11. 11 – Alyss
11 – Alyss
O w.
Groaning, I roll over onto my side. My head is pounding, my mouth fucking dry like I’ve been licking concrete for hours.
How much did I drink last night?
I pat the bed next to me, searching. Wondering if Chess stayed, if he—
My hand falls into open air.
Wait.
I force my eyes to open, and then close them again. Fucking hell, this is a bad one. Maybe I should go back to sleep—
“Hey. Trouble. Alyss .”
Someone is shaking me. Grunting, I throw my fist out. Someone curses as I groan. “Fuck off , Chess.”
“Jesus,” he mutters. But it… it doesn’t sound like Chess. Too deep. “C’mon, Trouble. I’m gonna need you to wake up now.”
Frowning, I roll away from the voice. I just want to sleep —
My head bangs against the floor. The iciness of the floor beneath me sends me jerking upward before my body slumps, a moan slipping out at the ache that pounds at my skull.
Warm hands lift me, settle me against a firm chest. “Steady. Take it slow. You were out for a while.”
My breathing deepens as I lean against that chest. My voice is a croak as I try to gather my thoughts, even as they scatter away from me, hazy and dull. “What—,”
Hatter.
Buck.
Red.
Wonder.
Inhaling, I look up.
Buck stares down at me, slightly bushy dark brows furrowed in a grimace. “There you are.”
He doesn’t sound overly happy about it. I force myself to swallow, try to summon some moisture in my mouth as I rasp. “Where are we?”
His mouth presses into a thin line. “Nowhere good. You really managed to piss her off.”
Transport – Red talked about transport .
Buck’s hand lingers as I push myself upright, peering through the ache hammering at my head. “What… what the hell is this?”
The dim room stretches out before me. Rows of beds sit in two lines of six that stretch away to the concrete wall at the back of the… cell ?
There are no windows, no natural light at all – nothing to indicate what time it is. Only a thin strip of light flickers overhead, throwing shadows over Buck’s grim expression.
Some beds have people sitting on them. Others are sleeping, stretched out on top of the plain gray bedding. Sleeping, or unconscious.
I guess I know why my head’s hurting.
Buck kneels beside me, silent.
“Shit,” I breathe in growing horror. “She wasn’t kidding.”
“No. Welcome to Wonderland, Alyss.”
Turning to him, I don’t bother hiding my confusion. Buck scans my face before he sighs, getting to his feet.
He doesn’t bother asking before reaching down and lifting me up, settling me back onto the bed next to him. “Don’t argue. You smacked your head hard.”
I glance down at the rumpled sheets. “Uh… do I get a bed of my own?”
“That one’s yours. The one you fell off.” He points at the empty bed next to us.
“Right.” Leaning forward, I bury my head in my hands and squeeze my skull. “Chess is going to be so fucking angry with me.”
“Hard to be angry with a dead person.”
I cast him an askance look. “Well, aren’t you cheerful?”
But Buck doesn’t smile. “Take a look at this place, Alyss. None of us are walking out of here. This isn’t Red’s first rodeo.”
It’s hard to argue with his pessimism as I look around. My gaze locks with eyes of deepest, darkest blue, and I stiffen.
The man opposite us eyes me for a moment. Heavily muscled, the scar on his cheek draws my eye before he scowls and turns away.
“Kayden,” Buck murmurs. “I’d steer clear if I were you. I’ve seen him rip someone apart with his bare hands.”
Lovely. “How do you know him?”
“He was one of Red’s pets. She used him in the fighting ring, but he became uncontrollable. Climbed the bars the other night and went for an investor. So she put him and his twin in here.”
He keeps his voice low. My eyes move from Kayden to the man in the bed beside him. His eyes are closed, his body sleeker than his twin’s, but I can see the similarities there. “Red had a lot of pets, it seems.”
Buck flinches. “You could say that. Although given most of us seem to be down here, she’ll be recruiting new ones.”
The last of the fog clears as I turn to the bed next to me.
Hatter’s chest rises and falls, his eyes closed. A heavy fist squeezes my stomach.
“He’s fine,” Buck says quietly. “Just sleeping it off.”
When I turn back to him, he’s squeezing his hand, looking down at his shaking fingers. “Why does that happen?”
They clench into a fist. “Doesn’t matter. It’s a liability in here.”
I sit back next to him. “What are you detoxing from?”
He pauses. “Alcohol.”
Slowly, I nod. “How long?”
“Not sure. A day or two.” His jaw tightens. “Red likes to cut me off and watch the fun before she offers me another bottle.”
Bitch.
Buck follows my sightless gaze, his eyes tracing the others in the room with us. “Be careful. None of the people here are ones you’d want to meet in a dark alley.”
I consider his words.
“No,” I say finally. “I suppose not. So what’s the plan? Do you know?”
Buck slumps down on the bed, patting the space beside him. When I lay down, wincing as my head meets the thin pillow, we both stare at the ceiling.
“I don’t know all of the details,” he says finally. “Red changes every game. She takes direction from her investors on what they want to see, and she builds her events around that. They normally happen on private land, where nobody can see.”
Definitely a fucking horror movie. “And people generally die in these games.”
It’s not a question. When he hesitates, I turn my face to his. “What?”
He doesn’t look at me. But his throat bobs. “Sometimes there’ll be an auction. Or… gifts. For the investors to take away with them.”
I blink. A cold wave runs over my skin.
They’re going to enjoy playing with you, Alyss.
You’re going to be perfect for my new game.
The star, if you will.
“Great,” I say eventually. Hoarsely. Tiredly. “So I’m either heading out in a body bag or a party bag. This day just keeps getting better and fucking better.”
Buck sits up at that. “Okay, that’s it.”
“What?” And the breath leaves my lungs as he grips my shoulders, yanking me up with him. “Okay, ow , asshole—,”
The asshole grips my shoulders and shakes me as I gape at him. “What the fuck—.”
“Why don’t you care ?” he demands, searching my face. And he sounds livid . “Tell me. Why are we sat here talking casually about our impending death and possible enslavement, and yet you’re acting like it’s a trip to the fucking food market, Alyss? What the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you not panicking like any normal person would?”
Ice gathers around my heart, around my throat, tightening as I stare at him. Buck raises an eyebrow, waiting for a response.
I don’t have one to give him. At least, not one he’s going to like. “I—.”
“ Get your fucking hands off her .”
A fist smashes into Buck’s face as I duck instinctively. He flies off his side of the bed as I stumble away.
Hard arms wrap around me, stopping me from tumbling off. “I’ve got you. Jesus, Lyss.”
“Get the hell off me.” I scratch at the arms holding me, my elbows flying back until I’m released with a low curse. Scrambling away from whatever psycho attacked us, I crawl to the other side of the bed to look over. “Buck?”
“ Lyss .”
Buck looks up at me. His lip has split open, scarlet blood trickling down. “Another friend of yours, trouble?”
I don’t respond. I just stare at him, frozen, my hands gripping the bedding tightly.
Not possible.
“Lyssa.” His voice comes from behind me, ragged and filled with a vibrating fury that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “Turn your ass around. Now.”
I choose to close my eyes instead, blocking out the sight of Buck gaping at me. “Has he gone? I think I’m hallucinating.”
I have to force the sarcasm out, my stomach roiling. My hands start to shake against the bed.
A firm grip latches onto my legs and flips me over, dragging me down the bed until he’s leaning over me. “Open your damn eyes. Now .”
I open them.
The amber rim around his irises stands out, even in the dim light above us.
Anger lines every single part of his face. Anger and something else, something I recognise. Something that feels awfully like the bone-deep fear that sinks into me at the thought of him being here . Trapped here with me.
Chess folds his arms, his expression grim. “What the fuck is going on?”