Page 28 of Shadow's Chosen

Elise groaned in response, her whole body feeling like it had been smashed and ripped to pieces. Blood trickled down her lip just as it seeped out from her suit where she'd been bitten and scratched. She could feel her cheek beginning to swell and her back ached something awful. She lifted her head for only a moment before dropping it back.

This was it. She'd fought her best, but she'd lost. She would be a prisoner of this gang until they decided to kill her or sell her to those willing to pay. She'd never find her team. They would be lost and so would the others they had come so far to save. Elise felt no tears coming, but she felt her heart sink into her stomach. She watched the others laughing, the crowd now fixated on a different fight down in the pit below. She closed her eyes and slipped away for what she thought was only a few seconds until she opened her eyes and found the crowd dispersing and heard the roars of engines starting. Night was in full swing, and the pack was off in their cars to cause more havoc on the city streets.

A boot nudged at her back. "Take her into one of the empty rooms."

Elise was pulled up and carried off, first out of the building to the one across from it then into a dark corridor of rooms (offices probably at one point) and dropped into an empty one where the door slammed shut, locking her in darkness.

She lay there in the now quiet, her ears ringing, mouth dry save for the taste of blood. She really needed to check her wounds and stop the bleeding, but she couldn't bring herself to rise. She closed her eyes instead, letting herself fall asleep.

She was woken up by a pair of hands grabbing at her and the sound of quiet hissing voices. She didn't open her eyes despite how rough the hands moved her. She felt her suit being unclasped from the back and pulled off her shoulders. Cold water cut into her skin as someone wiped at her wound. They muttered something, and she felt a dabbing cold at her thigh. They were treating her wounds only so that she didn't die from them but nothing more. They splashed water on her face then closed the door behind them. Elise licked the drops of water from her lips then laid back down and somehow managed to fall back asleep.

Light spilled from the door, this time waking her up with a start, her eyes shooting open, her hands grabbing for a weapon that wasn't there.

"Rise and shine," came a familiar voice. Ruzi.

She was pulled up, forced to her feet as the lizard dragged her from the room and down the corridor. As they went back across to the building where she'd gotten her ass handed to her, Elise lifted her head and saw the light above was dim, what she presumed to be early morning.

The building was empty as Ruzi tied Elise to one of the rails along the edge of the pit then left her. She didn't know how long she sat there, maybe hours. At one point, he returned to let her go to the bathroom then allowed her a sip of water before tying her back up. She tried to work at the bindings, but they were metal coil cinched tight against her skin. She started to shout then to scream for someone to come, to give her some more water if not maybe even food, but no one came. She heard the cars coming and going throughout the day, heard people, but no one entered the building to check on her. She spent most of the day staring at the ships at the back of the room, wishing they weren't stripped of parts, wishing they worked.

When night finally came, the pack leader returned with his group. She was untied from the rail and placed next to him as his people gathered once more into the building.

"Since this human has proven unworthy in the pit, maybe she will be worthy in someone's bunk," he said to the crowd. They laughed, and Elise caught more than a few eyes looking her way, looking a little too hungry for her liking. "All bets are off," the leader announced. "The prize is before me. The match will be a free for all. All those wishing to participate, enter the pit now."

Elise watched with sickening despair as several men and a few women (including Obel, to her surprise) dropped down into the pit. Most were drogin with a smattering of lizards and lygin, all huge and bulky in size, even the women.

There was only one she didn't recognize species-wise, and that was because he was wearing a mask and hood. In fact, as she got a better look at him, she realized with horrified fury that it was one of the Red Blades. The pack leader seemed to notice him too and cut at the air with his hand to order silence.

"How the hell did you get in here, Red Blade?" The drogin's eyes darted around the entrances of the building as he frantically waved at his men to check for other intruders. "Have you come with others seeking this human? Because she won't be given over easily."

The masked man turned his head toward Elise then back to the pack leader. "It is only me who comes for her." His voice was low and grated from the voice box attached to the mask.

The pack leader looked down at him with a frown, clearly suspicious. "Just you, eh? Why would the great Lady Moth send only one of you to fight all of us?"

The Red Blade lowered his head. "I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to win her." He pointed to Elise.

The drogin's frown deepened. "Fine. Why has your mistress sent only one of you to win her?"

"Because I am the best fighter."

The pack leader snorted. "That so? Well, if true, I will allow you to participate. But the prize is only for a night if you come out the last one standing."

"No. I win, she comes with me."

The leader bared his teeth and put up a hand to keep his men back. "I think not. Maybe you didn't hear me, but I said she wouldn't be given over easily."

"I did hear," the lone Red Blade said. "I want to make a bet."

The leader's eyes widened. "A bet?"

"All of your best fighters versus myself. I win, and I take her."

This got everyone's attention, including the leader. Some laughed, others called him crazy. The leader threw up his hand for silence.

"That's a death wish, my friend," he said. But Elise could see he was thinking it over seriously. He looked to those around him, then he smiled. "All right. You take out all my best fighters, and she's yours. It'll be entertaining to see what happens. When you’re beaten dead, we will send your body back to your mistress, eh?"

"Once I win, you will not stop me. I want her bag and weapon too, and I want a vehicle."

"Arrogant ass—" Ruvi began to hiss when his boss growled at him to be quiet.

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