Darquesse smiled, and a small ball of light started to glow between her eyes. It moved slowly down, glowing through her skin, moving down her throat. It did a little twirl when it reached her clavicle and she giggled, and then it moved under her clothes and off to one bare shoulder, and down her arm to her hand, to her fingertip, where it stayed, pulsing gently.
Darquesse tapped Ravel’s forehead, and the little ball of light transferred to him. He jerked away, panicking, as it pulsed and pulsed again, and faded.
Ravel frowned. Darquesse smiled.
Ravel’s shriek caught China by surprise as his body snapped back. He fell sideways to the floor, convulsing.
“Agony,” said Darquesse. “Constant agony for twenty-three hours a day. No painkillers or sedatives will do anything to alleviate what you’re feeling. If and when your body compensates, if you find that you’re starting to get used to it, the pain will increase. One hour a day, it’ll stop. You can eat, drink – sleep, if you can. But mostly you’ll just dread the agony returning.” Darquesse looked up, forgetting all about Ravel as he kicked and thrashed on the ground.