Page 151

The scientist shook his head, muttering something under his breath, then began clamping my arms and legs down with the metal restraints.

"You smell like alcohol."

I grunted my assent.

"It might help dull the pain, but it will also make the bleeding worse. Are you sure we shouldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is too late." The Witch and I were leaving at daybreak.

With a shrug, he held out a strip of wood, and I bit down on it. Then he wiped the tattoo site with a cool alcohol-soaked cloth.

As always, his last step was to place cotton plugs in his ears.I didn't blame him.

Then he got to work.

Sharp pain shot through my skin where he drew, and I bit down on the wood until my teeth sank in deep.

The alcohol hadn't helped.

I let out my first cry of pain around the wood, and my body arched.

In my time, I'd been stabbed, burned, poisoned, and even had my nails ripped out by a mad mage.

Frexin's strange tattoo ink put those to shame.

All I could do to stay conscious as I writhed and screamed was to force my mind far away.

Letting the pain wash over and through me, I forced my focus to the day this whole mess started.

"Wakey-wakey …" the sing-song voice sliced through the darkness, pulling me out of the nothingness I'd been floating in for what felt like forever.

Pain spread through my body — my skin burned, my eyes ached, and my mouth felt like I hadn't drunk anything in years.

The wolf howled frantically as I forced my eyes open.

The last thing I could remember was approaching Frexin's ship …

Something sharp tore at my chest, and I looked down to see my skin turning from gray stone back to my normal golden skin.

That wasn't it, though.

There was a pain deep inside that was so much worse.

It pulsed and ached, tearing at me with every breath.

My mate was in trouble.

"I see your bond with Miss Maderoth grew after your little brush with death."

That voice.

Lady Frexin stepped around to stand before me, her silver curled hair topped with a pewter colored hat in her signature style. "I have a deal for you, Agent Fordyth," she said, sliding a glove back over her long fingers.

"I will NEVER help you."

Chuckling, she pointed back at a group of guards wheeling a statue of a woman onto an airship …

Kaiya?!