Chapter 14
Reverie
After the fight concluded, I was instructed to stay in my room until further notice. The Varruk, whom I was calling Vee in my head (since he hadn't revealed his real name), was once again confined to his cage.
I tilted my head back and let the water wash away the blood and guts until it ran clear, then took the chance to try and sort through everything I was feeling.
On one hand, I was thrilled that I had stood up to Selene and actually won. Vee would live to fight another day, and the connection I felt to him was safe for now.
I stepped out of the shower and dried off. Pulling a clean pair of pants and a shirt on, I loosely braided my hair and sat on my bed.
On the other hand, who knew what the consequences would be for everything that happened? Selene was probably going to tear my spleen out of my asshole or something just as gruesome. The bitch never ran out of ideas when it came to torture.
And who was that man in the coliseum who had no fear of Selene? Was it Trent Storm? I’ve seen even Ubel hesitate to contradict her. She looked pissed at his interference but still deferred to him with little argument.
I flopped back and curled up with Nathan’s pillow. After the day I’d had, sending me to my room without supper wasn’t that horrible. I was exhausted anyway.
My eyes fluttered closed, and I drifted off.
“Oooh, my Ancestors, that feels amazing.” I breathe as Kratos’s mouth moves slowly down my stomach to the apex of my thighs. He nips and licks up and down my slit before sucking my clit into his mouth.
I arched my back and then opened my eyes when I felt a mouth on each of my breasts. Ambrose gently flicks his tongue over one nipple as Merritt sucks on my other breast feverishly. The dual sensations force an orgasm out of me that’s almost painful in its intensity.
Before I even have time to recover, Bren is shoving Kratos out of the way, flipping me over, and entering me in one savage thrust. He’s enormous, and even though we’ve done this more times than I can count, the stretch is still a little painful.
That is soon forgotten when he starts thrusting into me.
Zenon kneels in front of me, and I take his cock into my mouth.
He begins to pump in and out roughly, groaning as I open my throat, taking him deep.
Bren's movements become more savage as he grabs me around the waist with his huge hands, using the leverage to pound even further into me.
When I clamp down on him, he stiffens and groans out his release.
Zenon takes his place as Kratos lies under me and begins to suckle on my breasts while running his hand up and down his velvet shaft.
I mentally send out my shadows, and they curl around Ambrose and Merritt. Both of them fall to their backs and arch and moan as the shadows move over their cocks gently squeezing then releasing, mimicking the feel of my pussy contracting around them.
All that can be heard are moans and gasps as we all get closer to our release. Zenon’s movements become savage, and my shadows pulse and release on my men’s cocks in time with our movements.
I see Ambrose stiffen as cum erupts out of his cock. “Fuuuck!”
The sight of that causes my pussy to pulse. Kratos pinches my clit, and immediately another orgasm rips through me. I hear multiple groans and filthy words as the rest of my men follow right behind.
We clean up, then the guys cuddle around me in our giant bed, holding me close as we start to fall asleep.
“I love you, Lil,” Kratos whispers in my ear. “Never forget that.”
I smile and whisper before drifting off, “I love you too.”
Too bad I didn’t recognize the desperation in his voice for what it was.
I awoke gasping and felt more aroused than I’d been in a long time. “What in the hell was that?” I whispered into the dark room.
“Watch and learn, child. All is not what it seems.”
Well shit! I guess the voice I’d heard wasn’t my imagination after all. I’d known it wasn’t, but I had hoped I was wrong.
I thought that I’d never be able to go back to sleep, but I was mistaken and drifted off within minutes. This time, there were no dreams, only peace.
Ileft my room early the next morning to head to breakfast. I hadn’t made it ten steps down the corridor before the air shifted. That damp, metallic tang —the scent of blood baked into stone —still clung to the walls. It reminded me of yesterday’s match, and I shivered at the memory.
It was at that moment that Seamus found me. He was leaning against a pillar, arms folded, the smirk already waiting for me, sharp, like a knife he wanted to twist in my gut. “Morning, little champion,” he drawled. “Sleep well after your grand act of mercy?”
I kept walking. If I looked at him, I’d lose the thin thread of calm I had left.
“You know,” he went on, matching my pace, “it’s funny. The creature you spared—spent the night screaming in agony.”
I stopped, just for a heartbeat. It was enough for him to see the crack.
“It turns out a Varruk is as tough as it's reported to be,” Seamus added, voice low now, almost gleeful.
“They said it nearly broke its bindings. Took six men and the drugging ability of one of the guards to keep it down. One poor bastard lost his arm. But eventually the creature did scream. Over and over.”
The corridor blurred for a second. My throat went tight, my hands useless at my sides.
“You’re lying,” I said, though my voice betrayed me.
He chuckled, brushing past, close enough that his shoulder grazed mine. “Believe what you want, Hawthorne bitch. Just know that whatever bond you started in that arena—you won’t be able to finish it.”
He left me standing there, breath shaking, heart pounding like a drum in my ribs. The smell of spiced oatmeal and bacon wafted faintly from the hall ahead, but my appetite was gone.
Several floors below where I was standing, Vee was caged, probably in terrible pain, regretting saving my life against the Cryptfiends.
The tunnels under the coliseum always carried a musty smell of rust and decay—like the very air was spoiled.
I told myself I just needed to verify Seamus’s words—that Vee had been badly hurt.
I didn't want to disturb him if he was resting, but I needed to be certain he was alright.
I descended the stone steps until the torchlight faded and the silence grew heavy.
Then I saw him.
The cell was half-collapsed from his earlier frenzy, bars twisted as if something enormous had pressed out from within. He crouched near the center, much larger than a man—shoulders bowed, head hung low, the shape of a snout catching the flicker of the torch.
Not human. Not entirely a monster either.
The sound reached me first—not a voice, but a vibration that settled behind my eyes.
“You shouldn’t be down here.”
I froze. His lips didn’t move, but the growl threaded straight through my skull much like Pantar communicated with me.
“They’ll know.”
“I had to make sure you were okay,” I whispered, though the words felt absurd in the damp air. “Seamus said you were injured.”
A low rumble rolled from his chest, not laughter—something much rougher, like the growl of a lion. The sound made the torch gutter.
“These weak Aurathions with their perverted abilities couldn’t kill one such as myself.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice.
He moved closer, dragging his shackles, claws gouging the stone. The faint torchlight highlighted the edges of his teeth—too many, too sharp, meant for tearing, not talking.
“You carry the old fire,” he said, his words scraping like claws on bone, “the scent of queens long gone.”
My breath hitched. “You mean Lilibet?”
At her name, the air shifted. The tension between us hummed, a delicate high note that quivered through the cage bars. I watched him turn his wrist—the Aegisseal mark—the tree of life within a circle.
He stared at me intently through the bars. “Blood remembers blood.”
The words hit, and a shiver went up my spine.
“Go, little heir. Before they make you watch me die.”
The chains rattled as he stepped back, fading into the darkness, with all signs of sentience gone from his stance. Only the beast remained.
I ran back up the stairs to my room. The shock of seeing the mark that Chloe and Oliver wore on his wrist, tearing through my mind. I had to get him out of here—there was no other choice.
By morning, the entire place was buzzing with the same rumor—that the Varruk had paid for his defense of me in the coliseum.
Kristine and her Faction mocked me with it during breakfast, with Evan screaming in pretend agony and collapsing on the floor.
I still hadn’t heard anything from Selene, and I was beyond grateful. I needed to focus all of my attention on Vee. I had to admit it was nice to have my focus on someone else, other than my own shitty situation.
A plan was beginning to take shape.
All day, the thought nagged at me—what if I could stop the next round of torture? Vee’s eyes had haunted me through every corridor. He hadn’t been pleading for his life. He’d been more concerned for my safety.
By dusk, I’d memorized the guards' rotations outside the coliseum: four posted at each gate, two at the stairwell that led down to his cage. They changed shifts every hour, the schedule precise.
I spent the afternoon in the training yard, no sign of Torren, and for that I was glad. I needed my mind on the mission with no distractions. And after that kiss, he was a distraction.
My plan wasn’t perfect, but it was the only one I had, and Vee’s life depended on me making it happen.
By the time night fell again, the plan had teeth.
I’d slip down to the section of the building where I’d awoken after Kristine’s attack.
My mouse friends had led me to an old door that opened into a network of tunnels deep under the dungeon, where the Vee and the other creatures were being held.
From there, it was an easy climb through a trapdoor at the end of the corridor where Vee’s cell was located.
He was awake when I reached the cage this time. “You came back.”
“You said they’d kill you,” I whispered. “They’ll kill me, too, if they know I’m here.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I can’t watch another thing die in that arena for someone else’s amusement.”
Something like admiration shown in his eyes. “Mercy is dangerous, little heir.”
“Good,” I said. “So am I.”
“More than you know.” His voice was so faint in my head that I almost didn’t catch it.
I crouched at the base of the cage. The lock was sealed, but my Aegisseal ability was much stronger. I pressed my palm against the iron, and it sizzled, my ability fighting against the one who had sealed it. Energy surged up my arm, white and scalding, and my ability rushed to meet it.
“You can undo what others have sealed?”
“We’ll soon find out.” My voice shook, but I didn’t let go.
The lock gave with a metallic crack that echoed through the tunnels. Vee surged forward, stopping just short of me. Torchlight danced across his snout, those predator’s teeth glinting inches from my face.
“I owe you a death.”
My breath caught. “A death?”
“Not yours.”
He turned, claws gouging deep into the stone, and with a single strike, ripped the door off the cage next to his. The sound thundered through the corridor.
“Run.” He sent the word a snarl in my skull. “They’ll come.”
“I’m not done,” I frantically looked around. “We need a distraction.”
He tilted his head, a low growl vibrating through the floor. His thoughts brushed mine again—gritty, savage, but curious. “What do you intend, little heir?”
I pointed across the corridor. Rows of cages lined the walls— lesser creatures used for training or blood sport. Hybrids. Things that had been alive too long in the dark.
“They deserve out,” I said. “Or at least a chance to run.”
Vee’s nostrils flared, that low thunder rumbling again—amusement? Approval? Hard to tell. “Then break their chains.”
Together, we moved. I used my ability to break the sealed locks; he tore through bars with raw strength. The moment the third cage gave, a shriek ripped through the tunnels—part bird, part nightmare. Then another. And another.
Soon, the corridor seethed with movement—scaled bodies, fur, wings, claws scraping stone as the freed creatures surged toward the stairwell.
The alarm bells hadn’t even started ringing yet.
Vee turned toward the sound of approaching guards, the glow of his eyes catching the torchlight. “You should run now.”
“I’m not leaving until you're out of here.” I was filled with adrenaline as I searched for our way out.
“You already have.” He lunged forward, slamming his claws into the ceiling arch. The stone cracked, collapsing into the passage just as shouts echoed above.
The impact threw me to the ground—dust choking the air. When I looked up, he was gone, vanished into the shadows beyond the rubble.
Screams rose through the tunnels—the freed beasts tearing through the guards' ranks.
I staggered to my feet, heart hammering. I’d done it.
My friend was free. Now I needed to get out of here before I was discovered.
I couldn’t imagine my punishment for this level of destruction if Selene found out what I’d done.