by Celia Aaron
“What are these for?” Bob, as usual, asked the dumbest question possible.
“Simple. Annie here is Gavin’s little sister. Sin, you already know Stella’s father, Mr. Rousseau. And, Red, this is Twila, Brianne’s mother.” He bent over and patted the woman on her cheek. “Sorry for the less-than-flashy introduction, but you understand, don’t you?”
She stared silently, her mind far away from the fort and the cold stone beneath her feet. She and the girl must have been taken while they were sleeping. The girl wore a pair of too-small pajamas and the woman was dressed only in an oversized t-shirt.
Cal grinned and straightened. “I knew you would. We’re going to have a round-robin of bouts amongst the Acquisitions. If your Acquisition fails the match, you will have to harm their family member. The more creative the harm the better. So, really, if you think about it.” He tapped his finger on his chin. “Your Acquisition could lose, but you could still win if you really go to town. The rest of the rules don’t even apply, since their relatives aren’t truly Acquisitions. Maim them. Do whatever. Just do it with flair is all I ask.”
“Ingenious.” I could appreciate his brutality, though I still wanted to grab the closest knife, gut him, and make him chew his own intestines.
“Well, thank you. Means a lot coming from you.” Cal grinned and headed back the way we came.
The child shivered and huddled closer to Brianne’s mother. Bob ran his hand over the implements, eagerness in his eyes.
“Let me go. Please, I won’t tell anyone. Just let me go.” Stella’s father clasped his hands together, the chains dragging and clinking across the stone.
“Just you? Not the child? Not the woman?” I asked.
He swallowed hard and darted his beady gaze from them to me. “All of us. That’s what I meant.”
“No it isn’t. You chose this far more than they did. Deal with it.” I inspected the courtyard two stories below. It was bare. Un-mowed grass covered the ground. The stark walls of the fort rose in a circular barrier, and a wooden platform made to look like a thin oak trunk with a small canopy presided in the center. Nothing to help Stella, but nothing to hurt her, either.
Her father stared up at me. “Stella wouldn’t want you to—”
I backhanded him, the slap satisfying on so many levels. “You don’t deserve to say her name. Speak again, and I’ll use my fists.”
The crowd across the way cheered lightly as the old man cowered against the girl, his cheek turning red. I resumed my stance behind him, straightened my shirt sleeve, and twisted my cuff link back to perfection. It was all about the show, after all.
“No head starts now, Counsellor Vinemont.” Cal laughed atop the oak platform, his voice booming in all directions.
“Ladies and gentleman! Get your popcorn and take your seats because the entertainment is about to begin. As you all know, the classic theme to the spring trial is family. I’ve stuck to the theme, but I gave it my own little twist. Are the Acquisitions ready?”
A door beneath the spectators opened, and a round, balding man yelled, “Yes sir!”
“Perfect. Bring them out,” Cal replied.
Gavin and Stella walked out first, their hands clasped as they moved cautiously through the wet grass. Brianne followed behind, her head bowed.
The light rain fell at a steady pace, though we were covered by an awning similar to the one over the crowd. The Acquisitions kept up with the attendant until they stood at the base of the platform, about twenty yards away.
From my vantage point, I saw blood along Stella’s neck, red tingeing the fabric of her shirt. I balled my fists. They’d already hurt her. Fuck.
“All looking fit and ready. Excellent. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Governor Elliot for allowing us the use of the fort.”
The governor stood in the spectator section and waved. A woman knelt in front of him, her blonde head bobbing furiously on his cock. The crowd clapped, and the governor gave Cal a small salute before sitting down and focusing on the woman at his feet.
“Okay, folks, we are going to do a little Louisiana Gladiator. How’s that sound?”
The crowd roared, the sound echoing around the fort and up into the cloudy sky.
“Family. Is there anything better?” Cal laughed, the sound hollow, like the man. “No. So, in keeping with our theme, here’s the rules. Each Acquisition will fight the others one on one. Bare fists only—”
The crowd broke out in boos and jeers.
Cal held up his hand. “Wait, wait, let me finish. There are rules. We can’t very well let them run around with machetes like the Vinemonts back in the day, now can we?”
Laughter erupted, and Cal had them in his palm once again. “So fist fights are the order of the day. But, if an Acquisition loses, then one of their beloved family members will be harmed by one of our competitors.” Cal pointed toward us. “We have three new guests with us today. Twila, Brianne’s mother, Annie, Gavin’s sister, and Leon, Stella’s father.”
“No!” Gavin turned, seeking and finding his cowering sister. He took two steps before the attendant brought a baton down on his shoulder, sending Gavin to his knees.
Stella gazed up at me, her heart-shaped face set in lines of determination. She dug in her pocket, pulled out a hair tie, and began finger combing her hair into a tight bun. Brianne peeked up and locked eyes with her mother. A litany of “no, no, no” came out of Brianne’s mouth, growing stronger with each repetition.
Stella glanced at her father, but kept her face stoic. When she looked at the child, she winced. I shook my head at her. Pity had no place in the trials. Only strength.
“So, first up. Let’s go ahead and see what Brianne and Gavin can do, shall we? I want to save the catfight for last.” Cal saluted the crowd and motioned to the attendant who shoved Stella inside the hollow oak.
After a few long moments, she stepped onto the top platform. Cal pulled her to his side, their backs to me. I hoped for a second she would shove him off, but that was foolish. I needed Cal alive to win the Acquisition.
He glanced over his shoulder at me before running his hand to her ass and palming it. “Gorgeous redhead, I hope you like to watch as much as I do. Oh! Oh my goodness.” He slapped his forehead and guffawed into the microphone. “Oh, dear me. I almost forgot to tell everyone the most important rule of the competition. Can you guess what it is, Stella?”
She squared her shoulders and said nothing.
“If an Acquisition loses both rounds, then their family member dies.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
STELLA
THE SPECTATORS SCREAMED, BLOODLUST in their shrieks of approval at Cal’s words. Death, misery, ruin—this was their currency. Hate burned in my heart, stripping away everything soft and gentle and turning me into nothing more than a brand of rage.
The child shivered, her eyes wide as she stared at her brother. Her lips moved, but I couldn’t hear her words. Maybe they were silent. I knew what she said all the same. The same litany of fear I’d recited until the Acquisition transformed me from fearful to vengeful. Even so, I wanted to weep for her. I wouldn’t.
“Mommy?” Brianne yelled up to the woman who sat catatonic.
The sound roused the woman and she leaned over and stared at Brianne. “Bri?”
“Mommy!”
Despite my efforts to avoid it, I glanced at my father. He was a shell of the man I’d seen only a few months before. His hair was faded to white, his cheeks sunken, and his eyes bugged in his too-thin face. Something moved in my heart—sadness or regret, I didn’t know which. But I wished he weren’t here, for his sake and mine.
“It’s going to be okay, Annie. Don’t be scared.” Gavin called to his little sister, whose terrified eyes darted from him to Bob.
An attendant brought a chair to the top of the small platform, and Cal sat. He pulled me into his lap so I was angled sideways to him. Raising his hand, he pointed to the attendants stationed at the door where we’d entered the
arena. They rushed out into the courtyard, batons at their sides.
“KO preferred. Incapacitation acceptable. If you don’t fight, we’ll hurt you and your family members. Red, give them a little taste so they know we aren’t just teasing.” Cal clicked the microphone off.
Red reared back and sank a fist in Brianne’s mother’s stomach. Brianne screamed. Bile rose in my throat as Cal dug in my hair and undid my bun, my hair falling messily down my back.
“Isn’t that better?” He stroked my hair as Brianne’s scream broke when one of the attendants cracked his baton across her back. She fell to her knees.
Cal clicked the microphone back on. “That’s enough. I think they’re ready.”
The attendants hurried back inside the wooden door as Brianne struggled to her feet.
Gavin was still consoling his little sister when Brianne launched herself onto his back.
“That’s more like it. Enjoy the show, folks.” Cal dropped the microphone and ran his hand along my thigh before peering at my neck. “What’s this here? Who bit you?”
I didn’t answer, only watched as Gavin yanked Brianne from his back and tossed her to the ground. She scrambled up and rushed him again, her blonde hair flying out behind her. He had at least fifty pounds on her. There was no way she could win. But she fought, screaming and clawing at him as he tried to ward her off.
“Something about you. The more I see you, the more I want you. I covet you. I’m not the only one, either. Why is that, do you think?” Cal’s voice slithered into my ear.
I kept my mouth clenched shut as Brianne kicked at Gavin’s shins. He yelled and shoved her back.
“I find myself wondering if your snatch is covered with the same color hair as this.” He twisted a lock between his fingers. “You were bare last time I saw you.”
I focused on Brianne and Gavin, analyzing their movements, looking for weaknesses. I could do it. I could fight and win. The only thing I couldn’t do was look at Gavin’s sister. Her frightened eyes were already etched in my mind, her youth ruined by this foul tournament.
“Hey.” He yanked my hair and moved his hand under my shirt. “I need your full attention. Gavin and Brianne can work out their differences without you.”
“You have it.” I darted my eyes over to Sin. He cut an imposing figure, standing completely still, his eyes on me.
“I don’t think I do.” He worked his hand up my shirt to my sports bra and pinched my nipple through the fabric. “But I know how to get it.”
I froze, humiliation washing over me at Cal’s unwanted touch. Even as Brianne screamed below, I met his eyes, the dark pupils wide.
“Was that so hard?” He eased up on my nipple and palmed my breast. “I just wanted to talk to you a little. I feel like I haven’t gotten to know you as well as Brianne.”
The crowd roared as Gavin let out a shriek, but I kept my eyes on Cal.
“Very good. See? You can be taught.” He pulled his hand out of my shirt and rested it on my thigh again.
I fought the urge to watch what was happening on the ground below. Think. I had to take this opportunity to learn what I could from Cal. “Dylan told me he owns me.”
“Ah.” His eyes went to the mark on my neck. “So I assume this is his handiwork?”
I nodded. “Sin owns me. Dylan owns me. You don’t. There’s no point coveting something you will never have.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. I’m still Sovereign for some time yet. Besides, ‘never’ is such a broad term, don’t you think?” He leaned over and licked along the bite mark. I bit my lip to keep from crying out at the sting.
Brianne’s shriek got her mother to her feet as the crowd laughed and jeered. I glanced down. She was on her stomach, crawling toward Gavin. Bloodied and grim, he backed away from her.
Cal took my arm and wrapped it around his neck. “What if I said Sin would win if you’d be mine for the rest of the contract year? Voluntarily agree to do whatever I asked. I don’t want to fight you. That’s not my kink. I want total and utter obedience.”
I stilled and stared into his face, trying to measure the weight of his words. Was he lying? “Why do I care if he wins or not? I wish him dead every morning when I wake up.”
He smiled. “You aren’t fooling me. I can see you’re considering it. Good. Though it’s not up to you, really. Sin would have to agree since, technically, he owns you now.”
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”
His face hardened, and he slapped me. “Don’t ever question my honor, you little cunt.”
My ears rung but I tried not to react to the pain along my cheek.
Gavin yelled, the sound throaty and full of rage.
The crowd roared.
Cal’s sneer turned into a smile. “I think that’s my cue.” He scooted me off his lap and stood.
Brianne lay motionless in the grass, her eyes closed. Gavin knelt beside her, tears streaming down his face as he stroked her hair. Her face was bloodied, his knuckles red.
“Looks like we need a medic. Get her revived for her bout with Stella. In the meantime, Red, you’re up.”
Two attendants rushed out and grabbed Brianne under her arms before dragging her back through the door we’d entered. Gavin sat heavily and stared up at me, his eyes open windows of pain and regret. I kept taking deep breaths, refusing to panic at the rising tide of horror around me.
Red walked to a steel table along the battlement, though I couldn’t see what was on the top. I shivered as Cal came up behind me and lay his forearm across my chest above my breasts.
“You’re really going to love this part.” He held me in place so I was looking right at the chained victims.
Red picked up something that looked like a monkey wrench, the metal dull and heavy.
“Oh, good choice, my man. Let’s see what he can do with it.” Cal laughed, and the rest of the audience laughed with him.
My blood turned to ice as Red approached the bound woman. She tried to stand and back away, but she was chained to the floor. I glanced to Sin. He shook his head almost imperceptibly. Maybe he was telling me not to watch. It didn’t matter. I had to see it, to witness every last disgusting act. It was the only way to keep my fire burning, the same fire that would destroy these animals.
Red pulled the wrench back and swung as Brianne’s mother screamed. The sound was cut off as the wrench made contact with a wet thud. Her teeth flew out, like white pearls in the low light of the clouds. Blood poured down her face.
Gavin retched into the grass, and I bit my cheek hard enough to draw blood.
The crowd leapt to its feet and screamed with approval. Brianne’s mother screeched and fell to her hands and knees. The child wailed, covered her face, and scooted closer to my father. He didn’t comfort her, only stared at Brianne’s mother as she moaned and touched her ruined nose and mouth.
“Well, well. Red’s been working on his aim.” Cal patted my ass. “Good show. Now let’s move on to the next round. Gavin and Stella.” He pushed me toward the stairs and lowered the mic. “Go on, and don’t forget what we talked about. I only hope Gavin doesn’t mess up your pretty face too much. I’d like to do the honors on that.”
I descended the narrow spiral stair and walked out onto the grass, the turf soft beneath my feet as the light mist continued to drizzle down around me.
Pulling another elastic from my pocket, I wrapped my hair into the same tight bun. Sparring with Dmitri was one thing. Fighting a stranger was something else. But having to fight Gavin when the consequences were torture and death?
Gavin still sat in the grass, head in his hands.
I glanced up to my father. He leaned forward, his eyes imploring me. Sin stood behind him, his arms crossed and his mask inscrutable. The child cried and clung to my father. I’d trained, struggled, and pushed myself so I could win any match. But the more I looked at the child, the more I questioned my desire to win.
I stopped in front of Gavin, my hands at my sides. “Gav
in, you need to get up.”
“Did you see what he did? Did you see what I did?” He turned his hands over and showed me his bloodied knuckles.
“You did what you had to do.” Just like I was going to do what I had to do. “Get up or I’ll kick you in the face.”
“No.” He shook his head.
“Bring out the batons, boys.” Cal’s voice drew the attendants, weapons at the ready.
I let out a breath, steadied myself, and aimed a kick at Gavin’s ribs. He clutched the spot and fell to his side.
“Oh, we’ve got some fireworks.”
The attendants retreated as Gavin struggled back to his knees, then his feet. He finally met my eyes. I wanted to hug him. Instead, I raised my hands, ready to fight.
“Are we really going to do this?” His question was more sorrow than anything else.
“We have to.” I tilted my chin toward the captives. “For them.”
He glanced to his sister and brought up his fists. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” I charged him and darted to the side at the last second, punching him in the side of the head. Pain shot through my fist and radiated up my arm, but I turned to face him again.
He shook his head as if he had water in his ear. “Fuck.”
“Come on.” I waved him to me.
He looked to his sister again before pounding across the grass. I dodged, letting his weight carry him forward, and jumped on his back. He flailed, grabbing at my arm as I brought my elbow down on his shoulder again and again.
He slapped my face and finally got hold of my arm, then threw me over his head. I hit the ground with a thunk. The wind rushed out of my body as the crowd tittered. I rolled before his foot came down where my stomach had been. Climbing to my feet, I backed away, breathing hard and looking for an opening.
Then I glanced up at my father. The girl sat next to him, frightened and alone. My father ignored her and watched as I fought to keep him from harm.
Gavin leapt toward me, but I backed away, curving around the platform as he followed. He sprinted at me, and I feinted right before kicking his shin as hard as I could. He fell to his knees, and his sister screamed. The sound was piercing, far too powerful for her small body. My father smiled down at me, triumph in the tilt of his head.