Unhappily Ever After

Chapter 74 - Numb

Vik and the others were staring at me. They must have heard most of it. And what they hadn't heard, I was sure they could guess. Tom kept opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, only to close it again just as quickly. That was probably for the best. If he spoke, I was only going to snap at him.

It wasn't long before the screams started. They were very faint at first — barely audible, in fact, but I could still brush Jessie's mind, and they were much louder for her. She'd gone past panic. She was in the empty, broken place beyond. The place where she got to stare at her friend's lifeless body and listen to her son screaming.

I tried calling. Scott wouldn't pick up the damn phone, because he was just making a point now, and he didn't want to be interrupted. When I wouldn't stop calling, someone unplugged the landline.

Slowly, I stood up again. "Get everyone out of sight — and that includes you lot. A mile back at least. Move those damn cars off the road. They can probably see them through the rifle scopes."

Scott wanted the raiders back at the castle, but it wasn't like he'd know either way. At least they'd be close enough to help if we ever found a use for them. I didn't care anymore that sending them further away would only strengthen Scott's position. If he asked me to shoot myself in the head, I was going to do it.

"Rhodric..." Tom began tentatively. "Do you think that's a—"

The look I gave him shut him up in about one second flat. "Do it. And bring me the guys who worked on Eira's tunnel. I've got a job for them."

Vik frowned at me. "You must be getting desperate."

Yes, I was. The truth was, I wasn't sure how much longer I could listen to Bran. He didn't even whimper when he got hurt, so I didn't really want to imagine what Scott was doing to get these sounds out of him.

Even as that thought crossed my mind, I could hear the phone ringing in my pocket. I almost dropped it twice trying to answer. Every second I could keep Scott talking was another second's peace for Bran.

"Hi again. Can you hear him?" he asked me. "He's a tough little fellow — I'll give him that. It won't matter in the end. Everyone breaks sooner or later, and it's usually sooner."

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"This," he said with a heavy sigh. "This is what I want, Rhodric. I want you helpless, and I want Jessica nice and close to me. This mate bond of ours is like an itch I can't scratch. The further I get, the worse it gets."

I tensed because suddenly I could taste a dangerous thing called hope. "I can break it, Scott. It would take a minute, but I can do that for you. I've done it before. Just take down whatever's blocking the link, and I'll—"

He burst into a fit of laughter. "Tin foil. All those clever mind tricks of yours can be stopped by tin foil. The whole building is lined with it, and no, I will not 'take it down.' Exactly how stupid do you think I am?"

"No tricks," I assured him. "You can walk out of here afterwards, and I won't come looking."

Scott cut across me with a series of gleeful tuts. "Bullshit, and you know it. Now, if you'll excuse me... I'm not going to indulge such blatant delaying tactics. Goodbye."

Shit. I'd blown that one, hadn't I? He hung up on me, and I was left to blow out and curse under my breath. My composure was slipping away from me piece by piece. And worse, when the screams started again, this time tempered by hoarseness and exhaustion, I felt them grating against something deep inside me.

It was like they were scratching at a wall. Wearing it away. I had no idea what would happen when it broke. It seemed to be located in the far-off, neglected corner of my mind where all the strangest things happened. The part that felt more Shadowcat than wolf.