Except I’d shared blood.
Sharing blood with someone was a very intimate thing to do, even more so than sharing your body, and I hated that something like that had been done with Eli. Part of Eli was inside of me, right now, working its way through my veins. No matter how long I lived, I’d remember how it felt, how exposed I was. I didn’t think I could have even done something like that with somebody I trusted with my life.
I’d kill Eli for what he’d done if it was the last thing I ever did. He didn’t get to abuse me the way he had and get away with it.
I wobbled, and Quinten steadied me. “Do you need a minute to catch your breath?”
I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
“You better be. Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m blind,” he said. “Without you I’m completely lost.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, trying to grin. “I’ll be your seeing eye dog.”
“Oh, ha-ha. There’s nothing like cracking jokes in the face of almost certain death,” he scorned, but his lips were tilted up in the barest of smiles.
I shook my head. “Come on. We can’t afford to waste our time like this. If we’re going to survive, we need to train.”
He nodded, and the two of us found an empty corner in the room. Quinten’s punch and kick were better than I could have hoped for. All I could do was pray that his opponent would have heavy feet or harsh breathing.
Quinten held his own, barley. If we fought older, more experienced people, we were doomed. I didn’t want to hope for children to fight, but unless that was what happened, there was a very real chance that we might lose. If that was the case, which of us would be sacrificed?
I was a werewolf, capable of doing amazing things on the field. I’d be able to hold my own against almost any other competitor. But, Quinten was a blind human boy. How much entertainment would those monsters get by watching him fight without a guide?
Finally, just after lunch, it was our turn. The vampire guards came for us, waving their cattle prods threateningly. I glared at them, refusing to show how terrified I actually was. We were on our way to our second flight, and I had no way of knowing how it would turn out.
We reached the end of the tunnel, and once again I was overwhelmed by the sight of the stadium, and the roars of the cheering fans.
*****
The arena was empty, except for two very large, very muscular young men. They saw us, and one cracked his knuckles, and flexed his massive arms. The other leaned over and whispered something to his partner, causing them both to laugh. Judging by the looks they were giving Quinten, they’d most likely already heard that he was blind. They saw us as an easy win; I was going to make sure to prove them wrong.
Eli was standing in his special little box section, eager for the fight to start. I wondered if another victory for us would end with me sitting across the dinner table from Eli, preparing myself for a second attack.
Had he had his fill of me, or was he just getting started?
Eli cleared this throat. “Gentlemen, listen please. Today, we have my new favorites in the arena, Alanna and Quinten. As you know, Quinten is our blind warrior-in-the-making, so I’ll need you all to be as silent as possible. Alright, let the fight begin.”
The spectators in the stands fell silent, and the fight began.
One of the two swung, and I ducked under it and spun around, facing him. Ray had taught me to always size up my opponents, never to rush in. That mistake led to getting either yourself or someone you loved killed. It was a mistake that I couldn’t afford to make.
He circled around me, trying to do the same thing I was. One of us had to make a move soon, or I had a feeling that Eli would intervene, and he might use that gun of his.
Quinten grunted in pain and my gaze shifted over to him. He was on the ground and the other man was on his back. He was pulling Quinten’s arms up behind him, trying to dislocate them.
A foot slammed into my chest, and I landed hard in the dirt. His first connected with my face three times, and on the fourth hit I grabbed his wrist and twisted sharply, satisfied when the bone snapped and broke through the skin. He howled in pain, and leaned back to nurse his wrist.
I freed a foot, and kicked him in the face as hard as I could. The nose was easy to break and it provided a good distraction because the eyes always started to run, temporarily blinding your opponent. He pressed a hand to his face, trying to stop the impressive flow of blood.
I jumped to my feet and grabbed the back of his neck, and brought his head down hard, bringing my knee up to meet it. He staggered back and I punched as hard as I could.
He fell to the ground, and spat up a mouthful of foamy blood. I kicked him twice in the ribs, disliking the feeling of kicking a man while he was down, before Quinten’s predicament caught my attention again.
I ran over to tackle the man on top of Quinten. We hit the ground and he grunted in pain. I wrapped my arm around his throat, trying to choke him until he lost consciousness. He tried to wiggle out of my grasp and, when that failed, bit down into my right forearm.
I bit back a scream of pain and flung him away from me. Quinten jumped on top of him before he could catch his breath, and grabbed both sides of his head. He slammed it down on the ground as hard as he could once, twice, three times. His eyes unfocused and closed, and his entire body went limp.
His partner, forgotten until now, leapt on my back and sank his teeth into the side of my neck. It seemed teeth were a favorite weapon, since we weren’t allowed others, and they happened to be one of the deadliest ones that a normal human possessed. They didn’t break easily, they could be sharp, and they could tear.
He wrapped an arm around my throat, and it cut off my scream. Quinten was on his feet and rushing to my side as fast as he could. He grappled with the remaining partner, trying to pry him off my back to give me time to recover.
My vision started to fade around the edges, and I stopped struggling. What was the use? Even if we managed to win this fight, there were still going to be others. There was a grunt of pain, and the arm around my throat relaxed enough for me to slide out of it. I turned around, and saw Quinten standing over the lifeless body of the remaining fighter.
His neck was twisted at a strange angle, and Quinten’s hands were trembling. He was breathing harshly, and his eyes were blank. The crowd erupted into cheers, and he grimaced. Shakily, I got to my feet, and threw myself at him. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, but I had the feeling that it was almost like a reflex.
He didn’t seem to notice anything around him but the cheering of the maniacal monsters sitting in the stands.
“Quinten?” I asked, nuzzling his neck again. “Are you ok?”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think so,” he said hoarsely. “Are you ok?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
His arms tightened, and his entire body tensed. The vampire guards came to collect us, and we were once again shut into the bathrooms to shower. Thankfully Eli hadn’t come for me yet, and I began to hope that he’d gotten enough of me after our disastrous dinner.
That wasn’t the case.
He was waiting for me when I exited the bathroom. He was grinning from ear-to-ear, like a child on Christmas morning. “Congratulations. I must admit, I wasn’t expecting such an exciting finish. Your boy toy is quite the warrior now. The look on his face as he snapped that boy’s neck to protect you…it was simply marvelous. I didn’t think he–”
“What do you want with me?”
He frowned. “I don’t like it when I’m interrupted,” his voice held a low growl that sent shivers up my spine. “As to your question, I’ll get to it when I’m good and ready. Until then, you’ll do well to learn some manners.”
I glared at him. “Or what? You’ll rip my throat out again.”
He chuckled, which scared me more than if he’d screamed. “You know, Alanna, you have as much spunk as your mother did.”
I growled, a
nd threw myself at him. He reacted faster than I could blink, and I was pinned against the floor, with him on top of me. “Don’t test me, little girl,” he said, his hand trailing from my throat to my waist. “Or should I say woman?”
I fought not to shudder.
He leaned down, and licked the side of my neck. “I can feel your sweet blood pounding through your veins. It calls out to me, screaming. Do you know what it says?”
I didn’t answer.
“It says, ‘Bite me’. You have no idea how tempted I am to do that.”
Finally, I couldn’t hold it back any longer.
“Am I meant to be your soul mate?”
He paused and cocked his head to one side. “My darling, what would make you think something like that?”
“You had every intention of draining me dry, but you didn’t. You forced me to drink your disgusting blood, and you brought me back from the brink of death. Why would you do that unless my blood was meant for you?”
He stood. “I’ll let you think about it for a while. It’ll be more fun that way. Until then,” he said, blowing me a kiss, “I leave you to your blind warrior.”
I glared at him, trying to sit. “You son of a–”
“Watch your language!” He barked. “I’d hate to have to cut that tongue out of that pretty little mouth of yours.”
He was serious. If I misspoke again, he would do it. Tasting my blood had nothing to do with my tongue; I didn’t need it for what he had planned for me. This man was truly insane, and there was no limit to the horrible things he could and very likely would do to me.
Eli left me lying there on the floor like garbage. When the vampire guards returned, they dragged me roughly to my feet, and led Quinten and I back to our holding cell.
Quinten cried in his sleep that night. I knew, now from personal experience, that he was dreaming about the boy that he’d killed. While he was no twelve year old boy, he was an innocent person that had been thrust into the world of fighting to the death.
I didn’t sleep either. I couldn’t. Our second fight had gone worse than the first. How bad would our third fight go? Would we finally lose? How much longer could Quinten and I keep going?
Chapter Fourteen
In the morning, I woke to find freshly healed skin on my arm and neck. The bite marks disappeared overnight. My higher temperature would burn out any infection that had been left by the mouths that bit me. Being a werewolf definitely had its advantages.
After our breakfast consisting of a hard-boiled egg, cold bacon, and slice of cheese, Quinten and I spent the rest of the morning practicing for our third fight. His movements were slow and hesitant. I could tell he was still thinking about the boy that he’d killed.
Around lunchtime the door to our holding cell opened and Eli walked in. He was flanked by the two armed vampire guards, who sneered at me, as usual. Eli motioned at me with his hands. “Come. Join me for lunch.”
I didn’t dare refuse. Not with Quinten so close and in danger of bearing the brunt of Eli’s anger.
So, I nodded and followed them from the room. For a minute, Eli was silent, and I wondered what he was thinking about. Finally, he decided to speak. “Alanna, I was lying alone in my bed last night, and I had a thought that just wouldn’t go away no matter how long I thought about it.”
“And what thought was that?”
“I kept thinking about your relationship with your friend Quinten. I wondered if it came down to it, would he sacrifice himself for you? Because if you lose a fight, but all of you are still alive, I have to choose one of you to sacrifice, but I have to keep my loyal fans happy. They like Quinten; he’s become quite the warrior.”
“And?”
“I realized something. If you lose, I’ll have to choose you to be sacrificed. If I don’t, the fans may very well turn on me. Not that I have much to worry about, considering I’m far older than all of them, but still. It would be a shame to have to flee this place. I do so enjoy being here.”
“So you’re saying, if we lose, I die?”
He nodded solemnly.
“Why do you care that it’s me that’ll get sacrificed?”
He smiled, which did nothing to make me feel any better. “Alanna, my darling, I have plans for you, remember? If you lose a fight, you’ll die, and I’ll lose my chance for revenge. I plan on keeping you here for a very long time.”
His words sent horrified shivers down my spine, and I fought to keep from gagging. So, there were other nights like our dinner in store for me. I should have guessed that it would become a regular thing. He wouldn’t stop at one dinner.
He frowned. “Don’t be alarmed, I won’t take so much again, I promise. My goal now is to prolong your stay here, not to cut it shorter.”
I bit my lip to keep from crying.
“I know you probably think that I’m a cruel, heartless monster, but I assure you I’m not. It won’t be so bad, I promise. In time, I think you’ll come to even enjoy my feedings.”
Feedings.
The word disgusted me to my very core. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. “How would your mate feel about those feedings?”
It was a chancy question, and the second it left my mouth, I realized I should have kept quiet. It was too late to take it back though.
He snarled, baring his large, sharp fangs, and slapped me so hard he knocked me to the ground. “You will never speak of my mate to me, do you understand?”
Had he actually loved someone once? The thought was a very strange one. Of course, if I thought about it, Ray had been a different man when mom was still alive. He hasn’t turned into a complete psycho after her death, but he was never the same.
Maybe Eli had always been evil and deranged. His mate had probably been the only woman to share his passion for pain and madness. What was it like, knowing that you’d have to spend the rest of eternity without your mate?
*****
Lunch started out fairly tame. Eli merely sipped at a glass of blood while I forced myself to eat everything on my plate: turkey sandwich, fruit, roll, and pudding. Knowing why it had been prepared disgusted me, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that it was healthy, nutritious food, and it would possibly give me an edge in our next fight if he kept feeding me.
I could afford to lose even less now. If we did, I’d be sacrificed, and Quinten would be forced to fight with someone who didn’t care whether he lived or died. No matter what, I couldn’t let that happen.
When I’d finished everything on my plate and in my glass, a waiter in a black and white suit came in to take the dirty dishes away. The second he was gone, Eli put down his glass and stood.
I knew what was coming next, and I tried not to cringe. He stopped in front of me, grabbed the side of my head, and turned my neck until it was fully bared to him. There was a soft click as he extended his fangs, and then he sunk them into the tender flesh at the side of my neck.
I tried not to fight it, hoping it would make the pain lessen, but it didn’t. The pain was excruciating and instead I focused on not screaming. I clenched my jaw tight, closed my eyes, and prayed for it to just end.
True to his word, after a few minutes, he pulled away. This time he didn’t force me to drink his own blood. Instead, he let me slump against the chair and catch my breath. His eyes were unfocused, and his cheeks were red, signs of having recently fed.
Finally he sent me on my way with the vampire guards acting as an escort.
Quinten was lying on his cot when I returned. His hands were clenched tight, and his face held unmasked anger. When the door opened, and I was thrown back inside, he was up in an instant.
I wobbled and he caught me. “How dare he do this to you?”
“He didn’t take as much as he did the first time.”
“He shouldn’t have taken anything!”
“Shut up!” Someone yelled. “I’m trying to rest.”
Quinten glared in their general direction. “Go to hell, asshole! My girlfriend just got fe
d on by a fucking leech.”
Girlfriend?
It took him a moment to realize what he’d said, and his cheeks turned bright red. “Alanna, I–”
I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, trying not to show him how dizzy that slight movement made me. “Quinten, it’s alright.”
He frowned. “Am I wrong? I mean, I know you said you wanted to be my mate, but…what does that make you now?”
I hugged him, nuzzling his neck. “Yours.”
He smiled faintly. “Are you sure?”
I nodded once. “Positive.”
He seemed satisfied with my answer, but I wasn’t entirely sure that I was. If we could die at any moment, what was the point of waiting? Should we just do it and get it over with, or wait and hope it could be a special thing that we’d want to remember for the rest of our lives?
Quinten seemed fine with waiting until later, but would we regret that decision?
The rest of the day passed and my strength returned enough for us to continue training. By nighttime, I was as good as new, and was even able to get a decent night’s sleep for the first time in a while. For once, it wasn’t me that tossed and turned all night, it was Quinten.
In the morning, the two of us ate our horrible breakfast, and I tired not to think about our third and possible final fight. Looking at Quinten, I realized something. He was losing steam. He wouldn’t be able to keep going like this for much longer.
Eventually, he’d get burned out, and it would cost us.
I immediately shoved that evil thought to the back of my mind. I wouldn’t talk about Quinten like he was a liability. I couldn’t. He already thought of himself as the weak link in our partnership. I didn’t need to think of him that way too. Just before noon, the guards came in for Tyler and Dennis.
We’d been waiting for about ten long minutes when the door slowly opened again. The sight of familiar cattle prods scared me, but what scared me more was the fact that both Tyler and Dennis weren’t with them.
Arena Wars Trilogy Page 16
