She didn’t answer. He didn’t expect her to. But something in his chest warmed with her decision.
She stopped in front of the first cell door they came to and pulled the key from her pocket once more. “This is the stupidest idea ever. You want to free prisoners who will probably try to kill us on their way out.”
“I’ll make sure they don’t.”
She scoffed and pulled the door open. A creak sounded through the empty corridor. “Good luck with that.”
She stepped into the dark room. The cell was like his, made of rocks with no illumination. A figure sat along the back wall in the shadows. Cynna pulled a cylindrical metal object from her pocket and shoved it in Nick’s hand, then stepped forward. “I don’t want to die today. Not now, when I’m finally doing something good.”
Nick flicked on the flashlight in his hand and shined it over the back wall. Cynna was already kneeling next to the prisoner, a man wearing only thin cotton pants as Nick had been, with hair down to his shoulders and a long beard. He was thin, bony in places he should have been strong, and though it was hard to see in the dim light, he looked to be advancing toward old age.
“Wh-what do you want with me now?” the man asked.
He wasn’t strong enough to overpower Cynna. Not even close. But that didn’t ease Nick’s anxiety any. He tightened his hand around the mace, just in case. “Relax, old man. We’re freeing you.”
The cuffs opened from the man’s wrists and clattered against the ground. Cynna pushed to her feet. “Go out the corridor to the right. Steps run up to the surface. Follow them all the way. Don’t look back.”
She turned and swept past Nick without a look.
“Wh-why are you helping me?” the old man asked, slowly pushing to his feet.
Nick didn’t know who the hell the man was or what he’d done to be imprisoned here, but now was not the time to ask. “Because we can.”
Nick followed Cynna back down the dark hallway, holding the flashlight up each time they entered a cell while she moved toward the prisoner. They freed six males and eight females, all different ages and races. Most were frail and dirty and dazed, and few gave them any trouble. The majority didn’t even recognize them. But one female did. One recognized Nick instantly, her eyes growing wide when he stepped into her cell. And the minute he flashed his light over her, Nick knew her as well.
The dark-haired nymph. The one who’d brought him to the brink of sexual frustration only days ago. Except now she looked nothing like she had then. Her hair was stringy and matted, dirt covered her skin, dried blood was smeared across her arms and calves, and her face was bruised and swollen along one whole side.
Someone had beaten the hell out of her after she’d left him. Someone he was sure was a satyr.
Anger ripped through Nick. A dark, rolling, menacing anger.
“Go out the corridor to the right,” Cynna said, freeing the nymph’s cuffs. “There’s a—”
“Thank you.” The moment the nymph was free, she bolted from the floor and threw her arms around Nick’s waist, holding on tight. “Thank you,” she repeated. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t leave me here.”
Nick held his arms out wide, unsure what to do. He looked toward Cynna for help. Pushing to her feet, Cynna scowled the nymph’s way and perched a hand on her hip.
“Okay, you’re free.” Nick reached around and pried the nymph’s hands from his back. She was surprisingly strong for being so small and injured. “Listen, before the guards arrive.”
The nymph tipped her head back and looked up, her eyes wide and filled with gratitude. “I’ll do anything. Anything you want. Just keep me with you.”
“Enough with the begging already.” Cynna grasped the nymph by the back of the dress and pried her away from Nick.
The nymph glanced toward Cynna, then back at Nick. Confusion clouded her eyes. She obviously recognized Cynna too. Before she could get the question out, Cynna said, “We’ve got more prisoners to free. Go now, before we change our minds.”
The nymph cast Nick one last longing look, then rushed past him out into the hall.
When she was gone, Cynna clenched her jaw and moved toward the door, muttering, “Clingy nymphs.”
Nick turned and followed. “Where’s the other one?”
“I don’t know.”
Cynna obviously knew who he meant, but that answer wasn’t good enough for Nick. They moved out into the dimly lit corridor, and another moan echoed down the hall, causing the darkness inside to surge all over again.
“Is she alive?” he asked.
Cynna slid the key in another lock. “I don’t know.”
“But you know what happened to both of them.”
She turned the key. “Once they left me, their fates were out of my hands.”
Nick braced a hand on the door above her head before she could pull it open. “But you know what happened to them,” he repeated.