Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

I wake with a gasp, my gaze falling on the dark, dirty cell around me. This one is far worse than any other I have been in, with thick grime around the bars and floor and a foul stench that only adds to my already churning stomach. It is lucky I haven't eaten anything, or it would already be on the ground in front of me.

With no sign of the guard, I can assume he decided to take his chances with whomever he is working for instead. A foolish mistake he will learn to regret.

Pushing up on my arms, I sway a little before the dizziness finally stops.

"It's the sleep-inducing mixture they have given you."

I glance over at the voice to find a girl around my age looking back at me. Her skin is pallid, her brown hair unkempt, and her clothes as dirty as the cell we are in.

"It makes you sleep and feel nauseous when you wake," she says with a wince. "It will pass. Just try not to breathe through your nose."

"Too late," I tell her, and she gives me the ghost of a smile, as if she is no longer used to it.

"I don't remember consuming anything," I tell her and check over my body. My hand falls on the dagger on my thigh, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's from a small knife they have dipped into a mixture. They only need to nick you for it to work."

My hand reaches up to my neck and the slightly raised skin there.

"How do you know all of this?"

She sighs and it's full of weary despair. "I've been here a while."

My stomach sinks at the dejected expression on her face. "You were taken?" I ask, and she nods a reply.

"Are there many others here?"

She scans my face, searching for something before dipping her head toward the cell bars.

On shaky legs, I move toward them and peek out, my entire body freezing when I see it.

Half a dozen cells around this one, each with at least two or three women in them.

"They'll kill half of them by the end of the week," she says with a whisper.

I whip around to her. "And the rest?"

"To be sold. It's the only reason I have lasted so long."

I turn and move over to her but stop when she stiffens. "I'm Seren."

"Leora."

"Are you all Caligo?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Some of both, though they kill the Sidus quicker," she says, and I clench my fists at my side at the thought.

"Why have you not tried to escape?" I can feel both of my Sidus and Caligo abilities, so I know they must not have any shield or block that restricts them.

"If we attempt to use our abilities, we are killed." Leora swallows hard, her eyes misting over as she drops her head to look at her hands. "I'm not a fighter. None of us are. I think they know that. They pick the ones who won't try to fight back. Those who are weak and vulnerable."

My hand tightens around my blade. "Do you know how many guards there are?"

She glances up at me with a frown. "On this corridor?"

My stomach drops. " This corridor? There are more?"

She nods. "Two that I know of, but there could be more."

"How do you know if it's night or day?" I glance around, seeing no windows, so I can't tell how long I have been out for.

"There are more guards at night," she tells me.

Moving back to the bars, I glance out and see no guards about, so it must not be that late yet.

"What are you doing? The guards will be here soon," Leora says before getting to her feet.

"We're getting out of here," I tell her.

"How?"

I pull the dagger from my thigh and show her. "Through them, if we must."

Leora's face pales.

Using my shadows, I conceal them with my body and unlock the cell door, sliding it open as softly as I can.

"They will kill us," Leora says, her voice panicked and her face drenched in fear.

"We cannot stay in a cage, no matter how scared we are." I take a step out of the cell, but she rushes over and takes my arm, stopping me from moving any farther.

"Please, Seren. They killed another for using her powers and another for trying to escape. They made us all watch." She drops my arm to wrap hers around herself in comfort.

"I know you are scared because of what you saw. But you cannot stay here. You are to be sold or killed; those are your choices if you stay." I reach a hand out to her. "Come with me."

She shakes her head, stepping back into the cell. "I can't."

Moving out of the cell, I glance around at the other women, all huddled in the back of their cells.

"Are you all going to stay here? Lie down and die for them?" I ask them.

"Look behind you," someone says.

I turn to the end of the cells to find the bodies of two women.

" That is what happens when we try to fight back. Death. And none of us wants to die," she hisses, but her eyes are wide with fear, not anger.

"But they will kill you either way," I tell her and them as I glance around at each frightened face. "Or sell you off to the highest bidder."

"We're not fighters," another girl says, so softly I nearly miss it.

"But you can be," I tell her. "It does not have to be just one. All of you can join together and fight your way out."

The girl with the soft voice glances up at me. "But they're stronger than us."

I glance around at them and their already defeated faces and realize that it is not the bars keeping them here. Any one of them could have used their powers to unlock their cells. It's their fear. That is what's stopping them.

"The world can be an unforgiving place. It can be cruel and full of hardships no one wants to face. It can break you down until there is barely anything left of you, but it can also build you anew. It is also filled with laughter and love and the people who care about you." I glance around at them all, pleading with them to fight. "Don't you want to see your families again? Don't you want to feel the light?"

Some of the girls move closer to the bars, giving me hope.

"Your freedom does not belong to them. It belongs to you. And only you can take it back," I tell them, but they stay behind their bars, and I start to wonder if I'll ever get them out.

Until one girl steps forward.

"I don't want to be a prisoner here," she says, looking at me with wide, fearful eyes. But there's also a glint there—a glint of hope.

"I don't want to die or be sold off." A small shadow coils around her hand as she unlocks her cell and steps out. "I choose freedom and whatever may come from it."

The other girls hesitate, but I can see it in their eyes now. That hope. It's a small flicker that I want to watch grow into a flame that burns.

"If you won't fight for yourselves, fight for one another. Fight for a cause bigger than yourself."

They glance around, and then one after one, they unlock their cells and step out.

I glance back at Leora as she stays further back in the cell.

"Your freedom is yours to choose, but it can only be found through courage. Don't give them this power. Don't let them win."

"Come on, Leora. Oryn will miss you," another girl says from beside me.

Oryn? My eyes widen. "You're Oryn's sister?" I ask her.

She nods, moving closer to the cell bars. "You know him?"

"He's been searching for you this entire time. He's in the palace right now," I tell her, hoping it will get her out of the cell.

Leora glances around for a moment before hesitantly taking a step outside her cage.

"I would like to see my brother again," she tells me. And it's enough for now. Enough until she can fight for herself.

I gather the girls together and put the strongest at the back as I take the lead.

We move past more bodies, and a girl beside me with short black hair and brown eyes gives me a sad look.

"They don't like the ones that talk back either," she says, and my hand tightens on my blade.

Two guards come into the corridor, their eyes widening when they spot us. But before they get the chance to call for backup, I move swiftly and slam my fist into one before spinning the blade in my hand and striking the hilt of it into the back of his head. Both fall to the ground with a thump.

"I am feeling a little better about my choice now," one of the girls says with a smile.

"Let's keep moving," I tell them.

With slightly more determination than a moment ago, we move forward. I quickly silence three more guards before moving to the end of the passageway and around the corner. Only to come face-to-face with Levon and at least a dozen guards behind him.