The fae woman serving the food flicked up her nose, her head wagging.
“We don’t serve your kind here,” she spat.
“And what kind is that?” Fury sparked up my spine, and my patience flipped at the thought of another day eating crusts of bread. “I didn’t realize there was a ceiling on who you served in a place full of murderers, thieves, criminals, and rapists.”
“And they’re all better than the entitled daughter of General Markos,” she sneered, already motioning me to move. People bumped against me to move out of the way. She scooped up the diminishing food, putting it on their plates.
Fury ignited, my belly lined with bile, burning up my throat.
“No!” I slammed my tray down on the metal counter, my eyes watering.
Everyone stilled as I shoved the tray at her.
“Fill my bowl!” I seethed, leaning over the counter.
“No,” she insisted, her voice strained. She looked like a peacock, all sharp features, her beady black eyes staring down her long beak at me.
“I. Said. Fill. It.” Fury rattled through each word. I whipped out a hand and grabbed her by the throat. Her eyes widened with shock and fear, not seeing or expecting my move. “Now.”
She picked up her ladle, her hand trembling, and shoveled a scoop onto my dish.
“More.” I tightened my fingers, hearing the guards yelling at me, moving toward me. “For the Druid too.”
She filled his dish before I released her.
“Thank you,” I replied tartly, turning toward our table. I felt proud I’d stood up for myself.
It lasted for one pure blissful moment.
Slam!
My tray flipped, smashing into my face, oatmeal pouring down my front, burning my skin as everything tumbled to the ground with a loud crash.
“You think you can get away with that here, HDF bitch?” A huge man moved in on me, his friends stepping into my periphery. Tattoos covered his neck, face, and arms, a ring through his nose, and his hair brown and wavy resembled buffalo fur. His wide chest and shoulders and smaller legs told me he was probably exactly that.
Rodriguez’s group stood around me, almost all Bovidae-shifters, inching closer, puffed up and angry, their noses flaring with revenge.
Shit.
“You think you own the fuckin’ place now?” The buffalo widened his shoulders, stepping into me. “You cheated. There’s no way some scrawny human HDF rich bitch killed my friend.”
“If it helps you sleep at night.” My voice came out low, but louder than it should in the silent mess hall. Everyone, including the guards, stared at us like we were theater, tension and suspense threading through the space.
The buffalo-shifter inched closer, puffing up, threatening, and knocking into me. At the same time, his buddies moved in, bouncing me off them like a ball. They weren’t going to truly harm me. The rules stated I was to be untouched for the Games.
“I will kill you.” He shoved me again.
“Volunteer tonight then,” I growled, not caring how large and strong this fae was. “If you’re so sure your friend lost to this scrawny human HDF bitch by tricks, then step into the ring with me.”
What the fuck are you doing? Logic screamed at me. I didn’t know, nor did I seem to care.
“Or are you a coward?” Oohs and hisses sounded around my challenge. I lifted my lip into a sneer with confidence. “All talk? I think you just prance and put on a show but don’t have the guts to actually step into the ring.”
A gruesome smile edged his mouth, his hands stretching and rolling. “Why wait?”
It took only a second, a blink.
The buffalo’s hand wrapped around the back of my head and slammed me into a table with an agonizing crunch. Blood burst from my nose as my face knocked into someone’s food tray, scattering the contents across the room.
Shock and pain froze me. My certainty he wouldn’t touch me had blinded me, leaving me vulnerable.
I crumpled to the floor while cheers and hoots echoed in my ears as the buffalo grabbed my legs, yanking me away from the table, his fist coming down on my temple as sets of boots kicked into my body from all around.
Pain exploded through me. I was unable to catch my breath or get to my feet as six of them beat and stomped me. The agony was so overpowering, my brain started to shut down. This was not the way I thought I would die. I had already accepted one on one in the arena …but not this