Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
Leda
With only sheer muscle memory, I moved through the punching combination. I followed it up with an elbow strike and knee strike. Each impact hurt.
The training dummies the daemons used were larger and heavier than what I was used to. They were extremely well-made and realistic. Daemons also didn’t believe in hand wraps or boxing gloves, which meant I had to be careful of the bony parts of the body.
Daemons had fewer soft areas than humans. A fact I discovered when my knuckles caught a couple of hard parts where I didn’t expect to find them. I ignored the bruises the contact left behind and kept going.
I wanted to be angry. Because if I were angry, I wouldn’t feel the hurt. I wouldn’t have to fight the urge to cry. Anger protected me. It gave me strength.
Once I let the rage go, I would have to acknowledge that I had given Bokkan the power to hurt me by giving him my trust. That I had forgotten he was, first and foremost, my captor. He might have been kinder than the other daemons. He might not have expected sex from me.
But he’d also said he couldn’t get me home yet.
My thoughts went back to what he had said when the magistrate’s daemons came for him.
The human witch in the Shadow Forest and how she would help me get home without expecting payment.
He’d known about her. He’d known she would get me back to the human realm without making me pay for it.
She might have expected something from him, but my lack of money wouldn’t have mattered.
He claimed he was willing to do whatever it took to get me home, but it was clear that wasn’t true.
Not until it looked like he would be imprisoned, and I would be here alone.
Was that because he cared or because his human toy was in danger of being taken away?
A grunt escaped me when I moved into kicking combinations and threw a defensive front kick that sent the dummy skidding back several inches. Considering it had to weigh close to two hundred pounds, I wasn’t surprised when the ball of my foot ached.
“You are much stronger than you appear to be.”
I flinched and whirled toward the voice coming from behind me, pissed I’d become so focused on my thoughts and the thud of my hands and feet on the dummy that I hadn’t realized someone had entered the room.
Guldan stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. His tail hung behind him, relaxed, and his face wore the usual stern expression. Looking at him, I realized he was broader than Bokkan. Heavier. He wouldn’t move quickly, but his fist would feel like a sledgehammer when it made contact.
“What do you want?” I asked, my chest heaving from exertion.
“I am wondering why you are out here alone. Surely the general explained that it is unsafe.”
I scowled at him and went over to the bench where I’d left a cup of water. I downed it in several swallows before setting it down with a sharp thunk.
“And my safety matters so much to you, doesn’t it?” I asked.
Sarcasm wasn’t one of Guldan’s strengths because he took my question literally. “Of course. Your safety is of the utmost importance to the general, which means it is also important to me.”
It was a good thing I’d already set my cup down because the urge to hurl it at his face was strong. So strong that I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop myself if I held the cup in my hand. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” I barked, dropping my fists on my hips.
“No, I am not joking.”
I rolled my eyes, and the sound that escaped my mouth could only be described as derisive.
“I know you’re not, Guldan. But considering you saw me as nothing more than property to be purchased less than a week ago, I find it disgusting that your general’s interest in me and his need for my help is the only reason my safety is suddenly paramount.
” I lifted one hand and slapped my palm against my chest. “I have value. All on my own. My place in your boss’s life doesn’t determine that.
My relationship with him should have no bearing on how I’m seen or treated! ”
Utterly frustrated, I threw up my hands and stomped back over to the practice dummy.
I focused on different elbow and knee strike combinations, working to put my bodyweight behind them.
With daemons being so much larger than me, I needed to make sure that my striking ability was accurate and as powerful as I could make it.
Guldan stood in the doorway in silence, watching and waiting, until I needed to take a break because my heart was pounding and my breath was coming in pants.
“The humans here are not like you, Lady Leda,” he said, coming closer.
He sat on the bench next to my empty cup.
“They make bargains and contracts with daemons and witches in this realm because they are weak. Either physically or mentally. If a human makes a bargain that requires them to come to our realm, it is not their first. Or even their second or third. The humans who come here will not return home. They will either not survive their time in Penumbra or they will make another deal, sign another contract. It is a never-ending cycle for them.”
“Don’t you see how fucked up that is?” I asked.
Guldan shrugged. “Everyone involved gets something out of the bargain. Even if they regret the contract, they jump to make another one.”
“You make it sound like an addiction.”
“It is.”
I sighed and leaned a shoulder against the practice dummy, crossing my arms over my chest. “So that means they deserve to be treated like animals?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, it means they’re willing to allow themselves to be treated as such because of their weakness.”
I sensed we were going to keep talking in circles, so I saved myself the headache. “Fine. But, as you said, I’m not like them. I didn’t sign a contract. I didn’t make a deal. Do you expect me to believe that alone changed your opinion of me?”
“It did somewhat. But seeing your strength in body and mind was a larger factor.”
The look he gave me was almost… respectful.
“It doesn’t matter,” I finally said. “None of this matters. All I’ve wanted since I got here is to go home. Now, you’ve manipulated me to the point that I may be stuck here for the rest of my life. In a place where I have to depend on the kindness of others in order to survive.”
“You had a responsibility to the general. He put himself in a vulnerable position to protect you. Ensuring his release from the magistrate’s cell was the least you could do.”
“The least I could do?” I spat.
My arms dropped to my side, and I took a few steps toward him, my fists clenching as I walked.
“Bokkan chose to do what he did on his own! I didn’t ask him to protect me from that asshole. I was getting ready to stab him myself if he touched me!”
“Then, you would have ended up in that cell before you were executed. Because humans who harm daemons do not get the benefit of an investigation or trial.”
“Stop blaming me for this bullshit, Guldan! I am not the cause of any of this. I didn’t ask for any of it! All I want to do is go home!” I was practically screaming when I was done. I was tired of his judgement when all I was trying to do was survive.
His expression looked almost like pity. “It is time to accept that you will not be returning to the human realm, Lady Leda.”
I scowled at him. “Oh, fuck off, Guldan.”
He drew closer until he towered over me.
“If you return to the human realm, you will be a magnet to creatures and witches. They will smell the magic of Penumbra on you. With each day you are here, it binds itself to your bones and blood. You will grow stronger, faster, and develop magic of your own the longer you are here. It has already started.” He gestured to the practice dummy.
“You are already more powerful physically, and it has only been a handful of days. By the time you are able to safely leave, you will glow like a beacon, brimming with the magic embedded in your skin.”
“What?” My question was little more than a whisper.
“Here, mated with Bokkan, you will be treated with respect. You will have a position and a title. If you return to the human realm, you will become prey. Supernatural creatures and witches will hunt you until you are caught. Then, they will slowly drain you of the magic you have accumulated until you die.”
“I’ve never had magic,” I retorted. “Surely being drained of it wouldn’t kill me.”
Guldan shook his head. “Magic binds itself to your lifeforce. It is a symbiotic relationship. The stronger your magic, the stronger your lifeforce. If your magic is removed…”
I stared at him, beyond speaking. Impotent rage had been my constant companion since I woke up in that damn slave cell. Now, it was so strong that I truly believed my head was going to explode from it.
“I think it’s time for you to leave this room,” I warned Guldan.
He took a large step back, lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I only want you to be honest with yourself about your position here and your choices. I also think you care at least a little for the general, otherwise why would you agree to lie for him?”
“What does he have to do with what will happen to me when I return home?”
“It is more about what will happen to him if you leave.”
I cocked my head to the side and stared hard at him. “Just come out and say what you have to say, Guldan. I’m tired of these vague statements.”
“If you leave the general, he will descend into madness and will be killed.”
Even though I was pissed as hell at Bokkan, that statement sucked the air from my lungs. “What? Why?” I whispered.
“You have triggered his mating instincts, Lady Leda. He views you as his potential mate. He is fighting those instincts every day because he knows you do not feel the same way. General Bokkan is already attached to you. If you leave him now, he will have no control over himself. He will try to follow you to the human realm and, when he cannot, he will lose control.”