Dark Champion (Flirting with Monsters #4) - Eva Chase Page 0,111
But then, I’ve felt that way dozens of times before.
“Fee-doom-ice-own,” I say at the latch, letting my voice rise, shifting my inflection. “Fee-doom-ice-own. Fee-doom-ice-own. Fee-doom-ice-own! Come on!”
My heart is pounding. I grasp the bars and gather my composure. It’s not just being trapped in here that I’m scared of. I’m also scared of what will happen if I do get out. What I might face beyond this room. What my captors will do to me if they catch me. Every time I’ve tried this, that terror lurks right behind my resolve.
I can’t let the fear stop me. I can’t. Nothing could be worse than what I’ll face if the sharp-edged man gets his way.
Thinking about dragging myself around this place with its bone-white floors and walls, scrubbing them clean, enduring jabs and kicks all day long, my soul recoils. That tropical pool I dream about is out there somewhere. Even if it feels like a fantasy now, it’s a place as real as this one. Wouldn’t it be worth anything to get there?
I’ll scream at the lock until I’m hoarse if that’s what it takes. I can do this. I have to.
I train my gaze on the lock and pull all my determination into my lungs. “Fee-doom-ice-own. Fee-doom-ice-own. Fee-doom-ice-own. Fee-doom-ice-own!”
The final incantation crackles over my tongue like an electric shock. The hairs on my arms jump to attention, my mouth goes abruptly dry—and the latch twists beneath my desperate fingers.
I’m so startled I nearly choke on the little saliva I have left. Breath held, I apply more pressure, and the latch turns all the way. The door squeaks open at my nudge. The way is clear.
I’m free. Of the cage, at least. Oh my god.
In that first moment, my body locks in place. I clench my jaw and tug the scratchy fabric of my blanket around me in a makeshift cloak. I ease out through the opening, first my head and shoulders, then a shuffling step—
A thump and a shattering sound reverberates through the room’s ceiling, and I flinch. Panic seizes me.
They’ve come back. They’ve come back early, and they’re angry.
The thought has barely passed through my head before voices filter through the door. Terror blanks my mind. On pure instinct, I yank the cage’s door closed and throw myself to the back of the space, huddling under the blanket in case something in my expression or my pose will give away what I’ve accomplished.
There’s a scuffling noise outside, which isn’t what I’d expect. Then footsteps tramp in, accompanied by those voices—but now that I can hear them more clearly, I don’t recognize the speakers.
“Phew. Whatever they were keeping in that cage, they obviously didn’t believe in cleaning up after it.” That voice buoyant with more warmth than I’ve ever heard any of my captors express. He must take me for just a heap of blanket, nothing living in here right now. I will my body to stay utterly still.
It doesn’t sound as if he’s bothered by the fact that my captors would have been keeping something in this cage. Even if he seems friendlier than them, that doesn’t mean he’s any kinder. Who are these people? What are they doing here?
“This doesn’t look like a room where they’d be keeping their notes stashed,” he goes on. “Or… how did Sylas put it? ‘Apparatus’?”
The voice that answers is dryly melodic but equally male. “If only Aerik and his cadre had been kind enough to leave detailed instructions posted in their front hall. It appears they’re just as irritating in this than they are in every other way.”
“I suppose it is their big secret.”
“Let’s not have any sympathy for the devils, now. Come on, we may as well have a look in this cabinet while we’re here.”
I’m still tensed, motionless, under the blanket, but the fabric has fallen so that one fold gives me a sliver of a view into the room. A man strides into view, tall with ample brawn filling out his simple tee, dark auburn hair sprouting above his broad, boyish face. As he inspects the cabinet, his eyes gleam so avidly I assume the first voice was his.
He doesn’t look menacing, despite all that powerful bulk, and his ears are smoothly rounded at the top, but my gaze catches on the black symbols inked on his skin. One follows the curve of his bicep; another partly encircles his wrist. Symbols like the tattoos all three of my captors display.
My body goes even more rigid than it already was. Whoever he is, he must be one of them. A man-who’s-not-a-man. A monster in human-like skin.
The other man saunters up beside him: even taller and equally brawny in his high-collared shirt, his tawny hair rumpled into artful disarray. Where the first man gives off an eager, youthful energy, this one is all languid, muscular poise. With the angle of his face, I can only see the corner of his smile—and an ear with a low but obvious point at its peak.
“Well, now we know where they keep some of their empty glassware and linens. No papers in there?”
The boyish one leans in to paw through the contents. “Doesn’t look like it.” He sighs and swivels on his heel with no diminishing of his upbeat energy. “So much for that. Let’s see what else they’ve stashed down here in the basement.”
The poised one holds up his hand. The edge of a tattoo spirals up across the heel to his palm. “Just a moment. There’s something…” He inhales audibly and turns—toward me.
I stop breathing completely. I am a rock. A bundle of rags. A lump of nothingness that should be of no interest to anyone.
My silent pleas have no effect. The man’s nostrils flare, and he stalks toward my cage with a purposefulness that turns my gut to water.
What do these unexpected intruders want, and what will they do with Talia? Find out in Captive of Wolves - Grab your copy now!
About the Author
Eva Chase lives in Canada with her family. She loves stories both swoony and supernatural, and strong women and the men who appreciate them. Along with the Flirting with Monsters series, she is the author of the Cursed Studies trilogy, the Royals of Villain Academy series, the Moriarty’s Men series, the Looking Glass Curse trilogy, the Their Dark Valkyrie series, the Witch’s Consorts series, the Dragon Shifter’s Mates series, the Demons of Fame Romance series, the Legends Reborn trilogy, and the Alpha Project Psychic Romance series.