Page 14 of Ensnared (The Dragon Captured #1)

A fter I got tapped to join the best MMA gym in Houston, I thought everything would be smooth sailing for me. After all, only the best of the best were invited to train there.

My first day at the new gym, someone dipped my socks in some kind of glue.

I was in a hurry, and I thought they were just wet, so I decided to ignore it.

By the time I realized what had happened, I yanked my shoes off.

That also peeled my socks off, and all the skin on my feet went with it.

I was worried Mom would make me leave the gym, so I didn’t tell her.

At least, not until my right foot was infected.

I won twenty-four hours in the hospital with that one, and even after my release, it made for some long, miserable training sessions.

After my return, I thought they’d back off.

I was wrong.

My gloves were doused in soda and covered with ants. My Gatorade was replaced with apple cider vinegar. My clothes were dusted with itching powder. My locker was decorated with graphic photos, terrible words painted across it.

Sousa’s predecessor said it was just normal ‘hazing,’ and he told me the other fighters were jealous.

In the fighting world, complaining about things like that was considered weak.

I learned pretty quickly to keep my eyes open, to watch my back, and to make myself an uncomfortable target.

I never stooped to doing the same things back—I let my aggression out on the mat.

Soon enough, they were afraid of using such backhanded tactics.

Jealousy turned into respect.

I’m not sure what to expect from the ensnared who have been dragon captured for more than a week now.

I’m sure their dragons have done a better job training them—how could they not?

But how much could they have learned in a week?

I do need instruction. Obviously Axel hasn’t had much luck being taught, since he’s not supposed to have been able to bond me in the first place.

Even so, I’m not worried about myself. I plan to be a very, very difficult target for any hostility.

I’m only worried for Coral, Jade, and Sammy.

Axel waits patiently, or at least, barely tapping his foot, while we gather up our meager belongings.

Sammy’s piled up a veritable mountain of junk he’s pilfered from all over the store. Most of it’s random decor items, ranging from superhero paraphernalia to animal pictures. “No way. You can’t take all that. Last time, you could barely hang on during the ride.”

Sammy’s face falls. “But?—”

“Absolutely not,” I say. “You can take what fits in your backpack and nothing more.”

His shoulders slump as he walks away from his treasure pile.

Gordon, crouched near the entrance in his dragon form, slithers even closer, hisses, and starts to gather up the ends of the sheet that was lying underneath Sammy’s pile of junk.

“What’s he doing?” I ask.

Tell him I’ll take it. Gordon’s voice in my head is raspy with a hiss-like undertone that suits his snake-dragon form.

“That’s not necessary. He’ll be fine,” I say.

But Gordon’s already biting down on the corners of the sheet.

“That’s not going to hold,” I say. “It’ll tear a hundred yards from the store, and then he’ll be even more upset. Trust me. He’ll get over it quick.”

Axel grabs a duvet off the bed next to us and flattens it on the ground. Gordon drops the hobo pile on top, and Axel helps him reposition and tie the duvet around it.

“You don’t have to do that,” I say again.

They ignore me.

So they’ll roast humans without a thought, but for this little boy, they’re knotting up a blanket full of crap? Do they think it atones for their past evils?

Hardly.

Changing dens is hard for little ones, Gordon says. I don’t mind carrying his stuff.

So what if he’s being sweet? I refuse to be swayed.

“Let’s go.”

Rufus is waiting outside, his shoulder height in dragon form a little too tall to easily crouch underneath even the large Star Furniture entry.

The girls, their backpacks slung over their shoulders already, climb on.

Coral looks delighted, and she’s even holding Fluff Dog.

Miracle of miracles, though the little floof is trembling, she’s sitting mostly still on Rufus’ back.

Jade looks practically green, clearly already anticipating a long, miserable ride like the first.

But this time, we don’t set out at a breakneck pace. Although Axel didn’t dump us inside the dragon colony, we must not be too far away, because he stays in his human form. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we headed?”

“It’s a ten-minute walk,” he says. “Give or take.”

“Okay.” I don’t point out that my siblings could walk that, too. Maybe he’s bringing his buddies as a show of force or something.

We don’t go far before we turn down a large highway that is surprisingly not entirely abandoned. It’s hardly rush hour traffic, but there are cars driving back and forth. “What’s going on? Who are those people?” And why didn’t he let me bring my car?

“We’re beginning to reintegrate the assimilated humans. They’re able to maintain the basic human infrastructure for us, even in occupied Houston.”

Occupied Houston. Assimilated humans. My brain rebels at the words. “Come again?”

“I thought a walk would be helpful, so I can explain the basics of the training you’re about to undergo. Ensnared humans are chosen for their abilities—specifically, your telepathic powers.”

“Telepathic, like, my mind can talk to you?”

“That and other things.”

That sounds ominous.

“Once you’re properly trained, you’ll be able to use your mind to monitor other humans. You’ll be able to set them simple, and then later more complex, tasks. Monitoring their completion is simple, and redirecting when necessary will be done with ease.”

“Are you saying I’ll be directing humans like they’re robots?”

“Not exactly. Think of how you just told Sammy he couldn’t take his belongings.

At first, he was disappointed, but you know that with time he’d accept it.

With the other humans, your task is to make sure they don’t break any important rules, and that they are contributing members of society.

You’ll be able to remove any mental anomalies they suffer from, and keep them on task in whatever direction we choose. ”

“Remove mental anomalies?” That sounds. . .awful.

“Humans seem to suffer from any number of unnatural problems, such as a lack of a will to live, insufficient energy to complete tasks, worsened by their inactivity. You’ll be able to will those things away so that they wake up on time, complete healthy exercise, eat properly, and make intelligent, safe choices. ”

“But they won’t really have a choice,” I say. “You’re saying I’ll make them be good.”

He shrugs. “It benefits them as well, and it keeps things here comfortable for both you and us. Don’t worry. You won’t need to punish them—disobedience won’t be possible for them once your training is complete.”

And everything he’s saying about what I can do also applies to what he can do to me. My stomach churns angrily and my mind rejects any involvement in something like that.

“You may not like it, but this is your purpose now,” he says.

“And think how it will make your life easier as well. Instead of huddling inside an abandoned store as you were, or hiding in basements, sheds, or caves, humans will return to their dwellings. They can go about their tasks of cooking, cleaning, and work as they did before, but instead of taking more than their fair share, or providing nothing of benefit and being a drain on the community they live in, they’ll receive only what they need to be healthy and productive citizens.

” He pauses. “There’s no waste in an ensnared-led community. ”

“It’s communism, enforced with mind control. That’s what you’re saying.”

He frowns. “Communism is a form of government where the people rule things and everyone has the same, but it never works. Human greed renders it impossible to achieve, and the lack of a singular motivating factor makes it a poor leveler as well.”

“Okay, but?—”

“The blessed will be directing your actions. You’ll merely control the weak-minded humans so that they don’t need to be killed. I think you can agree that’s a win for all of us.”

He’s making it sound like a public service. Control the weak-minded humans so that they don’t get themselves into trouble. “But it’s our choices that make us who we are.”

“I think drawing breath in and out, the pumping of blood in your heart, those things make you who you are. Without them, you’re nothing.

You’re dead. We can continue debating this later, but it won’t change the reality.

” He points the direction we were moving.

“You will keep walking, and you will learn how to control the humans, because otherwise, I’ll kill you and your small family members, and I’ll deal with the consequences and be done with it. ”

I clench my hands into fists. “Fine.”

“Whether you like it or not, we aren’t about to let the local humans run free under our rule.”

Axel’s half-grin is pissing me off.

“If you refuse to help, someone else will do exactly what I tell you to make them do. Or, I’ll force you. The end result is the same no matter how you handle it.” He leans a little closer. “Your resistance is, quite literally, futile.”

I hate him. Was I just thinking that it was kind of cute how he and Gordon were helping Sammy? I must’ve temporarily lost my mind. He’s the devil. The devil in jeans and a button-down shirt.

“Your style choice sucks.” I shoot past him at a jog. “And I hate you.”

He’s laughing as he catches up. “That’s more like it.”

“You want me to learn to push humans around, and make them do whatever we want, and then what? Why do you even need that?”

“In addition to creating a sustainable life for us while we’re stuck here, their job will also be to aid in the search for the heart, of course.”