Chapter 9
Drifting once more into the nightmare that had become consciousness, Alec looked around wearily at the empty cell. The last thing he remembered, he’d been at a bar, drinking with friends. Then he’d walked home. He couldn’t recall anything else.
Now his arms ached with a fierceness he had never known, and he prayed once more for death to be delivered quickly. The pain of being shackled and left to hang was more than he could continue to bear. His wrists bled from the rusting metal of the manacles as they dug into his flesh. His entire body weight was centered on them as his legs had given out many hours before. His throat was dry and scratchy, but he knew it would be too much to hope for another drink from the ladle of dirty water that had been brought to him nearly six hours ag
