House of Gods, page 5
“Are you …”
“Deaf?” she cut in. “I said, bring me Nella. Now.”
The man grasped her tone and ran off toward the house without another word. He was used to being given orders. That worked in her favor.
Kerrigan pushed the gate open and stepped out of the pool of light. It was taking forever for the man to bring Nella. Then suddenly, two figures appeared at the back of the house and were heading her way.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized the girl who walked toward her with wide, terrified eyes. They grew even wider when they recognized her.
“Felicity?” Nella asked in disbelief.
Kerrigan rushed to her, taking her hands. “Nella, are you all right?”
“What you doing here?” She was shaking.
Kerrigan glanced at the guard. He’d moved back into position, but he watched at them curiously.
“I got away and came back for you.”
Nella shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“We can get you out of here. You don’t have to be a servant for the rest of your life. We’ll run away.”
“Away?” she squeaked. “And go where?”
“Carithian,” she said at once. Then backpedaled at Nella’s terrified expression. “Anywhere. We’ll get on a boat tonight, and we’ll head out of here.”
“But … what?” Her face moved back toward the mansion Kerrigan had just woken her from. “We don’ have money.”
“No. I can figure it out,” she assured her. “We just have to leave tonight. Now. They were going to force me to be a mistress to this horrible man. His name is Tarcus, and he’s despicable. I can’t do it. We can get away. We don’t have to endure this.”
“Senator Tarcus?” Nella asked in shock. “He important.”
“Yes. But that’s not important. What’s important is us leaving.” She took the girl by her arm. “Come on. Leave with me while you can.”
“I … I got to get my things.”
“There’s no time.”
“I’m in my night things.”
Kerrigan wanted to curse at the poor thing and tell her to forget it. They could get new things. But Nella shook her head, promised to be back as quick as she could, and then rushed into the house.
The man at the gate was still watching her with interest, possibly growing suspicious. Kerrigan didn’t like it. She should have gone with Nella and sped her along so that they could be out of here. They didn’t need to wait around long enough for someone else to notice they were gone.
Time crept so slowly that Kerrigan almost gave up. Then, Nella appeared at the entrance to the house again. She hurried out in the same nightclothes she had been wearing before. Kerrigan’s face scrunched up.
“What?” she got out.
Then, she saw Nella’s tear-streaked face, and another figure materialized behind her. A male figure.
“Close the gate,” the man called. “Seize her.”
Kerrigan rushed toward the exit just as the guard slammed it shut in her face. She reached for the handle, but the man pushed her backward. She jerked an elbow into the guard. Something cracked in his face, possibly a few loose teeth, she was already reaching out for the gate again. Before she could dash through it, the other man was there. He grasped her arm and whirled her around. She got her first glimpse of him—an older man with silver hair and an ugly expression. He looked so much like the other men who had tried to purchase her that something erupted in her at the sight of him. Amoral, disgusting slaver.
She lashed out, going for the most fragile parts first. She jabbed her hand into his kidney. He grunted, doubling over from the pain. Then, she brought her knee into his groin, and the man fell forward. She followed it up by thrusting her knee into his nose, the sound of it breaking under her force satisfying as blood spurted everywhere.
“Don’t touch me,” she snarled as she shoved the man over.
“Felicity, no!” Nella cried. “I’m sorry. This is for the best.”
The first man recovered and he wrapped his arms around her body, pinning her hands to her sides. She laughed a distorted sound as she elbowed him in the ribs and then twirled in a perfect arc, throwing him bodily over her shoulder. He landed in a heap next to his owner.
She ignored Nella’s tearful pleas behind her. This was a mistake. Just like taking Flavia’s help had been a mistake. She didn’t understand this world, and she kept making mistakes.
Her hand fell on the back gate, and a shock of lightning seemed to sear through her bones. She screamed and fell to her knees as her mind went fuzzy all around the edges. She didn’t understand. She had been so close.
The old man came to tower over her. He clutched himself, and his eyes had gone flinty and furious. “No runaways get away from the justice of Domara.”
Then, he raised his hands, and that same lightning energy she’d felt run through her body crackled in his hands. He brought one touch to her shoulder, and another scream tore from her body until she had nothing left. Black hit the edges of her vision and then filled it.
6
The Negotiation
“No, you can’t see her. This is completely unacceptable.”
“You contacted me. I’m just following through on the invitation.”
“Now, is not a good time.”
“This is low, even for you.”
Kerrigan groaned as she woke suddenly from a deep sleep. Her muscles ached from head to toe. Her mind felt fuzzy on the edges, as if she should remember something, but it fluttered away. She tried to lift herself from the bed, but spasms racked her body.
She gasped, hating the sound even as it came out of her mouth. Then, she sat as still as she could, just like Nella had taught her, letting the magic burn off. A few moments later, the worst of it was gone, and her memories were back.
Nella.
Nella had turned her in.
Kerrigan had gone to free her, free them both, and Nella had responded by handing her. She should have known. Nella had seemed too accepting of the situation from the beginning. This was her world. This was what she had expected. Yet Kerrigan couldn’t believe it was true. That someone would choose to remain in servitude when she could have gotten away and lived her life.
But Nella had done it. And Kerrigan was right back where she had started.
Maybe worse.
She slowly raised herself to a sitting position and saw that the window was shut and a new lock had been installed on the inside. No way to break that. She didn’t even bother with the door. It was surely locked and guarded.
“The viewing was yesterday, Constantine,” Flavia snarled. “It’s not my fault that you can’t come when you’re called.”
The man snorted at the insinuation. “As if I wanted to be in a room of Domaran bastards. You invited me, knowing that I wouldn’t come to some cattle call. You’ve been pushing this on me from day one. Now that I might be interested, you’re, what, rescinding your offer?”
“Fine. If you want to see her sleeping,” Flavia snarled. “She’s asleep already.”
“Then, wake her up.”
But Flavia thought Kerrigan was on magic burn. She had no idea when Kerrigan would wake up. It was already dark outside. Had she slept through one night and onto the next? Had Tarcus come by already? What else had she missed while she’d been passed out?
Might as well get the answers to her questions. She rose unsteadily to her feet, walking as carefully as possible to avoid collapsing on the way to the door. She knocked twice, and the voices on the other side fell silent.
The door swung open, and Felix stood watch. “You’re awake.”
“I’m awake.”
Flavia jostled forward, pushing her way into the room. “Did the loud voices wake you?” she asked, as if she cared.
Kerrigan looked at her with hatred, and it was a mutual expression.
“She’ll need to be cleaned up before she’s ready to be seen.”
But the other man barged into the room without preamble.
After the parade of Domaran men, she had anticipated another Tarcus, bullying his way into an audience with her. But this man was nothing like Tarcus. He was of a similar age, but broad and wide with muscular arms, legs, and chest and the tan complexion she associated with Felix and other Andine people.
He took up the entire doorway. Kerrigan took a step backward in shock at the boulder of a man who appeared before her.
“Well,” he said, pursing his full lips and looking down at her with hard, dark eyes, “she looks like them. That’s for sure.”
“I know she does,” Flavia said. “And I should have made her presentable.”
“She looks fine.”
Considering Flavia’s apparent distaste for anyone who wasn’t Domaran, Kerrigan was surprised that she would do business with this man. Maybe money was the only thing that mattered to her.
“Do anything special?” he asked her. “Music, embroidery, song, dance?”
She arched an eyebrow. “No. I’m a fighter.”
He laughed. “I’m sure you are.”
“And a dragon rider.”
None of them believed her, but she wasn’t a doll to be put on display. She’d never enjoyed the royal side of her heritage. She’d rebuffed it at every opportunity, and she refused to stand before a man asking to buy her and lie about that fact. Her best friends, Darby and Hadrian, had been more interested in all of that. Darby had even moved into Bryonican society and been presented at court. While Kerrigan had gravitated to Clover, an outsider and human who dealt cards and lived on the wild side. She missed them all so much right then.
“Shush, girl,” Flavia growled. “Stop telling lies.”
“She seems sincere,” the man said with a smirk.
“Constantine,” she admonished.
His smirk just widened. “Is this it? This little thing for the sum you mentioned?”
“You’re too late,” Flavia said, raising her chin. “Tarcus has already staked a claim.”
“Tarcus?” he snarled in apparent anger. “You’re doing business with the likes of him? After what he did …” Constantine trailed off, looking furious.
“He is a senator,” she said dismissively.
Kerrigan glanced at Flavia in confusion. “Tarcus never showed up?”
Flavia just glared at her and looked half-ready to pop her across the mouth for her insolence. “We are still waiting for him to come claim you.”
Kerrigan’s eyes widened in surprise. Maybe she had another night to figure out how to escape this hellhole. This time, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to do anything but save her own skin. That was what this world had taught her. Twice over.
“So, he hasn’t paid,” Constantine said with a laugh. “How like him.”
Flavia’s expression shifted at that, as if she’d caught a new means to an end. “Until I hear from him, she’s available. I wasn’t sure you could afford her. You haven’t been doing as well in the tournament circuit as you have in the past.”
Constantine’s eyes went flat. “We’re heading to Carithian soon enough for the next tournament. Our new champion is going to take the whole thing. It won’t matter how much she’s worth.”
“If you say so. The last one fizzled out, didn’t he?”
Kerrigan, however, lit up at the mention of the capital. He was heading that direction? That … could be helpful. He seemed to hate Tarcus, and he was getting out of town. Both were a benefit that she couldn’t ignore.
“This one won’t,” Constantine said. “But I don’t know if I want to get into this business.”
“It’s a steadier stream of income,” Flavia said. “You’ve known that for a long time.”
Constantine’s eyes swept over her, as if deliberating with himself. “Otherwise, she goes with Tarcus.”
Kerrigan shuddered at the name, and Constantine noticed her displeasure. It only made him frown deeper.
“Yes. You or Tarcus. Whoever can meet my price first.”
Constantine snarled something under his breath. Then, he stomped out of the room.
Flavia snatched Kerrigan’s arm up. “You stupid girl,” she cried. “You almost ruined everything. Running away, getting caught by Quintus.” She shook her head in disgust. Her nails dug into Kerrigan’s arm. “I had to pay for a healer to tend to your hands and feet, all while you were unconscious. I had no idea when you’d wake up. What were you thinking?”
Kerrigan wrenched her arm away. “I was thinking that I didn’t want to be sold to anyone. Let alone to someone like Tarcus!”
“Well, it’s your lucky day. I sent a messenger to Tarcus’s estate, and he came back empty-handed. He said that Tarcus was out and wouldn’t be back for three days! Three days! Can you imagine? No one else would touch you after his declaration, and now, he’s forgotten you. I did what I had to do to make the sale. And now, you get someone like Constantine instead.”
Kerrigan wanted to ask exactly what kind of man Constantine was, but already, he was in the entranceway of her room once more.
Felix bowed slightly at the waist at his appearance. Kerrigan hadn’t noticed that the first time. But now, she heard the word he said under his breath, “Kurios.”
Constantine shot Felix a look and then passed by him, not acknowledging the strange word. He slapped down a bag heavy with gold onto the nightstand. “There. Count it if you must.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Flavia said hungrily. Her fingers itched for the bag of gold. “I know where you live if you’re short.”
“I’m not.” His eyes slipped back to Kerrigan. “Anything else I need to know about her?”
“She’s resourceful. We’ve had a guard on her room day and night. She also has some … magic resistance.”
Constantine swore under his breath. “Is she actually a fucking Doma?” he demanded, rushing into Flavia’s space and towering over her body. “Tell me. Did you steal her from them? Are you selling her to me to get me caught? Because I will not get the same leniency that some bastard like Tarcus would get. You know they would seize all my property and possessions, enslave my daughter, and kill me.”
Flavia’s eyes widened in horror. “No, no, she isn’t a Doma. She has no magic of her own. She would have already used it. She just has the appearance. She’ll be perfect for you.”
“If I go down, Flavia, you will be going down with me. Do you understand? I didn’t fight in the Ando-Domaran War to get to where I am today, only to have you ruin it for me.”
“I’m certain,” Flavia said, lifting her chin. “I wouldn’t be selling her if I hadn’t checked it out.”
Constantine swore again. “Felicity, is it?”
“Yes,” Flavia said.
“Let’s go.” He nodded his head at Kerrigan. “It’ll take half the night to get us back. We should start out now.”
“In the dark?” Kerrigan asked incredulously.
“Unless you want to stay here,” he said, glancing at Flavia.
“I don’t,” she answered honestly.
“Get your stuff.”
He turned from the room and stomped out again. Flavia rushed for the bag of money. Kerrigan was completely forgotten in the mayhem. She had no possessions. She just had herself.
Felix caught her eye on the way out. For the first time maybe ever, he smiled. “The kurios will look after you.”
She blinked in confusion, but already, she could hear Constantine’s disapproving growl from down the hall and the impatient stamp of his feet. So, she pushed past Felix and after her new owner.
Her escape had failed. Her one chance to get out of this life and help her people was over. If she wasn’t a fighter, she would have already given up. She didn’t know what kind of man this Constantine was. She had no idea what she was walking into, but she would do it with her head held high. And she would survive.
7
The Estate
“You ride?” Constantine asked once they were downstairs.
She expected a carriage or wagon of some sort to transport, but it was just him, standing next to the largest dappled horse she had ever seen. The highest part of its withers barely brushed Constantine’s massive shoulders. Kerrigan’s head touched its belly.
“Never seen an Andiza, I gather,” he said dryly.
“No.”
“Well, they tried to wipe out the breed during the war. This one came along with me,” he said with affection for the beast. “She’s faster and more reliable than the smaller creatures. If she likes you, then you’ll have a friend for life. Here. Put your hand out.”
Kerrigan was used to dragons. A horse couldn’t frighten her, and yet she preferred flying to riding any day. She had enough experience to hold her hand steady and meet its stare. Finally, the horse nuzzled her open palm, and Kerrigan smiled.
“Good. She likes you. Makes it easier. I’ll help you onto Melidonna.”
He lifted her around the waist as if she were a rag doll. She yelped as she threw a leg over and straddled the horse. Constantine vaulted up behind her, his meaty thighs pressing against her now-exposed legs.
He grunted. “Should have thought of that. You usually ride sidesaddle?”
“No, I normally wear pants.”
He laughed heartily. “At least you have a sense of humor.”
Constantine’s threw his large black jacket over her lap for modesty. She said nothing, still getting accustomed to having him against her and considering how she could get out of this situation. It was just a horse. Maybe she could slide off while he was riding.
“Find the wind, Melidonna,” Constantine barked.
Then, he kicked off, and all thoughts of that evaporated. The horse moved at unthinkable speeds. Not as fast as her dragon, Tieran. But far faster than any breed she’d ever been on. All she had time to do was hang on for her dear life as they barreled away from Eivreen and out into the countryside beyond.
She had no idea how long they had been on the horse when her eyes began to droop. The magic drain had been intense. Quintus must have had more magic than Flavia because Kerrigan was exhausted. It was the middle of the night, and despite having slept the entire day away, she couldn’t keep her eyes open as Melidonna thundered under her. It was a lullaby, and soon, she slipped forward into unconsciousness.
