Shattered (16 page)

“Get him!” Brent ordered. Pointing to Torrid, he scanned the room, assessing his next move. When his gaze remained on me, I knew I had to move fast.

He lunged at me, his arms extended as he reached for my throat. Caught off guard, I sidestepped him instead of erecting my protective shield. When he lunged again, I concentrated and was able to slow his progress with a shield that wasn’t quite as strong as it needed to be in order to stop him completely.

“Think you’re so smart,” Brent shouted. His arms pierced through my shield and his fingers wiggled their desire to choke me, while his body remained blocked. “How long do you real y think you can keep this up, cutie? In seconds flat you’l be whining of a headache and I’l be al over you.” I

ignored

him

and

concentrated

on

maintaining the protective shield. Torrid was already busy with a half dozen guards who’d quickly run in.

One by one they jumped him, enjoying the thril of the fight. Every time I thought it would end, another guard arrived and the fighting renewed.

Backing to a corner to protect my back, my concentration on Brent and the protective shield that held him at arm’s length buckled and he inched closer. His fingers caressed my cheek and his ominous snicker fil ed my protective bubble.

I could taste the panic in the back of my throat. If I didn’t succeed in concentrating harder, he’d be al over me in a matter of seconds. My fear for Torrid’s safety took up too many of my thoughts and, in my periphery, I could see Matthew struggling to get to Jocelyn’s side. On al fours, he crawled toward her, but his progress was slow and painful. I knew al this took away from my ability to concentrate on my own safety.

Closing my eyes, I shut out al that was going on around me. If we were to get out of here alive, I had to deal with Brent more efficiently. I intensified the strength of the wal around me and was rewarded by Brent’s cry of pain as his arms remained winched within my protective wal .

It was a sound that brought a smal grin of satisfaction to my lips and when I opened my eyes and saw his grimace, I gave myself a mental pat on the back for a job wel done. Not only had I managed to keep him away from me, but he was temporarily locked within the confines of my barrier.

I slipped out the side of my force field, leaving him facing an empty wal . He turned to spit at me, but a quick and easily erected little barrier had his spit splattering back in his own face.

spit splattering back in his own face.

“You dirty little piece of worthless trash,” he growled as he continued to struggle against the hold of my barrier. “We’l see who’s feeling victorious when I get my hands on you and have you thrown to the dogs… piece by piece.”

The vivid image shocked me, but I quickly regained my composure and did what I had to do.

Torrid kept up with the endless flow of guards, though I could see fatigue settling in. The guards that he’d tossed about so easily moments earlier were now being tossed aside with greater effort.

Before he was no longer able to keep up the fight, I headed to Matthew and Jocelyn.

“We have to get you guys out of here fast,” I told Matthew.

He knelt beside Jocelyn and silently wept.

“Don’t lose hope, Matthew. We’l get you out.

Come on.” I stooped beside him and took a hold of Jocelyn’s arm. “Help me get her up. Torrid wil keep the guards occupied while we bring her to a safer place.”

Turning his vacant eyes to me, he muttered,

“What safe place? Where is it safe, Kama? There’s no such thing. They’re everywhere, these Magical Ones. Everywhere.”

“No,” I said with a sense of urgency. “We’l find a place. Don’t give up, Matthew. Please, just don’t give up. Come on. Help me.”

Taking a feeble hold of Jocelyn’s other arm, he shook his head. “I’m just barely stronger than she is. I can barely hold myself up.”

“You’re bailing out on me, Matthew. I came here to save you, to get the two of you out of here.

Are you trying to tel me that I came out here for nothing; that I risked my life for nothing?” I wanted to whip some sense into him.

Not a ray of hope glimmered in his eyes as he turned to me, but he took a deep breath and took a firmer hold of Jocelyn.

“On three,” I said. “One, two, three.” We hoisted her up and shoved our arms under hers to hold her steady.

Now what? I thought.

I scanned the preparation den. Three corridors opened into the den; from the left, the right and straight ahead of me. Behind me was a set of double doors that led to the death field.

“Where do we go?” Matthew said.

His struggle to remain upright was admirable, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. The right corridor spewed a high number of incoming guards while the corridor straight ahead of me seemed wide open and empty, but I had no idea where it led.

The corridor on the left was the one that had brought us here.

“Okay,” I said. “We’l ize=at had head this way.”

My mind raced as I stepped to the corridor on our left. Al the inmates, I thought. If I could release them, they would cause enough of a commotion to distract the guards. I concentrated on the cel s far ahead of us, hoping to unlock them al before we even entered the corridor, a rookie mistake I was about to regret.

With a painful yank back on my hair, I lost my hold of Jocelyn and found myself in the arms of Brent, his powerful arm around my waist while he gripped my hair with fury.

“Run, Matthew,” I shouted. “Get her out of here.”

Though I knew I had a fierce fight ahead of me with Brent, I concentrated on the cel s, hoping they would al unlock as Matthew and Jocelyn made their way through the corridor.

If nothing else, I wanted to at least know I’d managed to save them, and perhaps countless others.

“Let’s see you work your magic out of this one,” Brent growled into my ear. His hot and stinky breath brushed over my cheek and up to my nostrils.

To add to my nausea, he stuck out his tongue and licked the length of my cheek. “You don’t have a magic potion to push me away now, do you?”

“You're a vile and ugly creature,” I said with disgust.

He laughed, loud and gregarious, his hold of me never wavering. When the laughter ceased, he pressed his lips back to my ear. “You have no idea how vile and ugly a creature I can be, but you're about to find out.”

I scrambled to find what to do. In al of Torrid’s training… there had to be something that would get me out of this. It was too late for a force field. I had to conjure something up… a weapon.

Concentrating, I envision a knife; a good Concentrating, I envision a knife; a good sturdy knife that I could slit his wrist with.

Hearing Brent’s amused chuckle, I knew I’d missed my mark.

“Thanks,” he said.

I opened my eyes to find the knife I’d envisioned in his fist.

My mind went blank and my body went numb.

With minimal effort, Brent yanked me off my feet, twirled around to where Torrid was engaged in yet another fight and cal ed out to his guards, “Keep him busy. I have something to take care of.” Torrid raised his eyes to me and I instantly saw the horror in them.

Don’t let this distract you, I silently begged him. Don’t stop fighting. I’l be okay.

But the moment’s distraction was al the guards needed in order to final y beat Torrid down.

Jumping on him, their glee evident, their victory cemented, they took ful advantage of his weakened position and pinned him to the ground.

“No!” I shouted helplessly. “Torrid!” Chapter 19

As I sat in a darkened cel , no larger than a closet, I saw Torrid’s face again and again. Anguish had fil ed his eyes and while I knew he was in physical pain from the beatings he received from the angered Magical Ones, I knew in my heart that it was the emotional pain of my capture that so tormented him.

Berating myself for the hundredth time, I smashed my palm into the clammy stone wal that imprisoned me.

“Use your magic,” he’d cal ed out, though in the confusion of the moment it’d been hard to discern whether he’d cal ed it aloud or had telepathical y sent me his message. “Use the bloodline of your ancestors. You are the daughter of General Adar. Don’t underestimate al that you can do, Kama.”

His message stayed with me, giving me hope, even when my powers seemed useless. I had no idea how long I’d been in the cel . The perpetual darkness gave no indication to the days and nights that passed and my troubled sleep only added to the confusion, bringing me to dream-fil ed worlds that left reality almost too nightmarish to stand.

The metal grate at the side of my cel opened, a sign that food, if one could cal it that, was arriving.

Like before, chunks of stale bread, remnants of various vegetables and a strip of foul meat was thrown in, no plate, no bowl, no utensils.

The first days I had resisted, refusing to eat what was no doubt the guards’ leftovers, refusing to behave like an animal, until raging hunger took over.

The slightest morsel of food, the tiniest crumb was licked up. Water was hosed in and it pooled in a narrow cavity to the left of the grated opening. Like a dog, I had to lap it up, or scoop what I could with my cupped hands. I knew I had to eat, to get as much strength as possible.

Humility deserted me and al that remained was the desire to survive.

Once again, Torrid’s face came to me, as did his words of encouragemn>

At other times it was simply that last haunting glimpse I had of him that fil ed my mind’s eye. With no concrete news from him, I didn’t even know if he was stil alive. Had he already been thrown to the dogs? And Matthew and Jocelyn. Had al this been for nothing or had they managed to escape?

The guards refused to give me even the slightest information.

In every sense of the word, I was left in the dark.

“Hey, pretty face,” a voice cal ed through the grated opening.

I wanted to believe it was someone I wanted to see, someone who’d come to save me, but a vague memory told me this wasn’t good news. While I could not pinpoint where I’d heard the voice before, deep inside, I knew it belonged to someone I wanted nothing to do with.

“Your day has final y come, lovely.” Brent, the Magical One who captured me, rattled keys against the bars. “You're to take the big stage.” Through the dark, his voice sounded soft and welcoming, anything that would get me out; anything that would al ow me a moment in sunlight, in fresh air. As the key was pushed into the keyhole, however, I knew I would not be led to sun and air, but to my death.

The key turned and a new lump of fear came to my throat. After al I’d been through, after al that had happened, with Liam, with Torrid, with Matthew and Jocelyn, was this how it was to al end?

The door pul ed back and a dul ray of light gave me a dismal view of the tiny cel I’d occupied.

A piece of meat that had gone undetected by my searching hands lay in the corner covered with insects that relished the rotting flesh.

“Come.” A large and bulky hand reached into my hovel, the thick, stubby fingers poised to grasp my hand.

“I don’t want to go,” I mumbled, the sound of my voice like that of a child.

“This isn’t real y a matter of what you want to do.” The hand reached in a little deeper. “Don’t make me have to go in there and drag you out.” I cringed and cowered into the furthest corner of my cel . “Please, I just want to go home. I just want al this to be over. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Oh, it’l al be over al right. And home… wel ,

“Oh, it’l al be over al right. And home… wel , I guess in a way you could cal where you're going home.courstify">”

The large arm and searching hand reached into the corner I clung to and took a vicious hold of my arm. “Now, get out here so we can take a good look at you and get you ready for your big moment.” As dim as it was, the light was nonetheless blinding after so long in complete blackness. My gaze immediately caught on my own arm as I was dragged out. It was so thin and frail, I was certain it couldn’t be mine. The pangs of hunger, however, reminded me of the little food I had managed to scrape off the floor since my incarceration.

I lifted my focus to the room around me and could vaguely make out a few figures standing at attention, waiting for their next order.

In the fog that clung to my brain, they appeared clean, wholesome and nice, almost angelic, but the vicious hold of my arm reminded me of the dire situation I was real y in.

The strong force of my captor brought me to face him. “Remember me?” Brent sneered, his eyes hungry as he leered at me.

I shot a quick glance around the room as the fog in my head dissipated and the images around me became clearer, though they were far from pleasant. The angelic figures around the room were clearly Magical Ones who worked in and around the Coliseum.

“I think I can handle this one,” Brent said to the surroundings guards. His eyes remained on me, his gaze excruciatingly uncomfortable. “I’l bring her out when I’m done with her.”

Several of the Magical Ones left without a word, but a few grumbled among themselves.

Final y one of them stepped forward to confront Brent.

“We have strict orders to escort her to the field. Not only do we not have the time to wait, but you’re not to be alone with a female prisoner.” The hunger left Brent’s eyes for a moment and rage took over. Though his anger was aimed at his subordinates, it was my arm that took the brunt of his rage as he squeezed his fingers like a vice.