future with him.
And the thought does not sit well with me.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to think about it much longer. Myza’s eyes dart to my right, and I turn, instantly on alert. Only it doesn’t do me any good. My vision blurs as the side of my head flares with pain after having been struck. Myra stumbles back when my hand falls away, releasing her from my grip.
“Are you okay?”
Myza nods at the Enforcer before her eyes roll into the back of her head and she crumples to the ground.
I blink rapidly, trying to focus my gaze as I shuffle to the side, my feet feeling like lead. Without the holographic disguise, it won’t take them long to identify me as the madam’s property, and with me having been caught assaulting Myra, I’m not likely to be let go.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Way to state the obvious, asshole.
Another blinding pain stabs my head before everything goes black. Before meeting Castien, I would’ve been scared of the darkness, but now I thrive in it. I pity anyone who is around when I am brought back to the light.
The clanging of metal brings me back to the land of the living. Or living hell, rather, since the madam stares down at me, her lips a thin line.
“Welcome home, number four,” she says, banging the golden bars with her claws. When I wince and squeeze my eyes shut, she does it again. “I see that you are new and improved since I last saw you.”
With my head pounding and nausea rising, I can only look up at her from the floor of a golden cage. Once again I’m trapped and being tormented, but this time I am not helpless. Far from it.
And the madam will soon learn this…
“Those markings on your arms and that unique strip of hair will fetch a hefty price when I put you into the next auction,” she says with a feral grin.
A great many insults want to spill from my mouth, but I stay quiet. Not out of respect. I do it because I need to get myself centered and mobile so that I can get the hell out of here, and I can’t do that if I can’t even stand. Gingerly, I finger the side of my head where it throbs the most, and when I pull my hand away, there’s red coating my fingertips. Not that I like being beat up, but I get why the Enforcers hit me.
If they hadn’t, they’d be dead.
“You’ve got a nasty bump where the Enforcers struck you.” She points at me as if I can’t feel my head trying to fall off. “I didn’t want them to ruin my merchandise, but there you have it. Better to have you back and injured than not have you at all.”
The madam circles the cage, offering blessed relief by not banging the bars. Only I wish she would come closer…close enough for me to touch.
I slowly get to my feet, unsteady at first, but eventually I stand erect. The madam meets my gaze, and I stay silent as my vision rights itself. I hope my dizziness subsides quickly because I have no idea how much longer she’ll stay with me, and I need the key from her before she leaves.
“Look at you, feeling better already.” Madam Pim taps her chin, her gaze shrewd. It’s not hard to know she’s thinking about selling me. Again.
I’m in a cage, and the last time I was here, I was a helpless, flightless bird, but then Castien found me and gave me wings. This thought causes me to remember something that has never been as profound as in this moment. I cannot disappoint him, but more importantly, I can’t disappoint myself.
I clear my throat, willing my voice to be level and without tremors. “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…”
The madam frowns and tilts her head. “What are you saying? Is this some type of gibberish?”
“While I nodded, nearly napping, rapping at my chamber door.”
The verses of the poem spill from my lips as if I wrote the words, as if they are my creation. They are nothing but softly spoken phrases, each one having a deep meaning to me, given all I’ve gone through. With each stanza, my tone becomes stronger, my pain now in the deep recess of my mind and my footing firm.
“What is this?” She takes a step toward me, and I follow suit, bringing myself close to the bars.
“’Tis