Maybe she didn’t want to know.
A leering male voice echoed down the hall. “It’s playtime.” Whether hawk or prey, she wasn’t sure. Shauna’s body tensed forward to pick up any sight or sound from Adrian’s cage.
The building chaos around her clouded her efforts, frustration creeped along her nerve endings.
“Wait. What about me?” offered a female prisoner directly across the hall. The woman bounced up and down and made a scooping motion with her hand, as though begging for the last chance to pull attention her way.
It couldn’t start like this. Not with him. Shauna’s heart sunk into a murky thought.
Or had Adrian requested this. But why? To teach her the harsh reality that anything goes here? That he ran the show? Or was he trying to spare her?
The hawks paced, their force growing in every step. Taunts and pawing invitations from their soon-to-be victims grew more urgent as the entire dungeon charged with eager energy.
A few hawks reared their cloaked heads toward O and Adrian’s cell, their expressions unreadable, before returning to the prisoners. Others faced the scene openly, as though waiting to act on the final outcome.
A scuffle ensued from somewhere within Adrian’s darkened bars.
“Whoa-ho,” shouted another prisoner. A grin edged in his tone.
“Get ’em, come on!” cheered another.
Shauna pushed out a huff of annoyance and glared at the overweight, dancing clown.
Move already
! She flinched at the deafening bang of metal that rattled through the corridor.
All sound cut off as the barred spectators collectively flinched in surprise. O jumped back a step and the crowd roared with new enthusiasm.
Something must have hit the bars. Shauna angled her head, searching. A heavy shadow dragged back into the depths of the cell. Could that be Adrian? He didn’t seem the grappling kind. He had the muscle for it, no doubt, but the guy who entered his cell looked like he could walk through a cinderblock wall.
The sound of shredding fabric met Shauna’s ears. Then a loud smack.
Her attention raced over the distant row of bars. The hawk hadn’t been wearing clothes. Whatever was happening in there wasn’t consensual.
The chime of metal links seemed to spur on the prisoners nearby. Shauna’s gaze flew to the dangling sex swing at the center of her cell, the same contraption that appeared behind every row of bars. She squeezed her eyes shut as her stomach took a sickening twist. This couldn’t be happening.
The cheers rose up with guffaws and sharp whistles from the onlookers.
She blinked back the tears that flooded her vision. Not him. Not Adrian.
He had been the silent guardian over her childhood and at one point, the keeper of her heart. He couldn’t be humiliated this way. Not for her.
The O’s upper body leaned back in shock. As if remembering himself, O rushed for the keys to the cell. He fumbled. Looked, fumbled again. His mouth flapped open and closed as if panic had crushed his voice box.
His tone grew from rasp to panicked squeal. “Don’t you dare…don’t you hurt him. He’s mine!”
“Adrian!” The name burst from Shauna’s throat.
Chapter Eleven
She shoved her cage door open with such force it crashed into the stone wall adjoining it.
Her blur of action exploded into blinding pain the moment she smacked into the pale chest of another hawk. He snatched her torso bear-hug style, and pinned her arms to her sides then clamped down with a punishing squeeze.
Shauna clawed and tore at his arms like a wild animal. All the while, he fought her backward. Away from Adrian. Back to the cage.
“Nooo!” she roared. Shauna delivered a savage kick to the hawk’s shin. The hawk staggered, and his grip crushed her arms against her body. She reared back and slammed her forehead into the mesh bag. The loud crack of bone against bone was quickly chased by numbness, then pain. A fine, white mist danced in front of her vision.
He dropped her, then delivered a brutal shove.
Shauna’s feet flew from the ground. She scrambled midair to right herself.
Her back slammed into the mat. Like a ragdoll, her neck flopped backward, and her head quickly followed. A numb tingle swept up the back of her neck as she twisted to right herself.
“What’s wrong? Not enough action in here for you?” The bitter malice in his whisper sent a shocking chill through her mind.
Shauna backed away on hands and feet like a tiny crab ripped of her armor. Her mind flew through his words, trying to decipher his meaning.
That voice. She squinted at the mesh head covering. Her attention coursed over the winged tattoo. The right side appeared blurry and smudged from their confrontation. It wasn’t real like the others.
His tone hardened but remained low to not alert the others. “You really thought you could get away with this? With my connections? I know people. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“Richard?” She shook her head. “What are you doing here?”
His head leaned forward as if searching for clarification. “What am
I
doing here?”
“You—you don’t understand—”
“I don’t care.”
The riot of noise outside peaked to a thundering roar. Shauna scrambled to her feet and raced for the opening. They’d talk later.
Richard caught her shoulders and knocked her feet out from under her with a swift kick.
She slammed to the mat again.
“We’re done. You got it?” He used the back of his hand to touch what Shauna assumed was his nose. He glanced at the faint smudge of blood that stained his hand.
“Fine!” No time for this. “Just lemme go!”
“No.” His voice turned sly. “We’re finished. But I’m not done with you yet.” She couldn’t see his face, but an entirely different person seemed to be confronting her from behind that mask. Not the doting fiancé she knew, but someone bitter, twisted with betrayal. “Know what? I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you finally came asking for it.”
Shauna sent him a sharp look of disgust. “It’s not like that—”
He came at her again until the mesh bag brushed her cheek. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner, actually.”
The frothy scent of beer consumed her sinuses. She angled her head and backed away.
“It figures,” he continued, ignoring her retreat. “Not the savviest pussy in the alley, are you?”
“Don’t—” She parried his forward movement and scrambled to put the swing between them. “You’re drunk.”
“You’re a whore.” The flat of Richard’s bare foot slammed into her chest.
She slapped against the foam pad again, and the air rushed from her lungs. Richard seemed to squeeze out what remained of her breath as he stepped his full weight on top of her rib cage.
Shauna pried her nails under his foot but it wouldn’t give, she pushed at his ankle. He was too heavy. The burning pain in her ribs grew to the near snapping point. She made a hasty grab for the swing that shuddered above. Mere inches away.
With a callous brush of his hand, Richard held it out of reach. “In fact, I’d wager you’re not anything that you say are. You’re not a virgin at all, are you?” He thrust the heel of his foot against her sternum. The mesh bag flinched forward near his mouth as he shouted. “Are you!”
Her jaw hinged open in a mix of offense and pain. Her mind struggled to register his words.
“So this is the problem, then. This is why you won’t give it up.” The weight on her chest eased a bit, sparing her precious gasps for air. “It’s not holding out for marriage. One man’s just not enough for you. How many do you need?” The weight returned full force. “Two? Three?”
Shauna scream forced itself from her lungs in a guttural yelp.
“Too bad for you, I don’t like whores. But as a parting gift, let’s make sure you get what you want.” Richard’s chest jumped as he blew out a sharp whistle, but the other hawk was already moving toward him. He released her with a final kick and moved for the exit.
One thought became clear. Even the dirtiest of money was cleaner than this kind of revenge. Richard didn’t want to get his hands dirty.
His words were curt and expressionless as he passed the entering hawk. “Fuck her. Then bring your friends.”
He pulled the cell door shut as he left and gave it a secure tug. He never looked back.
Shauna leaned away from the approaching assailant, but his military steps didn’t falter. When he stepped within range, she kicked at the hardened length of his flesh-covered weapon.
He caught her foot before it connected. With a vicious tug, he yanked her forward. Her dress slid up, bare skin pulled and burned against the matt. She jerked her skirt back in place and twisted to crawl away.
Her assailant lassoed her throat with a tangle of Velcro and chains that hung from the ceiling. The animal scream that ripped from her throat cut off as he wrapped the swing around her neck and pulled tight. The man behind her shoved her lower half to the matt. Sharp pain branched from her overextended spine. The chains cut into her skin, and she scrambled up again, elbows propped on the matt to keep the pressure off her neck.
She sucked in air with tiny hitches.
The touch of skin against her inner thigh shot fear through her system. Her knees scraped the mat, routing for any chance of escape. Slick with moisture from her increasing body temperature, she couldn’t gain traction against the weight that pinned her down. Her lungs burned.
Air.
Shauna squeezed her thighs together as he shoved her dress up.
Her vision clouded on the edges with dark spots. She blinked to fight them back, but the spots grew wider. They bled together, then fringed with a red haze.
An inferno of heat swirled through her core and raged to the surface. It ripped the strength from her muscles. Her arms trembled under the weight of her own body, then finally gave in.
Helpless to hold it back, the flames burst to life around her. They singed her tender eyelids, and the smell of smoldering cloth and vinyl consumed her.
Cries of agony blared through her head. Her own voice chimed with the pained screams of another person.
Oh God. She was hurting someone. A fresh dose of fear engulfed her system, and the flames jumped wider in a surge of blinding light. She couldn’t stop it. She fought to lift her head, to escape, but her muscles wouldn’t react.
Stop it.
She rolled her head to one side, and pulled in a gasp of scalding air and soot. Her diaphragm clenched in spasms of protest. Each cough sent jolts of pain through her ribs and scraped up her throat. The vinyl straps had melted and loosened their grip, but the tangled swing still cradled her upper body in an arched position. Her lower half lay flaccid and useless on the smoldering mat.
Shauna strained to open her swollen lids. Through blurry, red slits the hawk appeared, several feet away, rolling and twisting on the ground in inescapable pain, beyond the reach of Shauna’s flames, but locked inside the blistering shell of his own body. His waist and thighs were roasted to a lobster hue. Fragments of what could only be skin, hung like tattered rags.
The crackle of flames echoed amid scampering feet and the distant cry of fire from the other patrons. Pinpricks of water rained down from the cell’s sprinkler system. It did nothing to quell the blaze. Piercing alarms rang through the hall and metal doors slammed. Ghostly plumes of human bodies raced past Shauna’s cell.
Except one.
A large, dark figure marched toward her, through the swirling, back smoke. He bent over the lock near the cell door. Within seconds, the metal hinges screeched open. His attention never turned to the writhing man on the cell floor. He approached the ball of flames that fluttered and snapped around Shauna.
Too close. Stay back! She couldn’t force the words through her swollen throat.
The flames answered for her as they expanded in a threatening
whoosh
.
They consumed the man’s silhouette until he stood in the center of the orbiting flames.
Illuminated by the fire’s bright glow, no fear registered on Adrian’s hardened jaw. His chest expanded with a mighty breath. He pressed a fist just under his nose. The air rushed from his body again, through the funnel of his fist.
A cloud of jade-colored smoke burst from his hand, expanding and curling through the room, pushing out the smoke and crawling along the ceiling of her cell. Tiny, cooling grains hailed down on her. They bounced off Shauna’s skin like a hot frying pan. A faint, hissing sound grew until it overpowered everything else.
Shauna-flames bowed under the downpour. They weakened and flickered until they collapsed into nothing. The remainder of Shauna’s energy disappeared right along with them. She fought the heavy sag of her eyelids. The watery rise and fall of her vision brought sporadic dark and light glimpses of Adrian as he knelt beside her.
One thick arm supported her upper body as he unwound her from the tangle of chains and charred vinyl, then lowered her to the mat. He reached for her then retreated, as though unsure the safest place to touch.
Her exhausted mind couldn’t decipher the look on his face. Anger and concern tugged at his dark brows, and waged war in his eyes.
She wasn’t burned. Couldn’t he see that? She wanted to parrot the thought out loud, but the moment her mouth opened, she snapped it closed again.
Adrian rocked back on his heels and reached for the hem of his tee. Bronze muscles rippled animating the winged silhouette tattooed on his chest when Adrian pulled his shirt over his head.
He leaned over her.
Shauna drew in a painful gasp. She sent him a wide-eyed look of caution. He’d extinguished her, fair enough, but not even
she
got to pick and choose who she burned. Why would he put himself in that kind of danger?
Adrian’s face dropped all hint of emotion as he tugged his large tee shirt over her head. Shauna breath came easier as the dark cotton brushed her face. The warm smell of cinnamon and camphor soothed her charred sinuses. She wanted to burrow back inside the moment her head emerged, but Adrian wasn’t wasting time.
Her sock-monkey limbs flopped to her sides, first one then the other when he pulled them through the arm holes.