Salvation's Kiss (Tales Of Mython Book 1) by Kathryn Jayne (old books to read .TXT) 📗

on the medicine, she pulled her hiking boots into place, her muscles aching, unsoothed by the fire which chased through her body. After grabbing the drawstring bag filled with her special supplies, she began the journey knowing this would be the last time she could use her talents to save others who were in the very situation she found herself in. She would have to make this one count. The phial within her bag contained the last of her saliva from before the incident, so she would see that as many people as possible received her boon today. Especially since it had no effect on her.

Time for Emily moved in a blur. Her heart was finally starting to calm, the panicked gasps now only short, sharp bursts. Never had she been so terrified in her life. She had prayed the things swarming before her vision weren’t real and, now that a calmer reality began to return, she knew it was just as horrific as the hallucination caused by the Lightning Flash she was being administered.

Over the last few weeks, they had began treating the pressure sores on her head, shoulders, buttocks and heels. She thought they would have hurt, but her body felt numb almost all the time now. The numbness was preferable to the cold torrents of water when they hosed her down. The discovery of her wounds had led to her being laid face down. No longer being able to see her body made her question if its existence—if the memories of walking and running—had been nothing more than the dream of an imprisoned mind. While they were treating the pressure sore at the back of her head, she remembered sobbing as their hands came away with clumps of her hair attached as her once beautiful locks began to fall out.

She was almost grateful when the master came to hack it off. His hand had caressed her shaved scalp, the first touch she had experienced since her outburst. She had sworn not to disappoint him again, but she knew she had to earn his favour. To accept the punishment as he cast violent and terrifying images upon her. She wouldn’t disappoint him again. She could barely remember when last he allowed her dreams and visions to be those of euphoria and beauty, but she would earn his favour, recapture the lost sensations.

Hearing the approach of footsteps, she braced herself for what would follow. After each punishment had ended she was hosed her down, washing away the amassing bodily fluids. Her breath froze as the bed tilted vertically and the icy torrent battered her, chilling her to the bone, causing her racking cough to echo around the small confines.

The bed swivelled again, the rough texture of a towel causing her to flinch. It had been a long time since anyone had dried her. There was a moment of relief as her arms were worked free from the bindings and her sodden gown was cut from her. The almost unbearable roughness of the towel caused her to flinch, yet she felt herself leaning into the contact, grateful for it regardless of the pain. Fresh dressings were placed upon her wounds, binding the raw and festering blisters torn into her flesh from her struggles.

“There now, isn’t that better? You see what happens when you’re a good girl?” Her master stroked her cheek and someone continued to dry her and he smiled as she pressed her face into his hand, seeking his affection. “I think you’ve learnt your lesson, haven’t you?” For a moment Emily wasn’t sure what lesson he was referring to, then she recalled the last time they tried to change her clothes, her shameful behaviour as she clawed and fought. She nodded frantically, praying he would forgive her indiscretion. “Very good. Then I see no reason why your next dreams can’t be filled of wonder. But do not cross me again, or you will find yourself forever trapped in the realm of nightmares and horrors.”

Wincing as the cuffs were re-secured, she nodded her head, her voice too raw from the terrors of her last trips to even attempt an answer. “Good girl.” Disappointment masked her gaunt features as he left her alone again, her heart fluttering as she heard him speak in a world that seemed to exist beyond her own. “Devon, this Lightning Flash has learnt her lesson, see she is appropriately rewarded.”

“Yes, sire, anything else?”

“Begin the pneumonia treatment. We will require her to be in better form. I think this Tabu will fetch a good price on the auctions. If she shows herself subservient, we could even consider removing the restraints and begin a more salubrious regime.”

“Do you think she’s ready to be moved out of here?”

“It has been a month since her last indiscretion and she is aware of what will occur should she disappoint me again.”

Chapter 5

Ashley gave a weary a smile as she offered one of the drinks from the tray to a young lady who caught her eye. With a promise to return the cup to the cafeteria, the stranger moved on, unaware of the second chance she had just been given. The scent of the hot chocolate upon the trays almost overpowered the acrid chemicals wafting from the chemistry labs she passed on her way to Cryptobiology.

Weaving her way carefully through the crowded corridor, she cringed as her uncoordinated steps caused small measures of the drinks to pool upon the polished trays. Blowing a strand of hair from her eyes, she slipped through the open door before it had a chance to close, depositing the trays at the front of the room, knowing everyone would help themselves. She was too tired to make the rounds.

“Oooh, biscuits!” Jack grinned, grabbing one from the tray before joining her. “What’s the occasion?”

“Sugar.” Ashley smiled. She hadn’t missed the lingering glances being cast her way by Tess and Jack. The way their brows crinkled in silent conversation confirmed she still looked as