was angry. He knew that Talon was more than close to killing him, the hate between them strong. Not for the first time, Auro was grateful for the collar that wound around the abomination's neck. It took everything Auro had not to beat him.
“No answer?” he asked pleasantly. Talon’s teeth flashed in the dim light, the only answer that Auro got.
Talon’s chest was tight. What would it be like, he thought, to attack Auro, to hear his cries of pain? He had been trapped in this dark room with nothing but a water bowl in the corner; action, or at least a chance to give into his fantasies, would be a godsend.
If he had to shit or piss, he had to do it right there. If he was hungry, Auro only forced him to starve. If he was sick, Auro made the torture worse. The power the old bastard had over him was something that Talon was most ashamed of. From the first time several months before, when he had awoken to find Auro standing over him with his brother Lyne beside him, it had only registered a short time later that he was, in all honesty, fucked.
Auro placed a long hand on the wall, the scrape of his nails grating on Talon’s nerves like they did on the stained stone. The chill shot through his teeth, painful.
Talon held in the snarl that threatened to burst from him. Was it too much to ask for a moment of silent peace? Talon knew that it was a hope that was a dying hope, and wondered why it hadn’t yet perished. Lyne and Auro would not give him mercy, just as he would not when he finally gave them his revenge.
“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