I peer over my shoulder at the eavesdropping little shit. I mean, yeah, he’s definitely all man. I have no doubt that if he weren’t stuck down here in these cells, he’d be as put together as my Valtrue. Not to mention, for someone who is, in fact, stuck in Hell, he’s still in great shape.
Guess you kind of have to be if you’re fighting for your life.
“Here,” he says after we continue to stare at him silently. “The food probably isn’t what you get in the Godsdawn, but it’s not bad. They feed all the fighters pretty well.”
He sets down two trays, then turns around and disappears through the darkness again. I’m actually incredibly shocked at the assortment of food. Yemi and I could split a plate and be full.
There’s a mound of meat that looks to be both taurn and egglayers. Mixed vegetables, fruit, a large purple potato, and a bed of grains.
Sevryn comes back and takes his seat quietly, digging right into his plate without a care in the realm. That eases some of my worries about the possibility of poison, although that was a little illogical anyways.
“So is this some sort of last meal type thing?” I ask and Yemi elbows me. “What?”
“That’s a little morbid.”
“She’s right. You two should eat. Things will get loud and hectic here soon.”
“What does that mean?”
“Have you noticed how you hear nothing but us talking?”
“Well, I hadn’t really paid attention to anything else, but sure.”
He points his fork toward the cell bars Dimitri was standing at. “If you touch the bars, you can talk to the people in the adjoining cells. Other than that, there’s a silencing mechanism around them that keeps the noise out. The silence and dark drive beings who are put in one alone crazy. They become the most vicious fighters.
“Many don’t come close to the bars because your opponent could be standing there, waiting to choke you to death. Before the fights start, they drop the silencing mechanism and that’s when the shit talking starts. It gets everyone riled up.
“Eventually, all the lights will come on. You’ll get your first look at the men you’ll be fighting. Dimitri and two of the others have been together since his start. They’re mean as they come and fight like their lives depend on it.”
My throat refuses to swallow the saliva building in my mouth. I’m surprised my palms aren’t bleeding from the nail impressions I’m leaving. I can’t fathombeing in this cell with no light. I would’ve already lost my mind. The one torch above my head is barely enough.
The thought of others sitting somewhere, mere feet from us, probably going crazy as they sit and stew in the dark, makes my stomach bottom out.
I want to run, but I have nowhere to go and that makes it even worse.
My soul once again goes ballistic, and I hunch over from the pain. Yemi runs circles on my back, and I can’t clearly make out her words, but I think I hear her tell Sevryn it’s nothing.
Oh, it’s fucking something. My soul wants to break free but is trapped and obviously flips the hell out about that just like I do.
I picture Creed in my mind. I try to sense his tiny tether, but it’s absent. So is Kyzen’s, Amick’s, and Riven’s. The only thing I’m doing is making my soul more frantic with each failed attempt to reach my Valtrue.
I sit myself straight, rolling my neck and shoulders as I finally get the pain to a manageable point.
“That’s the second time whatever that is that’s happening to you has happened. What is it?” Sevryn asks.
“None of your business.”
“It is my business if you have a weakness that’s going to get her…or you killed quicker.”
I snort even though his words piss me off. I was totally an afterthought, but I don’t give a fuck, seeing as whatever this weird shit is that’s going on between them is mutual.
“It’s not a weakness. She’s fine. Here, you need to eat, get your mind off it,” Yemi says, sliding my tray toward me.
The last thing I want right now is food, but my stomach disagrees. The loud rumble echoes between the three of us.
I won’t lie, the first bite is good. The vegetables aren’t as seasoned or as soft as Creed would make them but not bad.
That thought makes it hard to swallow.
