pain I’m getting way too used to shoots down my spine, and in the next moment, my wings disappear. And so does my scythe.
“Dammit!” My foot shoots out to kick at the bars in frustration, but that’s a really stupid thing to do when you’re barefoot. I howl in pain as I hop on one foot, collapsing onto the ground in agonized frustration.
I run a hand over my face, suddenly feeling bone-tired as I hold my throbbing toe in my lap.
“You seem to have a tough time of things,” Toreon quips.
I let out a humorless laugh. “You have no idea,” I grumble.
Just then, the door at the end of the room creaks open, and Toreon and I both stiffen. Morax is back already. He probably knows I called my scythe, or he’s checking to see if Medley is still plucking herself like a dead chicken.
But it’s not Morax’s silhouette who comes into the room. It’s the same guard that came before—the one who told Morax he was needed. I only know this because the guy is huge, filling up the doorway with his bulk, and the shape of his angular wings are recognizable even in the shadows. I stiffen as I watch him slink inside, and I scoot myself back into the corner, waiting with wary alertness.
The guard is massive. Even more than I realized before. Unlike Medley, Morax, and myself, his wings have no feathers. They’re bat-like, and as soon as he steps into the room, they flare out once before he pulls them tight against his back, the skin so thin that I can see veins running through them. He casts a look over the room, and for a moment, I worry that he’s escorting Morax back inside, but then he quietly shuts the door behind him.
Worry walks up the length of my spine. He better not even think about coming near Medley while she’s asleep. My eyes land on the only thing within reach in my cell—the pitcher and empty plate from earlier—and I snatch them both up soundlessly. It’s not much, but if he comes near her, I’ll try to chuck it at his head and hope that I can do enough damage or make enough noise that he can’t get away with anything.
His red eyes follow my movement, but to my surprise, he doesn’t bark orders at me or come stalking threateningly over. Instead, his eerie gaze falls onto Toreon.
The hulking guard walks over to his cell, quieter than he should be able to move considering his size. As he comes closer, I notice that he has dark gray skin with strange armor plates around his shoulders and chest area, almost like a rhino. He has scars running down his arms, hidden only by the leather cuffs he wears that match the rest of his guard’s uniform. There’s a sword hanging at his hip, and he’s wearing thick black pants and a vest that’s open at the top, showing off impressive chest muscles. His face is severe and serious, thick black brows hanging over red eyes. This guy looks like the epitome of a demon from Hell.
He stops in front of the bars and kneels down in front of where Toreon is sitting, his knees popping slightly at the move, but I realize it’s from the armored plating shifting over his kneecaps, rather than the sound of aging bones. “Toreon.”
I blink at the grumbled voice as he beckons to my green-skinned neighbor. My attention moves to Toreon, but he’s staring at the guard with his mouth hanging open, like he can’t believe his eyes.
They don’t say anything for a second, and my eyes hop back and forth between them, my hands still clutching the dishes as I wait to see what the hell is going on.
“Vudu?” Toreon says warily, and I realize that this word—voo doo—is the hulking giant’s name, because he nods.
“How?” Toreon gapes, like he doesn’t quite believe his eyes.
“I failed you, Toreon,” the giant says, his dark head bowing until his scalp presses against the bars. “I let him get you.”
“Is your mind your own?” Toreon asks, still not moving toward the bars.
Vudu slowly raises his head back up, just to nod at him. “Yes. I allowed myself to be recruited. That’s why it has taken me many months to get to you. It was the only way. I had to infiltrate his guards. But for all he and the others know, I am just another follower to his cause. I’m here