“This one is mine! NO ONE TOUCHES HER!” Rhyan roared.
“Why? We can smell her,” said a blond akadim. He bounced from foot to foot, and gnashed his teeth, before sticking his tongue out. It was grotesquely long, hanging down past his chin.
“I don’t give a fuck what you cretins smell! Because that smell is for me! She belongs to me! No one touches her. No one so much aslooksat her. Or I will tear your heads from your necks. Now get back to work! That’s an order—from your Arkturion.”
A third akadim stepped forward. This one, alarmingly, was missing all of his teeth—yet his mouth still seemed sharp and deadly. His eyes were bigger than the others and had zeroed in on me. “We can’t work now. We’re hungry, starved. We need to fuck as much as you do.” By the Gods. No. No.
“Why do you get one and not us?” asked the third. “We can share. We can take turns. I’ll even leave her arms on.”
“NO,” Rhyan said. “You know the rules.”
The third grinned. “Maraakasaid no. She forbids it.” He touched his collar. “But, she’s not here.”
“You forget that I am! I enforce her orders!” Rhyan said with an icy violence. “There is no rape.”
I blinked. No rape. Morgana had forbidden rape. Did that mean—Gods—did that mean Rhyan hadn’t? Wouldn’t? And the others?
I wanted to believe it. But I wasn’t so sure—at least not since she’d been gone.
Because it was all over their faces. I could feel their lust and violence eking off them.
Maybe my earlier theory about them was right—that they’d been trapped inside here, starving, in every way. Forced to work, not eat, not rape, not kill. Not draw any attention to anyone that they were here. They had one job: dig.
They might have been controllable while alone in these caves. Away from temptation. But now I was here. Tied up. The easiest target in the world. Ripe for the taking.
And however much these akadim were evolved, able to walk in the day, able to think and use logic—however much control Morgana had, that didn’t mean their baser instincts were gone. They were just lying in wait.
How far did the influence of those collars carry? I thought before that they were like a kashonim—binding them to her and Aemon. But were they acting more like a blood contract? How far away was she?
“The work is almost done,” snarled an akadim—this one was beyond the alcove—and I couldn’t see a face. “We deserve a reward! You know we do.Maraaka Ereshyadoesn’t have to know.”
“She will know,” Rhyan shouted. “You know the consequences of disobeying her. Of disobeying me! Now get out. You have work to finish if you want to even think about eating.”
“We haven’t eaten in days,” came a shout.
“Tonight, you’ll be fed. And that’s only if no one comes near her again.”
“Maraakasaid no,” said a new akadim. He had scraggly yellow hair that fell to his shoulders—but none on the crown of his head. He was still in the alcove, but towering above the others in front of him. “I can smell her cunt from here, and she wants it.” Suddenly, his claws were out and he slashed the arms of the akadim in front of him. He tore into our alcove, his red eyes fixed on me, while others began to pour in, invading the space.
Rhyan leapt like an animal, tackling the balding akadim to the ground.
“Get back,” he said, one hand around the akadim’s throat, the other held up to the others. “Do you need a fucking reminder? What happens when you disobey?”
“No!” cried the akadim. “Arkturion. I’m sorry!”
But he pleaded in vain. A second later, Rhyan ripped his head off, and chucked it at full force into the gathered akadim. Slowly he stood, and walked to the other three who still lay unconscious, and ripped off head after head.
Bile rose in my throat, as I heard the sound again and again. Like the crunching of bones, and tearing into meat. I had to look away before I was sick.
“You want food?” Rhyan asked, throwing the heads at the demon. He wiped his hands together. Then he kicked the remains of the dead at the others. The bodies flew, grotesque and headless. “Feast! Then back to work! GO!”
Most scrambled away, hissing and growling beneath their breath. But there were three who stayed behind. They picked up the remains of the dead beasts, hunger in their eyes. They lowered their heads to Rhyan in a show of respect, and then they rushed off, their claws digging into their dead companions’ flesh.
Alone again. Rhyan turned to me. He shook his head. “I need to get down there. We have a schedule to keep.”
I nodded, too stunned to respond after what I’d just seen.
But then his words settled in my mind. If he had to get back to work—did that mean he’d leave me here? Alone? If he did, I could cut my ropes. I could find a way to escape before he returned.
