. She could hear rough shouts coming from far away, mingling with the

t had just happened. Nobody would be coming to Caine's rescue. He

could not bring herself to move and wipe it

n forward fractionally. She could see nothing. There was no ligh

ing further beaten? Tortur

elf. 'What does he matter? I only met him once. I wasn't responsible for wh

ace. 'I should leave. The smartest thi

dy was still moving, he

pping beneath one of its wide windows. She

rough the cracked windows above. They dotted the ground with silver spotlights, with one massi

warehouse looked wholly abandoned. Broken wooden boxes were cluttered e

At last, she spotted him. He was leaning against the opposite wall, his lower half i

. Was he unconsci

zarre sound Vix had heard before, a low screech of tortured metal. She

oise, just as she had suspected before. Vix was closer this time

s," the inhuman voice was saying. "Hard to sa

e. Surely not Caine? There was a long pa

creech resuming, making Vix's skin crawl. "Y

t in time to see a flutter of movement from inside the warehouse. If she had not chanced

not heard even the faintest sound of footsteps, though the warehouse was now deathly silent. The shadowy ma

walked noiselessly up to where Caine was lying. He regarded the prone young ma

o response

e ravens' wings, and made for the door. Vix felt a thrill of panic. He would see her.

cond after she slipped around the corner

icked wheezes. She waited, straining to hear any sound of t

ast, she peeled herself off the wall and peeked around the corner. The str

ll and at last allowed herself to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her skin was cla

ge within the warehouse. Everything was totally still. Caine was

m. What if he was injured? If he could survive what had

sure she was. Every part of her rational mind was screaming at

irely new world. A terrifying world, where nothing she knew to be right and

he ajar door. She stood in the doorway, straining her eyes to penetrate the shado

ut on the wooden floor. Clouds of dust rose like ghosts before her, only to fall again, u

forming soundlessly on her lips, terror freezing her. A small, brown rat ca

to move forward again. It seemed to take an eternity to cross that warehouse to Caine.

e, it's Vix. We have to get you out of here." She s

eck was bent at a grotesque angle. He looked like an old doll who had been played with too roughly b

as she was the last

her – the same skin-crawling, metallic voic