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Ana
Ihold in a whimper as scar-face, or Ted as I’ve just discovered he’s called, tosses me to the yard. My ribs and head are pounding, and my mouth is filled with blood. I hope I didn’t lose any teeth. At least they haven’t raped me yet, but the psychotic look in the eyes of the men looking down on me doesn’t bode well.
“Let her go!” Ax shouts as he rushes off the platform and comes for me. I watch with dismay as a group of inmates stop him, holding him back. It’s taken six of them to hold him back, and I look on in horror as Cole strides up to me. I try fruitlessly to cover my wrapped chest but it’s pointless.
“Sothat’swhy you liked the little boy so much! Hiding her from us, huh?” Cole bolsters, and a few laughs pick up around him. Cole looks down at me with a smile that chills my bones before reaching down to grip my neck and pull me up.
I cry out and flail, punching and scratching and hitting for all I’m worth. It can’t end like this. It can’t. A heavy fist connects with my face again and I see stars, darkness swimming in front of my eyes. I force myself to stay awake, but it’s dulled the fight in me. I vaguely hear Axle shouting but my mind is foggy, and I can’t see straight. So much for being a badass. A single tear falls from my eye.
Cole paces between us, blood covering his arms as he raises them to the masses.
“For years, this man.This manhas kept the one woman able to come into this place to himself.” He continues his pacing. “For years, this man has kept us from doing what men need to do—want to do! He has fucking neutered us!” He shouts, and around him the inmates cry out in agreement.
“Well, no fucking more.”
He grins as he looks down on me.
“I challenge Axle to a Pit Battle,” he continues above the roars around us, “and when I win, I will share her with all of you!” The sound rises to a fever pitch and I let out a small sob, knowing no one will hear it.
I watch as Cole strides up to Axle, who is fighting against those holding him back. My eyes are still blurry, but it looks like even with six of them, they are still struggling to keep him restrained. Cole frowns at this before pulling back and hitting him in the gut. I flinch instinctively, but Ax is so enraged he barely seems to notice.
“I’m going to fucking kill you if you touch her!” he shouts, the veins on his neck taught as he pulls forward trying to reach him. Cole merely laughs at his struggles.
“Toss her below, she can watch tomorrow when I gut him in The Pit,” he says to one man before turning back to me. “Looking forward to getting to know you better, sweetheart.” He winks and my stomach churns.
I feel myself being lifted from the ground and a hand cups my ass, spurring me back into full consciousness. I shriek and pull free from the men’s grip, rushing towards Cole, intent on ripping him to pieces, before someone hits me, and I fight off the darkness once more. The last thing I see is the men holding Axle begin to kick and hit him in earnest, and then it all goes black.
Thirty Two
Axle
I’ve had more than my fair share of injuries in my life. Broken and bled more times than I can remember. But nothing has ever hurt more than my inability to help Ana. The sight of her being hit and broken. She was so tough, fighting until the last minute. My beautiful, vicious princess.
I don’t even feel it when the inmates rain down their own violence on me, I don’t even resist. I deserve so much worse for failing her. A type of pain I’d long since forgotten is coursing through my body.
Weakness. Failure.
Another woman I’ve let them rip from my life.
By the time they’re done I am sure I have at least a few broken ribs. My shoulder hangs low, surely dislocated. The pain doesn’t come, though a moan escapes my lips as I’m dragged off the yard.
I vaguely hear Cole’s voice above the dim. I want to rise up and take him down, but I can’t find the will to move or speak. When darkness fills my sight a few minutes later I assume I’m dying until I realize I’m being dragged to the lower levels. We haven’t used those areas in years and all that’s left down there is the crumbling foundations of what was once solitary confinement. I vaguely recall Cole shouting to send Ana down here, and I force myself to be more alert.
As we get to the final row, I finally lift my head enough to see who is dragging me. He places me down on the floor, gentler than I would have expected, and starts to fiddle with the heavy iron keys. It takes me a moment to pluck his name from my mind.
“O-oscar,” I rasp, coughing and spitting up some blood before I continue, “not alone.”
He turns to me and even through the haze I can see him frowning.
“With her, last day, please…”
And for the first time since entering The Tomb almost twenty years ago, I say please. I’d get on my knees and beg if I could only see her one more time.
I almost black out from the effort of saying that much, dropping my head when I finish. I wait and, another first, I pray. I pray for one last chance, just one, to look at her beautiful face and tell her how I feel.
I love her,I realize at that moment.
And I let this fucking happen.
