Page 20 of Chained to the Champion
A bitter laugh choked out from the corner. A man, slumped against the far wall like his bones couldn't hold him up. “Different? These scaly bastards are all the same. Use you 'til you break, then eat the pieces.”
Maybe. I still had my own doubts about the Drakarn. But right then? Survival mode. I moved deeper into the cell, scanning. Automatic threat assessment. A lock as big as my fist. No picking that and, besides, I didn't have tools. Bars thick, rusted but solid. Stone walls looked depressingly sound. Built to hold monsters. Or make them.
“I'm getting us out,” I said. A promise that felt heavy, maybe impossible, but necessary. “What are your names?”
Zarvash, you better show up in the morning.I had to banish the thought. He would be there. He had to be.
They traded looks. That silent language of shared suffering.
“Kinsley.” The first woman, the sharp-eyed one. “This is Nat.” Angular features, lean build, coiled tension. “Yelena.” The magenta streaks. “Eli.” The bitter laugher. “And Asif.” A thin man with kind eyes that looked tragically out of place there, gave a tiny nod.
“How long?” I asked, folding myself onto the gritty floor. Trying not to think about what I was sitting in.
“How long do you fucking think?” Kinsley spat. She still had life in her, still had enough fire to be angry. Good. “Our pod crashed out here. We didn't even have time to figure out which way was up beforetheyfound us.”
“What did they do to you?” I regretted the question even as the words came out of my mouth. Reika had escaped this terrible place and couldn't say a word about it. How could I expect it of people still living in hell?
Nat's mouth twisted. A nerve touched. “We're slaves. We clean the arena after the fights. Serve the warriors.” Her voice dropped, roughened. “Whatever they want.” That last bit hung there, heavy and ugly. My stomach clenched tight.
“Is a woman named Larissa here?” I leaned forward, pulse picking up speed. “Younger, Asian. Larissa Chen. Her sister, Kira, is in Scalvaris. Safe and alive.”
There was a flicker of recognition across Kinsley's face. Thank fuck. “Larissa … Yeah. They took her somewhere else. Outside the city.”
“Why?” The word shot out, too sharp. Damn it. Of course it wouldn't be easy. Not thatthiswas easy.
“I don't know.” Kinsley hugged her knees tighter. “She knew things. Engineering stuff. One of their officials got real interested.”
Air rushed back into my lungs. Alive. Larissa was alive. Kira needed to know.IfI got back to tell her. A new weight settled. What were they making her do?
“Have you seen Reika?” Yelena asked, voice trembling, hope making her look almost young again. “She was in our pod. Did you …?”
“Yes,” I said, and a real smile, small but there, touched my lips. “She's escaped; she's safe.”
The words crashed over Yelena. Hands flew to her mouth, tears instantly welling, spilling over. “Safe,” she whispered, the word dissolving into a choked sob.
“How'd you end up in here?” Asif asked. Quiet voice, steady gaze.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. There was grit under my nails. “I came looking for more humans. After we found Reika, we knew you were out here. Then the Ignarath snatched me outside of Scalvaris. The opportunity to investigate was too goodto pass up.” Not that there was a choice, considering the long hike home Zarvash and I had ahead of us.
If he came.
He would come.
“Alone?” Eli's eyebrows shot up. “Sounds like a suicide mission.”
Shit.
How to explain Zarvash? Tell these people, broken by Drakarn cruelty, that one ofthemwas my backup? That he might be walking into this shithole arena to get me out? That the thought of him facing those Ignarath butchers made something cold curl in my gut? Fuck.
But I couldn't lie. Not that I was incapable of it—I'd lied myself out of too many situations to count. But it would break their trust right then when I needed it most.
I couldn't have that.
“I wasn't the only one captured by the Ignarath,” I said carefully. “There's a Drakarn with me. Zarvash.”
Silence. Thick. Heavy. Hostile.
“You'reworkingwith them?” Nat’s voice was pure ice. Disgust plain on her face. “Willingly?”
