Page 6 of Liar Witch

I settle in to wait, studiously ignoring the body in my cell and trying my best to think ofanythingthat isn’t Nilsa or blood related.

It takes more than a day. Hours of sitting there, trying to ignore the scent of blood. Of being tempted by just one little bite. Opal’s absence doesn’t help.

I’m left to fight the tiny insidious voices inside my head by myself. I’m almost completely lost by the time I hear them.

The first roar is unmistakably a troll. An ululating war cry in a baritone voice that shakes the whole pit. The second answering roar is decidedly more feline.

The other vampires around me don’t react, used to the noises of the pits.

I’m the only one who knows it’s something different.

The floor starts to rumble, more roars echoing towards us. That’s when the others—the partially lucid ones, anyway—start to realise something’s wrong.

Then the screams start. That gets the attention of the rabid ones. They’ve been conditioned to expect food when they hear screams.

The first troll to round the corner is female, but I can only tell because of her immense, saggy tits which drag along the floor as she lopes closer. Trolls are hairy, wrinkly, smelly things with no more intelligence than any other wild animals, dangerous mostly because they heal faster than most immortals.

There are several other trolls behind her, moving in an angry charge straight at me. At the back, I can spot a single bald cyclops swinging its meaty hands from side to side in an ape-like display of aggression.

Cyclopes are only slightly less bestial than trolls: larger, smarter, able to make and use tools when the mood suits them, but still motivated by food, fear or fucking.

Both species come from lands far beyond the walls, hunted at great expense by those willing to risk the wraiths for the huge reward paid by the Pits. The creatures are normally docile in the wild, but dangerous when provoked.

Opal snapping at their heels in her tiger form definitely counts as provocation.

They charge down the corridor, slamming into cell doors as they go. The mage-strengthened metal was specifically made to stop vampires, but the trolls smash through it with ease.

The smart vampires disappear into the night, using their immortal speed to get away. The ones too lost in their bloodlust start to fight indiscriminately. Attacking anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby.

Every vampire here is ranked as an enforcer. Each of us born of a queen, with the strongest genes and the most powerful instincts which make us the best protectors for her nest. Or the best fighters for the Pits.

If even one of them gets loose, the body count will be horrific.

Opal positions herself between my cage and the cyclops, then roars out a challenge. The blundering creature takes the bait, swinging one meaty fist at the agile feline. Only a lightning-fast dodge saves her from being crushed against the wall by its enormous fist. My door shatters, crumpled like paper under the blow. The instant the barrier is gone, I leap from my cell, using every bit of my vampire speed.

Opal gives up on challenging the cyclops and reaches my side going from tigress to kitten in a matter of seconds. I scoop her up and dash away from the beast, barely noticing the bite she takes out of me until her voice invades my mind.

“Straight ahead. Left. Notthatleft, theotherleft.”

Soon her directions become background noise as my instinct takes over, driving me toward the scent of fresh air.

The other vampires have the rest of the guards distracted enough that I manage to burst through the melee without incident.

The streets of Cawshome have never looked as good as they do now.

“Hold your breath,”Opal advises.“There’s a lot of humans out here.”

I nod, take one last fresh gulp of air and leap onto a rooftop, ready to get as far from the Pits as possible.

It’s time to find my mate and get us both back to theDeadwoodwhere we belong.

Chapter Three

Nilsa

The slab of stone I’m lying on is warm. So warm that its hard surface and the lack of a blanket isn’t an issue. I just want to curl up and stay there.

My brain has other ideas. Survival instincts kick into gear as my eyes flick open.