The man set her down, shaking the hand shed bitten. Oriana swayed on her feet. She tried to loosen her shirt cuff to draw her dagger, but her hands wavered in her vision. A surge of nausea rose, leaving her hot, then cold.
What was wrong with her? She should do something . . .
As if at a great distance, she heard Isabel cry out. Oriana spun that way, reaching one arm out to her. Then she was tilting, falling toward the night-dark cobbles.
CHAPTER 2
Ah, gods, no . It wasnt a nightmare.
She was tied firmly in place. She was upside down, seated in a chair, bound fast to it by ropes about her arms and chest and ankles, and that chair was secured to the ceiling. Her wrists were tied, forcing her hands to lie flat on a metal surfacea table or tray. Her ragged breath echoed in the small space.
She jerked against the ropes, but they didnt give. Instead, the whole world swayed around her. A whimper escaped her lips. What is happening?
She couldnt seem to think straight. Ive been drugged, havent I? There
had been something bitter on the cloth the driver held over her mouth. Was he one of the Special Police, the branch dedicated to hunting down nonhumans like her? Had someone turned her in?
She had to find a way out of this place. She could smell wood and cork, the pungent scents of resins and paint, and, faintly, the river. She held her breath and could hear muted sounds, but nothing that made sense. Her eyes began to adjust to the blackness, better than human eyes for that sort of thing.
And then she realized she wasnt alone. Isabel hung in a chair across from her. The cobwebs that cluttered Orianas mind blew away in a sudden rush. Isabel, she cried. Wake up!
Isabels head swayed and her eyelids fluttered, but she didnt respond. She must have been drugged, too.
Orianas hands curled into fists against the tables surface. She had to get Isabel out of this place. She yanked against the ropes that bound her arms again, but couldnt make out how they were tied. The knots must be behind her back.
She surveyed the shadowy room then, taking stock. She could make out its size now, not much larger than the inside of a coach. The walls looked featureless, dark and plain. There was only her and Isabel and a small round table nestled between them. The ropes pressed her hands down on one side of the table, and Isabels hands lay opposite them. Oriana could see that the surface was patterned somehow, but the room was too dark for her to make it out.
What is this? Why would anyone put us here?
Her breathing sounded harsh in her own ears, overloud in the tiny room. She forced it down, not wanting to frighten Isabel. She had to come up with a plan. Then she heard a new sound through the walls: the metallic rattle of shifting chains. There had to be someone nearby. Let her go, she cried, hoping they would hear. She didnt know Im not human. Shes not a Sympathizer. Its . . .
Everything moved. Oriana had the terrifying sensation of falling, then her body slammed to a stop against the ropes that bound her. She hissed and followed that with every foul word shed ever heard her aunts say. The initial flare of pain ebbed after a moment. They were on water now. The room bobbed like a boat.
Its me you want, Oriana screamed into the darkness. Not her, damn it!
There was no response save for the continued clatter of chains.
Orianas breath suddenly went short. This room couldnt be watertight, not if shed heard the chains so clearly through the walls. Water was going to fill this space, and quickly. Isabel, wake up!
Isabel moaned in response, her eyes fluttering open. Where am I?
She heard water bubbling into the structure that trapped them. Something was dragging them deeper. They didnt have much time. I dont know. We have to try to get loose.
Oriana? Where are you? I cant see. Isabel began to cry helplessly then, like a lost child.
Oriana tried to keep her voice steady for Isabels sake. Its very dark, Isabel. Thats why you cant see. Now listen to me. You have to try to get your arms loose.
I cant, Isabel sobbed.
Oriana couldnt see the water yet. It was aboveno, belowher head, seeping upward. She could hear it and smell it, though. Cold fear knotted in her gut. They were going to run out of time.
No, she wasnt going to give up that easily. Im going to untie myself, she told Isabel. Then Ill untie you.
How? she whimpered.
Oriana didnt take time to answer. She grasped the edge of the table and shifted in the chair that held her, twisting so her teeth could reach the rope about her right wrist. Her teeth were sharper than a humans, something that rarely proved an advantage. The rope splintered and shredded in her mouth.
The water continued to seep upward, inexorable.
Oriana? Are you still there? Oriana!
Oriana paused. The fear in Isabels voice tore at her heart, but she needed to get loose more than Isabel needed an answer, so she kept chewing. But she did stop and glance up when Isabel screamed.
The water had reached the top of Isabels head. Isabel began thrashing wildly. No! she screamed. No!