Chains rattled as I ran my hands over the restraints that hung from the stone walls. Callan’s poor guard was probably traumatized by now, but I had finally gotten my secret move to work. More or less, anyway. There were still limitations to it that were going to take far more time to get past, and it only worked two times out of three. But still. It was good enough.
“See anything you like?” Callan said from behind my back.
I turned to face him. He was leaning against the edge of the table in the middle of the torture chamber, and he was wearing that dark leather outfit that highlighted his powerful body. Light from the torches along the walls caressed his sharp cheekbones as he raised his eyebrows. A sly smile played over his lips.
A hint of doubt blew through my soul as I watched him. My plan was proceeding on schedule. Now that I had gotten this move to work, and was about to use it to break Lance, I had everything I needed to double-cross Callan. All I needed to do was to wait for the exchange at Malcolm’s mansion, and then I’d be able to get my revenge on Callan. I would betray him and exact such thorough vengeance that he would never be able to recover from it. After that, our partnership would be done. Permanently. Which meant that this was the last chance I would ever have to enjoy the one perk that came from working with Callan.
“Maybe,” I answered at last. Holding his gaze, I lifted my shoulders in a casual shrug. “It’s been an intense few days.”
“It has.”
“Once we’ve broken Lance, there’s nothing left to do tonight. Except to wait for tomorrow.”
“True.”
I searched his face, trying to see if this was something that he still wanted. His expression betrayed nothing, so I went on anyway. “Maybe we could both use some stress release before the big day.”
His eyes lit up. “Sounds good to me.”
An unexpected wave of relief washed over me. It surprised, and confused, me enough that I forgot what I had been about to say and instead blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Maybe a change of scenery this time, though? I’ve gotten bored with that spare room.”
“I see.” He let out a huff of laughter. “Well, that can be arranged. We wouldn’t want you to get bored, now would we?”
Before I could reply, the door was pushed open. Yuito held it up while Paul dragged Lance inside. To my surprise, the Binder still had that same arrogant look of superiority in his eyes that he’d had when I’d tried to torture him with my regular poison magic the day that Callan had freed me. As if he was staring down at a pair of worthless scumbags from atop his high horse. I hated him, probably even more than I hated Callan, but I had to admit that I was impressed by his resilience.
“Back at it again?” Lance mocked as he shot us a scornful look. “I thought I made it clear three days ago. It doesn’t matter how much poison you shove down my throat,” he leveled a cocky stare at me before shifting it to Callan, “or how much water your little bodyguard pushes down into my lungs. I will never break.”
“By all hell, I had forgotten how insufferable he is.” I shook my head. “And it’s only been three days since I tortured him last.”
That drew a low chuckle from Callan.
“Boss,” Paul began. “Do you want me to chain him to the table like usual?”
Callan slid his gaze to me. It took me a second to realize that he was waiting for me to make the decision. Having him defer to my judgement like that was so odd that I just blinked at him before finally pulling myself together enough to answer.
“No,” I said, shifting my attention to Paul. “That won’t be necessary. You can just leave him here.”
Paul flicked a glance at Callan, who gave him a nod, before he did as I said and released Lance’s arm. After checking to make sure that the handcuffs were still secure, he started towards the door. The Binder rolled his shoulders and raised his chin while Paul disappeared back out into the dungeon with Yuito. The metal door closed behind them with a faint clang.
For a moment, the room was silent. Callan only watched me from where he still leaned against the edge of the table, as if waiting for me to make the first move. Tearing my gaze from him, I concentrated on the blond man standing on the floor instead.
“I respect your resilience,” I said to Lance as I started towards him. “So I will give you one last chance to submit willingly.”
“How generous,” he scoffed. “But I already know what you can do with your poison magic, and it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“This isn’t going to be like last time. Last time was just a little warm-up. This—”
The back of his fist cracked against my jaw as he yanked up his shackled hands and swung at me. My head snapped to the side and pain pulsed through my cheek as I stumbled a step back. Slamming my palms together, I called up a cloud of poison to stop Lance as he whirled around and darted towards the door.
A wham echoed between the stone walls.
Whipping my head back again, I found Lance crashing into the wall next to the door. A huff ripped from his throat as he hit the stones and then slid down to land on the floor in a tangle of limbs.
Callan, who had apparently thrown a force wall at him, prowled towards him like a vicious wolf. Leaning down, he grabbed Lance by the collar and yanked him upwards before slamming him up against the wall.
“You ever hurt her again,” Callan growled in his face, “you ever lay one single finger on her again, and I will start cutting things off you that won’t grow back.”
Unexpected feelings stabbed into my chest, and for a moment, I could only stare at the two of them. Why was he protecting me like that? Did Callan actually care if someone hurt me?
“You can’t,” Lance spat back at him. “Because you still need me.”
Callan’s fists tightened in the fabric of Lance’s dirty shirt. For one insane second, I thought Callan might actually throw all our plans out the window and follow through on his threat. Then he shoved Lance towards the table next to me instead.
The chains attached to the worn tabletop clanked as the Binder slammed into it before he was able to straighten again.
Rage still flickered in Callan’s eyes when he slid his gaze to me. “You okay?”
My mouth dropped open slightly, but I managed a, “Yeah.”
It made Callan blink while sudden alarm flashed across his face. Drawing his eyebrows down, he sent me a scowl instead. “Then get on with it.”
Shoving the confusion aside, I turned to Lance instead while fury took the now empty space in my chest. By all hell, I was so fed up with people slapping me. Once this mission with Callan was over and I had gotten my revenge, I might need to launch a full-scale attack on Eldar just to remind them how dangerous dark mages really are, and that slapping us is a really fucking bad move.
Stalking up to Lance, I touched my palms together and then grabbed his forearm.
Nothing happened.
Shit.
Since my move hadn’t worked, I transformed the motion and pretended that I had just grabbed him in order to yank him away from the table. He was much taller and heavier than me, so it didn’t actually make him step forward.
Embarrassment flared up inside me. I fed it to the rage burning in my chest instead while I took my hand from his arm and leveled a stare dripping with threats on him.
“I’ve been playing nice before.” I gave him a cold smile. “I’m done with that now.”
Statistically, since my move worked about two times out of three, and it had already failed once now, it should mean that it would work this time. Desperately hoping that I was right, I slammed my palms together and then smacked my left hand down on his arm.
His eyes rolled back and he sucked in a gasp right before his knees buckled. Dull thuds rang out as he hit the floor.
Before he could recover, I touched my hands together again and grabbed his shoulder. An animalistic cry of pain tore from his throat. His limbs spasmed and his body collapsed fully to the ground while strangled sobs fell from his lips.
I did the same thing again.
That time, nothing happened so I pretended that I had just grabbed his shoulder to pull him upright again. Since I couldn’t lift his whole weight with one hand, it only made him roll over on his back. Pain danced in his eyes as he stared up at me.
Bringing my hands together again, I planted my palm on his chest.
His whole body shook as he desperately tried to get away while ear-splitting screams ripped from his throat. I scowled and blew out a sigh at the irritating noise. Then I got ready to do the same thing again.
“No!” Lance jerked away and tried to crawl backwards. “Don’t.”
I placed my hand on his leg. He flinched, but no magic actually seeped into his skin so I wrapped my fingers around his leg instead as if I had done it to yank him back to me. Then I tried again.
Cries of world-ending pain echoed through the room.
“Stop,” Lance begged when I brought my palms together again. “P-please. Please. Stop.”
Bending down, I just placed my hand against the side of his ribs. He sucked in a gasp that got stuck in his throat halfway through as his body jerked and twitched against the floor.
“Please,” he pleaded between broken sobs. “Please, I’ll do whatever you want. Just stop.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” I said as I straightened and brushed my hands down my clothes. “Get up.”
While Lance struggled to his feet, Callan moved across the room until he was standing next to me. There was a curious look in his eyes as he glanced down at me.
“What did you do to him?” he asked.
What had I done? I had sent the poison straight into his skin and made it affect his pain receptors. I still wasn’t nearly as proficient with that move as I wanted, so I could only do it while touching someone directly, and the effect only lasted for a few seconds. But the pain it caused was beyond belief. However, I wasn’t about to share any of that with Callan, so instead I just smirked at him.
“Again, I could always try it out on you too if you’re curious.”
He let out a huff of amusement.
In front of us, Lance had finally managed to drag himself to his feet. His knuckles were white when he gripped the edge of the table for support.
I turned to Callan and held out my hand. “Give me the key.”
At first, he just raised his eyebrows at me.
A mocking expression slid across my features as I replicated the gesture. “You can wait outside if you’re scared.”
He snorted. “You wish.”
Reaching into his clothes, he pulled out the key. After dropping it in my waiting palm, he motioned towards the still gasping Binder.
I flashed Callan a wicked smile before turning to Lance and taking a firm grip on the handcuffs. Lance jerked back as if he thought I was going to use my magic on him again, but then confusion bloomed in his eyes when I only unlocked the handcuffs and dropped them on the table next to him instead.
Before I could say anything, Callan held out his arm in front of Lance and then shot him a challenging look. “You’re free now, so go ahead. Try to bind my magic.”
Hope flared to life in Lance’s blue eyes. Then hesitation blew across his features as he flicked his gaze to me. I only watched him. Waiting to see what he would do.
His hands drifted a fraction closer.
Slamming mine together, I grabbed his forearm. Thankfully, the magic did what I wanted that time and flooded his pain receptors.
Deafening screams tore from his lungs as he collapsed to the floor again. I did the same thing to his shoulder. More cries ripped from his chest.
“Get up,” I snapped since I was pretty sure that the magic would fail if I tried it again.
Strained sobs rolled from Lance’s mouth while he tried to get back to his feet.
I shifted my gaze to Callan, but I forgot what I had been about to say when I saw the expression on his face.
He didn’t look terrified, which I had secretly hoped he would be. Instead, he stared at me as if I was the most glorious thing he had ever seen. It snatched my breath from my lungs and made my heart beat twice as hard. No one had ever looked at me like that before. And as I studied the expression on his face, I realized that it wasn’t the first time that I had found myself really enjoying the way Callan looked at me.
Snapping my gaze away, I returned my attention to Lance who had finally gotten back to his feet again.
After a few seconds, Callan dragged his eyes back to the Binder as well. Then he held out his arm again. “What’s wrong? Here’s a free shot. Try to bind my magic.”
Lance just shrank back like a wounded animal.
Reaching out, Callan grabbed Lance’s hand and placed it on his own arm. “You really don’t want to give it another shot?”
Fear flashed in Lance’s eyes. He snatched his hand back and shook his head desperately while his gaze darted to me again. “No. Please. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Really?” Callan raised his eyebrows. “So if I tell you to bind someone else’s magic, you’ll do it?”
“Yes. Without question. Please.”
Callan and I exchanged a glance.
I shrugged. “I’d call that a success.”
A satisfied smile spread across his lips as well. “Yuito!”
The dark-haired guard opened the door and poked his head inside. “Yes, boss?”
“We’re finished here. Take Lance back, and let him have that shower now. Use the downstairs bathroom. I’ve already had everything you need brought in there.”
“Yes, boss.”
Lance made no move to resist. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was too scared now or if he didn’t want to risk his chance of finally being allowed to take a shower after almost a week and a half in captivity. Regardless, he willingly let Callan’s guards escort him out.
Anticipation coursed through me. That had gone better than I expected, and now Lance would obey my orders without question. The only risk was of course that he would now obey Callan’s orders as well. But as long as I was free and able to summon my magic, Lance would always fear me more than Callan. Which meant that my revenge scheme was proceeding according to plan. Now, all I had to do was wait for the right opportunity during the exchange tomorrow, and then I would give Callan a betrayal worthy of its name.
While suppressing the villainous grin that threatened to slide home on my lips, I started towards the door as well.
I had only just pushed down the handle and pulled the door open a crack when Callan’s hand appeared on it. With his palm planted on the metal, he shoved the door shut with a bang.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” he said.
Turning my head, I raised my eyebrows and looked up at him.
Amusement blew across his face as he continued leaning against the door, keeping it firmly shut. When he met my gaze, there was a mischievous glint in his warm brown eyes. Reaching out, he drew his fingers lightly over my throat. It made a pleasant shudder roll over my body.
“I might be finished drawing pleas from his lips.” He raked his gaze up and down my body. “But I’m just getting started with you.”
