Page 13 of Breaking Storm

The lights snapped off across the warehouse.

A second later, they came back on, pinning Ryneth alone in their glare.

Ryneth recoiled, scrambling back. Only, there was nowhere to go. The cages around him fell into shadow. The screens stayed dark. There were no eyes, no numbers. There was just him.

They dragged his cage forward and into the center of the room, the light following them in silence.

One of the guards stepped into the edge of the light and kicked the bars of his cage. “Stand.”

Ryneth didn’t move.

The guard drove his boot through the bars and into Ryneth’s ribs. Pain burst through him.

“I said move, little one. Give them a show.”

More blows followed, boots slamming through the bars wherever they could reach him.

“Stop,” he begged, but they didn’t listen.

They were noise, taunting him, hurting him, until Ryneth’s mind was a fog and his hands were lead.

Static surged in Ryneth’s chest. It climbed his spine, burned through his arms, gathered at his hands until his fingers shook.

“There it is,” the blond man said. “Keep going.”

The next kick hit his shoulder.

The static broke.

He had held it back all his life by staying ahead of fear, by moving, by fighting, by keeping control. But there was nowhere left to put it now.

Light tore out of him in a violent snap. The bars screamed as current raced along them. Lamps overhead shattered, glass raining down. The guards staggered back, swearing, as the air crackled between them and the cage.

No one touched him now.

The light died as fast as it came. The static ripped through him and left nothing behind. His knees gave out. He hit the floor, breath tearing out of him, hands spasming uselessly against the metal.

“You really are one of Helion’s little miracles.”

He hadn’t noticed the blond man, but he sat watching him now, face obscured except for those cold eyes. He didn’t move, only watched, too still, as if the result was exactly what he’d been waiting for.

What the hell did Helion have to do with him?

Then a soft tone chimed overhead.

“Evaluation complete,” the overhead voice said, smooth and almost pleased. “This subject has been secured for private acquisition.”

Then the lights cut out. And Ryneth lost consciousness knowing someone had watched what he could do, decided he was worth keeping, and marked him for something worse.

Time blurred.

If this was Helion, he never saw the glass or the green.

He was so thirsty.

Hands lifted the cages, metal scraping, someone screaming. Ryneth’s body rolled with the motion, ribs burning, his mouth dry enough to stick to his teeth.

He tried to swallow, but nothing came.