by Dannika Dark
“No, I’m his Learner.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Four years.”
“Of your own free will?”
“Fletcher is good to me. He takes care of me.”
“Fletcher can’t even take care of a houseplant.” The chain rattled when I leaned forward, and she hopped back a step. “Will you help me? He can’t hear if you whisper.”
“I have to put you in these clothes,” she said, clutching the bundle meekly.
“Then you better get the key and hurry up.”
Rachel didn’t have a very expressive face. She worked hard to hide her true emotions, so I had a difficult time reading her.
She kept staring at the shiny pair of scissors on top of the fabric. “I have to do this. If I don’t, he will.”
I threw my head back and wanted to laugh at the irony. My obsession with punishing men had led me back to the ultimate punisher.
“This wasn’t in the brochure,” I murmured.
Rachel stood at arm’s length and unzipped my jeans. She looked at me as if I were going to bite off her head. I knocked her arm away with my knee.
“Please,” she said, her voice quavering. “I have to.”
Yes, she had to.
It was the first spark of pure emotion I’d seen—a flicker of fear. Rachel was free to walk around, but she was still a prisoner. Her obedience had earned Fletcher’s trust, and in return, he’d granted her freedom. Well, if you wanted to call living your life in fear freedom.
I bent my knee and rested my foot against the wall. Despite her warning, I had a feeling she wasn’t going to tattle. Failing to do a simple thing like dress me wouldn’t go over well with a man like Fletcher, so Rachel wasn’t going anywhere until the job was complete.
More time with her meant less time with him.
My God, it was like staring into the mirror of a future that could have been. Had I not risked everything in a last-ditch effort to escape, was this what I would have become? Though Rachel wasn’t chained, I knew why she didn’t run. Fletcher was a convincing man, and I’d believed that no matter how far I ran, he would find me. He even told me he was a Mentalist—a Mage gift that allowed a person to communicate with others mentally and invade their dreams. As the months went by, I conducted tests and discovered his real gift was psychological manipulation.
When Rachel tried to remove my jeans again, I let her. Angry or not, I wasn’t going to be responsible for what Fletcher would do to her if she didn’t complete her assigned task.
She actually blushed when she took off my panties, but the color didn’t last long before she stood up, scissors in hand.
“Go on,” I said. “I’ve been through this song and dance before.”
Because my arms were bound, she had to cut away my T-shirt and bra. I trained my gaze on the door, expecting Fletcher to peer in at any moment with his beady little eyes. To my relief, I didn’t sense his energy close by.
“You’re a Mage,” I said to Rachel. “Are you really his, or did he just take you?”
She briefly looked at me, the answer in her eyes.
“I should have known he’d find a replacement. I bet you want to stab me with those scissors.”
She held up the handmade dress and put my head through the hole. There were no sleeves, just laces on the side that held it together. It was similar to the one he made me wear in the early days, before he trusted me enough to lengthen the chain. He eventually got sick of cleaning up my mess and gave me a bucket, but half the fun was not using it. I found pleasure rebelling in the most creative ways, always searching for buttons to push. Eventually he stopped giving me food and water, and that was when I learned how long I could survive without sustenance. Unfortunately, with Rachel around to do all the cleaning, I’d have to come up with new ideas.
While she tied the laces, I slammed my eyes shut.
This can’t be real, I thought, tears brimming near my lashes.
“You should just do whatever he wants,” Rachel whispered. “He told me about you—about how you fought your own Creator. You’re not supposed to do that. The Mageri executes anyone who kills their Creator. And a Learner has no rights.”
I tilted my head to the side, wondering if she was really that naïve. “The Mageri is the least of your concerns. Creators aren’t supposed to take you right off the street. Did you know that? Creators are supposed to go to the Mageri for approval when they make a Learner. At the very least, they have to present you to the local Council and have them measure your gifts.”
She began lacing up the other side. “They’re supposed to, but Creators aren’t punished if they don’t. They’re the only ones who can make another Mage, so the Mageri turns a blind eye whenever it suits them. Fletcher says they’re corrupt.”
Creating fear and distrust of the Mageri was one of Fletcher’s control tactics. I smiled mirthlessly. “Of course he did. I bet you’re convinced that he’s the only one who can protect you. I’ve been in your shoes, Rachel.”
She backed away, her lips set in a mulish line. “He said you’d try to sway me, but you’re only going to make it harder on yourself. Fletcher’s immortal, and you’re chained to a wall. He can do whatever he wants to you for all eternity. Have you thought about that?”
I shifted my stance and looked up at where the chain connected to the wall. Forever was a long time. Now that I’d seen the big bad world, I had a feeling Fletcher wasn’t going to be granting me privileges at the normal pace. A woman like Rachel wasn’t hard to break, and she’d probably never held a weapon in her life. Maybe he’d picked a girl from the suburbs whose only real excitement was going to yoga class three times a week. One thing was for sure—Fletcher would never trust me enough to unlock these chains. Not for years. If I yielded to him, I could retain my strength and come up with an escape plan. But I knew Fletcher better than that. He wanted to see me break, and he’d never accept anything less.
I yanked on the chain and studied the manacles for a weakness. Meanwhile, the door opened and Fletcher strode in, just as happy as a lark.
“Rachel’s a bit feebleminded, but I trust her.” He swaggered forward, hands in his pockets, but stopped out of reach. “Where, oh where, has my little Learner been?”
“I’m not your Learner.”
“Is that so? My light’s in your body; I beg to differ.” He sneered as he closed the distance between us.
Fletcher’s intense eyes made my hair stand on end. It was as if he could see all my secrets—all my weaknesses. It was easy to lose sense of time and slip back into the past, but that wasn’t me anymore, so I held his cruel gaze.
“I bet you’d like to have a go at me,” he said, stroking his beard.
“Unlock the chains, and let’s see what you’ve got. I used to think you were a scary guy, but now I see the truth. You’re weak. I’ve killed men twice your size. Now I know why the Mageri won’t give you permission to make one of us legally.”
He gripped my face with one hand and squeezed my cheeks hard. “A lot you know. Who do you think hired me to make sure Breed bodies never make it past the morgue? You’d be surprised how many Vamps are staked and left for dead.” He let go of my jaw and gave me a scathing glance. “Had I not brought you home with me, you’d be in a coffin right now. Or worse—cremated. Not uncommon when it comes to a Jane Doe.”
“Why didn’t you turn me in?”
He waggled his brows. “You had all the telltale signs of a newly made Vamp. It takes a while for the blood to take hold and turn you completely. I was curious if I could still make you a Mage, my little Frankenstein.”
“Frankenstein was the doctor, you idiot.”
Fletcher backhanded me so fast that I barely had time to process it. I spat blood in his face and grinned. I’d finally found a button to push.
He scowled, not bothering to wipe it off. “Never actually thought it would work. Tried it once before. It’s a shame to see it wasted on an ungrateful bitch. I was going to lengthen the chain
so you could reach the toilet, but it looks like it’s the bucket for you.”
“How about neither? Just like old times.”
He quirked a smile. “If you’d like Rachel to clean it up, then by all means, throw your feces around like an ape.” Fletcher smoothed his hand over my head and gave me an appraising look. The kind of look a man gives a prized steer he just purchased in an auction. “After all these years. I knew you’d never leave the city. When I saw the ad on the black market, I knew it was you.” He leaned in and smelled me. “I’ve learned a thing or two, and we won’t be making the same mistakes again. You’ll stay in chains for at least a year. I trusted you too soon, and I definitely don’t trust you now. Your words mean nothing to me.” His fingers fidgeted with one of the ties on my dress. “Made up your mind?”
That was when I broke eye contact and stared at the wall to the left.
He pulled the tie, touching me with his dirty finger before he pinched my side and twisted. “Give daddy a drink.”
If I was going to live through this year—or eternity—then I needed my strength. Someone juicing my light would weaken me over time. I’d thought about complying with his demands and pretending to be the good prisoner, but that was before I found out how long he planned to keep me in chains. With my skills, I stood a good chance at fighting him off. As long as I kept him away from my core light, I’d have my strength. Maybe he’d eventually make a mistake.
If anything, it would give me a good workout.
When I raised my knee, he never saw it coming. I delivered a bone-crunching kick to his chest that knocked him right on his ass.
Chapter 20
Fletcher made good on his promise. He left the short chain on my wrists, forcing me to either stand or kneel for two days. I didn’t require sleep, but it hurt like a bitch and limited my positions.
Without food or water, the toilet became a nonissue. One perk about being a Mage is not having to worry about dying from dehydration. But while my core light kept me alive, the thirst never went away. I’d managed to fight him off until the third day. Weak from lack of food, I made a mistake, and he got the upper hand. Fletcher juiced my energy until I passed out, and only then did he switch my chain to the longer one. That first taste of my light put a blissful calm in his eyes I hadn’t seen in years—the look an addict gets on a high. It reminded me to fight harder next time, because Fletcher didn’t know how to control his light addiction. The longer chain allowed me to lie on the ground, which was probably where he wanted me in the first place. Fletcher couldn’t live out his domination fantasy with me standing at eye level.
Rachel entered the room every so often to change out the candles. For whatever reason, Fletcher wanted the candles out of reach. Did he think I was going to try to set him on fire with a puny little flame?
How long have I been here? One week? Two weeks?
I curled up in a ball, shivering from the cold. My breath fogged around me at night when the temperature dropped. I must have been in a basement near the outside door. Whenever he came down for his visits, I could smell the snow and feel the icy wind. Every so often, I heard muffled sounds above me. We could have been in an abandoned building, but office buildings have framework that makes it impossible to hear people above or below, so this was probably a rural house. If I escaped, either Fletcher needed to die, or I’d need enough energy to flash God knows how far. He probably had a vehicle, but searching for keys would be a dangerous waste of my time.
I could sense the time was now one in the morning. Rachel and Fletcher were outside in the hall, their voices low but not low enough.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“He said he was an Enforcer for the Mageri, and he wanted to know where to find you. The security guard doesn’t let anyone down who isn’t authorized, so he must have been telling truth.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That we just work together and I don’t know where you live.”
“Good. Did he say why he was looking for me?”
“No.”
My brows furrowed. Rachel left the premises? She worked with him? He let her leave the house, and she willingly came back? Fletcher must have really done a number on her.
“If they come again, say nothing,” he said. “You’re my apprentice. That means if I work for them, you work for them. They don’t care if I hire an assistant so long as the job gets done. But if they return, I want to know. Don’t make up stories I’m on holiday, or they’ll grow suspicious. Tell them you work when I ask, but that’s all you know. Play dumb. You’re good at that.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hurried footsteps approached, and the door swung open.
“You mind explaining why the Mageri has Enforcers on my arse?” he boomed. Fletcher squatted in front of me, and I didn’t have to look up to see the ugly scowl on his face that made him look like an angry Viking.
“Maybe someone reported your sexual activities with the bodies.”
“You’re a million laughs. Was that auction a setup?”
I stared at a scuff mark on the toe of his brown shoe. The man had always been paranoid. “I thought you worked for them? Isn’t it normal for them to check up on you? Make sure you’re not stealing bodies and keeping slaves chained up in your basement?”
“You’re a proper fool. The only communication I have with the Mageri is a deposit into my bank account. I ring the cleaners when there’s a body to collect.”
“Not all the time.”
He sneered. “I want to know what you’ve been doing all these years, my pet. And what does that mark on your hip mean?”
Fletcher didn’t know about Keystone, and I planned to keep it that way. “In case you didn’t notice the Chitah bite, I found out ink covers up scars pretty well.”
His brows rose. “You were bit by a Chitah and lived to tell the tale?”
“Painful as hell, but I lived. Only two teeth,” I lied, not mentioning the Chitah had bitten me twice with his upper fangs, injecting what should have been a lethal dose of venom. The less Fletcher knew about all my gifts, the better.
I had several advantages this time around—one in particular. During my previous time in captivity, I’d known nothing about my Mage gifts. It was only later that I discovered I could pull core light from a Mage. Since Fletcher didn’t know that about me, it was imperative to plan my attack carefully. I couldn’t attempt it while he was stealing my light. I was still in chains, and he would sever the connection immediately. I needed to be astride him so he couldn’t escape, and I’d wait as long as it took for the right opportunity.
Fletcher smacked me hard on the thigh, leaving a red handprint. “Tell me where you’ve been! Why is the Mageri sniffing around my morgue? Why did they send an Enforcer? Those blokes don’t fuck around. They only show up when they have a search or arrest warrant, and they sure as bloody hell aren’t going to call me in advance to tell me they’re popping in.”
When he struck me the second time, I grimaced. It took everything in me not to asphyxiate him with my legs, but then where would I be? For all I knew, Rachel might kill me for taking her Creator’s life. She had no loyalty to me, and chances were that Fletcher had hidden the key to my shackles. Rachel would probably leave me here to die, too afraid to call anyone for help.
I remained motionless in a fetal position, my hands behind my neck and out of his reach.
He threaded my hair away from my face. Uncertainty flickered in his expression. “Was this part of a plan to steal my money? Have your partner report me and wait here until the Enforcers show up to free you? That’s why I brought you here, Raven.” He chuckled darkly. “I always wondered if you’d have the audacity to come after me. It’s why I moved—why I switched to a new hospital. I knew you’d never report me. They exterminate your kind, you know. Illegally made means you’re unstable—a risk to everything they’ve created.” He narrowed his eyes, hard lines forming on the outside edges. “Such a clever girl. I bet you’re teamed
up with that Vamp who sold you, but I’m one step ahead. He might have my money, but you’ll never get your grubby little hands on it. You’re here for good, love. Forever and ever. Think he’ll bother to search for you? Nah. Blokes like him use weaklings like you to get what they want.”
“Your breath still stinks, and it doesn’t help that you talk too much.”
He leaned in tight, the vein in his forehead pulsing. “Whatever you have going on in that head of yours, better not. It’s illegal to kill your Creator. Do you think they’d care why? The Mageri shows no mercy, and even if you get away with it, they’ll find out sooner or later. And you’ll be locked away… if you’re lucky. Want to know what happens to the unlucky ones?” He made a menacing slice of his finger across his neck. “Off with their heads. Doesn’t matter if you’ve made yourself a pillar of society. In fact, that’ll make it much worse. It’ll haunt you for all the days of your life.”
I thought of Niko. Even though he hadn’t committed the crime himself, he still feared someone discovering the truth all these centuries later. Centuries! Gem had once relayed a story about a similar incident, all unearthed because of some information she found on a cup. Those men are in Breed jail now.
“You better talk,” he grumbled. “Rachel can take over my job for a while, but I’m not about to live my life on the run.” Fletcher grabbed my throat and squeezed. “What does the Mageri know about me?”
I flicked my gaze up. “Do you think I’d really put myself in this position just to steal your fucking money? I’m a lone wolf. I don’t give a damn about your money.”
He stood up and kicked me in the stomach. I gasped and coughed, the pain gutting me. Reacting on instinct, I swung my leg out and hooked it behind his ankles. Fletcher’s arms windmilled before he fell onto his back with a thud.
I crawled to my hands and knees and gathered up the slack in my chain. Stars flashed in my eyes when I staggered to my feet, and I realized I needed food, or I wouldn’t be able to fight him off any longer.
Fletcher rose like a man about to commit murder. When he neared me, I lifted the chain and hooked it around his neck. Before I could figure out how to tighten it, he jerked it off and punched me in the face. Blood poured from my nose and trickled down the back of my throat.