Page 53 of Prison Moon

Chapter Nineteen

Every inch of his body hurt. Toren swallowed to try and moisten his throat, then blinked his eyes open. Dim lights overhead splashed pale yellow across the ceiling. There wasn’t a sound to be heard and the scent of something that burned his nose lingered in the air.

He tried to move his arm and sit up but failed. Lifting his head he saw the restraints. He was strapped to a table, unable to move his arms or legs.

A door to his right opened and a female he’d never seen before walked inside. She walked to where he lay and unhooked the restraints and said, “Sit up slowly.”

When she moved away from the table, Toren sat up and threw his legs over the side. He was naked and a twist of his head told him the collar was still on. He narrowed his eyes at the female. “Where am I? Where is Sarra?”

“You are in the medical facility. Your mate is outside.”

He jumped from the table, his knees buckling when his feet touched the floor.

“Slowly,” the woman said. “It will take a while to get your strength back.”

Toren ignored her and started across the room.

“Wait! I have clothes for you.”

Opening the door, Toren ignored her and stepped out into a narrow hallway. He looked left, then right, stilling when he saw his mate curled into an overstuffed chair. “Sarra.” Her name was all it took for her to open her eyes and lift her head.

“Toren!” When she saw him, she jumped to her feet and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh my god, I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up. You’ve been unconscious for two days.”

His relief at seeing her turned into delighted laughter as she kissed his face, repeatedly.

“Please don’t hate me when you find out what I did.” More kisses peppered across his face. “I just love you so much I couldn’t let them kill you, so I did—“

His laughter grew as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed so hard, she gasped for air and said his name, the word coming out as a wheezing whisper.

“What is wrong with you,” she said when he loosened his hold on her. She pulled back enough to look at him. “Did they fry your brain?”

He kissed her, held her to him and kissed her so hard and long, her body went slack in his arms, her knees going weak. He pulled back enough to whisper, “My mind is completely intact, my sweet Sarra,” against her lips.

“Then why are you laughing like a loon?” The moment the words were out of her mouth, her eyes widened. “Oh my god, you can understand me, can’t you?”

“Every single word.” He brushed her hair from her face and placed a soft kiss on her mouth. “And whatever you did I’ll learn to live with. As long as I have you, and I can hear your words, then nothing else matters.”

She grinned and said, “You may change your mind about that in the near future.”

The wyvern that had been holding Sarra on the platform in the arena stepped out of a room down the hall and walked their way. The moment Toren saw him, his body tensed and a growl crawled up his throat. Sarra stiffened in his arms and he let go of her, pushing her behind him.

Wyvern looked pretty much alike to him. Their coloring was nearly identical and if it weren’t for the small variations in the pattern of their scales he wasn’t sure he’d be able to tell one from the other. This one, however he’d never forget.

He stopped a few feet away from them and looked at the female who had loosened the restraints on the table. She walked forward, a pair of pants in one hand. “Dress and follow me. I’ll see you to the arena door.” He didn’t wait for a reply, just turned on his booted feet and started down the hall.

Toren took the pants and said, “Stay close to me. I’ll not put any sort of surprise past them.”

“They’ll let us go. They gave me their word.”

He scoffed as he slipped on the pants. “Do not believe the lies they tell you. They are never to be trusted.”

Toren grabbed Sarra’s hand and followed the wyvern through winding tunnels. Noise slowly started to reach him as they walked. They were going back to the arena. He stiffened as the chanting and yells from the others above grew louder, Sarra’s hand tightening on his arm as she squeezed it.

The doors they exited were not the same ones they used to lead him into the arena for his fight. These opened on the opposite end of the platform, near the double doors that led outside. When the gates opened, Toren stared out into the small village beyond the arena in shock.

The wyvern turned and said, “Hold out your arms.”

“Will you be removing the collar as well?”