Isela's Love

by Sasha Cain

  Isela giggled. “Tell me about it. I’m sore in places I’ve never been sore before.”

  Concern masked Brendan’s perfect face. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, Brendan. You should take that as a compliment.”

  He blushed.

  “Oh my God, are you blushing?”

  He laughed nervously. “I’m sorry. It’s just...I’ve never had...It’s never felt like that before. Much as I’d like to take responsibility, I think it was more us than me.”

  She gave him a shy smile. “Even better.”

  Brendan kissed her deeply, then pulled away, slowly, lingering inches from Isela’s face, staring at her lips. “I couldn’t wait one more second to kiss you.”

  Isela gazed up at him, her eyes half-mast, her lips pouty from his kiss. “Lucky me,” she whispered huskily.

  Just as Brendan attempted to reclaim the kiss, a pounding on the door jolted them both.

  “Hey, open the goddamned door.”

  Keeri. Isela gasped. Brendan held his finger up to his mouth, shushing her. He pointed to one of the stalls. Isela nodded, immediately understanding.

  “Just a minute,” she sang out. She waited until Brendan had gone into the stall and concealed his presence. Then she opened the door.

  “What the hell is your problem?” Keeri demanded. “Why did you lock the door?”

  “I’m sorry. I got sick. I was embarrassed.”

  Keeri rolled her eyes. “You are such a baby. Toughen up for Christ sakes.”

  She shoved Isela out of the way and locked herself in a stall. Silently, Brendan climbed down out of the crouch he’d been doing over the toilet and hurried out of the bathroom, managing to steal a quick kiss before Isela shoved him out the door. Luckily, this particular restroom was around a corner and down the hall, so people weren’t milling around.

  Keeri flung the stall door open and stomped out, glaring at Isela. “You’re acting weird. Why?”

  “I’m just in a good mood. God, is that so strange?”

  “For you? Yeah, very. Know that I’m watching you. I will figure this out.”

  Isela shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  ****

  After the dinner dishes had been washed and put away, Mae and Isela, as well as the other servants assigned to that task, returned to their rooms. Isela yawned as they turned down their hallway.

  Mae looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “That’s what you get for staying up all night engaging in hot, steamy sex.”

  Isela smiled. “And I’d do it all again,” she sang out.

  Mae stopped, nudging Isela. She pointed down the hall. “Looks like you might.”

  Isela looked up to where Mae pointed. Brendan was jogging down the hall toward them. He glanced over his shoulder a couple of times and then broke into a smile when he saw Isela.

  When he reached her, he kissed her on the forehead. “Hi,” he said as if the two of them were the only ones standing there.

  “Are you insane?” Mae asked bluntly.

  Brendan flashed her a grin. “Hey, Mae. How’s it goin’?”

  They all bustled into Isela’s room, Mae shutting the door behind them. Isela threw her arms around Brendan, laughing. “How did you get out again?”

  He chuckled. “Apparently, Keeri reeeeally likes that guard. And clearly he’s impressed with her as well.”

  “No way...again?”

  “Ugh,” Mae said. “That’s what I’ll be saying about you two.”

  Brendan winked at Isela. “I hope so.”

  Rolling her eyes, Mae threw her hands up. “That’s it. I’m out. You two are officially nauseating. There’s so much sexual tension in this room, I’m going to gag. Have fun, kiddies.”

  She opened the door a crack, peered out, but then shut it again. Turning around, she said, “Please be careful...both of you.”

  She reopened the door and made her exit.

  ****

  Brendan and Isela spent that night together and the night after that. Neither of them could believe their luck as far as the guard was concerned. The more they got to know one another, the closer they became.

  The third night, after making love, Isela lay in Brendan’s arms, a place she was finding more and more comfortable.

  “Isela?” Brendan asked softly.” Are you awake?

  “Mmm hmm.”

  “When we were talking the other night, you started telling me about Guarros and your mother. You never finished telling me what happened. Do you mind talking about it?”

  She propped herself up on her elbow. “No, I’ll tell you. I want you to know.” She paused, stroking his finger with her own.

  “After three years of being raped repeatedly and otherwise physically abused, I think it dawned on my mother that Guarros had the same fate in store for me. She begged him never to touch me. When he didn’t ease her fears, I think she challenged him. The next thing I knew, viocomen had torn her apart right outside the gate.”

  Brendan ran his hand over his forehead, through his hair.

  “My God, Isela. I don’t know what to say. It’s obvious you don’t think she committed suicide.”

  Isela narrowed her eyes. “I know she didn’t. Not that I have any proof.”

  “Then how do you know?”

  “I woke up one morning to find my mother pacing the floor, wringing her hands, babbling about how she wasn’t going to let him do this to her baby. I, myself thought she was crazy at first. Then I realized. She finally understood what he was about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I heard her begging him to promise not to ever touch me one night. He laughed in her face and then slapped her. He asked her what right she had to ask anything of him after all he’d done for her. I was only thirteen, but I swear, Brendan, if I’d had the means, I’d have killed him right then. Maybe if I had, my mother would still be alive.”

  “No, Isela, don’t do that to yourself. You were a child. You were powerless against an entirely different kind of monster. There was nothing you could’ve done.”

  She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. “I just wish...”

  He cradled her in his arms, holding her against him. “I know, baby, I know.”

  Isela pulled away, sitting straight up. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “There were no witnesses to her death, you know. Not one.

  “This place is nearly impossible to get out of. So tell me how a frail woman could just waltz out the door and wander away without being noticed, with all these guards and locked doors.”

  “It doesn’t make sense that no one saw anything.”

  She pointed her finger at Brendan. “Exactly. None of it makes any sense. My mother finally found the courage to give him some trouble, so he threw her to the viocomen without a second thought. And whichever of his minions know about it, they’re too scared to speak up.”

  “Or didn’t live to.”

  “I still remember when he told me. He had me summoned to his office. I sat down, wondering what I’d done wrong this time, when he just said it. ‘Isela, your mother’s dead. She killed herself. She ran out through the gates and threw herself to the viocomen.’

  “I stared at him, wide-eyed, waiting for more...some kind of explanation, some comfort...I don’t know what. Nothing. He went back to his paperwork and then after a few minutes he said, ‘I’m sorry, child, is there something else? No? You’re dismissed.’”

  “Jesus. I can’t...I don’t...” Brendan found himself tearing up. How Isela could have endured the things she had at this bastard’s hand, and still turned out to be sane, confounded him. “I wish there was something I could say or do.”

  “No, it’s okay. Looking back, I’m glad Guarros didn’t pretend to be all loving and sympathetic. It only helped to harden me.”

  “Harden you?”

  “Yeah. I decided, at that moment, in his office, I would never submit to him. I would’ve died first. I still would. I needed to toughen up, to gain the streng
th and skills to fight him if I had to. So, I asked around. Who could help me do that?”

  “And?”

  “Some of the old-timers were impressed that I’d figured things out at such an early age. Most of the girls in here don’t. They hooked me up with Bashua.”

  Brendan’s breath caught. That was the guy he was supposed to make contact with regarding Isela’s father. “Who?”

  “Bashua. He’s like one of the original prisoners or something. Rumored to be quite the scary guy, but between you and me? A real softie. Anyway, he was one of the first of the elite hunters, kind of like the one you saved on the loading dock.

  “Something went bad. He won’t talk about it, but whatever it was, it landed him here. I went to see him, told him my theories.” Isela smiled. Clearly she had affection for this man. “He laughed at me at first. Told me I had big balls talking about Guarros that way.”

  “What did you say?”

  Much to Brendan’s delight, Isela’s mood lifted a little. Smiling, she covered her eyes with her hands, as if embarrassed, and answered. “I stood there with my hands on my hips and yelled, ‘Fuck Guarros!’”

  Brendan laughed. “Now there’s a picture.”

  “I know, I know. Not my proudest moment.”

  “So what happened?”

  “He offered to train me.”

  “Train you in what?”

  “He called it martial arts. He learned it in the other world.”

  Brendan gave Isela a raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, c’mon. You can’t tell me you haven’t heard of the ‘other world.’”

  Brendan bit his tongue. So much he wanted to say about the other world, but couldn’t.

  “Maybe a little,” he said.

  “Don’t you believe in it?”

  “Yes, definitely.”

  “I’d love to be able to go there,” she said, her eyes lighting up.

  Brendan promised himself to get her there at his earliest opportunity. “Maybe someday you will. You’re a native of Celio.”

  “So?”

  “The way I hear it, if you’re a native, you can come and go between worlds whenever you like.”

  She grasped Brendan’s wrist. “Oh my God, Brendan. That would be wonderful.” She sobered and the light left her eyes. “If I could only get out of here.”

  Brendan lifted her chin with his finger. “Look at me, Isela.”

  She met his gaze.

  “I will get you out of here. And we’ll go to the other world together.”

  She hugged him.

  “So did this Bashua teach you anything?”

  “Yeah, I learned a few moves. I can hold my own.”

  “I have no doubt.”

  She fought a grin. “Yeah, I think he was worried my mouth might get me in over my head. He gave me the skills to defend myself in case that happened.”

  “I’m sure that wasn’t his only motivation.”

  “No, he knew what kind of twisted individual Guarros is.”

  Brendan touched his finger to the tip of her nose. “Sounds like you were lucky to have him in your corner. I’d love to meet him.”

  “I’ll introduce you. But you should know, he really loves to hear himself talk.”

  “I’m sure he has a lot to say.”

  Isela smiled. “That’s the kind of thing my mother would have said. I think she’d have really liked you.”

  “I’m sorry I never got to meet her.”

  “You know, I’ve never really talked about this with anybody except Mae, but even she doesn’t know everything.”

  “Why not?”

  Isela sighed. “Mae likes things to be as they seem. She doesn’t question things. She accepts them. It’s her coping mechanism. Me? I question everything. That’s mine. She’s never known anything but this prison.”

  “Even as a child?” Brendan sounded surprised.

  “Some ruffians found her abandoned, left for dead, when she was a toddler. The last thing they needed was another mouth to feed, so they brought her here. I’m sure they saved her life, but c’mon. There’s better places to take a three-year-old than this hell-hole.

  “Anyway, this is all she’s ever known, so in order to...I don’t know...avoid resentment for living her life here, questioning if there’s something better when she can’t leave? Maybe just to maintain her sanity, she’s convinced herself that her situation isn’t that bad. That there are so many worse things out there, we should be grateful to Guarros for taking us in.”

  Brendan’s eyebrows drew together. “Wait, why can’t she leave?”

  “Same reason I can’t. According to Guarros, he’s supported us for all these years. We owe him a debt...to be worked off in servitude. Council approved.”

  “Can’t you just tell them?”

  Isela gave him a look. “Do you really think they’d believe me? I’m sure my file is quite colorful. Why do you think he has me wearing this stupid white collar? It labels me. Unruly, unstable, damaged. He’s the warden of a prison. I’m the poor, rebellious, servant girl. The daughter of a crazy woman. If you were a Council member, who would you believe?”

  “Yeah, I see what you mean, but still, there has to be a way to make them see what he really is.”

  “I wish I believed that was possible. I know what he is and what he’s capable of. If he gets his way...” She trailed off, shuddering. “He’s power-hungry. He’ll never stop until he controls everything.”

  “I’m going to do everything I can to stop him.” Brendan sighed. “But right now, I need to get going. It’ll be morning soon.”

  “Do you think we’re pushing our luck with this?”

  “How so?” Brendan asked.

  “Well, we’ve been really lucky so far with Keeri keeping the guard busy and all. But how long can this go on? I mean eventually, she’s going to reveal her personality to him and then it’ll be over.”

  “Trust me, Isela, that guard has no interest in Keeri’s personality. While I’m sure Keeri’s revealing lots of things, her personality is definitely not one of them. I say we enjoy it while we can.”

  “That’s just it. After spending these nights with you, it’ll be hard to go back to the way it used to be.”

  He kissed her temple. “Let’s not talk about it. I don’t even want to think about it.”

  ****

  Isela woke up feeling energized. She planned on doing some laundry after she finished her chores. Her clothes needed washing, and after four nights with Brendan, she figured the sheets were overdue. She giggled to herself as she hunted around for the clothing items that she or Brendan had thrown around the room in their haste to disrobe.

  On her hands and knees, Isela searched under her bed for a missing tank top. “There you are,” she said, reaching for it.

  As she hooked it with her finger, something else caught her eye. A crumpled piece of paper lay a few inches from her shirt. With her other hand, Isela grabbed the paper. She thought it odd since the only papers she recalled handling were the letters to and from Jerric.

  Shaking open the paper, she began to read. In the time it took to read that letter, all of her newfound happiness vanished, sucked away from her to be replaced with doubt, betrayal, and despair. Isela dropped to her knees, her hand over her mouth. With every word she read, fresh tears pooled in her eyes. How could he have done this?

  It was a letter. That must’ve been what the hunter slipped into Brendan’s pocket that day. As the words jumped off the page, taunting her, she shook her head. It couldn’t be. Why?

  As if to make it real, Isela read the words out loud, her voice trembling.

  “ ‘Brendan, don’t get all caught up in your fake-inmate role. You need to make a move toward talking with Bashua. Talk to the girl. Be your charming self and find out what we need to know. The sooner you make contact, the sooner we can end this and pull you out of there. Besides, Maggie’s getting impatient and wants you home. She wants me to tell you she and the baby lov
e you and miss you. Is there anything else you need?’ ”

  A hollow emptiness crept up from the pit of Isela’s stomach. He wasn’t even an inmate. He had a wife, or at the very least, a woman who’d had his baby and loved him.

  The realization of the situation sank in, causing Isela to cry out. Oh God! She’d made love to a man she’d thought had genuine feelings for her when, apparently, all he wanted was information from her. He’d used her to get to Bashua and soon he’d be gone. The hunter said so in the letter.

  Isela stood up. She paced around the room trying to process what she’d learned. It was all too much. The man she thought she’d fallen in love with had betrayed her. He’d seduced her in order to obtain information, promising her a better life, taken her virginity, and soon he’d toss her aside like trash and then move on with his life, leaving her here, merely existing until the day she could escape Guarros.

  Maybe he worked for Guarros. Oh no, if that were the case, she’d given up Bashua. Here he’d been kind enough to teach her to defend herself, and now she’d revealed information that could cause him harm. Guarros would surely kill him for that. How could she have been so foolish?

  She’d so wanted to believe all of the beautiful things Brendan had promised her. When he spoke of having a life together, she’d been reluctant to dare to dream, but she had...and now the dream was gone. Taken from her just like everything else she’d ever cared about.

  Despondence overcame her, shattering the last of her resolve until the mind-numbing agony coursing through her was all there was. Isela dropped onto her bed and wept, her tears soaking the sheets that still smelled faintly of Brendan.

  ****

  Mae’s voice outside the door awoke Isela with a start. Sitting up, disoriented, she glanced around. The memory of Brendan’s treachery crashed back into her skull, bringing her back to reality.

  She opened the door. Mae’s mouth dropped open.

  “What is it?” she asked, alarmed.

  Isela let her hand fall from the door. She turned around and walked over to the table. Without saying a word, she snatched up the letter off of the table, thrusting it forward. Mae took it, a perplexed expression on her face.

  Isela watched her friend as she read the words that destroyed what was left of Isela’s hope. Mae’s eyes went wide and she sucked in a breath. Her eyes darted from the tear-stained paper in her hands to Isela and back.