34. Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Four
Nikolai Volkov
I did my job, keeping them away from the Arena and directing them back towards the main area. I walked the entire perimeter at least a hundred times, just walking in a circle over and over again, studying the structure and telling people to fuck off (but in a nice way).
I recognised some of the guests. A few corrupt politicians.
Some governors. They were people I’d seen on the TV, people in charge of not only our country but dozens of others as well.
It made me laugh. If the general public knew what these guys were up to in their spare time, all hell would break loose.
The Arena was located a short distance from any of the main buildings. It sat nestled in the wilderness, completely surrounded by nature. Only one footpath led back to civilization.
Despite being far from everything, it was teeming with people setting up for the first event scheduled tomorrow morning, coming in and out of different entrances and carrying loads of equipment.
I debated briefly trying to sneak in with some of those workers, but that would only get me so far. I needed some sort of excuse to go down into the dungeon where the prisoners were being held.
My salvation came in the form of a tiny, young woman pushing a huge cart up the footpath.
On it were plates of food and bottles of water.
She was wearing the teal blue uniform of the kitchen staff with a white apron tied around her waist. She had dark hair tied up in a ponytail, pale skin and a face full of freckles.
She struggled with that cart, the wheels getting caught on the cobblestone pathway, making the whole thing rattle.
I approached her quickly, hoping my instincts were right.
“Hello. Do you need some help?” For the first time in my life, luck seemed to be on my side.
At that precise moment, a bottle of water tipped over the edge of the cart and plummeted towards the ground.
I caught it, spun it in my hand and offered it to her in one smooth move.
She gasped in surprise and then laughed.
“Oh! Thank you!” She was young and extremely timid.
She gave me a shy smile before taking the water and putting it back in its spot.
“I-I’ve told them so many times how hard it is dragging this thing all the way up here from the kitchens. I manage to drop something every time.”
I offered what I hoped was a friendly smile. “If you need some help taking it the rest of the way, I’d be happy to offer a hand.”
“Wha-really?”
“Of course.” I smiled again and it felt incredibly forced. She didn’t seem to notice though, too flustered with the attention. “Is this food for the prisoners?”
Her nose scrunched up. “I don’t like that word. We call them fighters.”
First slip up, Nikolai.
“Oh, yes, my apologies. It’s been a terribly long day. All I can say is I’m glad the sun is finally setting,” I laughed. “Here, let me help you with that.”
She protested slightly when I took her place at the back of the cart and began to push, but then she saw how easy it was for me and shrugged, walking beside me.
“I’m Daniella.”
“Damien.”
“It’s lovely to meet you, Damien. Is this your first time here? I’ve never seen you before.”
“Yes. First time.” The cart shook, the items wobbling slightly, but nothing fell out. “How about you?”
“Oh, no,” she laughed. “This is my third year.”
“Really? So you enjoy it?”
“The money, yes. It helps pay for my mother’s medical bills.
She’s sick, and the only way we could afford the treatment was if I took this job.
But everything else? Not really.” Was that how Talon got his workers?
Targeting the desperate, people who had no other choice?
It would guarantee their silence. Especially if it was people like Daniella, who had a loved one at stake.
She flashed her badge to the person standing guard in front of one of the entrances into the Arena. “Hey Jerry,” she greeted.
“Hey, Daniella.” He scanned the barcode under her picture. “Who’s this?”
“This is Damien. He’s helping me with the cart.”
Jerry laughed softly as he scanned my badge. “Still dropping things?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “At least this time it wasn’t one of the plates of food.” She turned to look at me. “Last time, I actually dropped a plate and the food went all over the ground. I had to go all the way back to the kitchen to grab another one. It was the worst.”
I honestly couldn’t fucking care less, but I smiled and laughed along with them.
“It was just a water bottle this time,” she told Jerry.
“Oh. Well, that’s good then,” he chuckled. “Okay, you’re all set. You know the way. See you in a little bit.”
“Yep.”
Daniella took point through the entrance and into the dark, gloomy halls ahead. There was next to no natural light, so the only illumination along the path were the torches and sconces on the walls.
Daniella knew exactly where she was going, zero hesitation in her steps as she led the way through the endless corridors and all the twists and turns.
I felt like I was walking through old, ancient catacombs.
A labyrinth of stone walls, concrete floors and arched tunnels filled with a dangerous, ominous air.
At each archway stood two guards, armed with machine guns.
Professionals. It was clear in the way they stood and in that laser-type focus on their eyes.
They were Talon’s A-team. His best to protect the merchandise.
I trailed behind Daniella as slowly as I could without arousing suspicion. The longer I had to study the layout of this place, the more chance I gave my family of being able to rescue Father.
A left, two rights, another left, across a small bridge, one more right.
The wheels of the cart squealed as we moved, a truly unpleasant sound that grated on my nerves.
Daniella made small talk that I barely listened to, telling me about her life, her mother, her cat.
I replied with the proper responses, acting interested in what she had to say, but I was quickly losing my patience.
So when Daniella finally stopped in front of this huge, imposing metal door, I breathed a silent sigh of relief. She looked up at the camera, held her badge up and gave a little wave. There was a loud clunk, a groan and then the door opened, another one of the A-team soldiers stepping out.
Shit. If we couldn’t go any further and they just took the cart to the prisoners themselves, this had all been a huge fucking waste of time.
“Daniella. Managed to finally wrangle in some help this time, hey?” he joked, scanning her badge. She seemed quite friendly with all of the guards, like they all knew each other well.
“Hi, Patrick. Yeah, this is Damien.”
“Hello,” I greeted, offering my badge for him to scan. He barely paid me any notice. His attention was entirely on Daniella. Someone had a crush.
“I guess it’s good he’s here. I won’t be able to help you this time. I know how much you hate going into that room. And you know I don’t mind doing it for you, but I have to report to the security tower for an emergency meeting.”
“Oh.” She wrung her hands together in front of her. “Th-that’s okay. I understand. Thank you.”
Patrick stepped back and opened the door wider to allow us to walk through.
Any hope of breaking my father out of here plummeted in an instant.
The walls on both sides of the room were lined with computer screens, each one displaying different camera angles of the prisoners, locked in their cells.
Sitting in front of them were more A-Team guards, watching the monitors and cataloguing everything that was going on.
Two, four, six, eight, ten…there were twelve of them, and all they were doing was watching the prisoners.
These guys weren’t fucking around. There was no laughter, no joking around.
It was just complete concentration. Complete focus.
There was a small, clear path that ran right down the centre of the room towards an elevator at the back. Patrick led us down and I wheeled the cart, keeping my gaze forward. Even though I was dying to get a look at their systems, I knew it would be far too suspicious.
Patrick placed his thumb on an imprint scanner on the wall and the elevator dinged , the doors opening.
“One of the guards down there will let you back up. Sorry again that I can’t help you this time, Daniella.
” He placed his hand between the doors to keep them from shutting as we loaded the cart into the elevator.
I might as well have been invisible to the man, considering how much attention he was paying me. Not that I was complaining about it.
“It’s okay! Don’t worry about it!”
“I’ll be here tomorrow morning, though, to help you with breakfast. Remember, it’s been pushed up an hour to accommodate the time of the fight.”
“I remember,” she smiled. “Thanks, Patrick. See you tomorrow.”
“See you.” Patrick stayed exactly where he was, his eyes plastered to Daniella right up until the moment the doors shut.
“You know he likes you,” I said as the elevator descended. There was only one button inside to press, which meant it only went to one place.
“What?!” Her face turned bright red. “No, he doesn’t. He’s just being friendly, that’s all.”
“Trust me, Daniella. The man likes you. You should ask him out.” Did I sound sincere enough? Fuck, I hoped so. I didn’t give a shit about any of it, but I couldn’t show that. I had to show interest, like I cared . Ugh, revolting.
I needed Daniella distracted, preoccupied. Not paying attention to me and thinking about something else. Patrick provided that perfect distraction.
“Really?” Her voice pitched higher with excitement. “You really think he likes me?”