Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

never quite left him and when he despaired the most, she moved in his mind, fil ing him with warmth and strength, although he didn’t want her to witness whatever might happen.
    You have to go. Now. He’s the worst.
    She couldn’t be there if the guard assaulted him and then began to beat him because he planned to resist. If she went, he would be more alone than ever and maybe this time he could get the guard so angry that he’d lose control and kil him. Jackson couldn’t see any other way out.
    I’m not leaving you. I know what I’m asking, but please don’t try it. Cooperate until that moment comes and believe me it will.
    There’s always a moment when they won’t be paying attention. I’ll be with you and I’ll pour strength into you so you’ll be able to escape.
    She’d kept him from trying to incite the guards to kil him before. He’d been there for weeks and no one had escaped. No one had come. He couldn’t tel her where he was so she couldn’t send a rescue team in. They moved him often. He didn’t see that there was much hope at al .
    He couldn’t promise her, not the way she wanted him to, but he did the mental equivalent of shrugging, as noncommittal as possible.
    The guard stepped in close to his thin, torn body. The second guard, a smal er man with a long beard, and eyes that said he was just doing his job, but didn’t have to like it, threw a bucket of ice cold water over his head. It was a shock with the room so hot and his body temperature high.
    â€œWake up, pig fodder.â€
    Jackson could never be certain he understood the various insults correctly but the loose interpretations never mattered that much to him. He opened his eyes and looked at the miserable excuse for a human being standing, legs apart, a sick, malevolent gleam in his eyes as he studied Jackson.
    â€œTel me about the unit you’re with. You owe them no loyalty. They abandoned you to us. Where are they going to be next?â€
    Jackson gave a little sigh and repeated his name and rank and serial number as he had a hundred times before. This was always the opening to the macabre dance they did together. He barely got to his rank when the guard delivered the first blow, rocking him back. The beating went on for what seemed like hours. First with whips, the lashing shredding clothes and tearing open skin up and down his body. No part of him was left untouched. Then came the kicking and punching.
    The guard paused to take a rest, going out of the room. The second man stayed in the corner and when Jackson looked at him, he looked away, but he didn’t interfere when the first guard returned, this time with a cane fil ed with nails sticking out of it.
    Jackson knew he wasn’t going to go through that and survive intact. He’d been beaten with it once before and the pain had been excruciating.
    Worse, the infections had been everywhere, the untreated wounds festering with the heat and insects. He was done. It was over.
    She knew the exact moment he broke. Not in his resolve to hold out against his captors, but to force them to kil him. He heard her broken cry.
    I’m sorry. I’m not strong enough to go through this again.
    Live. Live for me. I know what I’m asking, but please, don’t do this. Don’t give up.
    The guard approached him, an evil smirk on his mouth, his face twisted with his hatred. Closer . . . closer. Jackson watched him coming, holding himself stil . Deep inside he heard her sob and then she suppressed the smal cry. His heart stuttered. For a moment, he thought he could find the strength to endure, but the guard swung the heavy nail-studded cane and struck him across the chest. The breath left his lungs in a harsh rush and he heard a high-pitched animalistic sound escape his throat.
    The guard laughed and stepped close to spit in his face. Jackson reacted, whipping his head up and slamming it into the guard’s nose, breaking it.
    At the same time, he lashed out with his feet, letting his arms take his weight as he kicked the man in the groin. Jackson landed hard on the floor, his arms stretched and burning.
    The guard thrashed around for a few minutes, fighting for air, while the second guard rushed over to wrap another rope around both of Jackson’s ankles. There was a silence broken only by the harsh breathing of the sadistic guard. He got