CHAPTER 12

C HAPTER 12

C ade had begun the day when a burly guard brought him a simple breakfast. Vaguely he thought that once he would have been able to best that guard in a fight, but now he was chained and had no strength. He could barely remember being that other man.

After eating, he lay in a twilight haze until a wave of love surrounded him. Dimly he recognized that these were the people he cared about the most. Tamsyn, of course, first and foremost. His wife and the guide who’d brought the others to his damaged mind.

At first he wasn’t sure who the others were. Ah, it was his brother Bran! His closest friend, connected by a bond that was too deep for words. Were his parents there? Yes, they were. He couldn’t remember their names, but the caring and protection he felt was familiar and warmed his heart. He almost wept with the knowledge that he had people who loved him.

He felt his mind becoming clearer and realized that he had reasons to live. He must work his way out of this poisonous weakness.

The door to his cell opened and Bastien entered. He stopped and frowned, his eyes narrowing. “You’re connected to your friends by mind touch. Can’t have that.”

Bastien grabbed Cade’s wrist and sent a blast of pain into his prisoner. Cade gasped as the assault tore him away from his family and destroyed the sense of well-being he’d been given.

Then he felt Tamsyn’s power moving through him, cooling the pain and saving his sanity. He could see her very clearly. Petite and blond and achingly beautiful. She held his soul as he slid again into sleep . . .

It was still daylight when he woke again. Realizing that lying here like a lump of coal was doing him no good, he gathered his strength and sat up, then stood, the chain rattling. He couldn’t move far, but he began to improvise exercises within the range of what he could do. Stretching his limbs. Standing by the stone wall and doing push-ups against it to build his strength. He had a sense that exercising was a basic part of his nature. He had always been strong and fit, and even these simple exercises gave him more a sense of himself.

Bastien had said he was Caden Tremayne. Tamsyn called him Cade.

He must find his way back to her.