Change of Darkness (The Change Series Book 3) by Jacinta Jade (best new books to read txt) 📕

The hit caused Herrin to stumble back, leaning over as he gasped for air, and as his arms went wide, Siray shifted her weapon to the side and launched a spinning kick at his ribs, hoping to break something or at least sent him sprawling.

We can do this, she thought. We can win. Hope began to rise within her, and she visualised the training master lying unconscious or dead on the ground as the captives all made a break for escape.

The hope died swiftly as Herrin straightened, captured her foot in midair, and twisted it painfully.

Siray cried out at the agony that rushed up through her ankle and knee. She was left with no choice but to allow her body to rotate around and over with Herrin’s motions in order to avoid him breaking her ankle, or worse.

Siray crashed down onto the sand, her ribs smacking painfully on her staff as she landed on top of it. She barely had time to breathe before a massive weight dropped onto her back, pinning her solidly as her already-bruised ribs were ground agonisingly against her weapon. Then her head was forced upwards and back as Herrin’s staff slid beneath her chin, his grip causing the length of wood to eat into the skin at her throat, the pressure crushing her larynx slowly.

‘Drop your weapon,’ he growled out at the other person from above as he straddled Siray’s back.

Her face upturned to the sky and struggling to breathe, Siray glanced along the line of her nose to see who it was that had been courageous, and foolish, enough to join her in her desperate stand. Not that she didn’t already know, deep in her bones, who it was. The one person whose devotion to her wouldn’t allow him to stand by, even if it meant risking his own life.

Baindan.

She wanted to scream at him to knock the training master to the ground, to beat Herrin bloody until he gasped his last breath, but she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs to do so. In fact, her vision had become blurry in places.

Baindan was glaring at Herrin, and Siray knew that her friend’s warrior side was considering the vulnerable position that the master was in, with his weapon occupied in choking her.

She hoped Baindan would take the risk—the other captives possibly getting free of this place, with or without her, was worth the cost—but when his gaze flicked to hers, she saw his warrior mentality step aside. To be replaced by the face of someone who had something greater to lose.

And she finally grasped the truth that had been in front of her the entire time. Saw that it wasn’t a coincidence that he was the one who had rescued her so long ago from the underground prison. Saw that there was some reason why they kept finding each other. Knew from that one glance that his words the other night had only stated a fraction of the true depth of his feelings for her.

And she understood why he had to do what he was about to do next.

Have no doubts, he had said, as to my affection, my loyalty, and what I will do to protect you …

The edges of Siray’s vision were dimming and swirling when Baindan’s blurry, dark shape raised his arms and let the wooden staff fall from his hands.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SIRAY’S FIRST THOUGHT was that she felt numb, to the point where she couldn’t distinguish her toes from her feet. Thinking she was cold, she automatically reached for the blanket that she must have somehow tossed to the side, her hands groping around blindly. Then someone grabbed one of her searching hands.

‘Thank the Mother,’ they murmured in a low voice. ‘Siray? Can you hear me?’

Forcing her way past the drowsiness that filled her mind, Siray blinked her eyes open, squinting a little as her eyes adapted to the glaring sunlight streaming down upon them. When she was able to focus on who it was peering down at her, she lifted her head and rose up onto her elbows, her body protesting stiffly against the slight movement.

‘Baindan?’ she croaked out, screwing up her eyes at the bright light that cascaded shadows over the male’s face.

She felt his sigh of breath against her face as he briefly closed his eyes, then opened them again to give her a small smile. ‘Yeah. How do you feel?’ His shrouded eyes scrutinised her face.

The moment she thought about it, Siray’s body seemed to regain its awareness, and the tingling numbness that had been there just a moment ago evaporated as the feeling in her head, legs, and arms returned with a vengeance. She swallowed painfully. ‘I feel as if I ran into a tree. And my throat …’ She trailed off, reaching up with her free hand to brush the tips of her fingers gingerly against the swollen skin there.

Baindan nodded, shifting slightly as he eyed her. ‘It’s bruised. Not surprising, since Herrin made you pass out.’ His voice darkened noticeably.

The mention of the training master brought everything rushing back to Siray, and in a state of anxiousness, she tried to lurch to her feet but only managed to sit up before she became dizzy and fell back against a soft but cold wall, soil crumbling down around her shoulders.

Baindan steadied her with a firm hand on her shoulder. ‘Slowly,’ he cautioned softly. ‘You’ve been out for a bit.’

Siray blinked and, obligingly, rose carefully to her knees. Upon waking, she had momentarily thought she was in her bed in the Resistance training camp, sleeping in the cabin with her unit. She pressed her lips firmly together. That place was gone, destroyed by the Faction.

Now, she really looked about her, and breathed in the scent of the sea, so much stronger now than it had been earlier in the dome. She stared at the four dirt walls, two of them slightly longer than the others, all of them high and smooth.

The