Page 7 of Impaled by His Omega Prince (Reluctant Fae Princes #2)
Lumic
It was something different every night, a half orc, a dwarf, a damned goblin at one point, though he couldn’t have been certain. The creatures were very elusive, but he found that the more he won, the less they wanted to use him. He could be thankful for that much, at least.
What he wasn’t thankful for was the lack of preparatory medicines he needed. Lumic had been almost two weeks without nightflower, and as any omega over a certain age could tell, the first heat off of it would be rough.
Perhaps the vitalis he had been forced to take every few nights would make his heat more bearable, stave it off, or hopefully do something to keep the wandering eyes of their alpha patron off him. The disgusting prick lingered near his cell when Lumic bathed, staring openly with the least impressive cockstand he’d ever witnessed. But it capitulated when he dropped his pants and decided to put on a show for Lumic to watch, all the while the dwarf two cells down wheezed in pain from a lost fight, vitalis doing its best for him.
Up until that very moment, Lumic had never formed an opinion on testicles. Witnessing the alpha that Askara called Cilan show off his goods , Lumic could happily say that had changed. It made Lumic want to believe in a goddess, because certainly any male with smaller balls than a wildercat couldn’t have been virile. Any smaller, and Lumic would have insisted he was omega. As much as he wanted to say it, though, Lumic remained silent and did his best to watch while appearing bored.
Once finished, he stuffed himself away and left Lumic to lounge on the bench. But that peace wasn’t meant to last.
A bustle of feet met the stairs leading into the dungeon. The yellowing light of the wall sconces brightened as Cilan saw fit to turn the flame up, followed in tow by a very familiar male.
“Thank the law,” Lumic said, his chest sagging with relief as he met the dull gaze of his alpha brother, Stamel.
“All in one piece, as I promised, Your Highness.” Cilan simpered and bowed for his brother, and Lumic sneered, but his brother’s expression didn’t reflect anything positive.
“Your price for him?”
“You understand, he’s been difficult . I’m certain I could ask for a pittance, a dozen vati for the boy.” Cilan, paling as he made the statement, flinched when Stamel laughed, his tone cold and harsh. “Dharni, if you have it. Vati is often easier to track.”
“And how much to keep him… No, how much for him to lose the next fight?” Stamel didn’t even glance at Lumic, his jaw clenching.
“Name your price, Your Highness.”
“Twenty vati. Another fifty once the corpse is delivered to King Pallosar.” He laughed harshly and turned, a wide grin stretching his stubbled jaw. Their eerily similar red hair shone brown in the torchlight, but for a moment, all Lumic could see was red.
He couldn’t even muster the words to speak, and any rage he showed would only bring Stamel pleasure. His only hope was to not only live but to do so or die trying.
But if Stamel wanted to play games of fate, then Lumic would burn him. As the torchlights they lit dimmed from their departure, Lumic kicked his dinner water cup, shattering the poorly formed ceramic into angled shards. He lifted his shirt and stared down at his chest, all firm lines and smooth skin. The odd scar dotted his flesh. With a deep breath and fierce determination, Lumic carved words into his flesh.
Stamel sold me. Traitor. And as he waited for the next fight, he pressed dirt into the cuts and held part of his filthy shirt to his chest. If he died—he was taking Stamel with him.
***
It wasn’t a fair fight. Two against one. Lumic, armed with a blunt short sword with a rattling pommel, found himself losing ground, stepping back and crying out with every swing. The two alpha fae they had pitted against him had pure glee in their eyes, but Lumic claimed his blood. His shorter stature gave him advantage, and he blocked the errant swing of a sword with one arm holding his own and kicked the feet from beneath his first assailant. Messy brown hair—unwashed and choppy—fell over his face. His companion fared no better, stumbling back at Lumic’s charge, stepping too far into the male’s reach to be hit by a sword.
He knew he’d lose, though. He was exhausted, angry, jittery, and under the influence of something that had his skin prickling and mind unfocused. “Do yourselves a favor and just die already.”
One of the alphas rose to his feet while Lumic did his best to lay a killing blow to the throat of the other.
“If they weren’t giving me three pahs to skewer you with my sword, I’d be rutting you through your heat,” the other alpha said as he swung his sword and missed Lumic, knocking his blade askew. The jarring motion mid-swing ended his companion’s life with a very unclean slash to his head. Were he not accustomed to battle, he’d have looked away.
“Rather die than let the likes of you spear me with your short sword—” Lumic made a show of glancing the alpha up and down as he righted himself. “Perhaps short sword is too generous. Your little dagger.”
Lumic dodged a sudden swing, the arc of it wild and full of offense. “No need to be so sensitive. It’s not the length of a male’s blade but how he wields it.”
“Fuck you, mouthy omega. That’s how I know you’re a Croatens whore. Liaberian bitches know their place.” Spittle flew as he spoke, and Lumic stumbled over the body of the fallen alpha, foot slipping in blood as he fell back with a solid slam to the ground. “Now pardon me while I give you a new hole to fuck.”
Cold metal sheathed into Lumic’s chest, cleanly missing his ribs. Deep inside, he was very aware of his beating heart, and the fact that the sword missed it. Still, it hit other vital things. The next breath he took sent all the pain he hadn’t felt, searing through him. And the next rattled with blood spilling into his lungs.
“Any last words, slut?” The alpha grinned, revealing two missing upper teeth. Lumic could only smell blood and his heart’s fluid. That clear viscera had an ammoniac smell that kept him aware as he couldn’t get the breath to make any words.
Instead, he held up one hand to give him the fickle fingers, and the other, pinching in gesture. Fuck you in the ass, and you have a tiny dick.
He fell onto his back, breath bubbling. His fading vision halted on a broken stained glass panel, the moon shining down on him like a chastened child peeking in. From a wet whispered breath, he spoke. “Lady goddess, moon above. Will you really save me?”