Smoldered Flames: Part I of the Edonia Series
Chapter 50

Valeri

Once we’ve served our purpose, they trapped us inside the raggedy barn with no food or water. I’ve counted the waxing and waning of the moon. We have been stuck here for about five days now. The children have become restless, the men are becoming agitated, and the females have become their strength. When a child weeps, a female will comfort them. When a male is on the verge of a break due to high testosterone, a female will offer themselves to blow off some steam. If you know what I mean. I am just an overseer in a corner, watching the going ons and ensuring nothing gets too out of hand. I keep a special close eye on the old croon bitch after that short, but threatening conversation we had. She, in turn, eyes me with a baleful glare. I’ve got the feeling that if she wanted to, she could escape without a scratch and none would be the wiser.

I haven’t slept in ages, it seems. I stare at the Key in wonder and puzzlement. The last time this was used, I was in a fit of rage and desperation. Back then, I was at Death’s door; we were outnumbered and needed a quick escape. Oddly enough, I think I met a deity, and thus the Key came into my possession. I should trigger it a different way. Maybe a little self reflection would help, I smirk silently.

I begin to stare off in the distance. Background noise falls away, but a part of my brain is still acutely aware of the others here. I grip the Key that’s under my shirt and try to connect with it.

A few heart beats later and I feel the silent thrum of foreign life matching the tempos of my heart. I could compare it to a flower quickly unfurling, its filaments beckoning me to touch and command.

That wasn’t the only bond I felt. I glance down at my body and make mental notes of each depressed mark on my body, I can see the connection that bound me to my Bloodvenom warriors. They are like the threads of Fate, naked to the eye, but the sensation of destiny roaring through them.

Before I could delve deeper, raucousness breaks through my concentration. The guards wrench the steel doors open.

“Alright! Bitches and whelps to the left! The male bastards to the right!” someone commands.

Everyone, including myself, quickly scatters to their side of the barn. A growing unease settles to the pit of my stomach. The leery eyes thrown towards the females. The threatening looks the guards throw at the males. Shit was about to go down.

A yelp snaps my head down the line of females. One of the guards drags a young female by her

hair and she tries to fight him, but he slaps the shit out of her. In her weakened state, she collapses to the floor. A male tries to dart out to her, but another guard laughs and kicks him in the stomach. All hell breaks loose then. The males start fighting the guards. And the females start to scatter again.

“No! Form a circle around the children. Do not let those bastards break the circle!” I command. Slowly, ever so achingly slow, they follow my instructions.

Despite my weakened state, I was itching for a fight. My gums ache to release my fangs and tear throats out these fuckers, but a stolen sword will do. I dart through the masses cutting through limps and slicing heads. I whirl around laughing like a raging lunatic as the blood of my foes rain down on my face. For the first time in what felt like forever, I am alive. I am untouchable like a deity. I wanted more, craved more.

That was, until a small whimper entered my ears. I came at a standstill, the stolen blade mere inches from a coward who nearly pissed himself. I hissed in annoyance. When I glance over my shoulder, my heart stutters. The one guard that set my teeth on edge holds a small child hostage. I nearly flinch when the safety is taken off of the revolver, but I show no outward emotion.

“My, my. When they say you were an ice cold bitch, I didn’t believe it,” he says with a drawl.

“What do you want, guard?” I sneer.

“Well what I want, right now, is for you and your little ragtag here to drop the weapons.” he says in a tone that would lead others to believe there is a chance at negotiations.

The hybrids look to me for directions. I straighten my position and throw the rusted sword to the ground, and the males follow suit.

“Now I believe you were all told to stand on either side of the barn.”

I’m pushed to the other side of the barn, but -unsurprisingly- he doesn’t release the child.

“The fruit of your loins will not be harmed, if you comply with our demands.”

“And that is…?”

He smiles, showing bright, sharp teeth. “For the remainder of your stay, you will bend to our whim without complaint.”

I take in the condition of the other hybrids and knew they wouldn’t fare further abuse. I was stronger than them. I could take it.

“If I offer myself, and myself alone, for this… whim, will you and all of the guards leave everyone else alone?” I starkly ask.

The guard carries a wicked gleam in his eyes. “And what makes you think you can handle what we have in store?”

I bark out a laugh. “You wouldn’t have the mental capacity to understand what I can handle.”

He shoves the child out of the way and saunters forward without a care. “I think we can come to an…agreement.” The guard nods to the others and they back away from everyone. The guards surge towards me and drag me from the safety of the barn. I’d laugh at the dark humor of that if I weren’t in this position.

I don’t put up a fight. I don’t even object to how they jostle me around. I simply comply with their demands like a good little bitch they think I am. Soon, we go to the tall prison where I was originally held captive. They lead me down the stairs and past the now empty cells and then to a semi-giant room filled with odd contraptions lining the wall. A metal bed greets me as the bastards raise my arms above my head and spread my legs along the cold material.

They surround me, and I’m reminded of a porno gone wrong. One by one I make mental notes of who fills the room. I take in each face as they agree to become my tormentor. I remember that I’m doing this so the hybrids won’t suffer the same fate as my packmates had a few years ago. They don’t deserve that fate.

I thought I escaped hell, but here I am facing many devils in my own personal hell again.