The Bond and Other Curses || Book Two

CHAPTER 2 - ORION'S MEMORY

The handle of the iron door knocked against the stone wall. Boots followed—heavy thuds on creaky, hollow, wooden steps. The air was cold. But the iciness became supercharged and stabbed deeper into my skin as the multiple sets of boots splashed down onto the damp landing.

The high-pitched shriek of the rusty, cell door grated against my eardrums, and the warm body of my fellow cell mate, my best friend, stirred beside me.

It was time. I hadn't expected it would happen so soon. I never thought it would happen at all. No one was more resilient than I was. Even when things had been bad—and they had been awful—I had survived. I had been too valuable to eliminate.

Not anymore.

I had never experienced resignation as consuming as the cold that numbed my skin. But the pinch of the needle against the back of my neck and the rough hands lifting me off the floor barely registered.

I heard Kade's muffled grunt behind me and a momentary twinge of fight came back to me. But it was stamped out just as quickly as one of the guards slammed my head against the wall and lights exploded across my blindfold. They were bringing him too. A double execution. There would be no hope left for anyone when this was over.

I didn't understand the point of the blindfold. I had lived in the citadel the majority of my miserable life and I knew every inch of it. The drugs and my emotional state didn't disorient me. I knew where we were. The hushed silence as they dragged us into the Assembly Hall was new though. I could sense the large gathering in the surrounding, multi-tiered benches, but everyone was still. The fear hanging thick in the air smelled as sour as the gag in my mouth tasted. I promised myself that if the blindfold ended up being removed, I would keep a brave face and wouldn't look at them for any reason.

The guards pushed me to my knees but held my arms to keep me upright. I heard Kade's heavy breathing a few feet to my right.

How was it going to go? I had never witnessed one so ceremonial before. They were usually more abrupt, sloppy, and outside in front of whoever was nearby at the time. Would Corvek actually do it himself? Or would he have someone else do it like he usually did?

The answers to my questions came all at once as the blindfold and gag were ripped away. I squinted through blurriness as light I hadn't seen in two days penetrated my drugged brain and I grimaced at the sight of the silver pistol in Corvek's hand.

The man lounged in his huge, throne-like chair, drawing lazy circles in the air with the barrel of his weapon. He looked younger today—mid thirties perhaps—not a gray hair in sight. He had to have gone through at least a dozen Crosseks to achieve that. There would be no mercy from him today.

"How long until it wears off?" he said to the guards.

"Any second now," said the guard holding my right arm. "At most a minute."

Corvek flicked his empty hand toward us. "Fine. Anchor them down."

I spat out the nasty flavor that remained from the gag. "You're afraid of me."

There was a long silence, interrupted only by the sound of a laza chain sliding around our cuffs.

Finally, Corvek stood and crouched down in front of me, resting the barrel against my knee.

I held his gaze without blinking.

He nodded, frowning. "I am. I did too good of a job turning you into..." he motioned to all of me "...that."

Strength flooded back into my limbs, and I jerked my arms out of the guards' grasps.

He smiled and dragged the tip of his thumb down the length of my jaw line. "My only regret is that I made you a Directive. That is the most wasteful thing I have ever done. I should've realized I did too good of a job to expect you to last more than six months." He threw his Advisor, Kroll Adara, a side-long look. "Adara has researched the situation thoroughly and has informed me that redoing the brand is impossible. So, my hands are tied." His gaze left me to travel the room, and he laughed. "I will admit, I am excited to be crushing your little rebellion, at the very least." He nudged Kade's cheek with the pistol. "Getting rid of the both of you will undoubtedly alleviate the majority of our problems."

I squeezed the chain behind me, imagining laza melting Destere that wouldn't come no matter how badly I needed it. I hated that he was right. He had already killed too many of our friends. With both of us gone, the small bit of hope we had created would be destroyed. There was no one left to hold it up. Our execution would insure that.

"And I suppose there is always your life-force to look forward to." He holstered his pistol and reached behind him to the triangular, leather pouch always attached to his belt, and pulled out two, long, hiltless, black Xepa blades. My entire body cringed, and my breath hitched under an inescapable wave of panic.

He nodded to the guards behind us. Several hands grabbed my arms, hair, and throat, holding me tight until I could no longer struggle. One of them reached down and lifted my shirt enough to reveal a faded, one inch scar on the left side of my stomach.

He separated the two blades in his hands, rubbing their tips together. "What, no begging?"

I wrenched my eyes from the blades, teeth clenched. "Get it over with."

He chuckled. With that familiar, vile grin, he leaned forward and, instead of sinking the blade's tip in an inch like I was used to, he shoved the entire thing through the scars in our stomachs, burying them deep. I could only hear my own scream at the fiery burn tugging at my Core as the Xepa drew my Poeirs into itself.

All the guards, but the one gripping my hair to keep me upright, let go.

Corvek stood, towering over us, and looked out at the surrounding Crosseks, every one of them too young and scared to know any better.

I forced myself to keep my stinging eyes only on him. Not only did I not want to see who was missing, but I didn't want to ignite any flames. I didn't have any doubt he had the guards on the lookout for anyone else he could make an example of. Our fates were already sealed. Their hopelessness couldn't afford another hit.

"What an unfortunate day this is," Corvek said to the crowd. "For me as well as you. My first success—what a waste. Hopefully we will all learn from this. Fear causes you to do stupid things. I'm sure our two friends here feel the same way." He looked down and raised the pistol to Kade's head.

"It was an honor knowing you, Orion," Kade said through a pain filled gasp, staring Corvek down without flinching.

"The honor was mine," I said softly, intent on controlling my breathing. "We pulled off a beautiful rebellion."

Kade smiled, straightening his back despite the horrendous pain I knew he was in. "It really was."

"Sweet and simple," Corvek said, raising an amused eyebrow. And he pulled the trigger twice.

I jammed my eyes shut the moment before the shots rang out. Cries filled the room and Kade's lifeless body slumped beside me, against my leg.

I couldn't stop my gasping sob as the scorching barrel tip touched my chin, urging me to look upward.

Corvek shook his head and groaned. "You were so expensive."

It took everything in me to force my sob back down my throat, to keep my eyes glued to Corvek's face, to not see Kade's head beside my knee.

Corvek swore loudly and pulled the trigger three times.

*****************