Chapter 5 #2
They threw her in, then bolted a heavy steel door behind her. Night had fallen now, and the room was completely dark, as there were no candles present. Only moonlight filtered in through the barred window.
Asha collapsed on top of the straw pallet, shivering from the draft.
It was March, and the nights were still cold.
She’d wisely worn the warmer clothes that Lana had given her, but they weren’t enough.
She curled up under a thin blanket that’d been left on top of the pallet, desperate to get warm.
It was musty and stank like stale urine, but it was better than nothing.
She stared up into the dark. She’d heard Cade shouting some more at Angel while she was being dragged away, and more raised voices in return, but she had no idea what they’d ultimately decided.
In the end, it probably didn’t matter. The game was clearly rigged against Cade from the start, and by extension, against her, too.
It was stupid of her to put such faith in Cade’s promise. But he’d been decent to her, and he’d seemed so sure of himself that she’d believed him. She wondered what had made Angel decide to move against Cade so decisively, since it had seemed like Cade was trusted to protect Angel personally.
Asha shivered again, but the cold wasn’t as bad as before.
She wondered how long they’d leave her here, or indeed, if they’d ever come back for her.
Her imprisonment was clearly intended more as a punishment for Cade than for her, but that didn’t mean they cared about her.
If anything, it only proved she was merely a pawn to them in whatever stupid power games they were playing.
Chattel, she thought again dully. Nothing more than chattel.
Her question was answered half an hour later, when the door opened.
She shot up on her pallet, and Cade walked in, carrying a candelabra for light.
He was followed by Leo, and Angel’s enormous bodyguard.
While the former two entered, the bodyguard merely waited by the doorway, his arms crossed and a permanent frown etched between his eyebrows.
“I’m sorry,” Cade burst out, crouching beside her. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Asha replied acridly. “What the hell happened back there?”
“Power play,” Leo supplied as he set down a large medical bag. “Are you injured, Asha?”
She sighed. “Cuts and scrapes, but otherwise okay, I think.”
“Let me take a look at that hand.”
Surprised, she allowed Leo to examine the hand that Cade had cut during the claiming, and he began to clean it with supplies from his kit.
“Angel does loyalty tests from time to time,” Cade said wearily, not looking at her.
“The Blackguard has grown recently, and my guess is he sees me as a threat. So yeah, it’s a power play.
A way to put me in my place. Rockland’s a settlement that’s been on his radar for months, and I’ve been planning a takeover for just as long.
It takes time to gain sources on the inside, and turn them to our side…
but it hasn’t been happening fast enough for him. ”
Asha gasped at the sting of alcohol on her hand as Leo cleansed the laceration. He shot her an apologetic glance.
“So, what now?” Asha demanded, piercing Cade with a look. “Am I Angel’s pet? Because if so, do me a kindness and shoot me in the head right now.”
“You’re not his pet,” Cade replied sharply. “You never will be. I’m going to take Rockland, and I’m going to come back for you.”
“You said it’s impossible to do it in two weeks,” she said, and when he opened his mouth to reply, she added fiercely, “Don’t lie to me.”
Cade held up his hands in surrender. “I’ll never lie to you, Asha. It doesn’t look good.” When she made a sound of disbelief, he continued, “But I’ll do it.”
“How?”
He winced. “I don’t know yet, darling. I’ve laid the groundwork, but it’ll be a challenge. I’m leaving immediately, though. Leo will stay here with you.”
Leo started as he wrapped Asha’s hand in clean bandages.
“But if there’s going to be a battle…”
“You’re staying,” Cade replied pointedly. “We’ll bring one of the women to act as a medic. I need you to stay here and keep an eye on Asha. Make sure she’s okay.”
“But—”
“That’s an order,” he snapped back, and Asha was surprised when Leo shut his mouth and nodded in response.
“Time’s up,” the bodyguard said from the door, startling her. She’d forgotten he was there. “Better get a move on, Captain, or I might ask Angel for a turn with your girl.”
“Fuck off, Dax,” Cade snarled. He reached for Asha’s good hand and squeezed it gently. “I’ll see you in two weeks. I promise.”
With a final squeeze and a single backward glance, he and Leo left, and Asha was again entombed in the tiny room.
The first day following Cade’s departure started out better than expected.
Asha awoke at dawn, the sun streaming into the small room through the barred window. She sat up and stretched, silently lamenting how uncomfortable the straw pallet was. Her stomach grumbled, and she wondered whether they intended to feed her at all in the next two weeks.
An hour later, the door swung open. Asha was unenthused by Dax’s return, but thankfully, he was followed by Lana. Her strawberry blonde hair was braided down her back, and she wore a heavier jacket against the morning chill. She gave Asha a look of what seemed like genuine concern.
“I’ve come to get you for breakfast,” Lana said in a rush. “I figured you must be hungry.”
“Starving,” Asha admitted as she got to her feet. She followed Lana out of her cell. Dax watched her carefully, and she didn’t like the way he leered at her.
“You can go, Dax,” Lana said to him in an overly cheerful way. “I’ve got this under control. Breakfast will be ready soon, so you should go relax before it’s time.”
Dax grunted. “Fine. Don’t let her out of your sight. Angel’s orders.”
“I’m well aware,” Lana replied brightly. “Don’t trouble yourself about it. There’s a good boy.”
Asha could’ve sworn she actually saw the hulking man flush. Then again, she herself wasn’t immune to the charms of the tall, voluptuous beauty next to her. Dax merely grunted again in goodbye, then took off in the direction of the mess hall.
Lana let out a breath. “I thought he might not leave. That makes our lives easier.”
“What do we do now?”
She raised her eyebrows. “We serve breakfast, of course.”
Lana led Asha into the ruined restaurant, where the women had set up in the old kitchens.
Naturally, none of the old stoves worked, so they’d been replaced by fire barrels.
Women chatted back and forth as they grilled eggs and some kind of meat over the flames.
A teenage girl stirred a large pot of what looked like some approximation of porridge; another was mixing dried fruit into a salad.
Lana walked Asha through the various cooking tasks and introduced her to the women and girls.
They seemed friendly enough, though they looked at her with wariness.
Guess I can’t blame them.
All the while, Asha’s stomach protested loudly at its emptiness. But, Lana told her sternly, the women weren’t allowed to eat until the men had, and it was the women’s job to serve them their meals first.
“You work, you get fed,” Lana said definitively. “You don’t, and you go hungry. Simple as that.”
That’s how they keep the women in line, Asha thought bitterly. Serve us, or starve.
As a result, she found herself serving eggs and wild turkey to the very men who were keeping her here. They laughed and jeered at her, and she had to bite her tongue to keep going. She hated every second, but she just about managed to get through it without spitting at them.
“It gets easier, sugar,” Lana said afterwards, when they ate their breakfast in the kitchen. “And when Cade gets back, you’ll only have to do this for him. Claimed women only have to serve their own men.”
That is, Asha thought with some dread, if he gets back at all.