His jaw flexed as he swallowed. “Remember when I warned you this place is not like our home and things are different here?”
My heart hiccuped at the wordhome. Like I’d regressed into my mentality before I accepted my role in the Southern Hive and was still a guest or prisoner there.
My eyes flicked, fully taking in the gravity of his gaze before saying, “Yes…”
“I need you to prepare yourself.”
“Prepare myself for what?” My exhaustion from our escapades was beginning to make me a less than pleasant companion.
“Just—” his hands found my shoulders and my skin hummed underneath the robes “—take a moment. And remind yourself that we are visitors here. And there’s nothing we can do about what you’re about to see.”
Could it really be worse than what I’d already seen? Worse than the public humiliation of human slaves? Worse than sharing them without regard for their consent?
The contrast between the behaviors, rules, and codes of conduct between the hives was so glaringly obvious now. What else could possibly be beyond the leather armor blocking my view?
I grounded myself and took a breath. It turned out that breath was more for show than actually preparing myself for when Dommik stepped aside.
Dommik pushed his way past the barrier and led me into what, at first glance, looked like a dormitory.
A dozen cots lined the circular room. Some filled, some empty. All humans as far as I could tell. They were barely fed or clothed and riddled with bite marks in various stages of healing, just like Talia and the other slaves from the ball. I looked around the room and wondered if I’d recognize Talia’s sisters.
One for each day of the week.
The human slaves that were coherent enough to notice us didn’t seem to care. Maybe, while seemingly hidden, this tunnel wasn’t as secret as its entrances made us believe.
Did people disappear into and emerge from this tunnel often?
The question surfaced but knowing the answer would make little difference from not knowing.
Before moving further, Dommik turned to me and said, “Whatever happens between here and my chambers is about survival and is not real. Understand?”
I nodded meekly. We would both need to play a character, so I immediately adopted mine.
He slipped his hand beneath the folds of fabric, located the chain that fell from the shackle around my neck, and gently lifted the metal.
“You’re safe with me,” he whispered. The deep hypnotic blues of his eyes were a warm, heavy blanket in the depths of winter. I wanted to wrap myself and hibernate in this feeling. Because I believed him. Hewoulddo whatever it took.
I didn’t want Dommik to turn away. Like if he broke this gaze, this tether to the confidence and strength I felt in his presence, I would drown in the uncertainty I’d been avoiding.
But he did turn away. He had to. We couldn’t linger here. And I’d have to face those other feelings eventually. For now, I’d stuff them into a mental box, shut the lid, and lock them away to be revisited at a later time.
Now was not the time for insecurities. Even though my character needed to be subservient, now was the time for composure and bravery beneath the robes.
The iron sang as Dommik wrapped the metal around his knuckles in a way that convinced others he owned me, but gripping it loosely enough to give me a comfortable amount of slack.
After three different corridors, I stopped trying to figure out where we were in the network of tunnels. Each space was dimly lit and filled with the stench of human lives poorly lived. Unbathed and seemingly abandoned, mortal inhabitants wandered the halls like ghosts who couldn’t access a peaceful afterlife. Their skin was pale, save for the deep, dark wells of exhaustion and malnutrition hanging underneath their eyes.
Countless steps and dozens of slaves later, I was beginning to worry that we would never find our way out of the subterranean maze.
“How much farther?” I asked in a rare moment when we were far enough away from prying ears, but was quickly shushed by the commander.
We continued on our path, continuously ending up somewhere new but seemingly getting nowhere all at once.
I longed for my bed. My feet ached from all this walking over uneven, stone ground.
Were we going deeper?
Were we getting anywhere?
