Read Rogue's Pawn for Free Online Page B

wilderness. You are without friends.” He stalked toward me. “Your only hope lies in getting some level of strength back so you can be trained to be of some use, rather than a threat. Or a liability.”
    “Now observe.” He stepped aside. “Can you see where I dropped the mirror when you so rudely and arrogantly shrieked in my head?”
    Yes. I shaded the thought with contrition.
    “Better, but leave the emotion out.” Rogue waved his long-fingered hand at the shards on the floor, then the intact mirror was in his hand, the floor clean as if it never happened. He arched a knife-edged brow at me and set it back on some object across the room.
    He clasped his hands behind his back. “That could be you—if only.”
    If only. If I could keep my thoughts quiet long enough for someone to heal me.
    How long? I whispered. How long would I have to keep my head clear?
    He watched me gravely. “Five minutes, probably. And don’t you dare think that’s not a very long time because in this little interview you haven’t been able to be quiet for longer than ten to fifteen seconds at a time.”
    True. I could kid myself I had the mental focus to not think of anything in all that time, but I didn’t. I had tried meditating, but I always starting thinking of things to do. Running conversations with people in my head.
    “Well, at least you’re no fool,” Rogue commented, which didn’t sound like much of a compliment.
    Could I just stay quiet long enough for the magical anesthesiologist to put me out?
    Rogue cocked his left eyebrow, the sharp spine above it rising also. “That could work. Though it has to be something you want with all your heart. This would be a deeper unconsciousness than just being knocked out like you were before. We can’t afford to have any stray dream-thoughts leak out. If you fight it in any way, you could blast our Healer’s Familiar, which I don’t think I need to tell you, would not add to your popularity and in fact, would ensure your death sentence.”
    Yeah, yeah, yeah. Death sentence over my head, I get it already. But I kept the thought deep.
    “Close. I almost couldn’t hear that.”
    I was tired. In every way a person could be. Vultures of despair lurked in the corners of my mind, circling. Organize your options, I ordered myself.
    1. Endure the pain of cleaning, disinfection and stitches on traumatized deep tissue, then spend weeks convalescing chained to this bed, surrounded by people hoping to kill me.
    2. Attempt to control myself long enough to be knocked unconscious, risking the possibility that I could harm someone else and likely be killed.
    3. Do nothing and die here of starvation and infection.
    Rogue regarded me. “I must say, you do have interesting thoughts when you’re not running in circles. So which of your three options will it be?”
    I have to try . Will someone be ready to stop me if it looks like I’ll lose it and hurt someone?
    Rogue nodded. “I’ll kill you myself.”

ChapterFive
    In Which Surcease Is Offered
    So it came to be that I was surrounded by five women, a cat, and Rogue with a silver-bladed knife at my throat. At least none of the women were Nasty Tinker Bell.
    “Relax,” Rogue murmured in my ear from his position next to my face.
    This wasn’t easy to do, what with the knife and all. However, I was concentrating on being the most Zen I could be. Which was so not my forte.
    They’d pulled the wooden bed out from the wall, and me along with it. As the bed was really just a simple frame with a pallet over it, this made it a good working surface—no headboard or footboard to get in the way. Turned out I was only chained to the bed frame and not to any iron rings in the wall. Why this seemed better, I couldn’t say. It just was. Plus, now I had a clear view of the door and everyone who came and went.
    If I survived, I should probably start planning some kind of escape. And getting home.
    Four of the women came in almost immediately after I agreed