The Scales of Justice

Chapter 25

Callen slowly began to regain some sense of awareness. It began in degrees, but the most predominant thing was her aching head, pounding along with her heartbeat. Well, that was a good sign anyway; if she could still feel pain, then she was still alive. Now, she just had to figure out where she was, what might be going on, and how to get out of this mess. That was the problem though; while she felt pain; she couldn't move. She tried to open her eyes, barely  able to force them apart even a crack; her vision obscured by her eyelashes.

After what seemed like forever, her vision finally cleared, blurriness disappating, and she could see a small slice of her surroundings. Not enough. All she could really make out was green. Lots of green, and some white and red; flowers maybe? A wave af nausea rolled through her, and she began to panic. She couldn't vomit; not now, not when she couldn't move. There was no way she was going to go out by choking to death on her own vomit.

She fought the urge; her mental strength helping her through the worse of it. After a minute, it passed, and if she could have, she would have sighed in relief. She tried to open her eyes more, and her lids finally  cooperated, parting to reveal her surroundings. She still didn't recognize the place, but she realized that she'd been spot on about there being flowers. Lots of them; but not just any flowers. This crazy ass psychopath had brought her somewhere full of dragonbane.

"I see you're awake." Her eyes flashed over to her left, where her abductor sat on a boulder. She remained silent, both unwilling and unable to answer, and she realized that she wasn't lying flat on her back as she had originally thought. She was propped up against something, arms twisted akwardly behind her, bound tightly with something that burned. She noticed that her ankles were bound as well, and she realized that she'd been bound with several lengths of rope with the dragonbane  interwoven in.

"I'm not looking for a lot of conversation, so I'm pretty happy happy that you aren't doing any.  Between you and your sister, you've pretty well fucked my life. But I should be fixing this soon. All I need now is the finalpieces to fall into place for my revenge to be complete."

Callen stared daggers at her, face neutral, though mostly due to the paralyzing effefcts of the bane. She finally found her voice, though it wasn't strong. "You can't have her. You'll be found."

Malice laughed. "I'll have my revenge, wench. Everything is already in motion. I fail to see how you think you can stop it. Oh, before I forget; if you're counting on help from our friendly neighborhood enforcing team; I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. They located my  faithless mate, so I would expect them to be busy for a good while. A long while; he had been drugged for far longer than you." Malice went silent again, giving Callen time to process.

Callen felt a rock drop into the pit of her stomach as she realized her crazed captor was predominantly right. Callen couldn't, in her current state, do anything. Hell, until a few minutes ago, she couldn't even form words or open her own damned eyes. There waas no way she could take down Malice. She had an idea that the missing piece she'd refered to was her twin, and that meant she'd figured out a way to get to her. She had no idea if she had actually contacted her, or when, or if Ophelia was on her way here, or how close she might be. 

She kept her face neutral, not willing to let Malice know that she'd rattled her at all. An idea was forming, albeit one born of desperation more than thought. It hinged on being able to call out her dragon though, and she didn't know if she could. She dug deep, desperately trying to change. If she could just drop all the shielding; all the barriers, call forth her dangerous side, she could get out of this mess on her own. She'd heal herself that way, and then she'd eat this bitch; protect everyone from this woman's kind of crazy.

Nothing. Not a single whisper in the back of her mind to even hint at her dual nature. Disappointment flooded through her, and the thought that this must be how Justice felt all the time flitted through her mind. Justice. She had never wished for another person's presence more than she did now. She wanted to have faith that he would find her, but she didn't know how he could. She had no way of contacting him, and he probably didn't know that she had even been abducted yet. Her only hope of rescue would have to come from within, and she felt defeat sink into her core.