locking his arm around my neck and forcing me over, knocking my head into the warped steel. I tried to scream, but his arm compressed my throat. My whole body froze up.
He pulled me back and propelled me forward again, dinging the top of my head into the door. “Knock, knock.”
Chapter Five
I struggled, tried to grab his hands, rip his fingers off my throat. When his hold didn’t budge, I kicked out with my feet, attempting to connect with his shins, his feet, anything to make him let go, to make it stop. He squeezed harder, crushing my windpipe until I gasped and struggled to breathe.
The door swung open. My eyes glazed, the room swam, and my stomach churned. It smelled like … copper.
Reid pulled me into the room at a half-crouch, not letting me up. He pushed me into something hard—a chair I realized—and fastened something around my neck before I could flinch. I grabbed at it—some kind of leather, too tight against my lacerated skin—before he wrenched my hands down one at a time. I tried to scream but the strap around my neck wouldn’t let me draw enough breath and the sound became a pitiful squeak. Straps whipped around my wrists and ankles and locked into place. Something tickled my forehead.
“Look what you did.” Reid shook his head at me. He grabbed a cloth and dabbed at my forehead. He showed me the coated rag, blood smudged black in the weird green light. He gestured around at the room. “It’s emerald light. Even better than ultra-violet. We can see everything in it.” His eyes finally left my forehead and ran the length of my body. “Bones, muscles, ligaments. Everything.”
I wanted to turn my face away, not give him the satisfaction of seeing how much I was shaking, but the constraint around my neck was too tight. He leaned closer and poked his finger at the skin around my neck. “Bruising.” Then my forehead. “Still bleeding.”
The corner of his mouth twitched up before he stomped away from me. I followed him with my eyes, but metal plates jutted up on both sides of my face. All I could see was in front of me. The other side of an empty room: a wall with something splattered on it. I didn’t want to know what. And up: a ceiling made of tiles like the ones in an office, all perforated and bumpy looking.
Something rattled. I shrank inside. I’d seen this kind of thing in horror movies. The metal tray with the medical instruments on it and the villain saying, just because you can’t die doesn’t mean this won’t hurt .
I tried to ignore the throbbing in my forehead where he’d hurt me. I needed a wall inside my mind. Something to protect me from what was about to happen. I needed a wall of steel and iron, the toughest substance I could imagine, or I wasn’t going to survive.
His face popped into my vision again, a syringe filled with black liquid in his hand. “Hold still.”
My eyes widened. “Wait. No. What is that?”
He smiled before his face disappeared. “We call it nectar . It’s like … ” He popped back into view and cocked his head, thinking. “It’s like a little bit of immortality. We want to see what it does to you. Probably, it will help you survive what we need to do. Possibly, it might kill you. We’ll see.”
I rasped, wanted to shriek. “You can’t give me that.”
“Sure I can.” He patted my arm as if it would console me before he continued, “Don’t worry, you should be really happy in a minute. Or else you’ll be really dead.”
I struggled, yanking on my restraints. “You can’t do this!”
My arm stung. There was pressure, fluid being forced into my muscle, and my body warmed as if someone had let in the sun. Like boiled sugar and kaleidoscope candy. It spread through my arm, to my shoulder, up my neck, into my head.
The throb in my forehead stopped. The sting from the cut went away and it wasn’t just numb, it was more than that, as though it had instantly healed. If only I could touch it, I would know for sure.
My
He pulled me back and propelled me forward again, dinging the top of my head into the door. “Knock, knock.”
Chapter Five
I struggled, tried to grab his hands, rip his fingers off my throat. When his hold didn’t budge, I kicked out with my feet, attempting to connect with his shins, his feet, anything to make him let go, to make it stop. He squeezed harder, crushing my windpipe until I gasped and struggled to breathe.
The door swung open. My eyes glazed, the room swam, and my stomach churned. It smelled like … copper.
Reid pulled me into the room at a half-crouch, not letting me up. He pushed me into something hard—a chair I realized—and fastened something around my neck before I could flinch. I grabbed at it—some kind of leather, too tight against my lacerated skin—before he wrenched my hands down one at a time. I tried to scream but the strap around my neck wouldn’t let me draw enough breath and the sound became a pitiful squeak. Straps whipped around my wrists and ankles and locked into place. Something tickled my forehead.
“Look what you did.” Reid shook his head at me. He grabbed a cloth and dabbed at my forehead. He showed me the coated rag, blood smudged black in the weird green light. He gestured around at the room. “It’s emerald light. Even better than ultra-violet. We can see everything in it.” His eyes finally left my forehead and ran the length of my body. “Bones, muscles, ligaments. Everything.”
I wanted to turn my face away, not give him the satisfaction of seeing how much I was shaking, but the constraint around my neck was too tight. He leaned closer and poked his finger at the skin around my neck. “Bruising.” Then my forehead. “Still bleeding.”
The corner of his mouth twitched up before he stomped away from me. I followed him with my eyes, but metal plates jutted up on both sides of my face. All I could see was in front of me. The other side of an empty room: a wall with something splattered on it. I didn’t want to know what. And up: a ceiling made of tiles like the ones in an office, all perforated and bumpy looking.
Something rattled. I shrank inside. I’d seen this kind of thing in horror movies. The metal tray with the medical instruments on it and the villain saying, just because you can’t die doesn’t mean this won’t hurt .
I tried to ignore the throbbing in my forehead where he’d hurt me. I needed a wall inside my mind. Something to protect me from what was about to happen. I needed a wall of steel and iron, the toughest substance I could imagine, or I wasn’t going to survive.
His face popped into my vision again, a syringe filled with black liquid in his hand. “Hold still.”
My eyes widened. “Wait. No. What is that?”
He smiled before his face disappeared. “We call it nectar . It’s like … ” He popped back into view and cocked his head, thinking. “It’s like a little bit of immortality. We want to see what it does to you. Probably, it will help you survive what we need to do. Possibly, it might kill you. We’ll see.”
I rasped, wanted to shriek. “You can’t give me that.”
“Sure I can.” He patted my arm as if it would console me before he continued, “Don’t worry, you should be really happy in a minute. Or else you’ll be really dead.”
I struggled, yanking on my restraints. “You can’t do this!”
My arm stung. There was pressure, fluid being forced into my muscle, and my body warmed as if someone had let in the sun. Like boiled sugar and kaleidoscope candy. It spread through my arm, to my shoulder, up my neck, into my head.
The throb in my forehead stopped. The sting from the cut went away and it wasn’t just numb, it was more than that, as though it had instantly healed. If only I could touch it, I would know for sure.
My
Similar Books
