by Lizzy Ford
She had to get out of there. She understood Jared’s warning about torture and being willing to bargain. But she didn’t think any of them could escape, or they would have.
"Not so brave anymore, are you, little girl," Rhyn said.
Her eyes fell to the dark cell holding Rhyn.
"If you were half as tough as you sound, you wouldn’t be stuck in here," she retorted.
"Lunchmeat’s still kicking," Jared said. His hands appeared through the cell bars.
Rhyn smashed himself against the cell, as if to prove his strength. She ignored him and rubbed her forehead.
"What does the amulet do?" she asked Jared.
"Now you want to talk."
"Keeps us here," Rhyn growled.
"Yes, that neat little trinket is a source of constant magic that traps us. I hear you’re immune to magic. You could get one of us out," Jared said.
"If that’s the case, why on earth would I bother to free any of you parasites?" she asked, too tired to stand. She sat next to the bars on her cell.
"I guess you wouldn’t if you didn’t plan on leaving Hell. Sasha’s men would kill you twice before you reached the front door."
He had a point, but she knew she’d be in as much danger from the monsters as from Sasha’s men. If she had the amulet and could bargain for protection--and one of them not eating her in exchange for her freedom--she wondered if she couldn’t escape.
"No pain," Rhyn said with a husky chuckle.
"Not too much pain, and I’ll raise you a promise not to fuck you till you’re dead," Jared offered.
"Jesus," she muttered.
"He ain’t coming here," a voice down the hallway snickered.
"But I am!" another chortled.
She touched her neck delicately, tracing the scars. They were jagged and ugly, similar to those on her arms. Lankha was a lifesaver, but she didn’t intend to spend the rest of her years being torn apart by some sadistic vampire with a hard on.
"We’ll see," she said at last.
She hoped no one ever came for her, and she’d never have to choose which predator to end her life. The monster across the hall was no option, and Jared was little better. The others…she wondered if Lankha could defend her. Based on his cowering every time Rhyn roared, she doubted it.
Even Kris was better than any of these creatures, and she'd barely tolerated him! Her thoughts turned to him with some bitterness. What kind of human protector allowed one of his own men to turn her over to something like Sasha? Did Kris even know about Jade's betrayal?
"Hey, Lunchmeat, what do you call a human running down the street?" Jared called.
"What?"
"Fast food."
Several of the monsters snickered. She rolled her eyes and retreated to her bunk, hoping Sasha planned to give her time to rest before attacking her.
"Damn you, Kris," she whispered.
"Kris?" one voice echoed.
"The Council’s Kris?" another snarled.
"Yeah," she answered.
"He sent you here?" Jared asked.
"Don’t know. My luck’s gone to shit since meeting him."
"Rhyn, you hear that?"
She glanced toward the dark cell and saw the silver eyes flash dangerously.
"You know Kris and Sasha are brothers, right?" Jared continued.
"No, I didn’t."
"There were seven of them. Sasha betrayed the others and aligned with the Dark One. He goes through Hell and collects us freaks down here."
"Hate Kris."
"He must die!"
"Kris." Rhyn’s low voice was the most sinister of all the monsters' complaints. He drew out the name, and she sensed a personal connection to the white-haired man.
"Kris’s not stupid enough to send you here. My guess is Sasha snatched you. This is the only place immortal pets can’t get you, or anyone else," Jared theorized. "Hey Rhyn, bet Kris wants this one back."
Rhyn smashed his cell hard enough for the walls to shudder.
Her luck grew worse. She heard the hisses that preceded the robed man’s approach. She tensed and waited, willing him to continue. When he stopped at her cell, she sighed.
"Come with me."
The inmates began cheering. She hesitated, reviewing what the inmates had told her about grabbing the robed man's necklace. As she emerged, both of them jumped back as Rhyn smashed into his cell.
"Less pain," Jared reminded her as she passed.
"A million dollars."
"No pain but some fucking."
"I’ll just eat you."
One by one the inmates made their offers as she passed. The robed man was small. Surely she could punch him hard enough to knock him out. She balled up a fist and looked at it, wondering how to hit him.
She wasn’t going back to Sasha. Ever.
Hands darted from the cells to swipe at them, and she saw why the robed man kept to the center of the corridor. He reached the end, and she readied her fist. Once she had the amulet, she could bargain harder with the inmates.
Punch him, grab the amulet, bargain for her freedom. The plan was quick and easy.
The robed man opened the door for her as he had before. She waited for him to face her then punched him as hard as she could in the nose. It hurt! She shook her hand out.
The inmates erupted into cheers. The robed man didn’t fall to her feet unconsciously as she planned but stared at her in surprise. She saw lightning forming in his hand.
"Hit him again!" Jared yelled.
"In the neck," another seconded.
She raised her fist to lay a right hook to his throat, beginning to panic when the lightning arced between his hands. He raised a hand to block, but she kicked him in the groin, and then in the neck. He bent over, coughing. She jerked the amulet off his neck, and the lighting flickered. The robed man stretched for her. She danced away from him and the hand of a monster that brushed her calf back to the center of the hall.
She raised the amulet to stare at it, the cacophony around her rising as the excited inmates glimpsed their freedom. They began beating against their cell walls, and the lights flickered again.
The robed man was coming for her.
"Make me an offer!" she shouted, backing away.
"No pain!" four voices chimed at once.
"No pain and escape to your world!"
"A million dollars."
"NO pain!" Jared shouted at last.
"If you’re Kris’s, pain like you’ve never known."
"That’s not how this works, Rhyn!" she snapped.
The robed man tackled her, and the amulet went flying. Arms, tentacles, and antennae stretched for it. It landed dead center in the hall, out of everyone’s reach. She wrenched away, only for the robed man to snatch her ankle and drag her down. He shot lightning at her that bounced off and hit an inmate. The screams added to the chaos. She kicked the robed man, and both launched themselves at the amulet.
She snatched it. He grabbed her waist. When she dropped it, he bent. They tumbled to the ground, one foot--she wasn’t sure whose--knocking the amulet away.
Silence fell. She and the robed man both stopped moving, watching in disbelief as the amulet skittered, rolled, and disappeared into Rhyn’s cell.
Rhyn gave a chilling chuckle.
"You better run," Jared advised. "Both of you."
The robed man scrambled to his feet and darted for the door. A dark arm darted from Rhyn’s cell and snatched him mid-stride. There was a small scream, then the crack of bone and ripping of flesh. Silence.
Katie rose, heart hammering. Weakened already, she struggled for her balance.
"C’mere, little girl." His throaty chuckle scared her more than the thought of returning to Sasha. She eyed the door at the end of the hall, then her cell, and turned 360. There was one way out.
"Give me a head start, Rhyn. It’s only fair since you’re free because of me," she ventured.
"Go for it." His noncommittal response and stillness worried her mo
re. She started forward.
"Farewell, Lunchmeat," Jared called in resignation.
This couldn’t be how she died! She’d lived through too much the past few days to be eaten by some boogeyman in a dark cell! She straightened her shoulders, determined to approach her fate without fear. She’d been terrified since being told she had amnesia, but she’d stayed strong.
"Do your worst, you rabid dog," she challenged as she approached the point where the robed man had disappeared.
Another smoky chuckle. She sensed his movement and closed her eyes, willing her death to be as fast as the robed man’s. Rhyn snatched her into the darkness, and a familiar fog appeared around her.
Suddenly, the shadow world released her. She gasped and dropped to her knees, unable to see in the inky blackness around her. She didn’t feel sick this time, only weakness. The scent of sea was in the air, a rough circle of lighter darkness before her, as if she had landed in the back of a cave and looked towards its mouth. The ground was rocky beneath her hands and knees, the air chilled.
She shoved at Rhyn when he grabbed her again and hauled her up. He certainly felt human with a massive male body expending heat and warmth.
"I haven’t eaten in thousands of years," he rasped, holding her easily despite her struggles.
He gripped her neck and tilted her head. She fought him harder, tears in her eyes.
"Not so tough now, are you, little girl?" His voice was husky.
She slammed her elbow into his ribs, and he chuckled, locking his other arm around her. His body was warm compared to the chill of the sea. Immobilized, she waited with panicked dread for an attack like Sasha’s. He nuzzled her neck, his breath hot against her skin. She squeezed her eyes closed, heart slamming in her tight chest.
There was a pinch and numbness as his fangs sank into her neck. He drank for a long minute then threw his head back, roaring with pleasure.
"You do taste as sweet as you look," he said, voice thick with need. "In the name of the Seven, I claim you as mine."
His words confused her. He released her neck, touching it with a thumb that burned hot enough to singe her skin. Her legs were too weak to hold her, and he lowered her to the ground. She saw his large frame against the night sky outside the small cave, human one moment, then decidedly not the next. He growled a warning and peered back at her through the silver eyes of a cat-like beast the size of a large horse.
And then he was gone.
Chapter Five
Dawn came slowly, followed by the brilliant blue sky of morning. She shifted from her seat in the cave to stand at the edge of the cave, furious at him for leaving her in a small cave on a sheer cliff overlooking the sea. She hadn't slept all night, afraid of what other secrets the night held.
She looked down. The churning sea below was littered with jagged rocks that looked small from her perch a hundred feet above them. Not only could she not escape, but she could just as well starve to death if he decided never to return.
She braided her hair to keep the stiff sea breeze from tossing curls in her face and squinted upward again. She was closer to the top than to the waves, but the cliff had too few hand and footholds for her to try to climb. She perched on a boulder near the entrance, wondering how many nights of Sasha-type treatment she’d take before tossing herself off the cliff.
Bored, restless, fearful, she retreated to the back of the cave, searching it again for any sort of door or anything that might aid her escape. There was nothing. Nothing she could use to escape.
Which was why he chose this spot, and she couldn’t help shivering at the thought that this place was too perfect for this to be the first time he’d imprisoned someone here.
"What’re you doing?"
She jumped but replied without turning, "Looking for a way to escape."
"One way out."
She steeled herself and turned, expecting to find a monster.
He looked human. He was taller than average, over six and a half feet, built like a rock with wide shoulders and tapered abdomen and hips beneath a jumpsuit similar to those worn by the prisoners. Its snugness drew her eyes to his crotch and lean thighs. His hair was dark, his eyes liquid silver, his complexion olive and unshaven.
He tossed fish tied together on a rope into the center of the cave, ignoring her inspection.
"I can’t eat them raw," she objected.
"Then you don’t eat."
He walked to the edge of the cave and dived out.
She followed, startled, only to see a massive black bird the size of a pterodactyl coasting along the tops of the waves. She shook her head, convinced she was going crazy. Her eyes fell to the fish, and her nose wrinkled.
Rope. She knelt beside the fish and unwrapped them with a grimace, cheered to find the section of rope nearly five feet long. She tossed the fish back to the ocean and coiled the rope, hiding it beneath several small rocks in the back of the cave. She napped, paced, and stared up at the ceiling. The sun crossed the sky, and an hour before it would set, he returned.
With more fish. She sat up and crossed her legs, eyeing the rope. He walked out again, and she tossed the fish and hid the rope, straightening just as he reappeared.
His eyes flashed silver as he glanced at her. He sat on a boulder near the entrance, as if he were the bouncer trying to prevent someone like her from exiting.
"C’mere, little girl," he growled.
"I hate that!"
"It’s how this works."
"How what works?" she asked.
"I feed you, you feed me."
"Can’t you eat a cow or a rabbit or something?"
"You taste better."
She didn’t know what to think. She needed more rope to reach the top of the cliff, yet being dinner for any creature wasn’t the way she’d like to go. And what if he attacked her as Sasha did, and she had no Lankha to heal her? She’d bleed out in this cave.
"I’ve claimed you as my blood slave," he said, as if reading her mind. "You’re worth more to me alive."
"In that case, then, if you ever hurt me, I’ll throw myself to the ocean!"
"Whatever."
She wasn’t ready yet to prove it to him, not before she at least tried to escape. He gave her a look that warned her he’d get her if she didn’t come to him. She rose, angry, and knelt beside him.
He gripped her neck in one large, roughened hand, tilting her head. She squeezed her eyes closed, heart quickening and her breathing fast and shallow. She gripped his wrist hard, wondering why he insisted on tormenting her by taking his time. At long last, she felt the warmth of his breath on her neck. He bit, and she stifled a cry. The pinch was less today, and the pain gone instantly, replaced by heat and warmth. He didn’t drink long, and when he was finished he touched his thumb to the wound, cauterizing it again.
Only when he released her did she sit back on her heels and open her eyes. He was gone again. The blood loss and lack of food made her dizzy. She reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the three water cubes and the remaining sugary cube. She popped one water cube but replaced the sugary cube with some hesitation. If he brought her more fish tomorrow morning, she’d have rope enough to reach the cliff edge ten feet above. She’d need her strength for what she planned.
She lay down on her back to watch the sun set and didn’t move until he returned early the next morning to toss stinky fish beside her. She rolled to face him, squinting in the grainy dawn. His silver eyes flashed from the darkness at the back of the cave, alarming her.
"You slaughter a party of Girl Scouts last night?" she asked, unnerved.
"Brave little mortal," came the growl. "Don’t know the size of the storm about to hit you, do you."
She hated how he spoke to her, like he knew exactly what to say to terrify her. She was normally good at covering emotions she didn’t want to display, but he read them all and threw them back in her face.
"What’s it to you?" she groused.
"Need a mortal blood monkey. You owe me
. Easy blood."
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She’d like to think she was saving poor souls every day she spent with him donating her blood, but she couldn’t help thinking she really wouldn’t care what he did to get blood if she was gone.
"I owe you?" she echoed. "Who wrestled the crazy guy in a robe for the key? You wouldn’t be free if not for me."
"You’d be in a thousand pieces if not for me."
"Like being a mortal blood monkey is soooooooo far above lunchmeat!"
"You’re alive, you’re fed, and you’re free," he pointed out.
"I am deep in your debt, my most gracious lord and master."
"Fuck you."
She skulked and imagined him doing the same in the back of the cave. He rustled around, and she wondered what he was doing so close to her precious rope. She feared asking him, not wanting to tip him off that she was plotting.
"And I’m not free," she added under her breath.
He stalked past her, his anger palpable. He dived off the ledge, and she scampered forward. The pterodactyl dropped and caught itself, coasting in the sea breeze.
She watched him until he disappeared, then freed the fish. She tied the lengths of rope together and hunted for and found the perfect boulder in the cave: a loose, rounded rock the size of both her fists that was light enough for her to throw. Tying her chosen anchor to one end of the rope, she sat to eat her sugary cube, checked again for the monster, and leaned out of the cave.
The cliff edge was around ten feet from the cave. She looked down, stomach unsettled by the distance. This was worse than ledge walking in the hotel; there was no balcony to catch her!
She swung the boulder up, ducking as it slapped the side of the cliff just short of the ledge and fell back to her. She tried again, releasing more rope this time. It clattered along the top of the cliff and fell. She continued to throw it until it stuck. She pulled hard on the rope, feeling some give, then tautness as the anchor lodged itself between unmovable objects.
