Page 9

My eyes widened as I stared in stark horror at the sinister grin taking over my mother’s face—at the two golden shackles that were compressed seamlessly over my wrists again.

Trauma shook my body. My muscles trembled in ripe horror that I was in an identical Cidris cage, like the one I had lived in for two months.

My stomach flipped. My heart dropped. Agony at my mother’s betrayal leeched the few sparks of life I had remaining in my body.

It sucked the sadness straight out of my soul.

All that was left were skid marks of derailed anger.

I clenched my fists, letting the blood pool at my fingertips, letting out a roar so loud—so vicious—I hoped it would break the glass.

And for a brief second, magic streaked across my arms and into my hands, making its way through the shackles until my fingertips ignited in flickering blue flames. I had one moment of hope until it, like my fire, was snuffed out.

Fletcher’s magic shook awake then banged against my ribs like a caged animal.

At the tail end of my scream, I heard a deep groan behind me. I turned and laid eyes on a second cage. A bronze-headed male was sprawled on the floor of his own cage and moving ever so slightly. His muscles were defined and veins bulged over his forearms like he had been under great stress.

A glass tunnel connected our cages with a clear grid wedged in between to separate us that spanned beyond the walls of the tunnel.

I looked back at my mother who had her arms crossed, legs set shoulder width apart, and chin tilted down. “What are you doing!” I slammed my fists against the cage .

“Admiring my work.”

I growled as I slapped the glass once more.

“You like my upgrade? I think it’s much better than the closet.”

I trembled, realizing she could hear me and I could hear her.

Only the front glass was reinforced to mute sound, not the sides.

And since this wasn’t butted up against another cage, I could communicate.

The air became thick with my fury, my disgust, my utter despair at ever thinking I could trust in anyone again.

“Clothes off.”

I sent my magic down my arms again, but this time it didn’t pass through the shackles. I ground my teeth, curling my lips back.

“If you keep your clothes on, Ripley, I will have to press this button twice as much to get a full bottle of blood because most of it will be soaked into the cloth.”

I felt the hardening of the shell around me, locking that innocent Ripley from two months ago up tight in a mummified version of myself sent to die. “Then, I guess that is just what you’ll have to do.”

She shrugged. “Fine.”

“Where am I?” the naked male behind me grumbled .

Mother ignored his question and so did I. I listened to her footfalls as she sauntered closer without a hint of urgency. Then, there was a thump as her hand as it came down on the button.

This all-too-familiar motion reminded me of the countless times Fletcher had done the same. He was now somehow the lesser of two evils. Could he feel me now? My rage? My distress? I pushed away every thought of him, not wanting hope, not wanting that kind of punishment.

The machine powered on, the pressure building in the cage as it dragged me to the center, breaking open my skin and sucking the blood from my body.

When it was over, I collapsed to the ground, heaving for air. Mother’s smile added to my revulsion as she picked up the bottle of my blood then moseyed up the stairs and out of the basement.

“Are you okay?” His muffled voice sounded frantic as his hands slammed against the glass barrier between us.

“Hardly,” I groused out, getting to my knees, wiping the blood off my lip, then turning to him. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Mirin. I’d ask what the hell these cages are, but I guess I just figured it out. ”

I spit out blood to the floor of my cage. “We have to find a way out of here.”

“If you have any ideas, I’m listening.” His golden shackles glinted in the recessed lights as he ran his hands along the smooth edges of the glass, investigating.

I gazed at the tunnel where our cages were connected and realized why. In a low voice, I said, “She’s planning on breeding us.”

A crease formed between his thin brows. “What?”

“More babies, more Elizian blood.”

“Hey, I’m not going to do that.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling the beginnings of a headache swarming within my brain and churning my stomach. “Good. Because if you so much as touch me, I will break all your teeth in.”

He raised his hands, heavy brows shooting up, enlarging all his features, including his wide mouth. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

His orange eyes continued to search his cage. Mumbling to himself, he got on all fours and began looking at the gutter system that ran the perimeter of the cage.

My mother returned down the stairs, bottle in hand as she took a sip from it .

“I swear, Mother , when I am free, I will mangle you and string you up on a pole where the creatures of the night can eat away at your flesh.”

Her eyes brightened. “Creative. I suggest the day. Far more atrocious creatures after some fresh meat,” she said in a chuckle. “Sounds like your little adventure outside hasn’t really chalked up to much. And now look what I have to do to keep you here. Honestly, Ripley, was it worth it?”

She was insulting what was mine. The ?lden Lands and my lack of knowledge of it. Then, Fletcher’s magic shook near my heart, sending his brown eyes flashing across my mind. “If I cannot free myself, Fletcher will come for me.”

“You think your fucking abilities are that good? You think you’re good enough to distract him from more experienced women?

That man has had far more females to blame your inexperience as a reason to come looking for you.

I’m sure you’re not that good in bed. I think that Cidris is probably fucking some other Elizian right now, deary.

You are no prize. I warned you not to trust him. ”

I gritted my teeth, tasting the metallic blood coating my tongue. “But I can’t trust you either!”

“I know!” she exclaimed with a smile .

I swallowed and felt every bit of the burn as the blood landed in my stomach. “Where the hell did you even get this?”

“I have Cidris friends.”

“ Friends ? Why would they help you instead of capturing you?”

“Oh,” she laughed, “because I’m not Elizian.”