Savage Lands (Savage Lands #1)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  Even if full magic was blocked here, Hexxus still commanded power with his tone, making my teeth crunch together. My bones were slow to move, my muscles stretching to stand up.

  “You like it, huh?” He stroked the whip on his belt. “Gets you off?”

  “No, master.”

  “Good. I would rather they scream and fight me.” He stepped closer, his height the same as mine, keeping his malicious eyes on me as he tugged the whip free. “More energy in fear.”

  My gaze tracked him, already preparing to tuck myself away, hide anything that still could be felt deep inside my mind.

  The crack of the whip reverberated off the walls, the tail of it just snipping my chin. It burned down my neck, across my nerves, and made my eyes water. I wanted to believe myself strong enough to endure all this. I wasn’t. A true hero would hold their chin up and take it. I was no hero.

  My legs wobbled, a sob choking my throat. His arm went back to whip me again. His yellow eyes turned completely black, reflecting my hollow figure. I hated knowing my life would end like so many before me. Dying in Halalhaz…no one knowing I was within reach. To them, my story ended on that train platform weeks ago.

  I wished it had ended with a final view of Caden.

  Crack!

  My knees drove to the floor, not even a squeak coming from my lips as I shut down. My imperviousness to death seemed to irritate Hexxus more. Did he want me to fight, to scream in fear?

  “No! Stop!” a soft voice shouted.

  Everyone in the room, including Hexxus and me, jerked to the person in shock.

  Lynx stood next to her machine, her hands in the air, wide-eyed, as though she couldn’t believe what she had done.

  “Excuse me?” Hexxus heaved back his shoulders. Silence doused the room. Everyone stood opened mouthed and staring, even the other guards.

  “It’s my fault.” Lynx licked her lips. “I forgot…” Fear swallowed her words, her throat bobbing.

  Hexxus stepped around my table to hers, Lynx’s body trembling, her gaze dropping to her shoes.

  What the hell was she thinking?

  “She’s caught up. I held her pile on my table.” She tapped the piles on her station, her voice and hand shaking.

  Hexxus stared at her, his black demon eyes showing no reaction. For what felt like minutes, he didn’t reply, the threat of his retaliation hanging in every breath.

  He took a step up to her table, his fingers sliding over the cloth, his voice low. “You are telling me this is all hers?”

  “Yes, master.” She dipped her head in perfect obedience.

  “And where is yours then?”

  “Right there.” She nodded to another pile on the floor underneath her station.

  My mouth parted in surprise, the warm blood from the slice under my chin dripping onto the floor. I tried to meet her gaze, but she kept her eyes locked on the ground.

  Another guard stepped up, grabbing the pile, inspecting it. She gave a nod to Hexxus. He swung back to Lynx, shaking his head.

  “You are claiming she”—he flicked his chin at me like I was dog shit left on the pavement— “finished her three days’ quota just in the few hours she’s been back? Are you sure about that, 84999?”

  Her throat bobbed, but her chin stabbed at the air. “Yes, sir.”

  “Well…my mistake.” Hexxus twisted to me, a smirk coiling his face. His eyes glowed yellow. “Seems you have magically become proficient in mending since coming out of the hole.”

  We all knew she was lying. Covering for me. Had she been working double the whole time I was gone? Doing my share as well? Why? Why was she covering for me?

  “It’s a miracle.” He snickered. Like a snake, he slunk up to Lynx, sliding his fingers through her silky black hair, then tucking a lock behind her ear. His tongue skimmed over his lips. His palm caressed her cheek, and his body pressed into hers. “You are one of my favorites. Always a hard worker, keeping to yourself. And I respect your need to want to save your friend. To protect her. It’s an honorable thing to do, my dear.”

  Smack!

  His strike ricocheted over the space. With a cry, Lynx crumpled to the floor at his feet, her hand pressed to her face.

  Her name was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit down, knowing my attention would only cause her more harm.

  “You still need to be punished for lying and speaking out of turn.” He nodded at two guards close to her. “Three lashings.”

  “No,” I grunted.

  “Should I add more for your disobedience as well?” He curved an eyebrow at me. “Every time you speak, she gets another. Actually…” Evil crept over his smug face. “You will be the one who delivers her punishment.”

  “What?” The question barely made it past my teeth.

  “You will administer her lashings.” He held out the whip for me. “And if you go easy, I will add four more.”

  Bile boiled in my stomach like a cauldron, emotion I didn’t want out blurring my sight.

  “Get up, 85221.” He nodded to the switch in his hand. “Make them worthy of her foolish protection of you.”

  There was a truth to his statement, which stoked the rage inside me. Pressing my lips together, I rolled my fingers into balls. Anger rose off me. It wasn’t just at Hexxus, but for Lynx. She was a fool. I would have taken my lashings and been done. Now, two of us would be punished. I didn’t ask her to protect me, and now I was indebted to her. Her punishment lay at my feet. But her kindness was what destroyed me.

  Rising, I wiped the blood from my chin, taking the whip from his hands.

  My gaze went to Lynx. Her lips trembled; her eyes swam with tears, but she held up her chin in pride. Again, I wondered what had put her in here; she didn’t seem like a criminal.

  The two guards turned her around, pulling her shirt up, displaying her bare back to me.

  Just three strikes, and this would be done.

  Acid burned along my tongue, but I swallowed it back down. Cutting out my feelings, I regripped the switch in my hand and swung.

  The crack of the whip sang, followed by her exploding wail. She fell into the wall, but the guards held her up. A long red line burst from her back, the skin splitting in some areas, blood bubbling angrily to the surface.

  “A natural.” Hexxus was at my side, a salacious smile on his mouth. “Not one bit of hesitation.”

  How badly I wanted to turn the whip on him, make him feel every bit of my hatred.

  “You enjoy it, don’t you?” He licked his mouth. “Don’t deny it. I can feel it on you. There is enormous power in the most depraved actions. Don’t you feel it? The taste of her terror on your tongue, her grief and pain like blood pumping through your veins? Holding a life in your hands.”

  I snarled at him because somewhere deep down, I could feel the energy of my act.

  Life and death.

  I liked it.

  He laughed. “Deep down, under society’s rules, all the things they tell you to be, you enjoy the wickedness.” He cranked his neck to look at me. For a moment, I could feel his sexual charge, the desire billowing off his skin like a snare, capturing me in his web.

  Grinding my teeth, I faced Lynx, hearing him chuckle. “Again.”

  Crack!

  Her gut-wrenching scream cut through the air as the whip drove over the open wounds of the first one, Lynx’s sobs clotting in my throat. The guards fully moved in, holding her up as her legs dipped underneath her weight.

  One more. Just be done with it.

  Sucking in my own cry of grief, I lifted my hand and lashed out.

  A noise I couldn’t even describe as human gurgled from her throat before her head dropped forward, her body going limp.

  “I’m impressed, 85221.” Hexxus faced me, holding his hand out. Everything in me wanted to refuse, to whirl the whip until no one in this room was left standing.

  Seething, I placed it back in his hand, his self-satisfaction itching my skin.

  He reached out, sliding his f
inger under my jaw. Pulling it away coated in blood, he sucked the red liquid off. “Mmmm…even your blood tastes sinful. Feral. Full of life.”

  He grinned, his eyes glowing like an idea had come to him.

  “Now for your punishment.” My stomach dropped, a rush of alarm cooling my skin, as if thrashing my workmate hadn’t been enough. “Flogging is not sufficient for you. Nor is the hole.”

  I swallowed.

  “You, my pretty thing, are meant for more.”

  “What?”

  He stared at me for a moment before his expression turned to a taunting sneer.

  “I think you will do well. It’s for the truly debauched.”

  “Do well? For what?”

  “The Games, my pet.” He smirked. “You are going to fight in the Games.”

  Chapter 17

  “Wakey, wakey, fishy.” My eyes fluttered open at the singsong voice. Brown eyes looked back at me only an inch away from my face. “Good morning. Glad to have you back.”

  “Oh gods,” I muttered, taking him in before I tucked my face back into my arm.

  Opie stood with his hands on his hips, wearing a pink loofah for shorts, two round scrubber brushes like a bra, and more cleaning pads for a hat and shoes, his beard braided with garbage ties. Bitzy was on Opie’s back wearing a swimmer’s cap, her large ears sticking out of it.

  Chirp. Her middle finger sent me a good morning greeting.

  “Yeah, good morning to you too,” I grumbled.

  Chirp.

  Groaning, I pushed myself up to lean against the wall. Last night I had fallen into a deep sleep, but terror trotted so heavily through my dreams, Lynx’s cries haunting my soul, I felt as though I hadn’t slept at all.

  “Against my principles,” Opie motioned to the cell, “I swept it while you were gone. Can’t you tell? It’s so sparkly. I mean, I hate it, like really hate it, but you can’t deny my skills.”

  I peered around, noticing not one bit of difference in the empty cage.

  “Uh. Sure.”

  “It’s in my genes, I guess.” He shrugged, his fingers playing with his loofah shorts. “Can’t fight perfection.” He held up his hand. “Don’t get all used to it. My soul almost died. It was a huge sacrifice. I mean, I hate cleaning.”

  “As you say.” I rubbed my face, trying to wake up. “So…what’s the outfit for today?”

  “Shower scrubbing.” He twirled around, grabbing onto his scrubber pad hat. “I made it last night.”

  “It’s perfect.” I raked my fingers through my hair, rolling it up in a topknot.

  “I know, right?” He rubbed his hands in circles over the scrub brushes across his chest. “Master Finn, our head brownie, said I looked foolish, and I’m an embarrassment to our kind…” Opie stared at his covered feet, sadness wrinkling his forehead.

  “Well, this Finn sounds like a dreary asshole.” A wave of protectiveness soared through me at the thought of anyone taking Opie’s happiness away because he didn’t act the same as a typical brownie. “Miserable git. You just be you. The best-dressed brownie on the block.”

  Chirp!

  Two middle fingers waved in the air like a hallelujah, Bitzy’s head bobbing in agreement.

  A smile grew on Opie’s face, and his hips started to wiggle back and forth like a song was playing in his head. “That’s right, baby. I make work more fun. I can tell they’re all jealous of my costumes.”

  “Who wouldn’t be?” I winked at him, watching him twirl in his loofah like a ballerina. “Maybe you can make me a warrior costume.”

  Chirp.

  Opie stopped turning, his joyous expression falling.

  “Oh, right.” He nodded at Bitzy. “I heard—” Whack. Bitzy’s fingers knocked him over the head. “Okay, okay…Bitzy heard,” Opie muttered. “How could she not with those ears?”

  Whack.

  “Hey!” He rubbed his head as her chirps rattled off, widening my eyes. “Sorry.” Chirp. “No, I mean it.” Chirp. “I wouldn’t say it unless I meant it.” Chirp. “There is nothing wrong with my tone. I said it perfectly.” Chirp. “I’m not a bad actor. How dare you!”

  “Hey. Hey. Both of you calm down.” I held up my hands. “Bitzy, I’m sure he meant his apology.”

  Chirp. Chirp. Double flip off in my face.

  “Wow…in the nicest terms she just told you to fuc—”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, stopping him from continuing. “I think I understood that.”

  “So?” He faced me again, tugging up his pink loofah shorts. “Were you really put on the list?”

  I tipped my head back against the cement, swallowing. “Yes.”

  “That’s bad, fishy.”

  “So I’ve heard.” And seen.

  Since Hexxus’s announcement, I had shut down, going into complete denial. A few weeks in and I had already been beaten up, had my blanket stolen—fuck that bitch—got attacked in the shower, put in the hole, had to flagellate another inmate who wanted to protect me, and now put in line for the Games.

  Games in which no one survived for long.

  Let’s say my review of this place would be abysmal.

  “There is no escape.” Opie pulled on his hat nervously. “Unless you live, but even the most successful fighter will lose eventually.”

  “You are not helping.”

  “You can’t do this.”

  “I don’t have a choice.”

  “You will die.”

  “I know.” I exhaled violently through my mouth, and a deep terror brushed over my soul. Death itself had just walked across it.

  The morning bell rang through the block, followed by the clanking of doors opening, drawing my attention to the outside, my mind wanting to think of anything other than my fate.

  “Well, I better go. Showers will be emptying out soon.” He shoved at the scrubbers like he was pushing up boobs. “Work time, Bitzy.”

  Chirp. With her finger up high in the air whirling like a cowboy on a bull, they slipped through the bars and vanished.

  Heaving myself up, settling in with the herd, I made my way to the bathrooms, going through the motions, but not feeling present in my own body.

  “The trouble you get in without me, little lamb.” Kek jumped on the counter next to the sink I was using. “You can’t seem to stay out of it, can you? I need to wrap caution tape around you.”

  I cupped cold water in my hands and splashed it on my face, trying to wake myself up. Peering to the side, I noticed Kek’s blue hair was down and wet, her uniform clean.

  “Oh look, Stanky Fish’s bodyguard is on duty,” a snide voice cut in, pulling my gaze to the metal reflection of the mirror. Tess and her gang stood behind me in their pyramid formation around her. “Move. I need the sink,” Tess snarled, moving closer.

  There were dozens of other sinks she could have waited to use, but she was trying to make another stand against me.

  I sighed, not bothering turning around.

  Kek let out a howling laugh. “It’s as if you enjoy getting your ass pummeled, Tessie.” She leaned back against the mirror, showing they were no threat. “It took three of you and a surprise attack to take her down the first time. The last fight? Well…” Kek motioned to their still deeply bruised faces.

  “At least no one owns me. I don’t need a demon to protect me in exchange for sexual favors,” Tess sneered.

  “If this girl was offering sexual favors for protection,” Kek motioned to me as she sat up, leaning closer to them, threatening, “you’d be dead right now.”

  Tess swallowed nervously.

  “I might do it anyway because you are really pissing me off, human.”

  “You have no power here. You can’t do anything to me,” Tess huffed.

  Kek slid off the counter with a malicious leer. She was slight compared to them, but confidence and strength radiated from her.

  “You are all talk,” Tess snipped, but I could see her take a stunted breath.

  “You want to try me?” She got in
Tess’s face, Tess’s two friends lurching forward in defense.

  “Whoa,” I hissed, stepping between them, my eyes sliding to the guards who were watching us intently. Moving in, my chest bumped against Tess’s. “Back. Down. Try throwing your weight around somewhere else. But wait, that’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re losing your hold on the nonexistent position you pretend you have.”

  Her nose and mouth wrinkled, fury spitting off her.

  “At the end of the day, you are nothing here. Another human who will die with no fanfare or recognition. Disappear as if you never existed.”

  “You think you will be remembered?” she hissed, knocking back into me. “Your rich mommy and daddy crying over you?” Her eyes scanned me. “You came in here dripping with privilege. Painted nails, creamy skin, silky hair… I can smell money on everything you do. How you speak, hold yourself, your entitled arrogance… You never had to suffer a day in your life. I bet you’ve never even set foot in the Savage Lands. It’s probably just a story that gets you rich people all excited with the possibility of danger. You never had to work eighteen grueling hours every day to put food on the table. Watch your child die because you couldn’t get medicine.” She stepped even closer. “This place is a holiday for me. So, come at me. I will show you how we survive there.”

  “Hey!” a guard yelled at us. “Step back, or you all end up in the hole.”

  Tess’s lips hitched, but she retreated, glowering. “I can’t wait to watch you die. No one can protect you in the Games.”

  The three of them sauntered away, her claims sticking to me like burrs. I had come from wealth and privilege, never stepping even close to the Savage Lands. While I had endured loss and sacrifice, I had no idea how it felt to watch a child die because you could not afford medication. To not have food on the table.

  Istvan threw feasts with mounds of food for guests to impress them. So much of it was tossed out after or given to the livestock.