Chapter 21

Chapter

Twenty-One

DECLAN

I t takes most of the day to focus enough on the runes etched into the cuffs to draw out any of them in any amount of accuracy.

My mind keeps wandering to Brianna. What she’s up to? Who she’s with? If that fucking vampire is anywhere lurking in the shadows near her, watching her, waiting for his chance to taste her.

I can’t let him bite her. I can’t stomach the idea of her going through what Ash’s mate did, getting possessed, getting controlled by a fucking bloodsucker. Or worse, what Kash’s mate, Athena, went through becoming a hybrid of a dragon and a vampire.

She doesn’t have my heartstone. She doesn’t have my claiming mark. Nothing protects her from Grey and his minions. Nothing I can do would stop him from draining her. Or worse.

You’re practically shouting, Dragon. Do you want the humans to come down and electrocute you again? Or drug you? It’s loud enough in your head, I’m surprised your mate’s father doesn’t hear as clearly as she might.

Just what I need. A nosy bear.

Shut it, Kayden. You’re just irritated they haven’t let you out to fight in a while.

It’s a low blow, and one I didn’t exactly mean to project on him. The wounds he sustained in his last fight still aren’t healing right, and if his flesh doesn’t stitch itself together soon, he might remain permanently scarred with the deep gash cutting through his back.

He doesn’t mean it, Bear. Declan’s at risk of the craze, even with his mate close by. You should claim her. With the way the two of you fuck, I’m surprised you haven’t already. Ewan’s voice has lost some of its playfulness in the last few weeks, even though he still tries to play the jester every time we’re getting prepared to face down another opponent. Swear this delay doesn’t have to do with your heartstone?

I sigh, irritated that these two are as close to friends as I’ve had outside of my brothers in a long time. As dragons we were so isolated. So many, especially the Elders, thinking that dragons are better than the other shifters or species. It’s all preposterous.

I see far more of Brianna than I do of either Kayden or Ewan. I want her to wear it, to see it glow with the love she has for me, but it’s more complicated than that. I won’t curse her to an early grave, because of her father.

Trying to focus on the runes on my cuff, I turn my thoughts inward, away from the prying minds of the other two.

Keep telling yourself that. Keep telling yourself that your dragon isn’t going mad at the fact that your mark isn’t on her. That hers hasn’t branded you. Your dragon doesn’t have the patience you do.

Fuck Ewan and his insights. How would you know? Do wolves even mate for life, or is it just the first bitch in heat you come across on a full moon who warms your den?

Another low blow. Maybe Ewan’s right. Maybe I am getting too close to the craze. Maybe I am losing who I am, because I haven’t claimed her. It all feels so hopeless.

At least you have a chance to claim a mate. With this wound, I may never leave this cell again. At least not alive. Kayden sounds entirely defeated, exhausted by our situation, and I can’t blame him. The only reason I feel even a fraction better off than he is, is because I have Brianna to look forward to. If she stopped coming to see me, if I didn’t know in my every breath that she’s mine, I don’t know that I’d be able to see the point in going on.

You have to hold on. Brianna’s got a friend who can help. I know my words don’t mean much, without anything to back them up, but I don’t think I could bear it if Ewan and Kayden don’t live through this. I may not know much about either of them, either of their stories, but I feel as though we’re bonded. Spending this long in a dungeon with other shifters suffering the same fates, they’re as close to me as my brothers and my sister, the family I haven’t seen for months. Haven’t been able to contact. Haven’t even been able to tell if more of my family has died by the hand of Grey and his thralled victims.

You’re projecting your fear again, dragon. Ewan’s voice sounds almost bored, but I can sense the underlying irritation. Besides, why should your mate, or any of her friends for that matter, care about a bear and a wolf they aren’t mated to? Why do you think she’s going to do anything to get us out, when you’re the one she cares for?

I sigh, considering just ignoring them both and focusing on perfecting my drawings before Brianna comes home.

Fuck that. I doubt I can do anything more to these drawings, and there’s no way I could possibly get to the ones carved into my skin, and I’m not about to let Ewan disparage my mate. She brought you food. She offers to bring you creature comforts. Why on earth would you believe she wouldn’t want you to be freed as well?

Kayden’s snort surprises me. What’s to say your mate isn’t just down here to keep your morale up? I’m sure as a rare beast, you bring in the crowds for your battles. And having something to fight for keeps you winning in the ring. This could just be a ruse, something to make you believe you have a chance of freedom again.

I want to argue with him, to deny his claims. My dragon wants to break free of his chains and rip both Ewan and Kayden to shreds, to deny that my Brianna could be involved in anything so nefarious. But I’ve studied enough tactics of war to know that his words could hold a grain of truth.

I don’t know if Brianna is truly mine. I don’t know if my heartstone would light up if she wears it. I don’t know if she would betray her family, turn away from everyone she knows, to be with a dragon she’s just met.

She wants to help us all.

I try to project my conviction, my faith in her, but I don’t know if it comes across at all well.

With a sigh, I lay down and try to distract myself, waiting for the chance to see her again.

I don’t know how long I manage to sleep before a blaring alarm wakes me and a jolt of electricity burns through my side.

“Get up, dragon. We have something special for you tonight.” One of the guards barks, throwing a threadbare towel at me.

Great. Another fight. Another night of risking my life and taking another. I don’t deserve Brianna for all the life I’ve taken. Even the ones I’ve taken for their sake. It’s an unforgivable offense. Even my family will probably disown me.

“Fuck off.” I snarl it, and I am rewarded with another, stronger jolt of electricity.

That takes the last of the fight out of me for now. I don’t want to be too weak the next time I see Brianna.

With a groan, I stand, doing my best to remain upright as my nervous system twitches and my muscles contract against the electrocution. I won’t give these men the satisfaction of seeing my pain. Of seeing any weakness on my part.

“Don’t you want to know what we’ve got planned?” He’s grinning, and my dragon aches to burst free from my skin and turn him into ribbons of blood and sinew.

“Would it matter? I doubt you’d tell me, even if I cared. I know the rules. Fight, kill, and repeat, assuming I survive.” I trudge toward the shower they’ve rigged up for us, something reminiscent of old high school locker rooms in movies and see Ewan already soaping up.

It’s not just me, then.

No sign of Kayden, though.

“Tonight, we’re doing something a little different.” The guard grins again, and the malice in his tone makes me beyond uneasy. “The two of you are going to put on a show of strength and power. A sort of exhibition.”

I don’t know whether I should be relieved or worried. None of this sounds like a good idea, and whoever’s got me, whatever they intend for me to do, it sounds like I won’t get to see Brianna tonight.

I hope it doesn’t mean they intend to sell us off to some other monster, where I might not see Brianna ever again.

If I get taken from here, I don’t know if she or her friend will be able to find me, let alone rescue me.

“Shower, dragon. You have ten minutes.”

Ewan gives me a look, and then projects, What fresh hell is this?

I don’t know. But if they’re giving us ten minutes to shower, they must think it’s important for us to look clean, cared for. I don’t like it at all.

He frowns, his concern for what’s coming seemingly just as strong as mine.

Is your mate here? I don’t suppose it’s too much to hope that she could spare us from this new fate. Ewan turns away from me, looking back down the hallway where our cells are. And what will happen to the bear, if we’re taken from here tonight?

I’ve been worrying about Kayden’s wounds more and more, and the longer he remains injured, the longer I fear he won’t heal at all. I close my eyes as I stand under the hot water, letting the spray rinse off the first layer of dirt, and focus on connecting with Brianna.

Princess, are you home? Are you home from school?

I wait a breath or two, hoping for a quick response. Hoping for a chance to see her before this fresh hell comes to pass.

Declan? Are you okay? You sound worried.

I love that she can sense my emotions so clearly, even though our connection is so new, and I want to bask in that, but I can’t. Not until we find a way out of this shit. I am. They’re getting us ready to go out again. Something’s different, though, and I don’t know what to expect. I focus on scrubbing layers of grime off, wishing I could take my time, get back to the glory of who I was before I got kidnapped. Wishing I could take Brianna back to my old home, to meet my brothers, my sister, even my parents.

I think my mother would’ve really loved her. My father, not so much.

I wish I could talk to him, to find out why he and the other Elders were so opposed to human mates, why they kept us separated from this world for so long.

Then again, if humans are willing to hold shifters captive, make them suffer like I’ve suffered, maybe there was some truth to keeping our distance.

I can try to find out what’s going on, try to get you more information. There’s a small chance my father’s listed something in his calendar, or I might get my brother to talk. Whatever it is, I’m not surprised I haven’t been invited. I think they both still believe I’m oblivious to the three of you.

I fight the urge to smile, knowing the guards are probably watching. Only if you can find something easily. I won’t have you getting into trouble on my account.

Ewan rolls his eyes at me, telling me silently that I’m doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that I’m talking to Brianna. Your infatuation with your mate is sickening, dragon. I do not wish to throw up in this shower.

If we weren’t being watched, I might’ve thrown a bar of soap or a washcloth at him. But since we have an audience, I just school my features and focus on washing my hair. You’re just jealous you don’t have a mate to distract you from your time alone in these cells.

I do hope your mate is as true as you believe her to be, and I do hope she finds a way to rescue us all from this hell. But I cannot put all my faith in a hope that doesn’t feel real. I refuse to even consider that I might have a mate out there, someone waiting for me to find her, when the world is as fucked up as it is now.

I hate how little I can do to help Ewan, how little I can do to help Kayden. We’re all at the mercy of humans who don’t care about us, except in regard to the amount of money we can make them.

All I can hope is that whatever new torment we’re in for tonight, Ewan and I both come back without more wounds, more trauma than we already have.

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