Release(16)

Keirth spit the champagne in Risciter’s face. “You’re never getting married. I’ll kill you before you have the chance.”

Risciter laughed. “Making threats while tied to a chair? You’re either very brave or very stupid.” He pinched Keirth’s nose. “Now have some champagne, won’t you?” He poured the liquid into Keirth’s mouth and tilted Keirth’s head back. Keirth was forced to swallow.

Ariana’s limbs felt like they were made of lead. Her eyelids were drooping. Why was Risciter making Keirth drink champagne? And why did she feel so very sleepy? A sluggish thought of panic rose in her brain. Had Risciter drunk any of the champagne? She didn’t think he had. Was there something in it? Had she been drugged?

She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. Things were growing hazy now, and her eyelids were so, so heavy. Her chin drooped against her chest.

And everything went pleasantly dark.

* * *

Keirth struggled to open his eyes. He was cold, and he was still tied up. The last time he’d come to, he’d been in the inn in town, tied to a chair. But now, he didn’t know where he was. He forced his eyes open, his head pounding from whatever had been in the champagne Risciter had poured down his throat. He was inside a ship, in the cargo bay. The interior lights were lit, casting a blue-ish tint over a few trunks and boxes. Judging from the size of the bay, he was inside Risciter’s ship. This was a small storage space, suitable for personal belongings, not something big enough for commercial use. And judging from the heft of the gravity in the room, they were still planetside. The synthgrav in space felt a little different. Whatever Risciter planned to do, he must think it was better done in the anonymity of a colony planet. Ariana was lying a few feet from him. She was also tied up, and from the looks of things, she was still unconscious. He’d seen her nod off right when Risciter drugged him in the inn. Keirth tried to scoot across the floor to her, to make sure she was breathing. He wouldn’t put anything past Risciter. Women meant nothing to a man like that.

The sound of a throat clearing behind him.

Keirth twisted.

Risciter was sitting on a trunk behind him. He was smiling. In the scant light, he looked like a grinning demon. “She won’t wake up for a while. She had a good deal more of the champagne than you did.”

“Why drug her?” Keirth asked. “Isn’t she your girlfriend?”

Risciter just kept smiling.

“What are you going to do with her?”

Risciter stood up. He walked around Keirth’s body to stare down at Ariana. He nudged her with his toe. “Oh, you’ll see. I haven’t done it yet, because I want you to watch.” Risciter clasped his hands behind his back and strode over to another trunk. “I had a long time to think while I was traveling in hyperspace to Kush. Seven years, you said. Rilla Alley, you said.” Risciter traced the outline of the trunk with a forefinger. “Now, I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent in Rilla Alley, so you’ll have to excuse me if I didn’t remember you right away. But then...” He turned his grinning face on Keirth. “How old were you then?”

Keirth gritted his teeth. “Fifteen.”

“Ah. I remember you were scrawny. I remember the look you had in your eyes. I thought that knock I gave you on the head finished you off.”

Keirth shook his head. “I’ve been looking for you. Waiting for you.”

“That’s adorable,” said Risciter. He smirked. “It’s really very cute. I have to congratulate you on being alive at all, of course. Good job.” He raised his hands and brought them together four times. Four sardonic claps. “I guess you wanted revenge, then, didn’t you?”

“I’m going to kill you,” said Keirth, even though he had to admit he wasn’t sure how.

Risciter threw his head back and laughed. “No, you’re not. I’m going to kill you. Properly, this time.” He heaved a huge sigh. “I’m really quite disappointed that I did such a shoddy job the first go.”

Keirth tested the ropes that held his wrists together. They were tight. Strong. He was trapped here. After all of this, Risciter was going to get the best of him. He couldn’t believe it.

Risciter crouched down next to Keirth. “I want it to be perfect this time. So, we’ll start at the beginning. We’ll each play out our roles like we did that night seven years ago.” He pointed at himself. “I’ll be me.” He pointed at Keirth. “You’ll be you.” He pointed at Ariana. “She’ll be...who was that woman anyway?”