"Don't touch her!"
The snarl comes from Victor. A moment later, the guard holding me upright goes flying as Victor grabs him by the collar and flings him aside. A moment later, he braces his hands over me, against the wall. We've been in this pose before, and as I look up at Victor's terrifying face, his red eyes are focused on me and only me.
"Bee," he manages. "Can't…touch me. Not…safe."
"Someone get that shock collar activated," the captain yells. "My control isn't working!"
"Captain, sir, we are," cries one of the guards. "All of ours are turned on. It's not working!"
Victor stares down at me, his blood-filled eyes wide and distant. He trembles overhead, his nails digging into the walls of his cell. It's like he's desperately trying to keep control. A split second later, I realize that's exactly what he's doing. The shock-guns aren't activating because his collar is already at full blast.
He's being tortured.
"I'm here," I tell him softly. "I won't leave you." In a louder voice, I call out, "Someone get First Rank Novis! His collar is malfunctioning!"
12
VICTOR
When the pain falls away, it feels like a trick. To go from a full night of endless pain, unable to function without agony to…silence? To relief? It takes time for it to sink in, and when it does, I collapse to my knees. I don't want to—I don't want to show weakness in front of anyone—but there's no strength left in me. It took everything I had not to claw off my own face, not to fling myself at the walls and break through to kill the hated guards that were doing this to me.
The only thing that kept me from losing my grasp on sanity was the realization that Bee would not stand for this. Bee would be mad when she found out. Bee, who is going to kiss me as long as I uphold my end of our bargain.
So I hold out for Bee.
I'm grateful I did. The moment she can touch me without sharing the shocking pain, she does. Her soft hands flutter over my face and shoulders, and then she's barking orders at the guardsmen as if she's the one in charge. They get a damp towel. They get fresh water for me, and warm broth to sip. They get a fluffy blanket and wrap it around me, and then Bee cradles my head in her lap, caressing my cheek with the backs of her fingers.
It's the best thing I've ever felt. I never want to leave this moment. I close my eyes and pretend to be unconscious, unthreatening, all so they'll let Bee stay with me as long as possible.
It's hard to remain “unconscious” when she starts scolding people, though.
"How could you let this happen?" Bee demands when First Rank Novis enters my cell. I can tell it's him by the scent of his uniform and the whiff of tea that remains on his breath. "How did no one bother to check to see if his collar was hurting him? I thought you were interested in his well-being!"
"Now, female." His voice takes on a patient tone. "You—"
"Don't you 'now female' me," Bee says indignantly. Her tiny hand cups my jaw, as if she can protect me from him. I want to remind her that she's forgetting to be pleasant, but I'm too fascinated by her anger. "Lord va'Rin wants this man reformed, yes? I'm not seeing a lot of reforming, First Rank. I'm seeing bullying and torture. If you don't want me to run screaming to the lord about how he's being mistreated, you'll get me some answers. And frankly? You want me on your side. I can make life very difficult for you."
I've never heard such an angry tone come out of such a soft female.
"I can assure you, this wasn't done on purpose—"
"How did his collar malfunction?" Bee asks. "How did no one think to check on it?"
"Female—"
"It wasn't a malfunction, was it? That's what you're pussyfooting around. Someone turned his collar up to maximum because they wanted to hurt him." Her fingers stroke my jaw and I bite back the groan of pleasure that nearly escapes me. Her touch is maddening in just how good it feels. "Someone tortured him on purpose."
There's a long pause as she continues to pet me. "We don't know for certain—"
Her voice is bitter. "You do. You just don't want to admit it." Bee's fingers pause. "Is…was it Riffin? The timing's a little too coincidental."
"We'd have to review security logs to be certain," First Rank Novis says in that bland, condescending voice of his. Underneath that, though, he's starting to smell stale. It's a fear smell, like he knows he's messed up and isn't quite sure how to fix the situation.
It's almost worth the last night of agony just to know he's sweating over my well-being.