Chapter 12 #2
“Tamina is about to put on a show,” Clary said dryly. “She does this every so often. Ignore her. Don’t watch.” She gnawed on her bottom lip, her gaze darting to me. “Actually, maybe we should just go.”
Ruspin hobbled into the room. The wounds on his side had begun to clot, but his eyes were bloodshot from pain, his tail tucked between his legs.
Tamina beckoned him to approach, and he obeyed, each step labored and slow.
She stood and slipped off her jacket before carefully laying it on the bench behind her, a small smile playing on her crimson mouth.
She waited patiently for him to get close, cooing words of encouragement softly to him, but as soon as he was within touching range, she stepped back and kicked him in the face with enough force to send him toppling onto his wounded side.
His yowl of pain shot straight through me.
I bolted to my feet, but Clary pulled me back down.
“You can’t. Please…” Her words were buried beneath the raucous laughter of Tamina’s sucker crew.
My nails bit into my palms as I looked to the Thropes, trying to catch an eye, to see a reaction. But there was none. They continued with their meals in silence. Practiced and schooled. How often had Tamina put on such a display?
Ruspin shook his head then stared up at his mistress with a resigned expression, waiting for her next move.
She beckoned him closer, and once again he obeyed. This time, she punched him in the head, rallying another round of laughter from her cronies.
My gums pulsed from how hard I was clenching my teeth. “If the Thropes can’t do anything, why don’t they leave? Why give her an audience?”
“Solidarity,” Benedict said softly. “They bear witness, and through that, they offer Ruspin strength.”
“That’s all well and good when they’re not getting their heads kicked in—”
Another blow landed on the hound, this one sending him flying back, his head whipping our way. He blinked blearily, the look in his eyes dead and empty. A look of learned helplessness that I’d seen in the mirror too many times in the past.
Tamina crooned his name, summoning him once more as one of her companions handed her a coiled whip.
No…
“Maybe we should leave,” Clary said.
Ruspin’s body heaved with panicked breaths. He knew what was coming, but he didn’t run. He waited to receive the blows.
Waited for a punishment he didn’t deserve.
Tamina raised the whip, pulling it back, ready to strike.
Heat flooded my limbs, and before I could think it through, I was out of my seat and across the room, a red haze of rage clouding my vision.
The whip lashed down, curling around my hand, its bite nothing more than an uncomfortable pressure.
The shock on the bitch’s face was priceless.
My rage cooled to something cold and hard as I held her gaze. “Do you think hitting someone who can’t fight back makes you powerful?”
She recovered quickly, eyes narrowing to slits. “I warned you not to interfere with my pet, didn’t I?”
“You did.” I yanked on the whip, and she staggered forward a step before catching herself. “But I don’t take orders from psycho bitches.” I yanked again, but this time she held her ground, and the whip dug harder into my palm.
Her gaze dropped to my hand. “You’re bleeding.”
“Yeah. I know.”
She arched a brow. “You like pain?”
“Not as much as you enjoy inflicting it.”
She smirked and released the whip handle. “How about this…you last three minutes in the arena with me and I’ll stop hurting the hound.”
Behind me, Ruspin whimpered, the sound not one of pain but one of hope, and suddenly, stopping her from hurting him wasn’t enough.
“How about this? I last three minutes in the arena with you, and you let Ruspin go. You set him free.” Her eyes flared, gaze flicking from side to side as if she were having doubts.
It was my turn to smirk. “What? You afraid you’ll lose? ”
She lifted her chin and matched my smirk. “Oh, sweetie, I never lose, but I think we should sweeten the pot. If I win, you’re mine for a week. My pet to do with as I please.”
“Ana, don’t,” Dori said from somewhere behind me.
I kept my gaze locked with Tamina. “You have a deal.”
An uproar rose behind her—the Thropes buzzing among themselves.
“Keep the whip,” Tamina said. “A pre-fight gift. It’s been a long time since someone stood up to me. How exciting.” She clasped her hands together beneath her chin. “I do hope you don’t crumble too soon…”
“You can count on it.”
“Next week, arena day. Seven sharp. Don’t be late.” She singsonged her last words, blew me a kiss, then clipped toward the exit. “Ruspin, come.”
Ruspin lingered a moment, his huge brown eyes filled with words he couldn’t say.
“Ruspin!” Tamina snapped.
I smiled down at him. “Go.”
He padded close and bumped me with his snout before following his mistress from the room.
As soon as they were gone, the chamber erupted in a cacophony of sound.
Clary rushed over and took my bloody hand. “Dark skies, that’s deep. We need to get you to Darla. Now. Oh, Trinity…” She carefully unwound the whip from my hand.
“That’s gotta hurt like a hex,” Benedict said.
I winced and let out a groan, an expert in faking it. “The adrenaline helped. I’ll be okay.”
Clary pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped it around my palm.
“You idiot,” Dori muttered, pacing back and forth. “I’ll speak to her. I’ll fix this. It’ll be okay.”
But I didn’t need her to fix anything. “I want to do it. Just le—”
“The muscles are coming over,” Benedict whisper-hissed.
Four males ambled over, dressed in undershirts that hugged their pectorals, leaving their epic biceps on display to be admired. Trousers hanging low on their hips left no doubt that the rumors of Therianthrope size were real.
The one leading the group had spiky dark hair streaked with silver highlights. “You’re chaos, Onyx,” he said.
There was something eerily familiar about his smiling brown eyes. “Chaos?”
Benedict leaned in, speaking from the side of his mouth. “It means insane, crazy, delusional, psycho.”
“Ah, well, the only way to fight psycho is with psycho.”
“She’ll turn you inside out,” one of the other males with white gold hair said. “Trust me, we’ve all tried to free Ruspin.”
“Well, anyone who can survive a mudark and Echo attack has my vote,” spiky hair said.
Dammit, that voice… “Have we…met?”
He offered me a lopsided smile. “Is that a pickup line?”
“What? No!”
He chuckled. “Yeah, it’s Jay, from the other night on the road.”
Of course it was, and white gold dude had to be Brek. “You’re Brek, right?”
“In the humanoid flesh,” Brek said. I scanned the other two males. “Drayven isn’t here,” Brek said. “He doesn’t come to the canteen anymore.”
I didn’t bother denying that I’d been looking for the barghest. “Yeah? Well, say hi from me.”
“We need to get you to Darla,” Clary said. “Your hand is bleeding.” She shook her head, her brows drawing together as if struggling to make sense of my calm.
I forced a pained look and nursed my hand to my chest. “Yeah, it really hurts.”
“Nothing compared to what next week will bring,” Jay said, all somber now. “Look, no one will think less of you if you drop out. Get Trax to talk to her. He’s the Hall Master, and he runs the Main Building. She has enough infractions pending. Get him to add the pressure.”
There was no way I was letting Tamina walk away from our bet. “I appreciate it, but no. I can handle her.”
The Thropes exchanged glances, then Brek nodded. “In that case, best of luck.”
“You’ve bled through the handkerchief,” Clary chided. “Come on.”
I allowed her to lead me from the room, aware of the many Arcanus eyes on me.
So much for staying invisible.