Page 88 of Bought to Break
‘Lana?’ he croaked.
She rushed to the bars. ‘Sorin! You’re alive.’
One eye opened just a crack and he raised his head. ‘Lana.’ He smiled. ‘They must have hit me harder than I thought.’
He didn’t think she was really here. She wished she could get into the cell to touch him, but the door was locked and there was no key to be seen. ‘Sorin, I’m here. Really, I am. And Viktor and Kane are coming. We’re going to get out of here, I promise.’ A lump rose in her throat as she saw how they had hurt him already. ‘I’m going to make them pay for what they’ve done to you, Sorin.’
He just stared at her, a dreamy smile on his face.
‘I have to go, but I promise you we are going to get out of this awful place. If you don’t remember anything else I’ve said, please remember that.’
She turned away before he could see her tears, though he probably wouldn’t notice them, and ran all the way up the steps and back to the room. She didn’t look for the Vessel. She’d been gone for too long, but at least she knew where Sorin was and that he was alive.
She was just in time. The door opened a moment later, and she hoped her heavy breathing was taken merely as a sign of panic, not of exertion.
The priest came in, along with the largest man she’d ever seen. He was bare chested and wearing leathers. He also sported a tattoo of two crossed axes on his chest. Her blood ran cold as she recognised what he was from the stories; one of the gladiators who fought each other like demons for the crowds of the northern arenas. What was he going to do? She shrank back, unable to mask her fear.
The priest was shaking his head. ‘I’ve already told him I’m sure. There’s no reason to test her. She’s a witch. I’m certain of it.’
The big man regarded her, his chin jutting out as he looked closer. ‘Well, I can’t see a fucking glow, that’s for sure. And orders are orders. So she goes to the pit for the night and we see in the morning. She’ll be safe enough if she’s what they said.’
The man grabbed her and she screamed. He ignored her and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of grain, marching through the stables and courtyard to another building. He opened the door and they were greeted by a barrage of sounds: steel on steel, grunts and shouts; the sounds of men fighting and sparring. When they saw her, the sounds quieted.
She was placed in a cage in the centre of the room. It was locked securely. The priest was nowhere to be seen. Instead she was surrounded by other gladiators. Some were staring salaciously. Others simply looked puzzled by her appearance.
The big man snapped his fingers in front of her, getting her attention. ‘They can’t get in, but if I were you I’d stay away from the bars. If they grab you, they won’t let go. See you in the morning.’ He laughed. ‘Probably.’ And then he was gone.
She surveyed the room. There were at least twenty men, all as big as the other one. None of them spoke, but she noticed they wore only loincloths and many of them were hard just from looking at her. She remembered hearing that they were usually denied the company of women unless they won a fight. This must be a real treat for them, she thought wryly.
Suddenly two of them ran at the cage, putting their arms through the bars and grasping at her hair, her clothes – anything. One of them got hold of her cloak and dragged her back towards the side of the cage. She resisted, choking, as she fumbled with the clasp. She got it undone and it was snatched through the bars. The man who took it smelled it, breathing in her scent, and howled like an animal. More of them thrust their arms through the bars, yelling and making awful sounds. She screamed, wrapping her remaining clothes tightly around herself so they couldn’t get her. If she stayed in the middle of the enclosure, they couldn’t reach. Just stay in the middle. Just stay in the middle.She said it to herself like a mantra, as if that would keep her safe. She curled into a ball in the very centre of the pen and began to sob, shutting her eyes and covering her ears as she tried to block them out.
The onslaught lasted well into the night, and at some point she fell into a fitful sleep to the sounds of them still grasping for her.
In the morning she opened her eyes, swollen and puffy from crying, and realised she was lying too close to the bars. Heart pounding, she shuffled silently back to the middle, where she was safe, before she saw that the gladiators had all given up. Some were sleeping peacefully against the cage. Others just watched her with an almost tranquil fascination. The fight in them seemed to have disappeared.
The door to the barracks opened with a crunch and the big man from the night before stepped inside. He looked around the room, disbelief evident on his face.
‘Tell him to come. Now,’ he whispered to someone behind him.
Moments passed and he didn’t move, didn’t venture into the room further. He watched her now with that same fealty she’d seen on the priest’s face yestereve, and it made her skin crawl. Footsteps sounded and he finally moved to let someone through. Two someones. The first was the priest. He looked around in amazement.
‘Calm as rabbits. You see? I was right.’
A tall thin man stepped around him and she got her first look at the Collector.
‘So you’re the witch.’
Lana wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but the man in front of her looked … unassuming regardless of his impressive height. His hair held more grey than not and while he definitely commanded the room, she’d expected some fearsome creature. This was just a man.
His fingers flexed as if he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her, but the look in his piercing black eyes wasn’t sordid in the least. She truly was simply a possession to him. He could and would treat her any way he liked and think no more of it than he would of a rare vase or jewel. She was relegated to athingand it felt very much the same as being a slave. She wasn’t having second thoughts, but she was terrified. What if things didn’t go to plan? Kane and Viktor should be close, but if they were caught, if they couldn’t find her, if they were too late. So much could go wrong and she would be trapped here.No.She would do whatever it took to save herself and Sorin, she vowed, even if the others couldn’t get to them.
‘Get her out of the cage,’ Vineri said to the gladiator and turned to the priest. ‘Well?’
The priest hadn’t stopped looking at her, a disconcerting joy in his countenance. ‘She’s been bound by blood magick, but it can be undone. Then, I will bind her to me, with your leave.’
Vineri didn’t take his eyes off her either as he continued to speak as if she were not there. ‘And you can keep the witch alive?’
‘Yes. But I will require the item you promised.’
