Advice

My arms were grabbed, and I was shoved to the floor at Damaen's feet and pinned there. I gasped as the air was knocked from my lungs. A large hand felt along my waist, drawing from me a startled cry.

"Get your hands off her!" Tyler lunged toward me and was grabbed by a large man. "Let go!"

The hand found the gun at my belt and pulled it out. I was relieved to find that it was all the man was after. "I carry that to protect myself," I protested, though I didn't bother fighting against the hands keeping me down.

"Doesn't seem to be working." Damaen knelt in front of me. "I don't care why you had it. Point is, you had it, and I didn't know it was there. So who are you? Bounty hunters?"

"They're too scrawny," a woman scoffered, kicking lightly at my leg.

Tyler hissed like an angered cat. The man restraining him grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

"Bounty hunters come in all shapes and sizes," Damaen pointed out, his cold eyes locked on mine. "Or are you with the police? What do you want?"

I shook my head. "We're looking for a different Damaen. He kidnapped our sister, and we're trying to save her."

Damaen glanced up to the three-eyed man, I assumed, who was silent. He must have made some kind of affirmative motion, because Damaen stood, looking thoughtful. "Very well, then," he said finally. "We will find the other Damaen."

"Really?" I asked, craning my neck in an attempt to look up at him. "You'll help us?"

He sneered at me. "We're not doing it to help you. This Damaen is intruding on our territory and causing trouble."

"What do you care about causing trouble? You're a goddamn gang leader," Tyler spat. His captor tightened his hold on my brother's arm, making him wince.

"Ah, but we believe in peace," Damaen replied with a sadistic smile. "We also believe in punishing the disobedient, like yourselves. We'll just keep you imprisoned until we catch the other Damaen." He gave a little wave of his hand, spurring his gang into motion.

I gasped as I was dragged from the floor. "No!" I shouted, planting my feet firmly on the ground. I was pulled along despite my resistance, toward one of the man doors lining the wall.

"Jai!" Tyler cried, fighting against his captor.

"That's enough out of you," the large man said, and gave a final twist of Tyler's arm. With a sickening crack that echoed within my ears, Tyler's eyes widened, and at the same time we realized that his arm had been broken.

Our screams echoed throughout the chamber. The bonfire flared, but no one noticed. Tyler stopped fighting, and I fought enough for the both of us, ingoring the fingers digging into my arms, barely noticing as I was struck across the face. I kept fighting as I was wrestled through the door, and Tyler was taken through a different one.

Several seconds went by before I realized that I was being dragged through a jail. Cage-like cells lined the walls, most of them empty except for bits of clothes or bloodstains on the walls and floors. My escorts brought me to one of the last cells and shoved me inside.

I fell to my knees and quickly pushed myself back to my feet, turning as the door was locked with a loud clang. My breathing ragged, I stumbled to the door and gripped the bars. "Let me out!"

Of course, I was ignored.

I glared after the two men as they left me in the dim cell, lit only by a torch on the wall opposite from me. Vaguely I wondered why the place would still use torches when the rest of the city had electricity, but I quickly pushed it out of my mind. Who cared? I needed to escape.

I looked around the cell, ignoring the stinging in my arms and face. There was no way out, not even a window.

'Well, duh. We're underground.'

There was a thin blanket on the floor, which I supposed was meant to be a bed. A small sink was on one wall under a round, stained mirror.

"S**t..." I slumped against the bars of the cell and slid to the floor, hugging my legs to my chest.

'Why were we so stupid? We should have listened to the Hunters. Noah was right, we just pranced into hostile territory without knowing a thing about our enemies.'

I warily fingered the growing bruise on my cheek as I stared at my shoes.

'They're never going to find us. We're going to die down here, and we'll never find Lily-'

"You really shouldn't touch that."

I jumped and looked up, surprised to find the three-eyed man in the cell with me, perched on my sink. His face was as blank as ever as he regarded me, looking as though I was something that may or may not be poisonous.

I got to my feet and pressed my back against the bars. "What're you doing here?" I demanded, weary. "How'd you get in here?" I added after a moment, realizing I'd been sitting against the only entrance.

He slid off the sink, his head tipped slightly to one side. "Magic," he said finally.

"What?"

"I got in here with magic."

"Oh god, there's magic on this world, too?" I groaned and rubbed my eyes. "What do you want?"

He considered. "To satisfy my curiosity," he said slowly. "You are resisting my magic, and I want to know how."

I looked up at him, frowning. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You see..." He stepped closer, and I pressed further against the bars. "I can read minds."

I started, my eyes widening. "That's how you knew we were lying."

He nodded. "I could see your brother's memories, so I knew you were lying, and I knew about your gun. I know a lot more than that, too. What I don't know, however, is why I can't read your mind."

"I wouldn't know about that," I said uncomfortably.

"You would. I think you've got some kind of magic."

"Magic doesn't exist on my world."

"Magic exists on every world. It's just suppressed in some. You could have magic in your world and never know until you leave."

"I'm sure I don't have any," I protested. I gasped when he suddenly closed the space between us, standing only an inch or so away. "What-"

"Are you pregnant?" he asked, prodding my stomach with one finger.

"What?" I yelped.

"I know there's a magician in your group. Did he get you pregnant?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" I asked indignantly, a blush burning on my face as I smacked his hand away.

"The unborn children of magicians are very powerful," the three-eyed man explained, stepping back again. "They tend to use their magic to protect their mothers. So if you're pregnant, it would explain why your mind is blocked."

"I'm not pregnant," I said flatly.

"You're sure?"

"I've never had sex. So yes, I'm sure."

"I see..." He fell silent, thoughtful. "Well, you've got some kind of magic. I suggest you learn to use it, or else you'll end up dead."

"Why would you give me advice?" I asked warily.

"Because, as it stands, the field is vastly uneven," he told me calmly.

"...What?"

"There are two teams; yours and Damaen's. His team has a far greater advantage. As it is, this will end quickly, but that's boring. I want to even out the field, to make things more interesting."

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

He looked at me with a vague smile. "Liske," he said. "This dungeon was built right after the Citadel. It was originally used to imprison criminals and torture them. Only the government and the unfortunate criminals knew it existed. Now, only the Fire Gang does. No one knows where you are, and no one will think to look here."

I shivered a little. "Why would-"

"Be careful, Jai," Liske interrupted. "If you aren't, this game won't last very long." With that annoyingly cryptic bit of advice, he was gone.

For a moment, all I could do was stare at the spot he'd been standing in. I slowly sighed and closed my eyes. "Psychopath..."

X X X

I wasn't sure how long I was in the cell. The hands on my watch were ticking erratically, and the minute hand was going backwards. Frustrated, I eventually took the watch off and threw it against the wall.

Every few hours, someone left a plate of food and a glass of water by my cell. I didn't trust it enough to eat it, so I dumped it all down the sink. Whenever someone came to check on me, I pretended to be asleep, curled up on the thin blanket until they went away. I still wasn't sure what my plan was; I wasn't even sure if I had one or not. It seemed that I was doomed to die in the cell, but I was determined to escape that fate.

Occasionally I considered the advice Liske had given me. He had told me to learn how to use my magic, but I had no idea what magic he was talking about. Wouldn't Mi'ta have been able to tell me if I had some kind of magic ability? He would have sensed it, I was sure.

Then again, I didn't know if I could really be sure of anything anymore.