Dead and Buryd

Chapter 36: Hopeless Apparition

Georgianna was no longer sure whether the shakes travelling through her body were from the torture administered from the cinystalq collar, or fear at what was coming. Each press of the tsentyl sent electric agony through her, snapping and licking at every nerve, jolting each limb into spasms. She tried listening for the sound of footsteps on the stairs, but could hear nothing over her own desperate screams.

Each shock, though lasting only seconds, had effects that continued on and on. With each administration, the aftermath took longer to wear off, her hands constantly trembling against the floor. She tried to lift herself between shocks, braced against the floor on her knees and elbows, though even those didn’t hold up fully when the next shock came.

Georgianna didn’t hear anything, but one of the guards must have, because one reached out and nudged the other. The shocks stopped long enough for Georgianna’s cries to fall to a whimpering that allowed her to hear boots on the stairs.

“Volsonne?” one of the guards asked.

Glancing up just enough to see Maarqyn heading towards her, Georgianna received a kick to the stomach from the Tsevstakre Commander, sending her recoiling on her side.

“They’re gone!” he snapped furiously. “Get her downstairs. We need to sweep up here for evidence, see if we can find out who else was involved.”

Maarqyn snatched the tsentyl from one of the guards before stalking away downstairs to the other men he’d brought with him.

Dragged to her feet, Georgianna stumbled down the stairs between the two guards, hitting the wall as she found herself unable to right her steps in time to make the turn. The Tsevstakre behind her reached out, grabbing her arm and flinging her sideways, sending her down the last two steps to the dirty floor.

“Wait with her outside,” Maarqyn ordered, barely looking at them between conversing with one of the other Tsevstakre. “I need to get the others back here.”

Georgianna was pulled to her feet, dragged by her arms. She tripped and stumbled, and was finally flung against a wall outside. Sliding down it, she collapsed over her knees as a length of thick rope was attached to the binding around her wrists. He kept hold of the other end. He stepped away, holding a conversation in Adtvenis with one of the other Tsevstakre positioned outside.

Staring across the street, Georgianna watched the Veniche people staring at her, murmuring to each other. Her gaze swept dejectedly through the crowd, knowing that nobody would help her here. There would be no rebel force to surge forward and fight for her freedom. She was one person, and remembering Beck’s words about Alec, she knew that one person was not worth the risk of many. No one even knew that she’d been caught. She would be in the compound before anybody even considered organising a plan.

Her gaze had passed him by a couple of faces before Georgianna realised that the expression the face held was not one of curiosity, but horrified pain. Her breath caught in her chest. She checked the Tsevstakre, distracted in conversation, before she sought him again. He took a few moments to locate. There were so many faces staring back at her that finding the one she wanted, while her head spun and pounded in pain, took concentration she just didn’t have.

Finally she saw them, Keiran’s blue-grey eyes staring back, his teeth bared as his lips pulled back into an angry snarl. Georgianna shook her head quickly, urging him to run, but he was moving closer. Edging through the crowd, he watched the Adveni as he came closer to the wall she’d been placed against.

Georgianna tracked his movements, glancing at the Adveni guards whenever Keiran slipped behind other onlookers. In a panic as she looked back and couldn’t see him, her breath stopped, and she searched the crowd desperately.