Page 1 of The Gods We Defy (All Gods Must Die #2)
CHAPTER 1
E xhaustion blankets my body, settling deep into my bones, trying to pull me under once again. I fight against the fatigue, forcing my heavy eyelids to open.
The first thing I see are bars. Thick, long black bars similar to the palace cell I was in. Shock jolts through me at the thought of being back in the palace cell, quickly dragging my mind and body from the exhaustion it felt a moment ago.
Kestral’s face flashes across my mind. His anger. His shock… His kiss .
I remember the pain in my chest that followed, and then there’s nothing. Not until I was in the carriage, tied up with Leora beside me as the guards spoke about selling us.
I freeze. Leora…
Dread tumbles through my stomach as I push myself to my hands, both of my arms trembling as I try to get a good look at my surroundings.
It’s dark, the only shred of light is coming from a few small, flamed lamps running along the wall outside of my cell. More cells are across from me, but far enough away that I can’t make out if there is anyone inside them. The cells have barred doors similar to the palace, but the sides look like a gray brick covered in some oily, dark substance.
There’s no sign of Leora. Where is she?
“Leora?” I call out softly, trying to see if anyone will answer. But only silence greets me. Clearing my throat, I look around for some water but find none, nor anything else that would remotely resemble food.
I don’t know how long it has been since I was taken by those guards, but my stomach tells me it’s been at least a day if the hollow, empty feeling is anything to go by.
There’s hay covering the entire cell floor. It’s dirty and smells vile, but at least it’s keeping me warm.
I look for the small dip in the floor and find it at the back of the cell. Wincing, I push myself to my feet. My body sways slightly and it takes a moment for me to steady myself before I can make my way over to it.
After relieving myself, I cover it with hay and take stock of my body.
It’s weak and every bone aches, but the exhaustion I felt a few minutes ago is slowly falling away and even though I haven’t eaten anything in a while, my body feels more and more steady with each passing minute.
That sleeping mixture the guards gave me from the blade must be finally leaving my body.
I reach up and run my finger along the raised skin on my neck. It’s still tender but not painful. The cut isn’t that deep and is already healing well.
Glancing down at my hands, I realize I don’t have any bands on my wrists stopping me from using my powers. Whoever has captured me might be unaware of my Caligo abilities.
I reach down inside myself and try feeling for the cool tendrils of my shadows but quickly find… nothing .
There’s an empty space where they once were.
Panic flitters through me as I reach for my Sidus light, only to feel the same hollowness I felt with my shadows.
Unlike the bracelets that stopped me from using my Sidus light and the block in the maze, this feels like I’m completely powerless. As if both of my abilities have been ripped from me.
Pushing the panic and dread to the back of my mind, I focus on my surroundings and slowly make my way over to the barred cell door. They’re much thicker than the palace bars with my hand unable to wrap fully around one of them. The space between them is tighter too, leaving me with no way of slipping through.
Glancing out past the bars, I find the small, encased flames running along the left and right wall I saw when I first woke up. While the right wall looks to lead somewhere, the left is a clear dead end. I see three cells across from me that look exactly the same as mine.
I watch and listen for a moment, remaining completely still, but no movement or sound comes from any of the surrounding cells. Which must mean I’m the only one here.
There is no natural light, no barred windows or any other opening to the outside in here. I’m definitely underground somewhere. But where?
Pacing the length of my cell, I wrack my brain for a way out of here, and my heart drops when I quickly realize there are none. I’m powerless, without a weapon, and even though my body is strong enough to fight, there is no way I can break through the thick cell bars or brick walls.
Time drags on and my stomach grumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten in a while.
But they brought me here for a reason, and I doubt it was to die in this cell. My captors will reveal themselves soon. I just have to wait.
I start to sit when the sound of someone approaching from the right passageway reaches my ears.
I move closer to the bars, but back away slowly when I see the two bulky men arrive, both wearing a snarl and harsh features.
The first guard has a scar that runs down the entire left side of his dark face, making his already sharp features seem more severe. His hair is tight to his head, only adding to his hard look, but the tips of his ears are round, unlike his companion’s.
The second guard snarls at me, his expression no less harsh but his face is softer, more round. His dark hair is longer, reaching his shoulders with half of it tied up, revealing his long, pointed ears.
Fae.
“Where am I? How did I get here?” I ask, while trying to feign some confidence, even though I feel none.
Both of them ignore me, neither deigning to answer my question nor give me even a sliver of information.
The man with the scar reaches behind his back and pulls a long iron stick out, while the other moves to the cell door, watching me closely as he unlocks it.
My body grows stiff, and I tense as I take a step back from them into my cell.
“Try to fight us and you will regret it,” the fae says as he steps inside the cell, his friend following close behind.
“Why am I here?” I ask again, while taking another step back.
“To fight,” the scarred man answers with a smirk. And before I get the chance to move, he raises his stick and places it in front of me. A light flashes and shoots into me, shocking my body with sharp pain. The pain quickly overwhelms my body, and the darkness envelops me.
I wake with a jolt. The phantom pain from the strange blast of energy is still thrumming through my veins, making my body stiff and sore.
A blaze of light fills my vision as flames engulf lamp after lamp, lighting up the circular room I’m now in. Glancing around, I decide it looks more like a pit than an actual room.
The pit is only large enough to fit a handful of people. The walls are oily, like the brick wall in the cell, and high enough to prevent anyone from escaping. High above is a cage with moving shadows, as if there are people up there watching me.
Seconds pass as I get to my feet and try to find my bearings.
A hidden door in the oily brick wall opens, and another person is thrown into the pit. I move until the nearest wall is to my back, watching the only other threat in here with me.
“Fight each other or die,” a deep ominous voice speaks from above. I glance up, trying to find the source, but all I see are shadows dancing in the torchlight.
I turn my attention back to the guy with tight black hair who was just thrown in here with me, but instead of looking back at me, his deep blue eyes frantically search the pit and its walls. He scrambles to his feet and makes a run toward the wall. Somehow, he manages to get a footing on the oily bricks and scurries up to the cage above. But the minute his hand touches the cage, a jolt rushes through him, contorting and shocking his entire body.
His body freezes on a gasp and wisps of smoke curl from it before he drops to the ground with a heavy thump. There’s no movement from his chest or small tremor of a pulse in his neck. He’s dead.
A whirring sound has me moving farther away from his slumped body. The hidden door opens again, and two different bulky men enter, both with those iron sticks that can easily knock me out. One aims it at me while the other grabs a hold of the dead man’s foot and drags him out.
There is no care or compassion about how he handles him.
The man with the iron stick aimed at me gives me a look of warning before backing out after his companion.
Minutes pass before the door opens once more and a towering man walks in. That’s the first thing I notice. He walks in. He isn’t thrown in like the one before him or knocked out like I was. Everything about him is calm. His black eyes assessing, his body built like a warrior but as silent as an assassin. He scans me from head to toe but dismisses me. He assumes my thin frame means I must be weak.
Either he’s another one of the guards that are looking to let off some of his anger or he’s like me and has been captured. But unlike me, he seems to have more experience being here. He wraps his hands with black cloth and moves without looking where he’s going, like he already knows every inch of this pit. The look in his eyes also tells me he enjoys this. Not just the fight, but the bloodshed. A look that has my stomach churning.
“Fight each other or die,” the same deep voice from before shouts down to us.
I continue to eye the towering man across from me, looking for a weakness or injury I can take advantage of. I will have to use every advantage I have in here. I have no doubt now that my only options are to fight or die. And I am far from ready to die today.
I can’t exhaust him. My body is still too weak from lack of food and whatever sleeping mixture may still be lingering in my body. I will need to strike hard and fast. Use his assumption of me being weak and frail to my advantage.
As if he senses my eyes on him, he looks up and smiles at me. A vicious grin meant only to threaten me and ensure I know what type of pain I will be feeling soon. But just like everyone else who makes those assumptions about me, he will quickly learn the strength I hide within this small body.
My eyes spot the slight outward turn of his right leg. It looks like it’s been broken and hasn’t healed right. He tries to share another one of his threatening smirks as he moves closer, but I catch the slight wince in his eyes as he puts his full weight on it.
With a savage smirk, he cracks his neck from left to right and moves toward me.
I widen my eyes, feigning my fear and panic and pretend to be looking for a way out while keeping one eye on every move he makes as he stalks closer and closer.
Just a little closer…
He moves in front of me, and I see the excited gleam in his eyes. The one that tells me he doesn’t deserve an inch of pity for what I’m about to do.
Injure his leg.
He dips forward and I know the move he’s using before he makes it and quickly dodge, avoiding his punch, bending low and moving out to the right side of him before twisting my body and generating momentum to kick his knee.
The force of my kick makes his body bow forward with a grunt, his fighting stance and posture completely collapsing.
Knock him out. Ensure he can’t get back up again.
The kick is not enough to end this fight. I can see the pain in his eyes, but it’s quickly being snuffed out by anger. I need to end this. Now .
Before he gets a chance to move, I follow up with more blows, aiming at his already weakened knee again and again before ending it with a sharp kick to the jaw.
I watch his head spin as if in slow motion and it snaps sideways. With the force of my kick to his jaw and the added pain from his now dislocated and broken knee, he goes down quickly, slamming his head into the ground with a thump.
Silence greets me. The only sounds are my heavy breaths as adrenaline abandons my body, leaving me weak, tired, and shaky.
After a moment of what I assume is complete shock, a commotion of excited shouts and whispers sound from above.
Seconds later, multiple men rush into the pit from the secret door, all with long iron sticks in their hands.
They eye me up like they don’t understand what just happened, but their guard is up. The cocky look that was in the eyes of the two that brought me here is not in any of their eyes anymore.
They’ve quickly realized that their assumptions about me were wrong. I doubt they will make the same mistake again.
I have a feeling I will be fighting for my life in here.
I need to find a way out. And soon.
One of the men raises his iron stick in front of me and I know what’s about to happen. The light flashes across my eyes before jolting into my body in a painful gasp.
And darkness greets me once more.