Alarmed, I asked, “What happened? How did you get caught?”

In a rough voice, Janco told me about Leif’s plan to stage a fake rescue and his own reconnaissance. “...checking the basement of the dining room and...”

“And?”

He leaned on the bars as if they alone held him upright. Alarmed, I stood, reached through the bars and put my hand on his shoulder.

“And,” I prompted again, but more gently this time.

“And I walked right into a nest of nasties. We gotta start confirming dead bodies, ’cause I’d like to avoid being surprised and mind-raped again.” He scrubbed a hand over his face.

At first, he didn’t make any sense. I repeated his words in my mind, picking up on the significant bits. “Who isn’t dead?”

“The brother-sister team of horror who was with Owen and Ben.”

A cold knot gripped my insides tight. “Loris and Cilly Cloud Mist?”

“Yeah, them.”

That meant Bruns and the authorities in Lapeer had lied. No surprise about Bruns’s deceit; I was more concerned about Captain Fleming in Lapeer. Had he been bribed or coerced, and why the ruse? “Are you sure?”

“No doubt,” he said drily. “Loris is living below the dining room. He claimed his sister is alive, as well. She’s at one of the Cartel’s other garrisons.”

“Was Ben with him?”

“No. I didn’t see him.”

I gestured to his bruise. “Did they—”

“Nope. I turned tail and hopped right on out of there like a good little scared rabbit. Made it about halfway through the dining room before he aimed his magical mind mojo onto the soldiers eating supper. At least I managed another couple steps.”

I squeezed his shoulder. “You couldn’t have predicted they’d be here. They were reported dead by Devlen—a reliable source.”

“And Dev trusted the captain. Which ya think would be an okay thing to do, considering all Fleming did to help rescue us from Owen.”

“I guess that’s a puzzle to be sorted out later.” If there was a later.

“Yeah. Too bad I knew exactly what was gonna happen when they dragged me to Bruns.” He shuddered.

And now his mind-raped comment made sense. “Bad?”

“Oh, yes. They know everything, Yelena. Leif’s hiding place, Dax and Hale’s involvement, where Ari’s located...everything.” His covered his pained expression with his hand.

While I wished to panic over the dire news, I suppressed the emotion so I didn’t upset Janco any further. Pressing closer to the bars, I pried his hand away from his face and held it in both of mine. “Ari and the others are smart, Janco. Plus three of them have magic. They’ll be okay.”

He stared at our hands. After a long moment, he met my gaze. “What are you doing?”

“Uh...comforting you?”

“The pain’s gone.”

“See? It’s working.”

“No, not that.” He pulled his hand free, scowled at the air, then grasped my fingers for another moment. Letting go, he signaled, The magic disappears when you touch me.

Like a null shield?

“Not quite,” he said.

“Then what?”

Switching back to the silent communication, he signaled, It’s like...my ability to sense magic has been turned off. But when you let go, it returns.

I concentrated, deciphering Janco-speak. Like something is blocking your ability?

“Yes, that’s it!”

“Lovely.” I’m contagious. I yanked my hand back and tucked it into my pants pocket.

No, that’s a good thing. Janco bounced on his heels. Think about it. If Brother Horror tries to read your mind, you can touch him and stop it!

“I don’t know.” I considered. Owen had no trouble using his magic on me.

Did you touch him? Skin to skin? It didn’t work on me until you grabbed my hand.

The horrific events that I’d been suppressing for the past two months sprang to life. Owen had tried to erase all my memories. Except he’d been interrupted, and the events that followed jumbled together into a blur of being dragged along behind him, then tossed onto the ground. Valek had arrived, and Owen pressed his fingertips to my forehead. His magic had sliced right through me like a bolt of lightning.

Yes, he touched me and almost killed me, I signaled.

Janco rubbed his chin. Well...your blocking power was new then. Maybe it’s growing stronger.

Jolted by the word growing, I placed my hand on my abdomen.

Janco noticed the gesture and he grasped the bars, stiffening in horror. “You’re—”

I pinched his lips shut. “Remember where we are.”

He used the hand signals to admonish me for risking the baby’s life and asked if Valek knew.

“Yes,” I said aloud.

He relaxed, grinned and signaled, Valek will bring an army to rescue you.

If he can find us.

Not a problem. Fisk went to the rendezvous point to meet up with him.

Which Bruns knows about. Right?

His smile disappeared. “Right. I really screwed up.” He flopped onto his straw pallet.

“You can’t blame—”

He waved away my efforts to console him. I let him brood. Eventually he’d purge the guilt from his system and return to normal. Well, normal for Janco. Sitting down on my pallet, I mulled over our conversation and what had happened when I touched Janco.