Laughing, Retoc was ready for him.
"... Please ... please ... you're just wasting your time. I ... won't ... tell you."
"No?" Pirum said, panting. He saw the girl through a haze of anger, frustration, and desire. She was naked, her lips were bloody, but her eyes still flashed defiance. Pirum, like most Abarians, was something of a sadist.
"Oh, you'll talk," he said. "You'll talk."
"... never...."
He dug his strong finger cruelly into her tender body.
"Bram Forest...." she cried.
The policeman behind the desk was saying things. Bram Forest heard the droning voice, but not the words. Ylia, he thought. Ylia. A moment before, he actually believed he heard her cry out to him in pain. But that couldn't be. Besides, what could he do about it? He was trapped forever on Earth, without the bracelet which could send him, almost on the wings of thought, back to Tarth, to Ylia, to his destiny.