Page 34 of Fractured Future

“Get in line, pup,” Hyland rumbles.

“Again with the nickname?”

“Ignore them.” I keep a firm grip on Ember’s elbow. “They’re harmless.”

“Now that’s debatable.” Axel puffs out his chest.

“I… I don’t think so.” Ember sways on her feet. “They took the tracker with them when they dumped me on the roadside with your mobile number.”

We all gape at her. Silent. Stunned.

“There isn’t a single part of that sentence that doesn’t require explaining.” Axel crosses his arms, wearing the scowl that usually precludes his violent outbursts.

“Who?” I stare at her intently.

Ember visibly cringes, her throat working up and down, betraying her apparent reluctance to answer me. It makes my gut churn with increasing fury.

“Em?”

“I don’t…”

When her whisper trails off, I squeeze her arm in encouragement. “It’s okay. Tell me.”

“The man… He… He said his name was Blaine Madden.”

CHAPTER 4

EMBER

CIGARETTES & SAINTS – THE WONDER YEARS

A tap startlesme awake from the sweaty grip of a nightmare. The screams of dying women being tortured, violated and their carcasses tossed aside echo inside my mind along with Gael’s taunts.

You will be my new champion, 768.

Body spasming, I move so fast that I smack my head against what feels like a metal door. Spikes of pain lance through my pounding skull, adding to my confusion.

“Shit.” I grip my forehead. “That h-hurt.”

“Careful, Ember.”

Wrenching my one-functioning eyelid open takes great effort. The other is firmly sealed shut, and the swelling feels a lot worse now that time has allowed my skin to balloon.

So much fire.

What will we do with all that?

For several disorientating seconds, I think I’m curled up on my uncomfortable mattress, pushed into the corner of a room on Gael’s estate. The ever-blinking eye of a camera watching me.

At any moment, Carlos will slam the locked and bolted door open. Drag my exhausted body from the bare mattress and toss me into the ring to fight for my life again. Day in and day out.Never once relenting or allowing me to show the slightest shred of weakness.

“No!” I wail in panic.

“Hey, calm down.”

“Please, stop… S-Stop!”

“Ember! Come back. You’re safe.”