Drown Under Earth - Shadows of the Night 3

Chapter 58

Hi!

It's too late to be doing this, but I'm doing it anway. I think my brain just went into sleep mode, so, I'm going to keep it simple. Here's the next chapter :-) Since I'll only post again after Christmas:

Happy Xmas to all of you, and thank you so much for reading!

Lara

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Chapter 58

My gaze darted back to Cole and Andy, who apparently was still out cold. I wasn’t ready to give up hope just yet. Maybe Andy was only pretending to be unconscious. Maybe he was going to come up with a surprise attack the rogues hadn’t even dreamed about in their worst nightmares and get us out of here.

And maybe I was only imagining things.

Andy never moved. If he was faking he was pretty good at it.

Someone forced Cole on his knees, gun still hovering behind his head, while Andy’s captor dropped him into a wooden chair behind us. Arms pressed down on my shoulders and I crashed to my knees, grunting as the pain set in. I was going to be bruised.

“Surprised to see me alive, Anna?” Catherine threw the question at me without any preambles. Apparently she wasn’t as much into dramatics as her predecessor – if she really took over Medici’s place as the leader of the Inri Brotherhood. Not someone to underestimate. That mess of black curls might have made her look younger, but from what I’d seen Catherine was damned powerful.

“You probably thought that no one made it out, didn’t you?” She said.

Her mouth curved into a smile that was unpleasant and short-lived. Her gray blue eyes were as clear as water, but underneath that there was something I recognized as determination and an iron will. Catherine was willing to do what it took to survive – even murder.

“Now, to cut it short, we need to know how much the Circle knows, and one of you will give me the information. You, Anna, get to choose who’ll die first and how painful it will be.”

I gave her a blank look. Catherine got up with an agility I hadn’t believed her capable of, hands, palm open, at her sides.

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t enjoy torturing people. But you left us to burn to death in that building. Somehow that makes the thought of hurting you, Anna, more than tempting. So, who do you want me to start with? Will it be the unconscious surfer boy?”

She looked at Andy for a moment before shifting gaze and targeting Cole.

“Or will it be our wannabe-CIA-agent over there?” Then she turned to me again. “Tell me, Anna. Who? Who’s going to get a taste of our magic first?”

I pressed my lips together, forcing my face into immobility. What could I do? What the hell was I supposed to do to stop this?

“That’s what I thought,” she said and nodded at the rogue witches behind us.

Cole screamed first. Flashes of electric shocks crawled along his skin and flesh. Andy jerked, opened his eyes and glared at Catherine. His eyes flashed and closed again, fisted hands trembling at his sides. No sound. No screaming.

“Stop it!” I yelled, trying to fight my way into a standing position again. Rough hands pushed me down.

The magic stopped and vanished into thin air. The short, hurried breaths of Andy and Cole were the only sound in the room.