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A few of the others in the lineup gasped loudly.
I waited for the blow. Perhaps the swift snap of my neck or an obliterating pain in my chest as the monster ripped my heart out. I could taste the fear on my tongue.
The monster tipped his head back, his fangs protruding from his lips.Maybe he’ll drink my blood until I’m drained like a husk?I’d never heard of a monster doing that, but surely those pointed teeth weren’t just for eating potatoes.
Closing my eyes, I prepared myself for the worst, but the sudden sound of laughter made me flinch. Opening my eyes, I gaped. A-One was laughing, his head tipped back and the sound rich and haughty with the ring of true amusement. When his laughter finally died down, he turned to the other monsters. “This human thinkswe’rethe ugly ones,” he said incredulously.
My muscles tensed as I watched the others, but I was surprised to find A-Two had a shit-eating grin, A-Three simply cocked his head to the side, and A-Four, well his glare remained hard, but he didn’t look like he was bothered by the comment.
Before I realized what was happening, A-One leaned forward again, his lips and the tips of his fangs close to my ear. “Step forward,beautiful. I’m going to enjoy devouring you,” he whispered, mocking me with the nickname.
My mouth dried out, and a shiver clawed its way down my spine. I was okay with death. I had no one relying on me anyway. And I didn’t for a second believe the monster actually thought I was beautiful, but…devouring? Did he mean he was actually going to eat me or…? My cheeks flushed further, and my core heated.
I hated that the monster had me feeling all sorts of confusing things. Did he have a power that was messing with my emotions, my mind?And who the hell tells a monster they’re ugly?I internally scolded myself.
“We’re done here,” A-One called out to the other monsters and began striding away from the lineup. I followed him, fighting against the sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’d gotten what I wanted, but now I wasn’t so sure if that was a good thing.
The other chosen villagers stepped into place behind us, and the other monster assholes took up the rear, shepherding us toward Procus. I only managed to glimpse the pained look on Chief Shaasi’s wrinkled face before we stepped into the darkness of the cave mouth.
Our group walked forward in the pitch black for what felt like ages, with only the sounds of our panicked breathing and the shuffling of our feet breaking the silence. How we managed not to fall into each other, I suspected was the monsters doing. The fuckers could probably see in the dark.
When we rounded a corner, I halted, knowing why we’d stopped. In the years after Cara had been taken, I’d brought a torch with me and explored every inch of this cave. This was as far as I’d ever come because here a huge boulder blocked the cave, tightly fitting to the walls so there was no way through.
I heard a grunt and the scrape of stone, and then blue light spilled into the tunnel, illuminating the darkness. A-Two’s frame came into view as he pushed the boulder forward, making a gap for us to walk through, the blue light outlining his body.I knew it!I’d always believed there had to be a way through, but I’d never figured out how to get the boulder to budge, and none of the other villagers had been willing to help me. They thought it would anger the monsters if we disrupted the silence of the cave.
I stared, unable to believe my eyes as I stepped past the boulder to see a huge ring of blue fire that burned before us. The circle was almost the size of the cave, blue flames licking at the walls. Lana bumped into me from behind, and gasps and whispers erupted from the other women.
Has this always been here?I didn’t have time to contemplate the question. A-One’s fingers wrapped firmly around my arm, and he yanked me forward into the portal, his claws barely missing my flesh.
Blinding pain shot through me as I tumbled into darkness, the hard press of fingers on my arm the only sensation reminding me I wasn’t dead…yet.
CHAPTER 3
~ Raine ~
Iwasfalling.Orat least, that was what it felt like. As if I was being thrown between the hands of giants with nothing to cling to.
As quickly as it came, the pain subsided, and I was left spinning. Blue light swirled around me, the vibrant color almost too much for my eyes to bear, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I fought against my roiling stomach.
My ears popped at the exact moment my feet planted on something hard, the air turning chilly and the world seeming to still. I breathed in, taking in the dank air and scent of dampened soil and blinked, somehow knowing we were now someplace else.
I didn’t have the chance to take in my surroundings. The hand that was clamped around my arm pulled me forward, and I twisted my head to the left in time to see a flash of A-One’s onyx-colored eyes and a cruel smile before he pushed me forward and released me.
And then I was falling again. This time, an uncomfortable sensation made it feel as though my stomach left me as I careened down what seemed to be a huge pit, plummeting toward the darkness below.
Terror ripped a scream from my throat, but the sound was gobbled up by the air. I looked up as flashes of white appeared high above me as the other villagers were also thrown over the edge of whatever ledge we’d been on.
The shouts and screams of the other villagers grounded my thoughts, and I pushed through my fear, my survival instincts kicking in. Reaching out wildly, I tried to grab at the crumbling stone wall to my right, but only air passed through my fingers. My thoughts became frantic as I tried to think of another option.
Was this our torture? Maybe we’d keep falling for eternity? It was possible, but something in A-One’s glare made me think this couldn’t be it. I’d insulted them all, I’d called them ugly, and I was sure they had something else planned for me.
While that thought should have terrified me, in this moment, it gave me hope. If this wasn’t our end, it meant there had to be a way out. Either that, or I was completely wrong, and maybe I’d eventually hit the bottom like an egg on a pan.Definitely not going to be able to eat eggs for a while.
That was my last thought as my feet broke through frigid water, and the stifling cold swallowed me whole.
Water gushed into my mouth before I had the sense to seal my lips shut, and within moments, my lungs were burning. There were no shadows in the water. Nothing to tell me where to swim to, so I simply tried swimming in the direction I hoped was up. I pumped my arms furiously, using every ounce of strength I had. With each swipe, I hoped my fingers would break the surface, but only water surrounded my numb body.
My arms reached out again, every muscle aching, but still…nothing. I was unable to control my own body, and my mouth burst open, more water rushing in. My body bucked as it tried to expel the liquid.Well, fuck. This happened quicker than I thought.
