Call of Water (Madame Tan's Freakshow #1) - Marina Simcoe Page 0,37

this time, as if setting it on fire. His hands fisting tight at his sides, his eyes bulging, he seemed to be suffocating, with no one touching him.

The lines of his neck tattoo appeared to be heating and tightening under Madame’s glare, squeezing the life out of this huge, strong male.

“No!” Amira’s panicky voice cut through the air. Staggering forward, she sank to her knees in front of Madame, pressing her clenched hands to her chest. “Don’t hurt him. Please,” she begged, words rushing out of her like a waterfall. “I kept her, I fed her... It’s all my fault. Please, please spare Radax.”

Madame diverted her attention to Amira. With her gaze slipping over to the girl, the tattoo on Radax’s neck must have relaxed its grip. His massive shoulders dropped, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he panted for air.

“Humans.” From Madame’s lips, the word sounded like an expletive. “Foolish and ignorant. I know you’re lying. You, on your own, are incapable of defiance. But I will spare Radax, because he is more useful to me alive than dead, for now. You, however, are replaceable. Keep that in mind. If you wish to live, you can’t make any further mistakes.” She raised her head, addressing everyone in the room now, “Radax still needs to be punished for talking to a human without my permission. Trez, give him as many lashes as he can take.”

Trez stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. Another man handed him a coiled, black whip.

“And someone, bring me a chair,” Madame demanded. “I’m staying to personally ensure my orders are carried out this time.”

Chapter 14

THE NUMBER OF LASHES Radax could take seemed infinite. I couldn’t look away, my hands gripping the bars of the cage so hard it hurt.

Each swing of the whip in Trez’s hand hissed through the air, landing with a splatter of blood onto the mutilated back of Radax. The thick red welts of the early blows had split open by now, his back a mass of torn skin and muscles soaked in blood. Yet he stood tall, his arms held by two other men.

With a quiet whimper, Amira curled up in the corner. Her dark eyes open wide, streams of silent tears streaked her pale sunken cheeks. Biting down on her fist, she stared at Radax, unblinking.

Madame sat in a tall-backed chair, the pig nestled in her lap, her expression calm, a bit bored even.

Another swish of the whip cut through the air. Another wet, splattering sound came when it hit the mangled flesh.

Just fall already. Give up. Pretend, if you must.

I mentally begged Radax to end his own torture. It didn’t matter anymore what he did or didn’t do. I no longer cared what kind of man he really was. I simply wanted this cruelty to stop.

Finally, his head lolled to the side. The men holding him upright let go, and he sank to his knees then toppled over like a cut-down tree.

“Well.” Madame rose to her feet, turning to leave. “You’ll be rewarded tonight, Trez. Come to my trailer after dinner.”

Trez smirked, gathering the blood-soaked whip.

I kept glaring at him. He had betrayed then brutally whipped someone he had worked with. Maybe they weren’t friends, but they were colleagues. Yet he displayed not the slightest sense of remorse or compassion.

Then I remembered compassion was what Radax had been punished for in the first place. What kind of an organization was Madame running here? Ruthless and cruel like herself.

One of the men tipped his chin at Radax spread on the floor. “This needs to be treated,” he said impassively. “Or he’d start to rot by morning.”

Another man scratched his bald head. “With all the packing that needs to be done, we can’t afford to be a man down right now.”

With an exasperated sigh, Madame actually conceded, “Fine.”

Immediately, Amira scurried on her hands and knees to Radax.

“Not you!” Madame stopped her, gesturing Amira to keep away from the wounded man. Her gaze then fell on me. “Well. Looks like you may be useful after all.” She turned to the man who spoke last. “Ulg, let this one out. Lock her back in again once she is done.”

On her way out, she tossed a glance at Radax’s large, broken body on the floor.

“Let her use the Biqirelle crystals on him so he will return to work sooner.”

Madame left, followed by Trez and the rest. Ulg unlocked my cage, letting me out. He waited until Amira brought a dish with warm water and a