Behind me, the hunters were closing in.
Something swooped by overhead, and I cried out in shock, leaping between two standing stones as a blast of cold air swept over the spot where I’d been.
The bastards were playing dirty.
There were no rules out in the wilds, of course, but most hunters took it as a point of pride to capture their targetswithoutresorting to shifting. The hunter who had to shift to nab his prey was often ridiculed for not being good enough.
To me, it was stupid. They would be so much wealthier if they simply used their dragons to round up clippys and ferals. But the “fun of the hunt” mattered just as much. Usually. But not this time.
The huge beast landed nearby, breathing out more ice to block me in.
Seconds later, I was surrounded by hunters. They tossed a net over me and hauled me from my feet without even saying a word in my direction. They did, however, spend quite a bit of effort mocking the hunter I’d eluded.
To them, I wasn’t more than merchandise. I wasn’t a real person. I was a thing, draped over the shoulder of one hunter and then dismissed.
I shivered. I’d forgotten what it was like to be treated that way. To not exist.
Caz had shown me a different world. A world where Imattered. I squirmed around in the net so I could bring my hand to my neck, touching the spot he’d sunk his fangs into. The place where he’d claimed me.
It seemed a lifetime ago now as my head banged against a rock. I cried out at the unexpected pain, earning me a solid punch to the ribs and a snarled order to shut up.
“Or what?” I spat back. “You going to take me to a market and sell me? You won’t kill me. I’m worthless to you that way.”
“Market’s a long way off,” one of the hunters chuckled. “You’ll heal up just nicely by the time we get there.”
Then his fist lashed out at my cheek. My head rocked back painfully. Stars exploded in my vision and I moaned. Warmth ran down my face as I hung there in the net.
“You’ll be quiet one way or another,” thehunter sneered. Then he grabbed a handful of my shirt and pulled.
I squirmed as it ripped and tried frantically to wrap my hands around myself. “Okay,” I whimpered. “Please don’t hit me again.”
He laughed, an ugly thing, and grabbed my chin, forcing the hunter carrying me to stop. “I like the way you beg. Maybe you should …”
Fingers tightened on my chin, and he turned my head to the side slightly, his eyes narrowing.
My stomach congealed into a mass at the sudden attention. What was going on? Why was he so interested in me all of a sudden?
“Lahnne, get over here with a light,” he snarled.
One of the others leapt to obey, lighting a torch and shoving it into the waiting hand.
“Well, well, well,” the hunter murmured, moving my head back and forth. “What do we have here?”
The one named Lahnne leaned in, his foul-smelling breath hitting me in the face. I tried to turn away, but the fingers on my jaw tightened painfully.
“Look at me, girl,” Lahnne ordered.
I glared at him.
“Oh my,” Lahnne said, standing up straight. “Now that’s unexpected. Isn’t it, Keiren?”
“Very unexpected.” Keiren dropped my head. “But an unexpected bonus indeed.”
Bonus? What bonus?
“Come on, let’s get moving. We’re leaving now,” Keiren ordered, tying up the net with a thick cord that he then looped into the waiting claws of the dragon shifted hunter. “Be damn careful with this. If she’s not in one piece when we land, I’ll have your heart scale.”
The dragon rumbled.
