“What will he do to me?” I asked, my words flying from my lips. “What does he want with us?”
Rhyas rested his head against the bars in defeat. “You are to fight.”
Fight what? The creature that had attacked me?
“I’m sure you heard them speak of The Pits,” Kish said.
I nodded, glancing between the two of them.
“You will be trained, conditioned, and you will learn how to spill blood in the most brutal of ways,” Rhyas said, his eyes hardening as they burned into the stone floor. “Then, when you come of age, you will fight for their entertainment. You will kill or you will be killed.”
“No,” I muttered, tears blurring my vision. “I don’t?—”
“You must,” he said, his amber gaze capturing mine.
He reached out and took my hand through the bars. “I’ve watched as countless children have been taken, conditioned, and killed, all so his pockets could be lined with coin. I’ve resisted, tried to find loopholes where I could.” He let out a sigh of defeat. “I tried to let you return home, give you a chance to be free, but he had already taken your name.”
His words from when I had nearly escaped resurfaced in my mind.
Do you remember your name?
“Arden did?” I asked.
Rhyas nodded. “It’s one of the ways he traps his fighters. If you would have reached the veil, you would have found you couldn’t have passed through.”
My breath quickened, fear flooding my system. I wanted so badly to feel the beast’s comforting presence in my soul. Rhyas’ hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked up at him.
“Promise you won’t die on me, little beasty,” he pleaded. “Promise me I won’t have to watch another child die from my actions.”
I shook, fear clawing at me, but I nodded.
“I promise.”
17
BARRETT
Thalia was once a captive of The Pits, had been taken as a child.
Something felt so profoundly wrong in that knowledge, as if a part of me couldn’t bear the thought of it. I couldn’t…but why? I barely knew the female.
Leather hissed as I slid my dagger into a sheath before buckling the holster of my short sword around my hips. The flame smoldered in my veins in quiet anticipation, as if it too was eager to get into this place, to destroy it.
She wanted it burned to the ground. I could see to that.
I shook my head, pulling myself from the strange thought. She was bonded and clearly didn’t like me, so why did I care? It wasn’t like I felt any affection for her. It wasn’t as if we were friends.
Forcing the thought down, I checked the clasp of Cali’s bracelet to ensure it was secured. I couldn’t bring myself to leave it behind, couldn’t bear the thought of ever being separated from it again.
“Just wait a little bit longer, Cali. As soon as I take care of this, I promise, I’ll make Atticus and Jissena pay,” I whispered, runningmy fingers against the delicate gold before tucking it under the sleeve of my Elythian leathers.
The sun was disappearing behind the tops of the mountains surrounding the valley as I stepped into the keep, finding myself amidst a several other warriors all geared up, as ready for a fight as I was. I hadn’t seen Micah or Thalia since the briefing. He hadn’t looked too thrilled about her coming, but given what I knew now, I couldn’t say I blamed him for never wanting her to have to set foot in that place again.
I shook my head. It wasn’t my business whether she came along or stayed behind.
Whether she got the retribution she deserved.
Fuck, I’d spent far too much time with Lucia, was starting to care too much.
