His jaw slackened; the cigar fell from his mouth. Then he raised a trembling arm. My gaze slid up the sleek tattoo curling along his skin to what lay clutched in his hand. My mind blanked. His lips curved wickedly. “Go ahead. Break free. Let’s see you walk away from this.”
And he brought the silver hammer down on my knee.
The world splintered, stealing my breath and sanity. I screamed, spine arching off the cot. Hot and cold currents streaked through my body. Bile filled my mouth, choking me. Then he shattered my other knee.
I wanted to die when the hammer snapped my left leg bone in two. But, for once, I didn’t pass out. I felt every single hit. Every break. Heard him snap bone after bone, until my strength was crushed. Until I was a shivering heap of blind agony.
Until I was nothing more than a piece of property under his watchful gaze.
The sky had fallen dark only an hour ago, but I had begun my patrol early. Made sure Alec, spying from a distance, saw me circle the area and fly back for The Pit. I landed long enough to prowl and act generally threatening, making sure the shifters saw that I was on patrol. Every step was part of the carefully laid plan.
Adrenaline buzzed in my veins. The thunder of my pulse was almost loud enough to drown out the steady rhythm of my wings. So many people would die if we failed.
I can’t think like that. We won’t fail.
My eyes were locked onto the mansion as I made another round. The light that glowed from Mordecai’s room unnerved me. He was usually asleep by now.
Damnit.
Rebel Leader had detailed his plans before blindfolding me again and leading me away from the Fae hideout. Precautions, he had said, and I understood. Trust and blind trust were two very different things.
The whole group had tailed us, and I had felt their eyes on me when I burst into my lion. I had worried that I would scare or at least intimidate them, but they handled the change well. Most were fairly neutral—widened eyes and a couple cautious pats. Caspar had immediately started scratching my ears and cooing about “what a good kitty” I was. The smirk on Nevaeh’s lips had me glaring in her direction.
Now, several long hours later, the men of the Rebellion awaited my signal.
I killed some time scouting out The Pit. When a shifter strolled outside and cast a scowl in my direction, I tensed. My first visit seemed to have scared a few of them off—unsurprising, since Mordecai had announced the executions of a few shifters that morning. I wasn’t even sure if he had the right ones. He wouldn’t care, and everything was a bit too fresh for me to be entirely comfortable. Too many still ran free. Or maybe not enough, with the violent streak Mordecai was on. Maybe he would simply kill us all.
After I assumed enough time had passed, I leapt from the building and climbed into the air. This time when I glided by the mansion, the lights were off. Time to go. I flapped once, heading back toward the ruined, crumbling section of shifter territory—my sacrifice to the mission, offering Rebel Leader a closer place to hide but outing my little sanctuary. They had marked a rooftop with a single candle. When I located the small flicker of light I stopped, hovered, glanced around as though surveying the area. Seconds passed. A minute. The candle blinked out and I flew to the mansion.
The large backyard was silent. I shifted, the wet grass slick under my human feet. For the first time my exposed skin felt like a vulnerability as I glanced up at Mordecai’s dark bedroom window.
With trembling fingers, I pulled a key from the hidden spot along the fence. My presence here wasn’t abnormal, I reminded myself. All I had to tell Mordecai was that I’d been hungry mid-patrol and he would leave me be—that wasn’t a new excuse. Right on cue my stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday, now that I thought about it. The men had been kind and generous, but the idea of ingesting tomatoes, broccoli, onions, peppers . . . I gagged.
Snatching a granola bar from the kitchen was the work of a minute. I scarfed it down while I waited and, when I returned from tossing the wrapper in the trash, the men—and an already-shifted Nevaeh—were crowded on the back doorstep. I carefully slid the locks loose, one after the other until I could slowly ease the door open.
We were doing this.
No going back now.
My chest tightened. I took a breath, plastering on a grin before I swung the door open. “About time,” I teased.
Caspar shouldered his way in first. I relaxed a little. His calm demeanor set my nerves at ease. Or, at least a little. He mock-scowled at me. “Reagan, this is no time for joking. Get your head in the game.”
I smirked. “Why so serious?”
Sebastian came next, eyes narrowed on us. “Are the two of you going to be a problem? Because I’ll separate you if I have to.”
“Shhh, Sebastian,” I whispered, pressing a finger to my lips and flashing him a smirk. As I glanced behind me I added, “You’re going to get us caught.”
He sighed, blond hair falling across his face as he shook his head, then, “You’re right. From here on in, complete radio silence. Hand signals only.” The group around us groaned and he jerked up a fist. They fell silent.
I raised an eyebrow. “But wait, I don’t know the—”
Sebastian raised his hand again. My jaw snapped shut. Caspar patted me on the head. “Good kitty,” he mouthed.
Flynn stepped past him, eyeballing me for a moment before he shoved a wad of material in my arms. Oh. Point taken. I flicked the locks closed behind
