The Broken Highlander Read Free Page B

after them
leaving Nevin alone with nothing but the rats for company.
    The rats…
     

Chapter 6
     
    Nevin lost count of how many nights he had
been locked in the dungeon, but he’d broken the chain and managed
to free his left foot. He smiled grimly. He’d also helped the
castle with its rat problem.
    Each night the woman was brought down to him.
Each night he refused. His neck hadn’t fully healed, but the rat
blood was helping. It was just slow. But he didn’t give in. Not
even when the woman’s wrist had been cut and held before him. It
was all he could do not to lunge at her, giving away that both of
his feet were free now. He snapped his teeth in frustration, the
only sign that he wasn’t calm.
    “You’ll give in soon.” The man’s smug voice
grated over his nerves. He thought Nevin couldn’t last much
longer.
    “Nay. I won’t.” Nevin’s voice was devoid of
anything. It was flat and firm, giving the man pause.
    Each time he left, Nevin continued working on
his chains. He wasn’t at full strength, nowhere near, in fact, but
he was stronger. He pulled at his bonds, the cuffs digging into
scabbed over wrists, from where he pulled at them each day.
Something had to give. The rats were attracted to his smell, but
even they had given him a wide berth lately. If he could just get
one more, maybe then he could break the chain.
    There! He could hear a rat scurrying about.
Stilling himself, he waited. It felt like hours, but finally one
came close to his foot. He brought his boot down on the beast, and
trapped it between his feet. Maneuvering it up, he tossed it as
best as he could towards his mouth.
    Success! He caught the rat with his
fangs and bled it dry. The small burst of strength allowed him to
pull at his chains once more, until he heard his thumb pop. With a
snarl, he yanked it all the way out, his broken digit bleeding all
over. Lightning-fast, he snagged a second rat and tore into it. His
thumb began to knit itself together.
    He would be gone by the next night, this he
swore. With one hand and both his legs free, he was able to use his
legs for leverage. He wouldn’t hesitate to break his other thumb to
get free, if he had felt it would help. The chains creaked, he was
so close.
    Footsteps signaled his nightly feeding. Shite! The hell with it. Growling, Nevin broke his other
thumb, yanking it through the cuff. When the guard opened his cell,
Nevin lunged at him, ripping his throat out. The other guard
couldn’t draw his sword fast enough, and Nevin quickly snapped his
neck.
    “I’ll see you in Hell,” snarled the last man.
He drew his sword and shoved the woman to the ground.
    But Hell didn’t want him. It had spat him
back out, and Nevin refused to go back a third time. Bleeding and
tired, he had no patience for this. Dodging the man’s blow, he was
behind him before he could blink. While the confused man turned too
slowly, Nevin took his head.
    Bending down to the woman, he noticed her
eyes were glazed over.
    “Lass? Hullo?”
    No answer. Was she in some sort of trance? He
hefted her over his shoulder and ran.
    Nevin ran until he could no longer run. His
chest heaved, but the farther he got from the castle, the more
agitated the woman became. By the time he finally had to stop, she
was screaming at the top of her lungs. He put her down and she ran
back towards the castle. Shaking it off, Nevin turned to catch his
bearings. He needed to hunt.
    A shuffling indicated a large animal nearby,
perhaps a boar? He didn’t care, he couldn’t afford to be picky at
the moment. He scented a moose. He knew the people of this area
poached moose from the royal preserves. He thought he was in the
Carpathian mountains, the ancient Dacian lands, so chances were he
would be poaching as well. No one would catch him, he thought as he
lunged at his prey.
    He dropped the carcass and headed toward the
sound of water. He needed to get the stink of the dungeon off of
himself.
     
    ***
     
    Stepping out of the water,