Stalking Fate

by K. R. Fajardo

  Once again, Lyza struggled to contain her emotions as her cell mate joined her on the bunk and wrapped her arm around her. Here’s what is important Lyza, are you listening?

  Across the hall, Lyza nodded slightly.

  No matter what they say or do, tell the girls to remain quiet and calm. Don’t scream, don’t yell, and whatever you do, don’t beg them to stop. Just sit quietly and let whatever is going to happen happen, and know there was nothing you could have said or done that would have stopped it. Do you understand?

  A sob escaped her as she nodded her head.

  “What is wrong with her?” one of Vincent’s men asked as they passed by her cell. Silence. Infuriated, the man banged on the bars of the cell making the girls jump. “Answer me, I said what is wrong with her.”

  “She’s hungry, tired, and being held prisoner in a foreign land.” The red head embracing Lyza clipped. “Is that enough or do you need me to continue?”

  With a huff, the man turned and stopped outside Duncan’s cell where Vincent and the others already stood. “Good evening Duncan. Glad to see you’re awake, did you sleep well?”

  Twisting his hand in the chains, Duncan returned Vincent’s greeting with an obscene gesture.

  Vincent smirked, stepping inside the cell. “Glad to see news of your niece’s death hasn’t taken away from your charming personality.”

  “Go to hell Vincent.” He growled yanking hard on the chains. “We both know why you and your monkeys are here. So quit your chattering and let’s get this over with.”

  His angst only made Vincent’s grin grow wider. With a shrug and a flick of his wrist he issued the command. “Seems the Butcher has forgotten he used to be one of my monkeys. Oh well, since he is anxious to get to the Cage boys, let’s not waste anymore of his time.”

  Within seconds, the six goons had him surrounded, all with smug looks of satisfaction on their faces.

  The first hit came from his right, in the form of a hard punch to his ribs, followed up quickly by one to his face, and then another blow landed on his back over his kidneys. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Duncan refused to yell out and instead hung there like a punching bag, taking blow after blow, while each of the six men took turns landing hits to various areas of his body. There was no hesitation, no break to let him catch his breath, or even to reorient his body as it spun from the ceiling. The chains that held his arms above his head twisted and tightened the cuffs around his wrists until he could no longer feel his hands. His eyes swelled shut, his nose and mouth bled, and his breathing became painful, yet they continued their assault.

  Somewhere in between the barrage of blows, in the dark recess of his rattled mind, Duncan could hear the girls sobbing. Thankfully though, Lyza seemed to have delivered his message as all the girls did as he asked and remained silent, not drawing attention to themselves.

  He had no sense of time or how long the abuse had continued, when Vincent finally stopped it after an upper cut to his lower jaw nearly knocked him unconscious. “Alright boys, I think that is enough.”

  Walking toward him, Vincent lifted his head and investigated his face before turning his attention to his body. Walking around him, he poked and prodded certain wounds, causing Duncan to wince and grit his teeth. “Broken ribs, bruised kidneys, possibly some internal hemorrhaging… Yes, I think this will do nicely. Now get him down so he can shift. We can’t have him looking like that when he enters the ring.”

  One of the males walked to the nearby lever and pulled it, sending Duncan’s body crashing to the floor. Like a swarm of ants, the goons were on top of him, removing the chains and blocking collar from his unmoving body. Then they all stepped outside the cell and closed the door.

  “I think one shift should be enough to heal the superficial stuff.” Vincent remarked from outside the door.

  “Fuck you.” Duncan coughed, spitting blood on the floor. Bracing the sharp pain in his side, he managed to push himself up onto his knees and raised his gaze to meet Vincent’s. “I’m not one of your flunkies anymore. So if you want to scam money off unsuspecting victims you’ll have to figure out another way to do it.”

  Vincent pursed his lips. Without moving his gaze from Duncan’s, he commanded the man to his left. “Haskell, go get the girl with the purple eyes and bring her here. She seemed to be pretty interested in the Butcher when we came in.”

  “Leave her and the others out of this.” Duncan growled, watching as the dark haired male entered Lyza’s cell. Snatching her up by the arm, he dragged the trembling girl to stand in front Duncan’s cell.

  She met his gaze for but a moment before lowering her reddened, tear streaked face to the floor. “What race are you girl?” Vincent asked, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

  Lyza cringed. “Caster sir.”

  “Is that all? Because it looked to me like you were communicating with Duncan here when I came in.”

  “How could I sir, when there was a blocking shield around his cell?”

  “That’s a good question.” Tapping his finger on his chin for a moment, Vincent shrugged.

  In a dizzying blur he hooked his arm around Lyza’s neck and pinned her tightly in front of him. Extending his free hand out to the side, he held it there until one of the goons placed a dagger into his waiting palm.

  “See the problem I am having with your story is, I have never met a Caster with purple eyes.” Placing the tip of his knife underneath her eye, Vincent continued. “So let me ask again, what race are you?”

  “Leave her alone!” Struggling to crawl to his feet, Duncan was hit with a debilitating wave of dizziness that caused him to stumble into the bars separating his and Chloe’s cell. Barely managing to stay upright, he gripped the bars tightly and faced down Vincent. “I’ll fucking shift alright, just leave the girls alone.”

  “Too late for that.” Vincent remarked casually, “Should have listened the first time. You know better than most the repercussions for disobedience.”

  Duncan dropped his gaze to Lyza. Tears streaming down her face she stared down at the point of the blade, less than a hair’s breath away from her eye. “Then punish me. I’m the offender. Besides, if you damage the girl you won’t be able to sell her for as much.”

  Lyza whimpered.

  “You make an interesting point.”

  Duncan breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Vincent lower the knife.

  Suddenly a wicked glint flashed in Vincent’s eye. “Too bad it’s a mute one.”

  “No don’t!” Duncan shouted just moments too late.

  Helpless to do anything to aid the poor girl, he watched in shock as Vincent buried the knife deep into Lyza’s thigh. Screaming out in pain she struggled to free herself of Vincent’s unforgiving grasp, forcing him to tighten his hold around her neck.

  “You see Duncan, for as much as you think you know me, I know you.” Vincent continued speaking as if they were in the midst of a casual conversation. “And you my old friend, have always had a soft spot for women and children. Meaning I could beat the shit out of you all day long and it wouldn’t be anywhere near the punishment for you as me hurting these girls is.” Pausing, he twisted the knife, causing Lyza to cry out again. “Now here are your two options. You can shift and heal your external injuries like I asked you to. Or you can stand there and watch as I inch this knife closer and closer to her artery until I sever it and she bleeds to death in front of you. So what will it be?”

  Grimacing from the immense pain, Duncan pushed off the bars and faced down Vincent. “I told you I would shift damn it, just let her go.”

  “Not until we are done. I want to be sure you don’t have any more second thoughts.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Duncan moved away from the bars. Having no desire to be marched out into the bar naked, he reached for the snap of his pants, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Chloe and the others turned their backs. A gesture he greatly appreciated. After releasing the snap, he let his pants fall to the floor, and kicked
them to the side, then without further ado, he shifted into his bear. His very pissed off bear.

  Rising up on his hind legs, the bear released a roar that was so loud he would wager it could likely be heard in the bar above them. Wide eyed, everyone in the room, with the exception of Vincent, stared up at the massive beast with a mixture of fear and awe. Focusing in on his captors outside the cell, the bear let loose another roar, dropped down onto all fours, and charged the bars of the cell forcing Vincent and his men to retreat backwards.

  “Get him under control Duncan or I swear I will kill her.” To accentuate his point, Vincent advanced the blade a little deeper into Lyza’s leg. This time the pain proved to be too intense for the poor girl who cried out and immediately went slack in Vincent’s arm.

  Reining his bear back a bit, Duncan got him to move away from the bars but not before he bared his fangs and released another roar.

  “Does Josiah know you’re putting him in the Cage with that?” One of the goons blurted out suddenly.

  “Nope.” Vincent said with a grin. “I think Josiah needs to learn a lesson in humility. Damn fool had the nerve to ask me for a bigger portion of the winnings the other day. So after the first three rounds of fighting Duncan here man to man, we will switch to beast on beast and see how he likes it when the fight isn’t totally rigged in his favor.”

  Arching a brow the man stared over at Vincent. “And what if he loses?”

  “Makes no difference to me. You see, I am actually not betting on this fight, because no matter the outcome, in the end I will have his Alpha power.”

  Every single goon turned and looked at Vincent as if he had lost his mind. “You’re going to kill the winner?”

  Duncan had suspected as much. He knew there was no way Vincent was going to allow another Alpha to run loose in his territory. It was just too risky. However, Vincent apparently did not feel the need to explain himself any further to his peons. Ignoring their questioning glares, he turned his attention back to Duncan’s bear who growled and bared his fangs at him.

  “Growl all you want big guy, but you will do as I say or the girl dies. Now… shift back.”

  Snarling angrily at the man holding Lyza’s unconscious body in his grasp, Duncan reluctantly complied. Once in man form he did a quick body check. Just like Vincent had predicted the majority of the superficial bruises and cuts were gone, however he was far from healed. His face and head pounded, his lower abdomen hurt like hell, and it felt as if every rib in his body was broken. Trying to ignore the excruciating pain that shot through his side with every breath, Duncan stumbled his way across the cell to retrieve his discarded pants. However when he bent down to retrieve them, the movement only intensified his suffering. Falling to his knees, Duncan doubled over.

  “Leave those where they are and come here.” Vincent remarked handing Lyza off to one of his men. Then turning his attention to his men he added. “John, go get Duncan something a little easier to put on, will you?”

  “Sure boss.”

  A few minutes later John returned with a simple cloth, designed to do nothing more than wrap around his waist. “Come to the bars.” Vincent commanded from the closed door. Clenching his fists, Duncan pushed up off his knees and managed to crawl back on his feet.

  Stumbling his way to where Vincent stood, one of the men slid the cloth, along with a blocking collar, under the bars.

  “Put them on.”

  Angered by the series of abrupt commands that made it sound as if he was speaking to his personal slave, Duncan glowered down at Vincent with murderous intent.

  “Do as you are told or I’ll pull Chloe out of her cell next.”

  Not willing to put Chloe’s life in danger for the sake of his own pride, Duncan used the bars to brace himself as he bent down to retrieve the collar and the thin cloth. Wrapping the cloth around his waist and tucking it in, he then secured the collar around his own neck.

  “See that wasn’t so hard was it?” Vincent smirked. “Now spin around and place your hands behind your back and then we can be on our way to the festivities.” Once again, Duncan silently complied.

  When the men had his hands safely shackled behind his back, they opened the cell door and motioned for him to step through. The instant he did, Duncan found himself pinned to the bars of his cell by four of the goons. Producing a syringe from his pocket, Vincent stabbed him in the neck with the sharp needle and pressed down on the plunger. The moment the contents entered his body, Duncan felt as if someone had poured acid into his blood stream.

  Certain his body would burst into flames at any moment, Duncan cried out, writhing beneath the unrelenting hold of his captors. Thankfully, after a few torturous seconds, the burning began to fade, allowing Duncan to relax. Diaphoretic and exhausted, he sank into the bars as the goons released him and moved away.

  “Wh-what w-was t-that?” he managed to ask between ragged breaths.

  “Wolf’s bane.” Vincent answered. Laughing at Duncan’s confused expression, he continued. “Don’t worry, it’s not enough to kill you, just enough to prevent you from healing any further. Effects should wear off in a day or two… if you live that long.”

  Spinning on his heal, Vincent turned and headed down the corridor toward the door. Wiped out from the abuse and the poison circulating in his blood, Duncan couldn’t muster the strength to follow. Looking aggravated, two of the goons hooked him underneath his arms and all but dragged him after Vincent. They were just about to exit onto the stairs when suddenly the door flew open and a man in a suit came rushing toward them.

  “Sir, the girl, the Night Stalker, she came back and she has another Shifter with her. A male, wolf from his scent, but… and please excuse my language sir… he’s scary as fuck.”

  Duncan nearly laughed out loud, but somehow managed to keep his face straight. He knew only one man Senka would trust enough to travel with that met that description, Ignacio, and honestly it relieved him greatly to know he was by her side.

  Vincent shook his head, “Seems the girl moves on rather quickly doesn’t it? I am almost insulted; I thought we had something special.”

  “Sir, that’s not all.” The man continued, ignoring Vincent’s remarks. “You’re never going to guess what they have with them.”

  “Shane, I’m not in the mood for guessing games. Just spit it out, what does she have?”

  “A head, sir. The girl has a fucking head!”

  “Seriously Ignacio?” Senka ground out, watching over the rail as the terrified man disappeared down the metal stairs and into the unruly crowd surrounding the cage. Shoving his way through the writhing mass of patrons cheering on the fight, he disappeared inside a door she hadn’t noticed on her first visit. Making a mental note of its location, she turned back to face Ignacio with her hands on her hips. “We agreed to keep a low profile. And I am fairly certain pulling a severed head out of a bag and offering it to a waiter is the exact opposite of low profile.”

  “Got his ass to go downstairs and fetch the prick didn’t it? Besides, his voice was really annoyin’, like a whiny school girl, if he didn’t get out of my face soon I was gonna have to knock him out just to shut him up.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth. “Besides, I don’t do low profile.”

  “No kidding.”

  Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms over her chest and watched as he patted down the pockets of his shirt until he located his matches. Finally locating the elusive object, he pulled it out and with a satisfied grin, lit the end of his cigarette.

  “Hey man, I thought I told you to hand over everything you had in your pockets.” A bulky goon snapped from behind them.

  The biggest of the dozen or so men standing watch over them as they waited on Vincent, he had orchestrated the removal of all their weapons. They had searched them thoroughly and had even insisted on taking away her umbrella, despite the fact it was useless underneath the shadowless lights currently blazing down on them.

 
The man charged forward, acting as if he was going to confiscate Ignacio’s contraband. Cigarette dangling from his mouth, Ignacio turned to face him as he tucked the items back into his pocket. “Come and git ‘em.”

  The look on the goon’s face said it all as he halted in his tracks and took in Ignacio carefully. Though they had decided as a group it was better if Ignacio covered his marks, there were still a few, mainly on his hands and neck, that remained visible. And it was those same marks that the goon currently had his eyes locked on. Seeming to weigh the risks vs the rewards of inciting a fight with the seasoned cage fighter over a pack of cigarettes, the man wisely backed down.

  Trying to suppress a laugh, Senka turned her attention back down to the Cage where a pair of very large wolves were locked in the midst of a ferocious battle.

  Though his coloring was slightly different, the largest, a grey wolf with bright yellow eyes reminded her a lot of the Alpha wolf that had stopped her and Duncan in the forest. Shrugging it off as coincidence, Senka watched as the beast lunged and sank his teeth into the hind leg of the smaller black wolf he was pitted against. Even as high up as she was, the sounds of bones snapping could be heard over the cheer of the crowd. Grimacing as a shiver ran down her spine, Senka shook her head and looked away.

  “Don’t like the fight?”

  Joining her on the rail, Ignacio inhaled deeply devouring half his cigarette in one breath.

  “Sorry Ignacio, it’s just not my thing I guess.”

  He shrugged, “It ain’t for everyone.”