Of Eternal Life Read Free Page B

got Alexander the Great. You could do much worse than to share something this intimate with such an accomplished ruler.”
    The orderly eyed the Tormentor over Eli’s head. Eli was not the only one who noticed the unholy delight the Tormentor took in these actions. Weak prey always seemed to know when a dangerous predator was nearby.
    The orderlies quit and had to be replaced often. It didn’t take long for the lies the Tormenter told them about Eli’s past to become less-appalling to them than the Tormentor’s own actions.
    Eli had no idea what happened to those who quit, but he couldn’t imagine the Tormentor ever letting them go.
    The Tormentor grimaced at the orderly’s scrutiny and moved the lip of the beaker to the tubing. Eli’s eyes followed the movement of liquid from beaker to tube and down toward his mouth with alarm. The tubing ensured fighting would be unsuccessful. Why hadn’t he foreseen this possibility?
    The moment the liquid hit the back of Eli’s mouth he gagged anew, this time at the taste. It was bitter . Metallic. If death could have a taste, this would be it.
    The orderly covered Eli’s nose again, and he knew he was screwed. He would swallow it; his body would demand its own doom in a quest for life-giving air.
    Even knowing this, Eli struggled until his throat gulped convulsively. The poison burned all the way into his gut, and his hacking coughs rang out over the snick of the recorder being turned on.
    “1208, toxin administered successfully.” The Tormentor settled on a utilitarian stool at Eli’s shoulder and eyed him expectantly as the orderly removed the splint and tubing. “Now,” he sighed, “we wait.”

Chapter Three
    Eli’s back bowed off of the stretcher, the entire weight of his jerking body resting on his shoulders and heels. His facial muscles tightened in a soundless scream as his toes curled under his feet.
    The convulsions had begun just five minutes after he’d swallowed the poison, starting in his neck and face. Over the last two hours they’d increased in intensity and frequency until he was suffering episodes like this. Excruciating stretches of agony that caused him to wish for death as soon as they ended.
    This one was lasting longer than he thought he could survive. Oh, God, let it end. Let this be it . He was finally able to wrench his mouth open, and his scream rent the air, increasing in volume as the convulsion grew more intense.
    And in that second, it happened.
    His brain was so nearly mush that he almost missed it, but at the height of his body’s arc, as his arms thrashed, he felt the restraints give.
    Time seemed to stop.
    That can’t have happened. You must have imagined it .
    He felt the restraints give a second time. His mind scrambled to make sense of it. They must not have anticipated the increased strength his body’s convulsions would generate.
    Time resumed and then sped up as he realized what this meant. This is your chance! His pain spurred him on, giving him inhuman strength, and he gathered it into the core of his being. Bellowing with all of his might he flexed his biceps and pulled . The groan of straining metal brought the Tormentor’s head up from his clipboard.
    “Good God,” screeched the Tormentor, vaulting to his feet. “Put him out, man!” he yelled at the orderly. “Put him out!” The orderly scrambled toward the tray, trying to fill a syringe with sedative while the Tormentor whirled to the door. “Guards! Get in here!” They both snapped to order. One hastily keyed the code into the door, and the other removed the gun from his holster.
    The Tormentor swung back around just as Eli overpowered the restraints with a primal yell. He held the Tormentor’s alarmed gaze as the orderly approached from behind with the sedative. Without looking, Eli grabbed the orderly by his throat and wrenched him around to hold against his chest. Eli tore the syringe from the orderly’s grasp and stabbed it into the man’s jugular. As