Taming The Ringmaster

by Erin O'Kane

  When our cells clank open, Nix and I head to the toilets. He guards the stall while I go, and I watch his back as he goes. I’m slowly losing my modesty, and standing at his back as he pees doesn’t bother me anymore like it would have before we were captured. Afterwards, we head to eat, where Xavier sits with us again. Alcide isn’t with Rex, Jessie, and Blain, so I frown. Blain notices and stands up, ignoring everyone as he comes and sits next to me, placing his hand on my thigh under the table.

  “He was in his cell last night, Harpy, told us he is getting in with the Masters and to trust him,” he murmurs, his voice right next to my ear. He drops a small kiss there before going back to eating one handed, not moving his palm from my thigh. Jessie and Rex stand at the same time and join us, and even though I am worried about the fight to come, I can’t help the wide smile curling at my lips. I’ve missed them, having them all around me feels better, and when Jessie starts teasing Nixon, I can even imagine we are at home.

  The time passes too quickly though, and when the guards call for us to line up, I remain sitting at the table, not wanting to leave, but Xavier catches my gaze and nods, so I stand. Blain ignores everyone and kisses me hard, right there in the middle of everyone.

  “You stay alive, Harpy, you hear me? Only I get to try and kill you,” he teases, and I grin up at him as Jessie pushes him out of the way and smiles at me, his eyes twinkling.

  He dips me for a kiss with a flourish, and I laugh as he brings me back up. He turns serious, pushing away my hair and rubbing my lips. “Come back to us, always.”

  Then, Nixon picks him up and moves him, taking his place. He simply stares into my eyes before dropping a lingering kiss on my forehead. Rex is waiting at his side and I turn to him. He smiles at me before stepping forward and wrapping me in his arms, giving me his signature hug.

  “I have faith in you, Wildcat, you can do anything,” he whispers, kissing my hair before letting go.

  “It’s not a fucking lovefest! Get lined up or you all get thirty whips!” Trent calls, and we all hurry into the lines, not wanting to be punished, but their faith and love in me has me standing taller, ready to face the fight that lies ahead.

  Xavier is right, whatever it takes.

  Xavier and I are held back, while all the other slaves are marched into the sand and paraded around before being locked away. Only after the Masters are in their box, with Alcide at their side, and the crowd starts chanting, are we announced.

  I bounce on my toes, feeling nervous energy winding inside me. “Remember what we did,” he mumbles, locking on his weapons, and I nod.

  He made me wear some armour, including a leather chest piece, gauntlets, and thigh protectors, as well as using a sword and a spike so I can stab people without them getting too close. I don’t really know how to use them, but I guess I’ll just stick them with the pointy end.

  The crowd quietens as one of the Masters stands up and waves his hand, his announcement ringing through the arena. “We have a very special fight today. Not only do you get to see our reigning champion spill blood, but he has been partnered up! That’s right! Today is the tandem fight!”

  He lets them cheer as he smirks before waving again and letting them settle down. “Meet, the Immortals!”

  I raise my eyebrows at the name, but then we are being pushed into the sand so I clear my face as much as I can, trying not to let them see how terrified I am. Xavier ignores it all, striding into the middle of the arena and standing there with his legs parted and his arms crossed. He doesn’t play the crowd, choosing to ignore them, even when they start to chant his name. He looks back at me with narrowed eyes, so I hurry over the sand and stand at his side, copying his pose.

  The guards come across the pit holding a chain. Our shackles are removed and our powers freed before they place a shackle linked to the chain on my right hand and his left. It’s long but not too long, leaving only enough room to manoeuvre like he said, but not enough where we can fight across the arena. They want us close.

  Once the chain is in place, all the guards leave the sand and we are alone, the chants getting louder. A cranking sound has us turning to see the gate opening again, and our opponents are revealed. Shit.

  I glance at the Masters with a glare. They want us to die or they are trying to bring out our powers, because standing at the edge of the sand are over fifteen men in soldier’s gear. Including full armour, spears, swords, and other weapons I couldn’t even name. Theirs are shiny and new, where ours are blood soaked and rusted.

  The gong sounds and they waste no time. Instantly, Xavier yanks me with the chain since I was just gawking. I spin and place my back to his, holding out my spike like he showed me. The guards spread out across the sand, circling us and boxing us in. Three guards face me. They share a look and step forward. I don’t react, remaining relaxed like Xavier told me to, focusing on his movements, and splitting my concentration between that and their slow approach.

  I feel the bunching of his muscles a second before he moves, and I go with him as he fights the guards he is facing. It pulls me farther away from mine, and when he ducks, I duck, a spear flying overhead and imbedding in the eye socket of a shocked guard. He reaches towards it, screaming as blood runs down his face, but I’m too busy twisting and lunging with Xavier. A guard lunges at me and I stumble back into Xavier, and I hear him grunt. Shit, focus, Rhea.

  I thrust my spear at him, but it bounces harmlessly off his chest plate. He grabs it before I can react and twists, yanking it out of my arms and tossing it to the sand behind him. I hear the crowd gasp, but I don’t look away. I can still feel Xavier moving so I know he’s still alive and fighting. I grab my sword, drawing it and holding it like Xavier told me to as the two guards laugh. The one on the left moves first, and I block his swing with my sword, the metal clashing and glinting in the sun. The one on the right darts in, but I see him out of the corner of my eye and let my skin change so the blade snaps in two against my body. He gapes at it, and I use his distraction to thrust forward, blocking the blow with my hand, the blade bouncing from my now hardened, marble like skin and stab at the guard.

  I didn’t expect it to work, but he must not have seen it coming, because I slice across his throat. His eyes widen, and his mouth opens and closes as blood spurts over my face. I wipe it away quickly, watching as he falls back clutching the wound, but when the other guard really starts to move, I ignore the shock of my first kill. I can deal with it later, now I need to fight. He grabs my sword, cutting his own hands on it, and yanks it away from me, turning it to chop me. He now has two swords and I have none, but just then Xavier lunges so I move back with him, giving me some breathing room from the guard. Xavier spins so I go with him, moving across the sand. He wraps his chain around his fist, smashing it into a guard’s face before wrapping it around his neck and choking him. I drag my gaze back to my guard who is swinging his swords and grinning at me. He is loving this, playing cat and mouse, and he thinks he has me. He thinks I’m weak.

  Anger pours through me at that, my skin tightening as my power rises. I remember Xavier’s warning, but I have no other weapons and I can’t drag him away from his fight. I need to kill this man. I’ve never really tried to hurt someone with them, so I don’t know my full capabilities, but I draw on Rex’s speed, and with it comes a quiet confidence and Nixon’s strength. Darting forward, this time Xavier moving with me, I knock away both swords, hitting them with my stone arms and throwing them across the sand. Before he can draw another weapon, I reach for his throat and pull. Claws glint in the light, and when I pull back, his throat comes with me, my hand covered in blood. I toss it away and watch as he falls.

  Two down, only thirteen to go. Xavier moves left and I am faced with two dead bodies and a bleeding guard who’s getting back to his feet. He rushes me, yelling as he goes, and I dodge and duck his rage-filled swings, dragging Xavier down with me. His sword aims for my face and I block it with my arm before reaching out and kicking at his stomach. He falls back,
gasping, and holding his arm across it as he struggles to breathe, so I grab the discarded spear on the ground and toss it. It hits him in the chest, sinking through a gap in his armour, and he falls to his knees, gaping down at it. We move again, dancing across the sand as Xavier fights and I start to hold my own, moving on instinct and trusting my body like he told me to. It’s not as smooth or as quick as Xavier, but it is good enough to stay alive.

  I take down another guard by tripping him with our chain and then snapping his neck. I don’t question where this blood lust has come from, because I know Nixon’s strength and Rex’s speed is coursing through me. Xavier takes down two more, leaving only five guards left. They line up and face us, so Xavier pulls me to his side, our chain loose between us.

  He looks down at it and then at me and I nod, understanding what he means. We step away from each other slowly, drawing the chain taut and when he yells, I run forward. He does the same, the chain cutting through their line. One manages to duck in time, while the others fall to the floor, and I grab a sword, stabbing one in the heart closest to my feet before racing back to Xavier’s side in time to see him heave an axe at a man. It cuts through his head, tossing his body to the ground. The other three get to their feet, and one of them steps on the chain curling on the floor like a snake, dragging me forward. Xavier digs his feet in, not moving and I grunt, trying to do the same, but the guard picks up the chain and tugs me forward.

  The other two rush Xavier so he can’t help me, and with each tug, the guard’s grin grows. He thinks he has me. With nothing else left, my power flows through me like it is being controlled from outside my body or guided by the fear feeding my heart. I watch in shock as vines shoot up from the ground, wrap around his ankles, and yank him backwards. He lets go of the chain, yelping as he falls on his back, the vines pinning him there, and I jump on him, hitting him with my fists again and again, letting my fear and anger out in a yell as I rain down punch after punch.

  My ears are ringing, and my eyes are narrowed on the man’s face, the beat of my heart the only sound I hear until slowly, the noise of the crowd starts to fade in again. They’re clapping and chanting and the man’s gurgles reach my ears. I freeze on top of him, sitting back in shock to see his face smashed in and barely recognisable as his chest rattles, a wet sounding noise coming from it.

  I feel the air shift next to me and strike out without thinking, but something catches my fist mid-air, and I swing my head to see a panting Xavier. He is covered in grime, blood, and sweat, his dark eyes locked on mine. He glances down at the man and then back at me.

  “End it, give him some peace, it was your kill,” he states, releasing my fist and stepping back.

  I look at the guard, nearly recoiling from the mess I made of him. Rex’s speed and Nixon’s strength leave me, making me slump slightly and shake in exhaustion and fear, but even so, I reach for the dagger the man was holding but forgot about after my attack. I palm it, my hand shaking as I raise it above him.

  I can’t do this, I can’t. My mind shies away. In the rush of battle, I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing, but now I do and the bloodthirsty chants of the crowd are only making bile crawl up my throat. Is this what they really want? Death at any cost?

  “Do it, it’s the nicest way, or he is going to choke on the blood in his lungs. The Masters won’t care, they will leave him here as an example of their failure. It will take hours and it will be excruciatingly painful. You are giving him a mercy.”

  I stare down at the guard’s face, his one blue eye blinking up at me, tears welling there. “Kill—me,” he gasps, blood bubbling when he talks.

  “Kill him! Kill him!” the crowd chants, and I shake my head and that blue eye shuts for a moment before reopening.

  “Please,” he wheezes, begging me to end his suffering.

  “Mercy,” Xavier whispers next to me.

  I raise the knife, holding it over his chest, and he begs me with that one blue eye. I can’t take it anymore. I don’t close my eyes, I stare into his as I sink the dagger through his skin. I watch the light die there, I force myself to. I will suffer his death with him, I don’t deserve to look away.

  Letting go of the knife, my hand shaking badly, I lean to the side and dry heave. A hand wraps around my hair, the pain stopping me from splashing my breakfast on the sand. “Don’t let them see you weak,” Xavier demands, ordering me again, and I let myself obey, the pain pulling me back as I climb to my feet and stumble away from the guard. Looking up at the screaming crowd, I let my eyes wander over their masses. They are chanting, screaming, and stomping. Their fists are in the air, their excitement washing over the sand. It makes me feel sick again, watching how they praise me for ending a life. It’s so careless and disrespectful. A man just died and they are hailing me.

  It’s wrong, so fucking wrong, but I can’t ignore the relief that rushes through me at surviving this battle. Xavier grabs my hand and I look down at his blood-covered fist, noting mine is also covered in fresh, red blood. When he lifts it in the air, the crowd goes wild, chanting our fighting name, and we both turn to glare at the Masters’ box.

  I meet Alcide’s eyes to see him smiling slightly, but it disappears as quickly as it came, like it was never there, and he turns away to talk to a man waiting there.

  We won this fight...so why is my heart hurting and my chest tight?

  It’s a blur after the fights. Somewhere, deep down, I know this is shock setting in, but the numbness that accompanies it washes away my pain, so I let it engulf me. I blink, looking around, wondering when and how I got to my cell. Not that it matters.

  “Rhea,” Nix calls, and when I turn my head as if in slow motion, I see his worried expression swimming in my vision as he leans through the bars to try and reach me. How long has he been calling my name?

  Some of the numbness recedes, and I realise I can still feel the blood coating my body. It itches as it dries, and before I know it, I’m scrubbing at it with my hands, tears gathering in my eyes.

  “Look at me! Now!” comes a yell, and I freeze, swinging my eyes over to Xavier to see him glaring at me. “Stop it. You can wash it away, you are only taking the top layer of your skin off.” His command runs through my body and I stop scrubbing instantly, stumbling back and sagging down the wall. Tears race down my cheeks unchecked, and I can’t seem to bring myself to dash them away or care that I look weak.

  I’m cracking, breaking in two, my mind hiding from the horrors I just pulled in the arena. I’m becoming what they wanted. I bet they are celebrating right now, while I feel sick to my very core and so cold, my own body is turning on me. My chest grows tight, squeezing down on my organs. My breathing wheezes out as my vision swims.

  “It’s a panic attack, Rhea, breathe with me. In and out, slowly, in and out, concentrate on your breathing,” Nixon calls to my left, and I let his strong voice settle me slightly as I do as I’m told.

  It seems to take an eternity until I can breathe normally again, and when I can, I curl into a ball on my sleeping mat and close my eyes, my body giving way to exhaustion and my eyes closing as I give in to the awaiting comfort and nothingness. Everything is sucked away from me.

  Let it take my pain away for a while.

  “Sleep,” Nixon commands.

  “We will watch over you,” Xavier adds. “It will get better.”

  When I wake up, my eyes are crusted together and I feel disgusting, like a layer of grime and blood covers my skin, and I want to touch it again, but I don’t. Lying on my side, I let the sound of Nixon’s and Xavier’s voices soothe me as I just let my body relax. I feel like I slept for ages, but when I look up, I realise it only must have been an hour or so. I guess my body needed it.

  Nixon is stroking my hair as he speaks to Xavier, and I lean into the touch, but their conversation cuts off, both of them staring at me. “You okay?” he asks, and I nod, curling into his warm hand.

  “Sorry,” I whisper, and he narrows his eyes on me.

/>   “Never be sorry for being a good person, for having feelings and reacting the way you did. What you did in the ring, you did to survive, but it doesn’t mean you should become numb to the effects of killing.”

  His words reassure me and I close my eyes, just focusing on his touch until I hear the guards yelling. “Chow time, slaves!”

  The cells start to open so I clamber to my feet. I don’t think I will be able to eat with this knot in my stomach, but I can at least wash off the remains of the fight and see my other men. Nixon waits for me outside my cell and I fall into formation, hidden behind his tall, wide back as Xavier protects us from behind. I keep my gaze downcast, not wanting the others to see the puffiness of my eyes from crying as we head into the bathroom.

  Nixon stops me at the door with a look, and I nod and wait there as he kicks some men out before he sweeps back to me and lets me in. I head straight for the showers, stripping as I go, uncaring who sees me anymore. My whole focus is narrowed to getting the blood off me. I flick on the showers and scrub at my skin, not feeling the temperature of the water and not caring. It’s only when I see the blood washing down the drain between my bare feet when I break down fully. Falling to my knees, I start to sob, unable to help it.

  I killed them. I killed those men. They could have families, they could have children, they could have been made to fight like us and I took their life away. Arms wrap around me, more than one set as they hold me together. Letting me break as they pick up the pieces and glue me back together with their love, and when I am finally all cried out, I lift my head to see a grim-faced Blain, a sad-looking Jessie, and a distraught Rex, yet they all smile at me when I look.

  “Thanks,” I croak, and Blain leans closer, wiping my eyes gently, and it does soothe the ache from crying.

  “Let’s finish getting you washed. Rex will clean your clothes and get them dried. Jessie, go get us some food before it all disappears. We won’t be long,” Blain orders, taking charge. I simply let them, not having enough energy to care, and I know they are just wanting to look after me, so I let them. I need it right now, I need their comfort.