Seeing her now, watching her lift her chin in feigned confidence, Rohm felt that familiar stirring in the pit of his stomach. Defend. Protect!
A rumble started in Rohm’s chest at the sight of her, which he quickly tamped down. He watched as Nyree fought and struggled against her captors, but the two men were too strong.
Large brown eyes found his and she stared at him in both relief and confusion. The guards led her toward the table, and she tore her eyes from Rohm to stare at the contraption before trying to jerk to a halt. Her feet were bare and gained no purchase on the smooth concrete floor.
“NO!” she shouted as she twisted, attempting again to free herself.
Wordlessly, she was spun and jerked off her feet as both men lifted her, then slammed her back onto the table. The air was knocked from her lungs with the impact, and one wrist was already secured before she had a chance to catch her breath. . She used the leverage to try and wrest her other wrist free, but was rewarded with a blow to the face.
Rohm roared, throwing himself against the door of his cell. There was a loud boom that drew the men’s attention, but the door didn’t budge. Bracing his legs, Rohm curled his large hand into a fist and pounded hard on the Plexiglas window. It didn’t break.
Nyree hadn’t seen the blow coming, and hadn’t been prepared for it. Her head snapped to the side and stayed there a moment too long as her second wrist was secured. One guard moved to her leg and she kicked at him. He caught her foot, slamming it to the metal table and she sucked in a breath and grunted at the pain. The second guard grabbed her other leg and within moments she was fully secured. Silently, the guards stepped back and exited the room, leaving Nyree writhing on the table in a futile effort to free herself.
Chambers stepped toward Rohm, blocking the Keeper’s line of sight to Nyree, and smirked. “Show. Me. Your. Sentry.”
Rohm growled before throwing his head back and roaring loudly. The sound startled the doctor, making him flinch, which only seemed to anger him further.
With reddened face and speared brows, the man stalked to Nyree, moving to the far side of the table where Rohm was unable to see what he was doing. His eyes cast down, there was a loud squeak as the doctor studied something below Rohm’s line of sight.
“What are you doing?” There was a hint of panic to Nyree’s tone. “Let us go, now!”
The man held up a scalpel, ignoring Nyree as his eyes locked with Rohm’s. Eyebrows rose in question as the doctor waited for Rohm to comply with his request.
“Ignore this fucking guy!” Nyree called out. “He’s bluffing, Rohm!” She jerked frantically on the straps holding her arms and legs. “We don’t know what a Sentry is!” she shouted. “You have the wrong people. Let us go!”
Eyes still locked on Rohm, the man was motionless for several moments before shooting his arm out and jerking quickly back.
Nyree hissed at the sting as a line of blood slowly dotted the rounded curve of her upper breast closest to the doctor. It took a few seconds before her skin parted and the slash began to bleed profusely. Her eyes turned to focus on Rohm who’d loosed a deafening roar at the action and was now punching the small Plexiglas window so hard that blood from his knuckles smeared the glass.
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nyree enunciated each word, trying to convince Rohm to remain quiet. Her chest stung, but she’d live.
“Such beautiful skin.” Chambers lifted the blade, hovering it over Nyree’s forehead. She froze as held the knife above her, tracing a line down the bridge of her nose, over her lips, down her chin, and over her neck, then sideways until he finally pressed the blade firmly against her skin near the juncture of her throat and shoulder. He smiled as he pushed harder, sliding the blade down toward her breast, leaving a line of crimson in its wake.
Tears welled in Nyree’s eyes as she tensed and groaned at the pain. She refused to scream for the asshole. Instead, she held her breath and struggled to keep from crying out.
“ENOUGH!” Rohm’s shout drew her attention, and Chambers pulling the blade back to stare at the Keeper.
“Rohm!” Nyree hated the quiver in her voice and the pain-filled tears that flooded her eyes. “Don’t!”
Rohm flicked his eyes side-to-side and growled. “The space is too small. I can’t do it in here.”
An evil smirk of triumph, and suddenly his mask-clad thugs were back, as if they’d been waiting in the wings for Rohm’s declaration.
“Prepare the cage.” The so-called “doctor” watched excitedly as the men stalked to the cage in the center of the room, opening the door wide before turning to Rohm.
“You are going to get in the cage.” Chambers spoke to Rohm, but smiled at his scalpel. “And I’m going to place this scalpel here.” He bent, pushing the tip of the scalpel into Nyree’s eyelid. She whimpered, but bit her lip to stifle the sound.
“One wrong move and she’s half blind.” He leveled his eyes on Rohm. “No hesitation. If I even think you’re planning something, she loses an eye. Understood?”
Rohm looked from him to Nyree and nodded once.