"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Mike?"
Odeon tested the shackles that held him. Dave had padded them, but otherwise he could have been the Inquisitor's subject instead of his senior officer, spouse, and friend. "Of course not—got an alternative?"
Bain shook his head. "No, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Okay, you're as ready as I can get you."
Odeon stiffened when he felt Shayan's mind-touch, but the promised pain didn't come immediately. *I had intended to show my lady the less pleasant aspects of my realm,* the Hell-King told him, *but she believes it to be an illusion. So I will show her this operation instead. She will also believe it to be an illusion—until you remove my compulsions. Then she will know the truth, that they could be neither imposed nor removed by a normal human agency. And beneath it she has considerable empathy. Enough to fit into the group you—and you, Priest-Lieutenant Bain—are part of.*
*Get on with it!* Odeon sent.
*Such impatience for torment! Would that I could promise you eons of it—but hours will have to suffice.* Both men were fully aware of Shayan's regret at that—and his anticipation. *Still, I can make it last that long, though it isn't truly necessary; the procedure need take no longer than seconds, and would be equally effective if you were unconscious. Either would rob it of what little pleasure I can extract from my lady's loss, however. So, priest—suffer my pleasure.* All true, Shayan thought, as far as the ability to remove compulsions was concerned—but Odeon's pain, including that of believing the anguish unnecessary, was essential to the tempering process. Seizing the other's mind, Shayan began his mental surgery.
Odeon screamed, convulsing. Bain shuddered as they continued, going on and on, pausing barely long enough for Odeon to inhale. The Inquisitor was sickly grateful to Shayan for recommending restraints; without them, Mike's struggles would be breaking bones. There was no skill involved here, no subtlety, no hope for the subject to end it by confessing when the pain became unendurable—which it did, as quickly as Shayan had promised. Though Bain was no longer sharing their mental contact, his Inquisitor's training let him know when Odeon reached his breaking point and was forced beyond it, to agony no drug could keep a man alive through, much less conscious.
But Odeon did remain conscious, with full awareness that it was Shayan's power keeping him that way—and the understanding, at last, that this was what Joanie and Sis had suffered from the Hell-King. Rape was rape, be it physical or mental—and horrible as the pain was, the worst part was the degrading violation.
Bain prayed. There was nothing else to do until, eventually, it ended. With a final convulsion like he was being shaken, Odeon went limp. Bain hurriedly freed him from the restraints and carried him into the bathroom. Mike'd need a hot soak to relax strained muscles, then days of recuperation—God, what would Joanie think when she saw him?