Luca yelped as pain shot through the pressure point, and it was enough to make him stop struggling, at least for the moment. The collar closed around his neck, and he knew he'd lost this particular fight. He reached up cautiously to feel it.

"He's not." He waited for the pain of talking back, for the punishment the collar always gave him. He waited for the loss of focus, of memories. Three, four, five... It didn't come. "He's not."