Free Vengeance by Amy Miles Page B

for him in your sleep.
 I think that made it worse for him.  He tried not to cry
but the fever took him.”
    “Fever?  What
fever?  What do you mean it took him?”  I can feel my
anxiety rising far too quickly but the idea of being completely alone
with these strangers, bound for a place of obvious hopelessness
brings me to the brink of terror.  Bastien can’t be gone!
    She waves her hand
at me and returns her focus on her task.  “He had a burn
on his hand that became infected.  Kinda surprised they didn't
just chop off his hand.  It looked pretty gnarly.”
    “Bastien!”
 I croak, straining against my restraints until blood begins to
seep from beneath my manacles.  “Bastien, answer me!”
    “Now
look what you’ve gone and done,” a male voice chides as
he shifts into view.  He has skin of ebony and a wild mane of
coarse black hair that sticks out in all directions from his head.
 Though his gaze is intense, his smile seems genuine enough.
 “Be calm, child.  That boy be fine.  They fixed
him up real good.”
    “Who…”
I clear my throat when it gives out on me.  “Who are you?”
    “Name’s
Marius.  Don’t reckon I know my real name anymore.  People
who found me told me I was a Talbot due to the name stitched on the
pocket of my shirt but I don’t right remember anything before
the explosion.”
    I swallow, gritting
my teeth against the pain as I slowly ease my spine back to the floor
and the clamps at my neck, arms and ankles release a bit.  “How
do you know your name is Marius then?”
    His teeth look
brilliantly white against his dark skin in the dim light as he
smiles.  “Don’t you think I look like a good
Marius?”
    Despite myself I
laugh.  That single laugh expands into what I can only think to
be hysterical laughter because soon tears stream from my face.
 Marius’ grin only seems to grow wider, though I don’t
see how he can manage much more.  “See there, laughter is
the best medicine during god awful times like these.”
    I
lift my hand to dry my cheek but am instantly reminded of my
confinement.  Marius senses my panic returning and reaches out
to gently wipe my cheek.  His touch is soft, but his hands are
deeply calloused.  I can’t help but wonder what sort of
life this man led before he lost his memories.
    It
is not wise to take this man at his word, I
can hear spoken in my thoughts in Kyan’s voice.   He
may simply be trying to hide something.  Do not trust him or
anyone else.
    I bite down on my
lower lip, wishing with all my might that I really could hear Kyan.
 I’ve tried calling out to him each time I wake but all I
hear is nothingness.  I know that his voice in my head is
nothing more than my own thoughts converted into his previous
teachings.
    “Thank you for
your kindness.”  I smile up at Marius.  
    “You two make
me sick.”  Marius turns but before he does I can see the
shift in his expression.  His smile tightens and his jaw
clenches.  
    “This ain’t
none of your concern, Hyde.”
    I can hear a gruff
snort and the rattling of chains.  “I’m just saying
it’s not a good idea to make friends, is all.”
    “Why you say
that?” Marius turns fully away from me and I can’t see
the expression to match his rigid posture.
    “Cause when
the time comes you’re gonna have to choose whether you value
your own life or hers, cause I guarantee you that girl right there is
gonna kill us all when she gets the chance.”
SEVEN

    I try to tell myself
that Hyde’s callous remark doesn’t bother me, but it
does.  Very much so.  What does he think he knows about me?
 Vondran obviously knows of me but do the others?  Have
they talked about me while I was in a less than lucid state over the
past few days?  
    Marius did not
respond to Hyde’s statement.  No one did.  They all
just went deadly quiet and moved back to their places, well out of my
line of sight.
    Bastien?
    I call out for him
over and over again with my mind but I