His yowl of pain shot straight through me.
I bolted to my feet, but Clary pulled me back down.
“You can’t. Please…” Her words were buried beneath the raucous laughter of Tamina’s sucker crew.
My nails bit into my palms as I looked to the Thropes, trying to catch an eye, to see a reaction. But there was none. They continued with their meals in silence. Practiced and schooled. How often had Tamina put on such a display?
Ruspin shook his head then stared up at his mistress with a resigned expression, waiting for her next move.
She beckoned him closer, and once again he obeyed. This time, she punched him in the head, rallying another round of laughter from her cronies.
My gums pulsed from how hard I was clenching my teeth. “If the Thropes can’t do anything, why don’t they leave? Why give her an audience?”
“Solidarity,” Benedict said softly. “They bear witness, and through that, they offer Ruspin strength.”
“That’s all well and good whenthey’renot getting their heads kicked in?—”
Another blow landed on the hound, this one sending him flying back, his head whipping our way. He blinked blearily, the look in his eyes dead and empty. A look of learned helplessness that I’d seen in the mirror too many times in the past.
Tamina crooned his name, summoning him once more as one of her companions handed her a coiled whip.
No…
“Maybe weshouldleave,” Clary said.
Ruspin’s body heaved with panicked breaths. He knew what was coming, but he didn’t run. He waited to receive the blows.
Waited for a punishment he didn’t deserve.
Tamina raised the whip, pulling it back, ready to strike.
Heat flooded my limbs, and before I could think it through, I was out of my seat and across the room, a red haze of rage clouding my vision.
The whip lashed down, curling around my hand, its bite nothing more than an uncomfortable pressure.
The shock on the bitch’s face was priceless.
My rage cooled to something cold and hard as I held her gaze. “Do you think hitting someone who can’t fight back makes you powerful?”
She recovered quickly, eyes narrowing to slits. “I warned you not to interfere with my pet, didn’t I?”
“You did.” I yanked on the whip, and she staggered forward a step before catching herself. “But I don’t take orders from psycho bitches.” I yanked again, but this time she held her ground, and the whip dug harder into my palm.
Her gaze dropped to my hand. “You’re bleeding.”
“Yeah. I know.”
She arched a brow. “You like pain?”
“Not as much as you enjoy inflicting it.”
She smirked and released the whip handle. “How about this…you last three minutes in the arena with me and I’ll stop hurting the hound.”
Behind me, Ruspin whimpered, the sound not one of pain but one of hope, and suddenly, stopping her from hurting him wasn’t enough. “How about this? I last three minutes in the arena with you, and you let Ruspin go. You set him free.” Her eyes flared, gaze flicking from side to side as if she were having doubts. It was my turn to smirk. “What? You afraid you’ll lose?”
She lifted her chin and matched my smirk. “Oh, sweetie, I never lose, but I think we should sweeten the pot. If I win, you’re mine for a week.Mypet to do with as I please.”
“Ana, don’t,” Dori said from somewhere behind me.
