Her cage was bright white, shining down on her like the angel she was. Her violet eyes were wide, tears gathering on her lower lids as she hugged her thin, naked body.
I pressed my hands against the glass. It caught her attention. And when our eyes connected, she pressed her hands on the glass too as her mouth formed the nameEtta, the name she knew me as. The name of my favorite book character. The name that Fletcher had suggested I use after telling me I was the princess of Elizy. Whether he had been telling the truth or not, I didn’t know. Nor did it matter. I was doomed to be in this cage for the rest of my life anyway.
I was about to mouth to her that it was going to be okay but stopped myself. It wasn’t. Shewasn’tgoing to be okay. And I wasn’t prepared to lie to her.
So we just stared at each other. Both of us made our way to our knees at the front of our cages, holding each other’s gaze silently.
Not more than twenty minutes later, a man came through and chose her to farm. I kept my eyes to myself, as all women here did, to give her the privacy she deserved.
The man blurred past me and out the door as I turned to look at Topine crumpled on the floor and spotted from neck to toe in red dots. Her once bleach-blonde hair was now a russet orange in dry, frizzy strands.
I watched her crawl into the corner of the cage, close her eyes, and weep.
It wasn’t until hours later when the food slat clicked open and three ocaberries and pieces of bread fell to me did I tear my eyes away from her.
I nibbled on half of a single berry to temper the headache enough so that I’d be more present for Topine’s sake. In case she needed some comfort from me. I’d need some energy to stay awake for her, so I forced myself to take minute bites of bread. When it hit the bottom of my empty stomach, a grumble of a thank you replied.
By the time I swallowed my third bite, four men came through the hall. I paid them no attention until they all stopped at my cage. Here came the gawking again. I scooted to the corner, thinking they’d leave soon, but they didn’t. Instead, I watched as they began prying open my cage.
I was leaving.
CHAPTER
TWO
I watched in horror as they used sharp tools to hack open the seam between the front glass and the cell on my left.
It was my turn. They were going to kill me. Fletcher had used me too much. I didn’t have enough blood to give. I could be replaced by someone who’d eat their berries and food and drink their water. Someone who replenished far more often. Someone who complied. But, I wanted this, right? I would rather die…
And now that the glass was opening, the stench of sweat and dirty shoes rushing into my cage from the hallway, I wasn’t even strong enough to fight them. Fletcher had just drained me. I was at my weakest. I hadn’t moved much in months. My muscles were sore, my spine stiff, stuck in a curve from huddling in the corner. My neck creaked when I moved it.
I watched as two men invaded my cage, plodded to me, and knelt by my side. “Hello, little creature.”
I dared my magic to respond. And it did, but it was a flicker of aqua so faint, I wasn’t even sure if it was just an illusion of my panic.
Rough hands came down on my bruised wrists, pushing my golden shackles into me with far more force than was necessary. Their warm skin felt like fire on my cold limbs, pressing uncomfortably on my wounds. I grunted as they dragged me to my quaking feet.
I tried to keep my feet under me, but they were moving too fast, so I had no choice but to let them drag me into the hallway.
I watched as the other women gradually stood, placing their hands over their hearts. All except Topine. She was frantic at the front glass, punching, kicking, and screaming.
I had an opportunity to mouth something to her… but what? Instead, I just stared. Tears poured down her face. Then, I rotated my head to Quinn, gaining a final image of my friend.
Down the narrow hall I went. The door at the end, the one that Fletcher always used to storm toward my cage, opened to expose tall metal walls. My headache roared to life as I groaned and squinted my eyes at the bright light reflecting off the walls.
After no more than ten feet, another door in front of me opened and I was thrown into a large room alone. I fell onto my stomach, face scraping the coarse cement and lighting fire to my wounds. The gray concrete held spots of liquid crimson in some areas as if there had recently been a battle and no one had bothered to even hose it down.
Laughing resounded all around me from a crowd I couldn’t yet see.
Slowly, I was able to bend my leg under me and make my way to my hands and knees. A nasty cough ripped out of me as I waited for the pain of the fall to subside.
I inhaled deeply but coughed as soon as the stench of sweat, body odor, and sex filled my lungs.
I planted my foot on the ground, knee creaking beneath my weight. My shaky legs wobbled with fatigue as I moved to a slumped standing position. Black tendrils of hair fell like a curtain over my face, and I didn’t have enough energy in me to fix it. Instead, I tilted my head to the left then the right, hoping it would clear my vision a bit.
The same metal walls lined the square space in front of me. I trailed my vision up the twenty-foot-high walls to a seating area above. Dozens of people sat, watching me from the other side of a chain-linked ceiling that separated us. Their chatter filled the air, looking down at me like I was their form of entertainment.
My skin crawled under their harsh gazes, humiliation flaring up my bare stomach with raw revulsion.
