“
I would like to inform you
of something,” Auro said casually, moving back from Talon. He
stared at the ground as Auro’s frail voice carried over his skin
like ice. “In several days’ time, a woman will be joining
you.”
The words left Talon feeling hollow.
He stared at his arm, fighting the building fire in his chest.
“When she arrives, I wish you to treat her as I have done you.” The
implication wasn’t lost on Talon. Feeling his gut turn, he thought
of the woman and what would become of her when she entered this
torture place. His lip curled.
“
You might know her,” Auro
said, eyebrows rising with his jaunty voice. “Might even have
feelings for her, you will come to find.”
His smile had Talon gagging. His chest
did funny things as Auro continued. “I will require you to
copulate, but take your time.” Talon knew he was sneering again,
and refused to look up. “Once this is done, I will take the burden
off of your shoulders.”
Talon tried to understand what Auro
meant, but couldn’t bring himself to care and stayed silent, still.
While he waited for Auro to continue, he forced his breath to even.
Bold, silvery eyes collided with crimson ones.
He waited for the parting burst of
pain — Auro was accustomed to listening to ragged groans when he
left.
There weren’t shards of pain, no
needle-like nails digging into his skin — he swallowed down his
mute shock and tensed.
Soft scrapes of the door closing
signaled Auro’s departure.
Talon dropped his hand from
his bleeding arm, staring. It
hurt
, he realized. His shoulders
curled into their normal position as metallic eyes stared at the
door.
Turning his head toward the barred
window, he tried to remember what he had done to be there. Talon
had known the moment his eyes opened that Auro and Lyne would make
his life hell—but he didn’t know what they were after.
Why did they want him to
take a woman? He didn’t know anything about her—couldn’t remember
ever meeting a woman before in his life — wasn’t like he
even
remembered
his life, though. What was so important about her? Talon held
the sound that came from his chest back, already hating the fact
that, yet again, his life was decided for him. Auro had a plan, and
in all of the months that Talon had been there he had not found a
way to rid himself of the bigots that liked watching him
struggle.
Auro knows about my
past
. The soft, rough curse came from lips
unused to talking or responding to anyone. Talon had already known
that much, but the extent to which the bastards had known
was…angering. He felt his head turn away from the light, the
freedom that was so close to him a cruel taunt.
Talon was in the dark. Both literally
and figuratively. He didn’t know what was going to happen with him,
didn’t know why he needed to fuck some woman who was probably
already puking at the prospect of taking in an animal like
him.
He didn’t care. It wasn’t like he
would be able to stomach touching another being. Auro could take a
spear and shove it for all Talon could care. He had no plans on
doing anything to anyone besides giving Auro and Lyne a good one as
soon as he got the chance.
Talon thought about the day that Auro
would die, when he would feel their blood and flesh sliding between
his hands. He smiled, a bloodthirsty action that had once scared
thousands into impaling themselves on his sword. He barely
registered his own shocking recollection.
Thoughts and memories slowly came back
to him, and the frustration was only amplified when he couldn’t
remember anything else. Was his loss of memory because of Auro? He
felt that it was.
Sick, Talon turned onto his side, away
from the soft moonlight that served as the only source of
illumination in the dank hole. His stomach turned, but not with
fear or the need to vomit, as it normally did.
No, it was the need to
kill.
Talon’s eyes closed, and for the first
time in months he recalled what had happened months
ago...
The soft feel of hands
trailed over his skin. He shivered, eyes opening slowly. His
movements were weary, heavy because of his long sleep. The blaring
light above his eyes made him wince and life came to him
slowly.
Voices spoke above him,
yet he was too tired to register what they were saying. He could
hear their voices, knew that something was wrong, but it was too
hard to comprehend anything except that he was waking up and he
wasn’t where he had been before.
Where were the pale creamy
hues, the leather couches? As his eyes adjusted, aimed away from
the light, he saw stone walls and cobwebs. Rodents skittered in the
background. Talon froze, realization slowly dawning on
him.
“
You knew that this would
happen,” a nasal voice accused. A pointed finger came into his
vision. He played dead, forcing his heart to stop thundering in his
chest. His blood rushed to his ears as he listened, helpless to
move and confused.
He could feel eyes on his
chest, knew he was being studied. Talon had to force himself to
relax. “I didn’t!” another voice defended.
“
You did— I know it to be
true,” the voice from before snarled.
There was a hesitation,
then a weary sigh and the sound of feet shuffling. If their eyes
had not been on him, he would have seen what they were doing. It
was hard, but he listened despite the drowsiness and confusion,
absorbing their conversation, eyes closed.
“
Auro, please take a
moment to understand what I’m trying to tell you!” The pleading
voice was starting to sound familiar. Talon struggled to place it,
but forgot about it when the second person spoke.
“
You have betrayed me,
Lyne! You knew that the moment you took your hand to him, he would
lose his memories, and his abilities would be locked. You’ve taken
his power from me!” his hoarse shout rang throughout the
room.
He didn’t understand.
Powers? The fuck… They need to get themselves on some meds, he
thought distractedly, turning his wrist against the shackles. They
lay cold against his skin, and he flicked his eyes, barely open, to
look at them.
His arm was covered in
bruises and bite marks. Like something out of a horror movie, he
immediately thought. For a moment, he actually thought that some
creature of the night had bitten him. He almost snorted at the
thought, but realized they were once again talking.
“
I do not care if he was
the one to ruin your brainless romance. You were a fool to believe
that he would give you the woman, and at the time I believed that
you were over it. After Amentha died, I thought this would be over.
But you had to go too far,” he accused. Talon felt a desperate urge
to place the voice with the face, confused at what they were
talking about.
A woman? He almost rolled
his eyes. A female wouldn’t make him give his life or even make him
consider it. He tried to remember what he had done to be there, and
the brief question of who Amentha was came to him. Talon grimaced;
she sounded familiar.
It was hard to understand
what was happening. Talon knew that he had no clue what was going
on, could remember nothing, and didn’t even know where he
was.
“
He’s awake,” came a soft
whisper. Those two words made his stomach churn.
“
Ah, he is, isn’t he, dear
brother?” The pleasant voice was veiled with malice. Turning his
head away from them, Talon opened his eyes and took in his
surroundings, knowing that playing dead was useless. The walls were
damp and the air was filled with a metallic taste that made his
mouth dry.
So much blood, he thought,
the glaring light calming enough in his vision that he could see
around him. The walls were thick stone, grime, dirt and blood
covering everywhere but the two frail creatures that stood over
him.
Red eyes gleamed in the
dimness. Talon felt his body stiffen, unbelieving. Their white hair
was slicked back, thin enough that he could see the gleaming
baldness of their scalps. The two men looked exactly the
same.
The only thing that Talon
knew about them was their names.
Auro and Lyne.
Twins of darkness, bearers of pain, and the
only—and last—people that would ever make him feel pain.
“
I cannot wait to begin,”
said Auro, his voice sleek yet scratchy.
“
I was supposed to go
first!” Lyne exclaimed from beside him, eyes flashing. “It was I
that found him, so I should have the right to go first.”
Lyne’s hand dropped to his
leg, the nails digging into his flesh. As if to prove his claim of
Talon, his nails scored him, leaving a deep gash that broke through
his dark jeans. Talon gasped, struggling against the shackles at
the pain.
In the back of his mind, a
feeling of deja vu warned him that this had all happened before,
that he knew more than he thought he did about the men who loomed
over him. His eyes strained to understand while his mind followed
suit.
What did they want with
him? He fought against the shackles, fear sliding down his spine.
This wasn’t right, wasn’t sane…the thoughts in his head weren’t his
own. He could feel what they wanted to do to him, could hear every
nasty thought the bastards were thinking.
The fear he felt when Auro
brought his hand down to his arm, nails tearing up his skin, blood
trickling down his arm and leg, was overwhelming. The
brothers—there was no doubt in his mind that they were
otherwise—smiled likely, wrenching their hands.
Shocked, pained, Talon
cried out, back bowing as he tried to pull away from them. It was
foolish to do so; the movement only proved to make the pain worse.
They laughed, snickered, and brought up their second hand in
unison. The brother’s red eyes connected, and they leered at each
other.
“
Together, brother,” Auro
said, his hand seeming to be the handle to the puppet as Lyne
brought his hand down at the same time.
“
Together,” Lyne murmured,
a soft smile of adoration coming over his face as his gaze
connected with Auro’s, a second before the twin set of nails scored
his skin. He jerked, hands flexing, imagining the flow of their
blood between his hands as his body arched from the
pain.
A soundless gasp left his
lips—he was ashamed. To show these monsters what he felt, that he
was scared…It would be a shame to any man. The cool liquid of his
blood caused shivers to run along his arms and legs, the sadistic
pleasure the men were taking only causing to make the pain that
much more unbearable.
His body drew taut as they
sighed with pleasure. Auro took his hand away and brought it to his
lips, his eyes gleaming. Talon tried to look away, but the sight
was too gruesome for him not to.
He shuddered with agony,
the pain in his leg and arm growing so numb that he gagged.
Fighting harder against the restraints, he kicked out and shouted.
Talon stared Auro right in the eye, and Lyne reached over and
yanked his head to the side by his hair.
“
You will respect him,”
Lyne snarled, his other hand still embedded in Talon’s flesh. The
howl of the wind and his ragged breathing clouded his ears. Flakes
of snow drifted into the room. His skin prickled.
“
I respect no man,
especially you,” he said hoarsely, breath coming out in a rush as
pain rushed into his arms and legs with renewed force.
In retaliation, Lyne
dragged his hand up Talon’s leg, pulling the tanned flesh apart.
Talon shouted, head slamming back as the pain drove him senseless.
“After this, you won’t have a choice,” Auro whispered, his bloodied
hand meeting Lyne’s pale lips. The twin licked Talon’s blood from
Auro’s decrepit hand.
Bile rose in Talon’s
throat.
“
My brother and I believe
that we will have quite fun with our new pet. You please us well,”
Auro murmured, taking the hand that Lyne had licked and putting it
on Talon’s chest. His black T-shirt disappeared.
Fear held him
immobile.
No… God, no…
His mind shouted at him to
escape as Auro forced his thumb into Talon’s mouth. He turned his
head, and when Auro still would not let him go, Talon bit down.
When there should have been blood, there…wasn’t any.
Talon’s eyes opened wide.
Auro cursed, and Lyne fisted Talon’s muscle, the action bringing a
tortured scream from Talon’s mouth. With his mouth gaping, Auro
took the chance to wrench his jaw forward. Pain exploded in not
only his head this time, but behind his eyes.
White light surrounded him
as Auro poured something into his mouth. With the inside of his leg
held in a vise grip, his jaw yanked forward, thick liquid filled
his mouth. Talon struggled to spit it out. Lyne’s hand latched onto
his face, forcing his mouth open wider.
The light around him
become glaring, his head throbbing as badly as his leg and arm.
Fighting, struggling, Talon gave a gurgled shout before the liquid
finally flowed down his throat.
“
Forever ours…” Lyne
whispered, and through the pain-filled haze, Talon could feel a
moist hand stroking his cheek.