Caged Warrior

by Lindsey Piper

  And find her way out of the complex.

  Carefully, somewhat impatiently, she’d interpreted slivers of sentences and carelessly exhaled facts. The human quarters were her best bet. When the workers’ contracts expired, they needed a means in and out. The Dragon Kings never left except for matches, and so far, that procedure was swathed in questions. How were they transported? To where?

  She would be gone before that was her issue.

  The most important piece of information had been a guard’s casual grouse that he needed to help transport another lab patient into the complex. I hate the walk to that place. It’s creepy as fuck.

  Walk.

  Walk to that place.

  It made sense, considering Audrey had been dropped into this underground hell while still wearing a hospital gown. She must have been transported without the possibility of outsiders seeing her curious state of undress.

  She would get free. Save Jack. Contact Mal.

  Malnefoley would not fail her on this. They would put their differences aside. He would not bow before the Council’s wishes again.

  Wearing her silk-lined leather clothing, Audrey tucked the practice knife into the strap of one of her boots. She wanted the armor Leto had begun training her to wear. Kilgore’s expectations, however, were clear as glass behind his sickly yellowed eyes. She needed to be a neophyte, dictated by his whims.

  The butcher paper from the peppermints, mud, and the tip of her practice knife had come in handy for her second letter. She’d composed its words using using the Tigony’s ancient language. Then she’d re-coded so that only those among Mal’s inner circle could read it. The Sath knew too much about all of the houses. No language was considered safe without private ciphers. She’d spent an evening scraping mud into the paper’s waxy sheen.

  She would get Kilgore to deliver it—and learn enough about Jack’s whereabouts to hazard an escape. All while manipulating an avaricious man who apparently hadn’t touched a woman in forever and a half.

  Dragon help me.

  After a deep breath, she returned down the corridor.

  She automatically presented her wrists. Manacles. An advantage in this case. By Leto’s example with the mace, she knew how effective chains could be in downing an opponent. She’d rather chew nails than admit what his instruction had provided her by way of skills and resolve.

  But it was true.

  Kilgore hadn’t lost his half–puppy dog, half-salacious expression. He was too desperate for it to be called leering. She almost pitied him. Almost. She knew too much about what he expected of her.

  “Shall we?” He even offered his arm.

  Again, that date analogy. While she wore manacles.

  Audrey would’ve laughed. Her thundering heart, however, reminded her to keep quiet and focused. She was right to be afraid, just as she was right to be amped up on a double shot of adrenaline.

  She cupped her hand around his forearm. “We have business to attend to, yes?”

  He literally licked his lips. The further she delved into this situation, the less Audrey liked it. And it had started out unpalatable.

  With her free hand, she touched the fabric of her tunic, over the spot where a scar was a constant reminder of what Dr. Aster had done to her. Although he had cut her in a hundred different places, her emotional losses centered there, where he had removed an ovary.

  Kilgore led her toward the mess hall. Then past it. She hadn’t been allowed any farther, so she gathered as many details as possible. Cinder block walls, just like the rest of the complex. Painted white. Cheap fluorescent lights stretched along the ceiling in a single-file line. They made the paint seem to glow with a ghostly blue aura. Goose bumps prickled the skin beneath her sleeves. She only noticed she was reflexively gripping Kilgore’s arm more tightly when he lifted a pleased smile.

  Good. Whatever made him believe she was there to meet his needs.

  Using old mnemonic training, Audrey memorized the twists and turns. He steered her left, then right, right again, and down another endless corridor of blue-white fluorescent and cinder block. The long hallway was dotted with doors at intervals of roughly five feet.

  “The workers’ quarters?”

  Kilgore nodded. “Mine is better.”

  “Oh?” She returned his smile. Hers felt meaner. “That’s where we’re going, yes? On our little walk?”

  “You’re coming with me willingly.” Kilgore’s mouth puckered as if having scraped his teeth along the inside of a banana peel. “What do you expect of me, neophyte?”

  “The fairest trade we can both agree to.”

  “Good. You’re no more naïve than I am. Don’t think the guards would side with you if they happened on our negotiations.” His eyes were beady, but they glittered with a menace she fully believed. “They get their dirty magazines, extra rations, and even their mail through me. They’d just as soon hack off their own balls rather than lose my services.”

  No allies. No real weapons. One mercenary piece of slime.

  This was going to be tricky.

  “Thank you for the compliment,” she said. “Because you’re right. Neither of us is naïve. I have a letter I’d liked mailed. You have physical favors you want fulfilled.”

  “That I do.”

  Another left, then a climb up shallow steps that curved to the right. By the time Kilgore pulled out a set of keys, they stood before another unmarked door. This one, however, was at the end of its own hallway. Practically private. Just the sort of place where skin-crawling sounds would never be heard.

  Her optimism remained. Kilgore had more than one key on his ring. She watched which he used to enter, which narrowed the possibilities to four others.

  One particular door during their journey had been colder than the rest. The light beneath it had been different, too. Darker. More like pale gray than eerie blue. She’d identified two other possibilities as well. Exits. Chances. All she had were chances. And Kilgore’s self-importance could be to her advantage. He liked to boast. She just needed him to brag about the right details.

  His touch turned suddenly rough. With a fist closed over her manacle chain, he threw her into his room. She landed hard on the bare floor. Her forehead slammed against the iron encircling her left wrist. Blood. Instantly. Its coppery warmth dripped down toward her cheek.

  That was nothing compared to how her heart lurched, then froze, when Kilgore slammed the door. Slammed it. She’d been right. No one would hear them.

  “We haven’t reached our agreement,” she said calmly, despite her injuries and fight-or-flight fear.

  “You’ll need to give me a great deal if you expect me to smuggle a neophyte’s letter out of the complex.”

  “Tell me what.”

  “Oh, no. That’s part of the fun. I want to see the look on your face with each new surprise.”

  She didn’t apologize or contradict his threat. Kilgore was a haggler by trade. He wanted a good negotiation before either of them gave in.

  And, apparently, a good fight.

  He moved faster than she would’ve imagined. Maybe that was because her forehead still throbbed. He retrieved a pair of handcuffs and locked her manacle chains to the foot of his bed. Not even on the bed. Just sprawled on the floor.

  It was almost worse to know she possessed a gift from the Dragon—no matter how erratic—when her collar kept her powerless. She felt no better off now than she’d been when a Dragon King in a black trench coat had watched the Asters take her and Jack hostage.

  She indulged in that one flicker of panic. Self-pity, really. Because she had a hell of a lot more resources now. She didn’t need her gift to best one lust-blinded human.

  Flipping onto her back, she thrust up with her legs and caught Kilgore around the waist. He tried to push her off, but she squeezed with the strength of her thighs and calves. A hard grunt indicated when she’d found his kidneys with her heels. With one hard slam, she planted the soles of her boots dead center of his chest. He stagger
ed, coughing and clutching. His back connected with the bedroom door.

  Bedroom. Hell. It was just another cage, this one with a bed, a dimly lit lamp, and only one way out.

  Although Kilgore still coughed and reeled, he dredged a warped smile. Subservient weasel? No way. He was calculating. His yellowed eyes shone with a cruel glint she hadn’t seen since her internment in the labs.

  “Do you know why I’ve been down here for so long?” he asked, spitting the words at her.

  “Don’t care.”

  “You do. You’re smart, and that means you’ve wondered.” He pushed off the door and limped toward a waist-high chest of metal drawers, like a filing cabinet. “Why is Kilgore still here, when all the other human workers leave after three months?”

  From the top drawer he removed what looked like a child’s pencil case. All black. Plastic. Unassuming—like he was.

  “I was one of Dr. Aster’s assistants. A PhD in genetic engineering. Now I slop beans for human moles and put up with the scorn of your friend Leto. We’re both slaves. Only he thinks his servitude is a good thing.” He opened the case and removed a hypodermic needle. “I don’t think that at all. But it does have certain advantages.”

  “What the fuck is that?”

  “The way I’m going to make you cooperative. I’m not delivering any letter for you, Mrs. MacLaren. I like my guts intact. And I’m not so stupid as to let you escape either.” He raised one brow. “That was your other plan, yes? Tell me the truth or I’ll start with your asshole before the sedative sets in.”

  Oh fuck.

  She flipped a short lock of hair back from her temple. “Tell me one reason why I’d want to stay in this piece of shit basement? Of course I want to escape. I thought you’d be smart enough to take the right side in this little . . . negotiation.”

  “And what do you have to offer?” He eyed her breasts, then the apex of her thighs. His grin was demonic. “I wondered if I’d be able to get the jump on you. For all your vaunted training . . . you’re a piece of meat now. I particularly enjoyed that privilege in the labs. So many oblivious bodies to choose from. But you, Mrs. MacLaren, will feel everything. Sedated doesn’t mean unconscious.”

  Audrey swallowed to keep from vomiting. The idea that he’d taken advantage of Aster’s patients was too reprehensible to dwell on. Was I one of them?

  She hid what she could of her reaction. “You know damn well who my cousin is. Get me out of here and he’ll—”

  “Be lenient? I doubt that. My list of crimes is too long. And besides, life is too short. You’ve seen that. What was his name? Caleb? That was it. See, the good Dr. Aster trusted me with even that detail. I’d rather take my chances with the feast lying before me. The Giva can suck his own dick. He has no influence down here.”

  Audrey sneered, although her stomach was a boiling knot of nerves. “But you do? Answer your own question. If we’re so special, why are you here now?”

  “Make one little attempt on the mad doctor’s life, after one insult too many . . .” He grinned, appearing half-mad himself. “I knew too much, but I was too useful to kill. You should see how he reacts to catch-22s. My current occupation is to keep the guards happy, keep ambitious bitches enslaved like good little girls, and keep you from learning where Dr. Aster is busy cutting your boy into bits.”

  “You sick fuck.”

  “No, that’s for later.” Advancing, still clutching his injured chest, he stood with the needle ready. “How else will we have any fun?”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Leto knew Nynn wasn’t in her cell the moment he came to retrieve her. No scent of her skin, either freshly cleaned or tinged with sweat after a hard workout.

  And he knew who’d set her free—not that she would be free in Kilgore’s quarters.

  Bathatéi.

  She couldn’t just let things be. Dragon Kings used their powers. Cage warriors used every means at their disposal. She’d been given a task and promised a reward.

  She never had a choice.

  His anger pushed that objection aside. She didn’t have much time.

  “How long has she been gone?” His gaze was needle-sharp as he skewed each young guard. The one to his left was the first to drop his eyes. Toward a breast pocket.

  Leto pounced. He felled the man in a single lunge. The guard grunted, then squeaked a token protest when Leto dragged out a tin of dipping tobacco. The other guard made a halfhearted attempt to help his comrade. Leto glared over his shoulder and rasped, “You’ll be next.”

  The man resumed his post on the far side of the training cell bars, as if a scuffle weren’t taking place four feet away.

  “This is mine now.” Leto shoved the tin into a fold in his leather armor. “And I’ll report you to the Old Man for possessing contraband if you don’t tell me. How long has she been gone?”

  “About twenty minutes,” the guard said, a warble in his voice.

  Really, he was big for a human. Maybe six foot. Brawny, with a decent amount of muscle. In his own world, he might have fought in boxing matches—human cages, with as scant honor and significance as humans themselves. Leto only felt disgust.

  “When I find her, I’m bringing her through here. Past you both. And you won’t say a fucking word.”

  The downed guard nodded, his brow soaked in sweat that smelled like fear. The second man’s face has gone a sick, milky white. “Yes, sir.”

  Sir.

  That’s what Leto called the Old Man. For the first time, he wondered what purpose the guards really served. They could be bribed, overpowered, even harmed. If Leto killed one of them, what punishment would the Old Man inflict? Not physical pain. That was easy enough for Leto to slough off now. Maybe harm against his family.

  The guards were tradition. Ceremony. Show ponies. The real prison was on a much deeper level—hostages, and the two-sided coin of promise and threat. No number of victories would change that.

  Leto kicked the felled guard to hide his shudder, then barreled past the mess hall and humans’ quarters. He shoved his sudden, unwelcome realizations into the pit of his stomach.

  He was risking more than he ever had. He was risking his place in the Old Man’s favor, his place as the Asters’ champion, and his own family.

  For a neophyte.

  For Nynn.

  Who’d thought she could outsmart a devil.

  TWELVE

  Leto didn’t knock. He didn’t listen outside the door to confirm his suspicion. He just burst inside. Hinges gave way to the release of his coiled strength.

  During his run through the human complex, he’d pictured what he would find. He hadn’t thought to find them so far progressed in Nynn’s subjugation.

  She was bleeding from her forehead and chained to a metal-framed bed, which was topped by a flattened mattress. Hunched into himself, moaning, Kilgore held a needle between his teeth. The blood Nynn had shed was nothing compared to the stream oozing out from where her wooden practice knife pierced the man’s forearm.

  Kilgore turned. His eyes were huge yellow discs. Even if the man was a grasping snake, he knew when to be afraid. Perhaps that made sense. The lower the animal, the stronger the instinct to recognize imminent danger.

  He spit the needle onto the floor where it rolled to a stop by Leto’s boot.

  “Leto.” He was quick to recover. Always had been. “We were in the midst of completing our transaction when she attacked me.”

  “And you decided to subdue her?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Chains work.” He smashed the hypodermic beneath his heel. “Drugs are best saved for the lab you came from.”

  “You don’t blame me for this. The fault is hers. Surely you’ll punish her.”

  “I would’ve been more likely to take your side had you asked. Instead, you tell me how to discipline my own neophyte? That isn’t your decision.”

  Leto loomed tall over the man. His anger was well out of proportion with the situation. Although he should be furious at
Nynn for doing something so stupid, he was ready to rip Kilgore into pieces and leave his useless carcass. Maybe someone would miss him come mealtime.

  Again . . . That realization of his limits. Dragon damned, he didn’t need another unwelcome thought. No matter Leto’s status, dismembering even one as humble as their human chef was prohibited, when a man like Kilgore should be below a Dragon King’s notice.

  But Nynn was bleeding. Which meant Kilgore was not beneath his notice.

  He yanked the wooden knife out of Kilgore’s arm and tossed it toward the door listing on its hinges. The man’s yelp of pain was satisfying.

  “Strip your shirt,” he said.

  At Kilgore’s compliance, all hissing agony, Leto ripped the flimsy hemp material into strips. Two minutes later, he’d wrapped an expert field dressing around the three-inch gash in the man’s forearm. Despite his boiling turbulence, Leto tamped down a tight smile. Nynn had cut deeply and with careful aim. Kilgore wouldn’t be able to use that muscle for weeks. Even chained, she’d taken the man’s right arm out of the contest.

  He could comment on her technique later. Once she was safe again.

  Safe?

  Dragon be, he was losing perspective.

  “Now come here,” Leto said, voice rasping.

  Kilgore raised his brows. The surprise and even the fear of Leto bursting through his door was gone. His rat-sly expression followed every movement. Trying to gain advantage. That wasn’t going to happen. No matter the intricacies of power Leto was only just untangling, he was still a Dragon King. And still a foot and a half taller.

  He grasped Kilgore by his scruff and stood him on solid footing. “Stay there. Don’t move. Nynn had a good try, although I’m fairly sure you can serve food with one arm.” Close to Kilgore’s ear he said, “The Old Man would be upset if I killed you, but I wouldn’t be. I’d finish what she started, and I’d make it agonizing.”

  Kilgore swallowed. His forehead looked squashed in proportion to the rest of his face. It was slick with sweat. Although he didn’t acknowledge Leto’s threat, he didn’t move either.

  Leto turned his attention to Nynn, who lay watching the exchange with an expression of rage. A mirror of his own anger. What the fuck was he going to do with her?