I tried to swallow, but the lump in my throat only thickened.
Before I could respond, he brought the whip down on another beast, this one a lion. The creature tried to scramble away from the force of the hit, but the male cracked the whip again, bringing it down with more force.
“Okay!” I screamed, tears spilling from my eyes before I could stop it. “I understand.”
The male chuckled, dragging the whip behind him as he moved down the cages. He gave me no response, just the sound of his dark laugh as he disappeared.
21
Thor
The smell of her tears made my beast lift his head. The female had her face buried in her arms, though she didn’t move. Her tears were silent, but they were there.
She wasn’t harmed, that I could tell. The other watcher’s words replayed in my mind.You couldn’t be touched, he said to her.Hewouldn’t allow it.
The female raised her head, wiped her tears away, and stared into the darkness of the prison. The fire that’d been in her eyes before was gone; there was nothing in her expression that gave away her thoughts or emotions, if she felt anything anymore. It didn’t take long to be broken in the cages.
Blood and pain hadn’t broken her, but the threat of harm onto us did.
I watched as she ran a hand through her tangled, dark hair. The sweetness of her scent was muted, but I recognised it as easily as I did the others. But there was something different in her scent now. A change I couldn’t identify. Where it’d once been sharp with the presence of power, there was nothing. Like it’d been dulled.
One of the prisoners in the other cages tapped their bars. The female glanced over at the males, nothing in her expressionchanging. No words were exchanged—had she been scared into complying with the watchers?
The one who’d threatened her was gone. The beast knew him as thepunisher. His scent was rotten, too, like death clung to him. In his eyes was no light, no life. Just the darkness he liked to pass on to the creatures under his watch.
The prisoner tapped again. I tore my eyes off the female to take the other cage in. The one tapping was a male with dirty golden hair. He was staring directly at the female like he wanted to share something.
But the female shook her head, lowering her face to the crook of her elbow once more. The tears didn’t come again, though she remained quiet—still.
The doors leading down to the Pit slammed open. The beasts in the cages closest hid themselves from the wrath of Watcher and his companion. It was not the punisher who walked with him, but an unfamiliar male.
No, not unfamiliar. I recognised him as the winged male Watcher stole from the female beside me. He was the one who dragged her to the cages.
My chest burned with rage towards the male. A hatred that made no sense to me or my beast. He hadn’t hurt us, but he hurther. And to my beast, that was enough to want his blood.
Watcher slowed as he checked the cages. A cruel smile twisted his lips as he tapped the end of his whip against the bars. “Which one…” he murmured, stopping by the door of another bear. This one was white, trapped in unforgiving heat. She wasn’t allowed out of her cage often, only for testing—or breeding.
She stayed down, resting her head on her paws. Even from this distance, my beast could tell she was sickly. Not like she’d been taken to the breeding cages. It was something different. Rotten.
The female prisoner shifted quietly; from the corner of my eye, I watched as she lifted her head to take in Watcher and the winged male standing over the female shifter. Her dark eyes narrowed on the winged male, anger burning within them. Itappeared, for just a moment, like she might try and say something to him.
Watcher made a sound in the back of his throat and shook his head. “Won’t put up much of a fight,” he muttered. “The females never do.”
Disgust filled me at his words, at the darkness behind them. Those words had the prisoner beside me stiffening.
“Tell me, Nash, who do you think will fare well in the Pit?” Watcher’s bloodthirsty gaze moved to me, a cruel smile twisting his lips as he ran his eyes over me. “Thor does well. Vicious. A realbeast. Some call him God of the Pit for how easily he takes down his opponents.”
No. I give them mercy. But I offered Watcher no reaction. Showed him no sign of understanding.
That didn’t deter him. He stalked towards my cage, the winged male following. “See—” Watcher slammed the butt of his whip into the bars of the cage, the smell of burnt leather filling my nose. The scent was almost enough to overwhelm the sweet aroma of the female.
The female didn’t move, but she stilled at their arrival. Her eyes moved to me. Her expression revealed nothing. She understood his words, knew what they meant.
They meant I was a monster. A weapon.
What would she say if she knew they sent me to kill her?
Thathewanted me to tear her apart?
