Page 51 of Mindeater

“Let me out,” I say to no one. “Let me out!”

Pure animal instincts take over. I thrash. Every hit against steel reveals more of the same. I’m trapped. I’m weak. And utterly powerless.

“Let me fucking out!” I roar as loud as I can.

My heart threatens to beat right out of my chest. My stomach lurches as a chill settles over my bones. I can’t be back here. I can’t be in this fucking cage again. I was good. I did…I did what I was told. I—

The tent flap opens.

The light temporarily blinds me. I hold up my hands to block it, shivering from head to toe. My bladder is close to bursting. The begging starts against my will.

“Please, please. I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

A laugh cuts through the space.

Low.

Mocking.

Bitter.

I drop my hands and blink through tears. That’s when I see him.

Ryx.

His hair is longer now, reaching his waist. There’s a bump on his big nose that he didn’t have when we were kids. His ears are hidden, but those blue veins stand out starkly against his pale skin. He’s…terrifying. Beautiful. Other.

“Maybe this won’t be so hard after all,” he muses.

“What?” I croak.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he circles my cage, inspecting me with a clinical disinterest. It’s slow. Purposeful. Cruel. Rubbing it in that I’m in here and he’s out there. “Let me out,” I demand.

“No,” he says easily, stopping in front of the cage door. “This suits you.”

My frown is instant. Why is he doing this? He knows as well as I do that my mastery doesn’t work on him. If anything, whenever I tried, it hurt me. There’s no reason at all to keep me confined like an animal.

“Ryx, please—”

“Do not call me that,” he growls—the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Pure hatred laces his tone. “In fact, don’t even speak.”

I screw up my face. “You can’t keep me from talking.”

“Maybe I should cut out your tongue, then.”

My heart drops. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Leeches die without their hosts. This,” he gestures at the cage, “ensures you never get one.”

“Leech?” By the first seer, I can’t stop the way my voice breaks. “I…we were friends, Ryx.”

“Call me that again, and I will cut out your tongue.”

“What happened to you? How did you get here? They were supposed to take you to Ivory Hill.”

“They certainly tried,” he says under his breath, sniffing loudly. “Feel anything yet, Kane?”

“Nothing, boss.”