Ryker balled his fists and clenched his teeth as Brynleigh took her damp sweater and approached the shifter. His magic urged him to act, yet he trusted his wife. He’d seen her kill. Surely, she could handle a broken man in chains.
“Z?” Brynleigh whispered. “Can you hear me?”
The shifter’s gaze was still trained on the floor.
Brynleigh inched closer.
“It’s me,” she murmured, standing in front of the cot.
Long, agonizing seconds passed before a chain creaked. The curtain of hair slowly parted as the feline shifter looked up.
His gaze sharpened before flickering with recognition and… fear.
“Fuck, no,” the man rasped, his voice sounding like he’d been screaming for hours. “Get out of here, B. She’ll kill you for this. The rules… you know the rules.”
“I do.” She crouched in front of him, her brows furrowed. “But I already broke them.”
Her voice was gentle, as though she was afraid to speak too loudly lest she spook him.
The shifter shuddered. “The tenth rule is the most important. That’s what I keep telling them. Rule number ten. I can’t break it. But I did. You did.”
“Zanri, it’s okay,” Brynleigh whispered.
“We all broke the rules and the game… the game… the game is over.” He swayed back and forth, and his voice had an almost frantic tone.
By the gods, the man was shattered.
In the videos, the shifter had been in pain but still sane. His words had made sense. But now…
This kind of suffering could only be caused by Victor Orpheus.
Ryker already knew the fae was a sadist, but seeing the proof with his own eyes was another matter entirely. Thank all the gods, he’d gotten to Brynleigh when he did.
If Ryker had shown up later and found her like this…
Ryker would’ve killed them all. There was no question in his mind. Laws or not, he would burn the entire fucking world for his vampire.
“Don’t worry about me.” Brynleigh lifted the damp sweater. “Will you let me help you?”
Another long moment went by before the prisoner nodded.
Brynleigh’s movements were slow and methodical as she ran the material down the shifter’s face. She was gentle, but he still winced.
Despite the prisoner’s current state, Ryker didn’t trust him. Hewatched silently as Brynleigh cleaned the shifter’s face and neck but touched her shoulder when she moved onto Zanri’s right arm.
“We don’t have long.”
Even the Waterborn name and Ryker’s position in the army couldn’t buy them an endless amount of time in Moonwater Prison. They would have to leave soon, hopefully with the necessary information.
Brynleigh nodded, moving down the shifter’s arm to his hand.
Three of his fingers were bent, and dried blood was crusted under his broken fingernails. Ryker didn’t like the prisoner, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for him. No one deserved to be treated like this.
“We need your help, Zanri,” Brynleigh murmured. “That’s why we’re here. “
Silence.
Undeterred, she ran her cloth over his fingers. “It’s about the Black Night.”