Toby was going blind.
He had long since lost edges. If Toby turned his head against the rope that held his forehead, he could see the blurred outline of the cathedral roof; nothing more than a smudge against a lighter background. Soon the sun would steal even that.
His vision would have been lost already, except that a cloud had built in the sky as they were being tied down and had blotted out most of the sunlight.
He had no idea how much time had passed; the only way to tell was by the prickle of sunburn on his naked chest and legs. That was nothing compared to the itching of his eyes. He would have given anything to blink.
The captain coughed. “How are you doing, son?”
Toby had to swallow before he could answer. “I’m OK.”
“We’re going to get out of this.”
“Sure.” Toby didn’t even try to look at his father. He was staked out just the same as Toby and the others: his forehead tightly bound, his eyes taped open and his hands and feet stretched out to either side.
They weren’t getting out of this.
The tape above Toby’s left eye was peeling slightly. Among the pain of sunburn, cramping muscles, biting insects, grit, sand and the agony of his vision being flayed from him, the peeling tape seemed the worst. He knew that if it would just loosen a little more, just a tiny bit, he’d be able to close his eye.
The skin on his cheeks was tight where his tears had dried. His ducts were empty now; not even the swimming of tears could protect his vision.
“Is Simeon still unconscious?” Toby strained against the ropes again and managed to gain a slight tilt to his chin. A trickle of blood wormed its way down his right temple.
“Must be,” Hideaki croaked. “He’s lucky. When he wakes up this’ll all be over. It won’t be long now, and if that cloud cover clears…”
“It’ll be seconds, I know.” Toby ground his teeth. After all he’d been through in the last few weeks, to end up here, like this. “Where do you think Ayla is?” If he had been able to close his eyes he would have pictured her.
There was the sound of a struggle and a shout, then a cool shadow fell over Toby’s face. He gasped, relief surging through him.
The captain’s roar made him jump. “You! Leave us the hell alone.”