Page 85 of Demure
“At this point, I think anything we try is better than waiting for someone to realize we are here and make their own rescue plan,” Sierra said.
“Well, I’ve already been sending dreams to Slaine, so she knows at least, but I can send new dreams now showing you are here, as well as your magic. Maybe she will have some ideas we haven’t thought of.”
“I wish there was something I could do to help,” Kaye said at last, and Sierra immediately realized why she hadn’t been talking much before. Her voice was gravelly, and it sounded like each word pained her, which was probably true.
“There’s one more thing you should know, Sierra.” Aislan’s voice was pained.
Sierra’s heart dropped to her stomach. “What is it?”
“Conlan has been taking other humans since you escaped.”
Sierra’s throat constricted in shame. This was all her fault.
Aislan, sensing her emotions, shook his head. “You aren’t to blame. It’s his own delusions that are causing him to do this.”
Sierra knew that, deep down, but it didn’t quell her despair. “Is he taking them from the human world?”
Aislan pressed his lips together.
“We think so,” Braan said sadly from across the room. “If he was taking the humans who are servants here in Sidhe, another council member would say something and make him stop.”
“Are…are they okay?” Sierra had to force the words out.
It was Braan’s turn to swallow a lump in his throat, his eyes drifting to his injured wife. “I don’t…Slaine has shown me that she will see them once, but then not again. It’s a new human everyday…” He trailed off, answering Sierra’s question.
Silence and tension filled the cell as they all realized how gruesome this situation was becoming.
Sierra pushed the thought aside, knowing that dwelling on it wouldn’t change what was happening. “Are you all…tortured here?” Sierra asked. Looking around the room, a second idea formulated in her mind.
“Unfortunately,” Aislan replied. “We had already thought about options for escaping when we were removed from the room, though it seems like Conlan had considered that too by ensuring that we are never allowed to leave.”
Sierra mentally reviewed her last experience being imprisoned by Conlan, figuring her new idea was likely not to work, but she knew Kaye would feel better about the situation if she had a job like the rest of them. “In my experience, during my last imprisonment, it didn’t seem like Conlan, or the guards, had much idea of what humans really needed to survive.”
Aislan raised his eyebrows.
“I, uh…” Sierra hesitated. Although she was learning to be okay with her disease, she was so used to not speaking about it that it was a little hard to get the words out. “When I came here, I had a disfiguring skin condition. Conlan thought that was the reason the prophecy wasn’t being fulfilled, and he sent me to Slaine for her to heal it.” She took a deep breath. “But Slaine, like myself, knew it wasn’t an illness, but a deeply rooted internal disease that was incurable. Regardless, they brought me to Slaine daily for healing. So here’s my idea…”
She looked over at Kaye, who once again had her head down. “Kaye, you should play dead—well, as close to dead as possible. Of course, we can’t stop your heart, but if you stop responding and breathe as little as possible, I think there is a chance they will take you to Slaine for healing.”
Braan was now staring at Sierra intently. “And if they don’t care and leave her here to die?”
Sierra tried to shrug instinctively but found she couldn’t with her arms restrained as they were. “That’s a risk we have to take. There may also be a chance they dump her in the forest.” Sierra grimaced at the thought of Kaye being dumped in her current state. “That wouldn’t be ideal, obviously, but maybe Fia would see it, or Aodhan would find her. I would also try to pass information through my animal communicating abilities. But either way, it is a risk Kaye would have to be willing to take.”
Before Braan could argue more, Kaye opened her mouth. “I’ll do it.” Her eyes shifted to her husband’s shocked face. “I know that it’s risky, but anything is better than sitting here and wondering how much more torture I can take before it really is the end. At least in the forest, I’ll have a chance, however slim.”
Braan’s lips pursed together, he clearly didn’t want to put his wife in danger, but he also seemed to realize that they didn’t have many options, and being here was just as dangerous as being dumped in the forest injured.
“Alright, it’s a plan,” he said at last.
Chapter Fifty-One
None of them knew how much time had passed before the guards entered the room again, but as soon as they heard the sliding of the metal lock on the door, they put their plan into action.
Kaye hung her head, closing her eyes, and slowing her breathing as much as possible.
Six guards entered, splitting off into smaller groups, with a single guard headed toward Kaye and Sierra, and two guards each for Braan and Aislan.
The guards began saying things in Gaelic as they aimed a kick for the same side as before. Sierra still didn’t understand Gaelic, but she could assume from their tone that it was some kind of insult. Sierra gritted her teeth, breathing through the new wave of pain that washed over her as she tried to keep an eye on what was going on elsewhere in the room. It looked like Aislan and Braan were interrogated in addition to the beating, though Sierra couldn’t be sure because of the language barrier.
