The cage? My heart thumped as I understood at once. Panos would keep me here in a cage. I’d be forced to watch him feast. Perhaps on other people. Stomach roiling, I reached out a hand toward nothing but air, desperate for something to hold me steady.
It had been one thing to think I’d be locked up in a dungeon cell. But to think I’d have to sit here and watch him murder innocents, to feast on their flesh...I couldn’t do it. This was torture.
Panos was going to eat people in front of me. And there would be nothing I could do to stop him.
A hot wave of panic flooded my gut, twisting and turning until every single part of me felt as though it burned.
I couldn’t do this.
I had to get out of here.
Logic fled from my brain. I didn’t care if he tried to stop me. I had to do whatever it took to escape. With a deep breath, I twisted to run. The rope burned my wrists as Panos yanked me back to his side.
Panos dipped his face before mine, blowing the hot stench of iron into my mouth. His yellowed teeth flashed. “You finally see now. All of your big bravado is nowhere to be found at last. I am not playing around, mortal girl. Aradia of Eretia. You will sit here in this room and watch me feast until I decide to feast on you. And there is nothing you or your dragonlord can do to stop it.”
I opened my mouth to scream, but Panos clamped his hand over my lips. He lifted his other fist high, and then brought it down on top of me. Pain lanced through my skull. Darkness filled my vision.
* * *
There were far more members of Panos’s court than Yuto knew. In fact, the Thunder thought he lived here alone. Seemed they were wrong about that. As twilight deepened into full dark, dozens of guests arrived in the Blood Hall for their nightly feast. I huddled in the far corner in a tiny metal cage, glaring out at all of them. Who were these people? Where had they come from? And how could they surrender their souls to the devil to become something like this?
I scanned the hall through the thick metal bars, counting each guest as they took their seats. There were dozens of them. At least sixty-seven, maybe more. That was not good news for Yuto. The four dragons were strong as hell, but how could they win a battle when they were so sorely outnumbered?
Where had they even come from? Were these other prisoners? How could there be so many on this one island?
Panos stood at the head of the long and overflowing table, clapping his spindly hands. The crowd hushed, each face gazing up at him with admiration. “Hello, hello. Welcome all to my feast. You will see we have a new guest amongst us. Meet Aradia Galatas, mortal girl of the Kingdom of Eretia.”
Heads swivelled my way. Gleaming eyes sized me up like meat on a platter.
A few of the guests murmured eager excitement. Several licked their lips and flashed sharp teeth that looked as though they’d been chiseled to points. I stared at them, my heart beating so hard that it made my entire body shake.
“We will not be eating her tonight, I’m afraid,” Panos said with a wistful look in his eye. “She is bait for the Lord of Dragons.”
My heart shook in my chest, and I tried to push up onto my feet, only to slam my head into the top of the tiny cage’s ceiling. I winced and collapsed down to the floor, but Panos’s words still echoed in my ears.
Bait?!Did that mean Panos had somehow informed Yuto of my captivity? Did he know I was back here, in Inishfall again? Hope and excitement charged through me, but I quickly clamped those emotions down. This was not a good thing. Yuto would come for me. And there would be sixty enemies waiting to pounce.
He’d be walking straight into a trap, one he couldn’t escape, even if he was the Lord of Dragons.
I needed to warn him. But how? Panos’s servant had locked me inside this cage and hidden the key somewhere out of sight. If I had my dagger, I might be able to lock-pick my way out of here, but he’d taken that off me, as well as all my hair pins. I was used to men underestimating me. This time, I hadn’t been quite so lucky.
He’d only left me with the book I’d taken from the library. That wouldn’t come in handy now. For once, books would not save me.
“In the meantime, we will feast on the flesh and blood of another enemy.” Panos held up a goblet of wine. No, not wine. Something far worse than that. “Callista, the dragonlady of Pira”
I pressed my hand against my mouth and turned away. He wanted me to watch, but I wouldn’t do it. Not Callista’s blood. Blood and whatever else he’d saved for this night. Panos lifted the silver chalice to his lips and smiled.
Panos’s gulping echoed through the hall. I curled my fists, anger burning through me like fire. Tears tore down my cheeks in hot streaks. I couldn’t help but picture another goblet of blood, contents belonging to someone else. To Yuto. My overactive imagination roared to life, spitting out images I didn’t want to think or feel or see. Yuto’s broken body on the cold stone floor. His blood painting the muddy gates. His head, chopped off and on display, a warning to anyone who dared cross the twisted fae.
I never should have let myself get trapped. Yuto had sent me back through that portal for a reason, and I’d ignored everything he’d asked me to do. If I had listened to him, if I’d followed his plan, I’d be on a boat right now, halfway to the safety of my new home.
Those fae were not like Panos. I wouldn’t be trapped in a cage.
Yuto would still be stuck on this island, but he’d be alive.
Unbidden tears leaked from my eyes. Quickly, I brushed them aside. I didn’t want Panos or his horrid guests to see just how much they’d gotten underneath my skin. But it was impossible. The longer I sat in the cage, the more frenzied their feasting became.
An animalistic scream echoed through the hall. I risked a glance at the feasting table, bracing myself for what I would see.
