A short curse escaped the man.
Talia twisted even more desperately.
Then he gathered both her wrists into one hand and brought a cold glass vial to her lips.
“Drink this. When you wake up, everything will be over.”
Talia pressed her lips tightly together.
But he refused to give up.
Pressing the mouth of the vial against her lower lip, he pleaded,
“It isn’t poison. It’s medicine that will prevent you from feeling pain while we treat you. So please...”
Despite the knight’s desperate appeal, Talia only clenched her teeth harder.
She could trust no one.
None of them.
They were waiting for her to become helpless.
Waiting for the opportunity to do something horrible.
She knocked the vial away with her elbow and forced herself upright.
Then she kicked and struggled with her blood-soaked leg, trying to escape the beasts holding her captive.
That was when a tall, slender shadow entered the tent.
The moment Talia saw his face, her entire body went rigid.
The scent of heavy rain arrived with him.
Varkas.
His arm looped around her upper body like a snare.
She did not even have time to flee.
Settling behind her, Varkas secured her firmly against him with one arm and nodded toward the knight.
“Bring the medicine.”
The knight obeyed instantly.
Receiving a fresh vial, Varkas pulled out the cork with his teeth and raised the bottle to her lips.
Talia stared at it with trembling eyes.
Then her gaze slowly rose to his expressionless face.
In a low voice, Varkas urged,
“Drink.”