Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
The dragon spent only a couple of minutes more making sure there were no other stragglers locked in other rooms. There was no glimpse of Prince Shey. He wanted to believe that if Shey had spotted him, he would have called out or approached him, but nothing.
Just before leaving, Haru stopped in the messy office and snatched up the scattering of papers on a rickety, worn desk.
Outside, he drew in a deep breath of fresh air, cleansing his lungs of smoke and rancid odors. The freed prisoners all lingered together in clumps, taking in their surroundings. Many sat on the ground, mere feet from the warehouse, sobbing, their thin frames shaking so badly Haru was sure their bones were going to shatter. It took him several heart-twisting moments to spot Adrian among them.
The royal guard moved from person to person, showing the wrinkled photo of Shey to everyone, asking questions and gathering scraps of information prior to moving on to another cluster of people.
It wasn’t hard to slip through the gathered masses. Those who had witnessed him spitting a ball of fire now gave him a wide berth, allowing him to pass untouched to Adrian’s side. Haru placed his hand on Adrian’s arm, drawing Adrian’s wide eyes up to his face.
“Shey was never here,” Adrian choked out, crushing all their hopes with four simple words.
CHAPTER 7
Shey Thrudesh-Vo
Aloud metallic slam woke Shey from his doze. By his count, two days had passed since he’d first arrived in this cell. Ty had been right that it was nearly impossible to gauge time in there. There was no sense of day or night. Food came at random times, if it was delivered at all. The bright overhead lights were never shut off, requiring him to toss his arm across his eyes just to catch a little sleep.
But today welcomed a new distraction in the form of violent and colorful shouting. Shey sat up on his bed and listened to the scrambling of rubber-soled feet on the concrete, low grunts of exertion, and the very clear rage of a new prisoner as they brought him in.
After some struggles, a tall, skinny figure came into view. He was being dragged by four beefy guards in full riot gear. The prisoner was fighting with everything he had. They’d underestimated the man, deciding to leave him conscious rather than drugging him into oblivion like they had Shey.
Every step forward was a fight. As they got him to the cell opposite Shey’s, the man leaned heavily on the guards and braced his legs on the bars on either side of the doorway, keeping them from pushing him inside. A small smile of appreciation spread across Shey’s lips. He had to admit the guy was fucking resourceful and fast. If they let go of him for a second, Shey suspected he’d be out of the building and blocks away before they could think of catching him. It was a wonder they’d caught him at all, given how hard he was fighting now.
Of course, Shey had remained a step ahead of his abductors for days prior to his capture. In the end, they had numbers on their side.
The guards went through a lot of sweating, cursing, and fighting for ten minutes, but the prisoner’s energy seemed boundless, and he was not willingly going into the cell. In the end, one of the guards took a club to the man’s shin. The loud whack made Shey cringe as sympathetic pain shot through his leg. A wretched howl broke from the prisoner, and he instinctively lifted his leg, trying to escape another hit. The guards took advantage of his weakness and shoved him into the cell.
They tossed him into the middle of the room in a heap, but that didn’t stop the guy. He was back on his feet, limping as he lunged at the nearest guard. His fingers curled into claws as he pulled at their clothes and hammered them with his fists.
Instead of leaving and slamming the metal door in his face, the guards turned on him and began ferociously beating him with their clubs. Shey lurched to his feet, unable to tear his eyes away from what he was seeing. The man shouted and lifted his arms, trying to protect his head, but he remained standing for only a moment, then collapsed to the floor. Yet they still didn’t stop.
Shey gripped the cold bars with both hands. “Hey! Stop! Stop right now! He’s down! You’ve made your fucking point! Stop, or you’re going to kill him.”
But they didn’t stop. The heavy whacks of the clubs made a sickening sound as they pounded on soft flesh and bone. Moans rose from the man, turning to sobbing. And then, even that stopped before the guards did.
When they filed out of the cell, their uniforms splattered with blood, there was only a rough rattle of air entering and leaving the man erratically.