Void Domain, Book 04 полностью

Nothing actually came out. She had been trying not to think about it because she would have only gotten hungrier, but she hadn’t had food in who knows how many hours. Possibly a full day.

Shalise remained on her knees until the tingling in her hands stopped. Only then did she stand up and look over her flawless skin.

Acceptable, Shalise jumped at Prax’s voice. I suppose. Let us move on. Gather your mortal friend if you must.

Shalise put her foot down.

“Not yet.” She had a hardness in her voice that surprised her. Shalise did not allow it to distract her.

Shalise concentrated as she had before. The worms pulled back, returning to the brand on her stomach. She kept up her concentration until she couldn’t feel them any longer.

She stopped concentrating.

The worms did not return.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. She had been worried about needing constant concentration to keep them at bay.

Amazingly enough, Prax stayed silent throughout the process.

His indignation was, however, palpable.

As soon as she finished looking herself over and confirming that everything was back to normal, he mentally shook his head. You would reject my perfection for your mortalness? Pathetic servant.

“I am not your servant,” Shalise growled. With a frown, she added, “is mortalness even a word?”

It matters not so long as you understand my meaning. Now get a move on, that last notification announced the release of the dolls. We do not want to get caught by those things.

That was something Shalise could agree with. She didn’t know what the dolls were, but the prospect of getting out sounded excellent.

Turning to Juliana, Shalise realized the first problem with escaping.

Juliana was small. A good deal shorter than Shalise. Easily the shortest person in their class. While she was nowhere near as muscled as Genoa, Juliana had a well toned body. She couldn’t have weighed all that much.

Carrying her would be clumsy and encumbering, but doable.

Except for one problem.

Shalise’s unenhanced muscles strained to lift the armor-clad girl. The metal had to weigh at least… a lot. Shalise didn’t have any good reference points for eye-balling weight.

But it was one major problem.

Worse, he was laughing inside her head again.

“I’m not leaving without her. We need to wake her up. If you don’t have any solutions, at least be quiet.”

Leave her or carry her with us. Her body is in shock. Likely thanks to the toxin of the imps’ claws. Debilitating, but only deadly to a babe. The shock, however, does not come from the toxin. Rather, she lacks something vital to jump-start her body. She will not wake on her own.

“Lacks what?”

Perhaps I shall explain on the way. Perhaps I will leave your mental faculties intact. Either way, lingering would be unwise.

Shalise frowned. “And you want me to use your worm things to–”

Do not compare my glorious muscles to vermin.

Crossing her arms, Shalise said, “you’ve gotten haughty.”

I am free of my bonds for the first time in tens of centuries. And we are so close to true freedom. I feel haughty. Though it will all be squandered should you fail to get moving.

Shalise bit her lip. She glanced between Juliana and the empty hallway. “Fine.”

With a distressingly simple thought, Prax’s disgusting muscles erupted from the brand. Shalise closed her eyes and thought about how nice a hot meal would taste right about now. She sighed once the squirming beneath her skin squeezed and tightened.

Opening her eyes, Shalise glanced down at her friend.

It wasn’t easy to pick her up. Not quite effortless. Shalise managed to get her slung over her shoulder without too much trouble. After ensuring she wouldn’t fall off by gripping her arms and legs in front and looping her around Shalise’s neck, they moved up to the red barrier.

Her hands had passed through it not ten minutes earlier, yet Shalise still expected it to block her passage. Perhaps by catching the brand on her chest.

The barrier didn’t even cause an itch as she walked through.

Now move! Left, further into the prison.

“I-into the prison?”