me? A broken, tortured Omega against a trained professional?”
Black spots dance at the edges of my vision as his grip tightens. My lungs burn, desperate for air that won’t come. I claw at his hands with my good arm, but he’s positioned himself too well. My strength is fading fast, blood loss and trauma finally taking their toll.
Maya’s screams reach me dimly through the roaring in my ears. She’s rattling her cage, desperate to reach us, but the bars hold firm.
“Cillian! Fight him! Please!”
Her voice grows more distant as my vision tunnels. Darkness creeps in from all sides, and I feel my body going limp despite my desperate efforts to resist. My last coherent thought isn’t of Logan or the bond that’s brought me so much pain.
It’s of Maya. Maya, who never deserved any of this. Who was brave enough to sacrifice herself for others even when no one had ever done the same for her. Maya, who should have been free to choose her own path instead of being trapped in this nightmare of royal politics and forced bonds.
I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, I think as consciousness slips away.You deserved so much better than all of us.
