Chapter 1 #3
Black dots danced in front of my eyes as my hands were dragged together in front of me and metal clamped around my wrists.
No matter how hard I tried, which wasn’t much from the lack of oxygen, I couldn’t control my muscles as he stood and dragged me to my feet.
He used the length of chain between the shackles as a handhold, hauling me over to a wooden pole, where he lifted my arms, and dropped the chain over a hook.
My toes were barely touching the wooden boards as I dangled from the pole.
“For those of you who like a challenge, this is the last item of the night! She is of breeding age and strong enough to handle an entire regiment. The bidding will start at five hundred crowns.”
Ice ran through my veins at his words because I didn’t think he was talking about my fighting abilities with that last statement. I would fight until I was dead before I let a group of these monsters gang rape me.
He smacked my ass, and I lashed out with a foot, missing his groin, which was my target. My kick landed on his inner thigh, making him stumble back. He only snarled at me as he straightened.
The crowd roared with approval as I hissed and swore at him, prepared to kick him again.
“Five hundred crowns!” a male voice called from one side.
“Six hundred!”
The monster rubbed his thigh as he glared at me, but he didn’t hit me back. I realized he didn’t want to damage his merchandise and grinned at him.
“Fuck you, asshole!” I yelled. “Want to tell them about the guy I killed in the back?” I wasn’t sure if the second one was dead, but a girl could dream.
The crowd couldn’t hear me over their own catcalls and shouts, but I knew he did because his eyes flashed red.
“I don’t care what it costs me, I will find you and kill you,” I said, my eyes never leaving his.
He took a threatening step toward me, but one male voice carried over all the others.
“One thousand five hundred crowns!”
The crowd fell silent and turned to the huge monster standing in the back. He was bigger than all of them. As I stared at him, I realized he looked like a demon from some of the horror movies I’d seen. He was even larger than the guy I’d taken out in the cell area.
“Any competing bids?” the gray-skinned ass next to me cried.
No one spoke.
“Sold to Commander Guldan! Those of you who won your bids, approach the stage with your payment! The next auction will be in three weeks.”
After his announcement, the gray-skinned creature faced me, a malicious grin on his face. “Oh, you’re going to be broken in well, human. I doubt you’ll even remember my name by the time he and his men are done with you.”
“I don’t know your name now.”
He chuckled. “Ilvan. But it doesn’t matter.”
I stared at his face, committing it to memory. He had a black tattoo running down one cheek from beneath the outer corner of his eye to his jawline. I vowed I would draw it as soon as I had a chance because I wasn’t going to forget.
“Ilvan the Idiot. I’m sure I’ll remember you,” I said. “And I’ll enjoy being the last thing you see.”
He leaned forward, putting his face near mine, and I lunged, snapping my teeth at his nose. He managed to avoid the bite but nearly fell when he tripped over his own feet.
The man who’d won the bid for me vaulted onto the stage, landing heavily between us when Ilvan lunged toward me again.
“Careful,” Ilvan told him. “This one bites.”
The commander studied me, and I did the same. We took each other’s measure in silence.
“She’ll do,” he finally said, pulling a leather pouch from his belt and tossing it to Ilvan. “Count it, grunt.”
“I trust you,” Ilvan said. “And don’t call me grunt.”
“That’s what you are,” the commander replied, crossing his massive arms over his chest.
A grunt? What did that mean?
“Enjoy your purchase,” Ilvan hissed, turning on his clawed toes and stomping toward the other human women cowering at the side of the stage, all chained together.
The commander ignored him, turning back toward me. “I’m going to take you down. If you give me any trouble, I’ll knock you out, and you’ll wake up strapped down to a bed.”
I swallowed the curses that wanted to pour out of my mouth and nodded.
He reached over and, with one hand, lifted me off the hook. With one hand. Jesus Christ, these demons were strong. He dropped me onto my feet, keeping his hold on the chain.
“Follow me, human.”
I hurried after him as he headed toward the steps leading off the side of the stage. I had a feeling that he would drag me if I couldn’t keep up.
“Can I ask one thing?”
He glanced at me. “Yes.”
“Where in the hell am I?”
“The city of Varda.”
“On Earth?” I asked.
“That’s more than one question,” he pointed out.
“Humor me.”
“Will you be silent if I answer you?”
“For now.”
“You are no longer in the human realm. Varda is in the daemon realm.”
“Day-mon realm?”
“Daemon,” he repeated.
“So, I’m in Hell?”
He shook his head. “The name of our realm is Penumbra. No more questions.”
I wanted to argue, to ask all the questions crowding my mind, but his stride lengthened, and I ended up having to jog to keep up with him.
If he wasn’t going to answer my questions, I was going to keep my eyes and ears open and figure out everything I could about this place.
At some point, I would have an opportunity to escape.