Page 42 of Urban Gladiator

I jerked my face away. “I don’t want you or this.”

He scowled. “Be that as it might be, you don’t have a choice. We will be wed tomorrow morning. Once we are bound, you will see how good it will be, lass.” He rose from the bed and began dressing. He did cut a fine figure of manhood. But I wasn’t interested in being any man’s property. Gathering my energy to attack, I brought my hands up.

Nothing happened.

Ian smirked. “There’ll be none of that, lass.”

“What did you do?”

He strode over to the bed and shoved my skirt up my calves. “Hey!”

“Relax, I’m not trying to bed you—yet. These are why you cannot use your magic. They’re dampeners. And will only come off with a special key. Once I trust you not to harm me and you are agreeable to our marriage, I will remove them, lass. It’s for your own good.”

He took away my magic. And after I freed him. He had some nerve. I seethed. “The moment you remove them, I will destroy you.”

“We’ll see. I think I can make you change your mind.” He winked. “I have preparations for our wedding to oversee. I would let you out to explore your new home, but seeing as I cannot trust you won’t try to stab me or run away, you’ll be confined to the room for the time being.”

“You can’t seriously mean to leave me in here.”

“Aye, I am. I’ll bring you some food. Please understand my resolve is firm in this. You are a prize among our kind, and I cannot let you leave for the human world. And don’t try to remove those. They’ve been spelled by a dark witch and don’t like to be tampered with.”

And then he left me sitting in his bed, powerless to escape.

Oh Maiden, Mother, Crone, why have you forsaken me?

16

Spelled by a dark witch? Damn. I sensed the dark power radiating from them. And then I spent the next thirty minutes trying every single spell I could think of to remove them. Not only did none of those spells work, but even the simplest of spells, the lighting of a candle, failed spectacularly. I hadn’t been this inept since I was a small child.

Ian had well and truly trapped me. Would they leach away all my powers until there was nothing left? Even once they were removed, would I be left powerless and defenseless?

That bastard had saved me from one fate only to damn me to another. And while I was thankful I didn’t have to worry about dying because the giant fucked me with his huge dick, Ian was forcing me too.

Touching the thin silver bands around my ankles, black electricity sparked and zapped me, burning my fingers.

“Ow!” I blew on the injured tips.

With a frustrated growl, I vaulted off the bed and stalked around the room. Fury riddled each step. I wouldn’t roll over and take Ian’s betrayal lying down. And that’s what it was—a betrayal. We made an agreement. It had been under duress, but he had reneged on his part of the bargain. My quest to leave Avalon had been plagued by calamity after calamity. It was like the goddess didn’t want me to leave.

To hell with that.

I refused to be sacrificed so the other tribes could lord it over my people and continue making us second-class citizens. And because I couldn’t figure out another way without my magic, I ransacked the room, searching for any way out of these dampeners.

The key had to be here somewhere.

I searched through every drawer. I checked beneath the bed and bedding. There wasn’t a spot in the room and adjoining bathroom I left unchecked.

But I came up empty-handed.

I couldn’t even follow Ian and see if he accidentally led me to the key. Aargh! I bet he had it. Most likely, he surmised the safest place for it was on his person.

How was this my life?

By morning, I’d be married to a man I just met. And it didn’t matter to Ian that I objected. For it appeared there was nothing I could do to stop it. My rage knew no bounds. For the first time in my life, I had no idea what to do. I’d always been called on to figure things out on my own. But what was I without my magic?

Just a silly girl who had no control over my fate.

A bath. Oh my goddess! That was it. I sucked in an excited breath. When I was very little, before my magic manifested itself fully, my parents had taught me sight using water. It was simple and easy, only requiring the barest spark of magic. I wasn’t sure it would work with the dampeners on, but it was worth a shot.

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