of her shrinking soul. Well, in a sense, he had. Because this was the Voice, exactly as he’d described it to her. Gods, it was true.
All of it.
A heartbeat of awful, frozen silence.
A tygre growl rose from deep in Erik’s chest. The muscles in his forearm flexed and the Technomage’s face went purple. As he gripped her chin with his other hand, his lips pulled back in a snarl, and everything that wasn’t tied down in the room went flying up to the ceiling.
38
Prue lurched to her feet and shoved the end of the red tube against the other woman’s wrist, right over the semicircular imprint she’d made with her teeth. She gripped the tube hard and squeezed. Something hissed, and abruptly, the Technomage’s eyes rolled back in her head. She went limp in Erik’s arms.
Prue touched his shoulder. “Let her go, love.” She smiled shakily. “I have to touch you, hold—Please.”
The fury died in his eyes. “Gods, yes,” he said, in a voice like gravel. Objects wavered uncertainly in the air, but when he looked up and frowned, they descended in a decorous fashion, floating toward the floor.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Erik opened his arms and the Technomage fell to the floor with a meaty thud. Her skull bounced.
Erik stepped over her body and caught Prue up in an embrace so fierce her ribs felt bruised. Gods, it was wonderful. He was saying her name over and over, as if it were the only word he knew. She buried her face in his warm, bare shoulder and breathed him in with great gulps.
“Sweetheart.” He stroked her hair and set her back a little. “We have to get out of here. Show me your hands.”
When she did so, he grunted. “Leather,” he said. “And what are these wires for? I’ve never seen any—Ow!” He snatched his fingers back and blew on them. “They burned me!”
“She said they were dampers.” Prue shot him a glance from under her lashes. “For my air Magick.”
He was frowning down at her shackles. “But you don’t have any Magick.”
“That’s what I told them,” said Prue, as gently as she could. “But you do. Which is why the wires caused you pain.”
Erik drew the knife at his waist. It had a long, wicked blade with an edge that glittered in the light. “Yes, I know,” he said absently. “Hold out your hands, sweetheart, and keep very still.”
Prue obeyed, fixing her eyes on his face. If she looked down, she’d imagine the vivisection, the first slice, the first scream. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She had no right to feel hurt. She’d refused pointblank to believe in the Voice. What would make him think she’d believe this?
“I only found out the full extent of it—don’t move, I said !—a few hours ago. There.”
The leather bindings fell away. Prue stripped the wires off and tossed them to the bench, already feeling better on a number of levels.
When she turned back, Erik was weighing the blade in his hand and staring thoughtfully at the Technomage, lying sprawled at their feet. “How did you get those cuts?”
“What?”
He touched her cheek, her neck, with his gentle fingertips. “Here. Someone slashed you.”
“Oh, that.” Sweet Sister, she had to think for a minute. “That was the laundry men.” When he raised a brow, she added, “The kidnappers.”
“Hmm,” said Erik, returning his attention to the limp form of the Technomage. “They’ll keep. What was in that tube? Will it kill her?”
Prue rubbed her wrists, considering. “I don’t think so. She said it caused paralysis.” Every muscle protesting, she knelt next to the woman and peeled back an eyelid. See how you like it, bitch, she thought, enjoying every second without shame.
“Well, well.” Prue sat back on her heels. “She’s awake in there and she’s terrified.” She let Erik pull her up, back into his arms. “Let’s go.”
“Yes.” Swiftly, he pressed a kiss to her lips, fierce and hot and full of promise. “I love you, Prue. Don’t you dare forget it.” A pause while he stared intently into her face, as if cataloging her features. “From here on, don’t speak unless I tell you. Complete silence, all right?”
She barely had time to nod before he slung an arm around her waist and half lifted, half carried her into the passage at a rapid jog trot. The door at the farther end was wedged open with a pile of thick books. It looked ordinary enough, but something in the immediate vicinity reeked like an abattoir.