21. Emma

For the longest time, I just stared into the pitch-black darkness.

I got the sense someone was watching me, waiting for me to make a mistake so they could punish me without remorse.

I heard the other doomed fated mates in adjacent cells moan and wail.

Others sang sad songs that bounced off the cold flagstone walls, so melancholy and forlorn that I doubted it didn't touch the heart of every creature in the prison.

About six hours ago, the door at the end of the hall swung open and the prisoners turned deathly quiet.

Heavy boots of maybe three or four Shadows marched along the long row of cells and stopped, turning on their heels, before the cell next to mine.

They unlocked a door and the prisoner screamed as the Shadows entered and dragged the prisoner out.

And the rest of us sat there, immobile and silent.

They carried the doomed mate away and by the time the thick door at the end of the hall slammed shut, she was gone.

They came at regular intervals after that, every twenty, thirty minutes, by my estimation, although it was difficult to know due to the lack of natural lighting in the place.

And every time I heard those jangling keys and hard heavy footsteps, I feared they might be coming for me.

I shut my eyes and prayed as the boots approached my door…

And then disappeared further down the hallway as another door was opened and the fated mate would once again scream and fight.

I couldn't understand any of the words they bellowed but I didn't need to.

Every living creature could understand what was said:

"No!"

Sometimes the jailers chuckled, sometimes they didn't.

Only once did I have the courage to pull myself up using the bars in the door to peer out.

The jailers scowled with the prisoners who put up a fight and grew angry when the fight was a good one.

Their fists tightened and their muscles strained, wanting to smack the prisoners around but dared not bruise them.

Instead, they wrapped their powerful arms around them and encouraged them to tire themselves out.

Only then did they carry them away.

The female fated mates were as scrappy as the males.

They all met with the same end and were dragged, kicking and screaming down the hall.

The door at the end of the hall would slam shut and a key would turn in the lock, turning the world silent once again.

Then the sadness and the wailing and the forlorn singing would kick in.

After the fifth prisoner was taken, I snapped awake from my dumbfounded stupor.

Losing hope was too easy in a place like this.

It was harder to stand and fight.

And I had never been one to take the easy road.

I had to find a way out of there.

There always was a weak chink in the armor.

It was just a matter of finding it.

I scanned the wall for a sharp protrusion to cut the bonds about my wrists.

I turned my back to it and jockeyed for position.

Then I found it.

I crouched and rubbed the bonds over the sharp beak of stone back and forth until the bonds snapped.

I massaged my wrists and got to work.

I fell to my hands and knees.

I scrambled over the floor, feeling at the large and uneven flagstone blocks beneath my feet.

I scrambled over them, feeling with my fingers and the palms of my hands, checking and prying at them in case one was loose.

I had read the Count of Monte Cristo at high school.

Could there be an escape tunnel somewhere?

Could someone have begun and completed it already?

Finding no uneven stones, I shifted to another idea.

I moved to the distant corner and immediately pulled my head back, my nostrils stinging at the stink.

With no access to toilets, I supposed it was inevitable the occupiers of this cell would choose to go in one corner rather than spread it around.

I backed away and decided to search the rest of the cell first.

I went up onto my tiptoes and crouched down low, slipping my fingers in the concrete joints.

I caught my index finger on a corner and hissed at the pain.

Blood seeped from the edge of my nail and I moved to slip my finger in my mouth before thinking better of it.

Who knew the kind of germs crawling over them right now.

I proceeded around the room, careful to keep my forefinger perched upward to avoid it getting infected.

My heart sank as I came to the final corner.

The toilet corner.

I held my breath and stepped over to it, reaching up with my hands and going up on tiptoes, feeling each of the flagstone blocks.

I worked my way down but steered clear of the worst of the stink.

I coughed and gasped as I backed away from the corner.

I landed on my ass and panted with exertion.

No secret tunnels.

No wobbly stones.

No easy way out.

The Shadow had brought me here for a specific purpose and I couldn't allow it to come to be.

When every prisoner so far had failed to fight off the jailers, what chance did I have?

I seized upon the only scrap of hope I had left:

What if I let the mating ceremony happen?

What if I didn't fight and allowed Iav to use me?

I shuddered at the thought but it was the only viable plan I could think of.

I could slip away once Iav was done with me.

Then I could hop on a shuttlecraft and get out of there.

I buried my forehead on my arm, the tears coming freely.

But I didn't want to be "claimed" by an alien species.

And I especially didn't want their seed inside me.

And what made me think there was even the possibility I could escape like that?

They'd been breeding fated mates here since forever.

I wondered if anyone else had managed to escape.

And if they had, what had become of them?

Were they made examples of?

That was how they used to do it in the old days on Earth.

And what sort of future would I have in this place?

It was like being sentenced to the worst hellhole in the world for a crime you hadn't committed.

Then was there a way I could distract the Shadows while they were attempting to use me?

With their attention focused on my seductive charms, I could attack them and use that as my escape.

But I didn't know how the ceremony occurred, what steps were taken.

I doubted the mating ceremony would take place in a church with plenty of exits.

Especially when one of the Elders had already singled me out.

"I will go second," he'd said.

I shivered, my skin crawling at the thought of him or anyone else touching me.

Anyone but Vai.

He was so kind and sweet, so good to me.

And I had done nothing but whine and treat him badly.

In all this, there was one silver lining.

Vai was heading home and would go on to live a normal, happy life.

With someone else…

Yes, with someone else.

It didn't thrill me to think about that but it was the only silver lining I had and I intended on holding on to it.

I would need it in the hours to come…

If only I had known I would end up in this situation.

I could have brought a weapon with me.

I could have prepared for an attack.

Instead, I'd allowed myself to be outwitted.

Now I was trapped with nothing but my thoughts.

Then I froze.

A thought occurred to me—so fragile, so delicate, that if I focused too hard, it might slip through my fingers.

No…

It couldn't be that simple…

Could it?

I got to my feet and dusted off my hands.

I felt something thick and congealing on the tips of my fingers.

It wasn't the blood that seeped from the tear at the corner of my nail.

It was the darkness, I realized.

It was darker than tar and seemed to absorb all light that touched it.

Anything could be in there.

Anything I could imagine…

Something might have been concealed inside it, invisible if I hadn't already searched every recess of the cell.

But it wasn't what was hiding in the darkness that arrested my attention.

It was what could be taken from it.

Maybe I wasn't as defenseless as I thought.

Maybe Vai had given me the skills I needed in case I ended up in this situation.

I cursed myself for not thinking of it sooner.

When I first crossed into the Shadow Realm, I could have taken Iav by surprise and thumped him over the head with a heavy cudgel.

I didn't even need the use of my hands.

I'd seen Vai use the shadows as a weapon without so much as moving his eyes.

All he needed was to imagine it.

And it became.

I reached into the darkness and cupped my hand as if reaching for something solid.

But what?

I needed to be more specific.

When I brought my hand out, it was empty.

Of course it was.

The darkness gave you nothing unless you imagined something clear inside it first.

I tried again and lowered my hand into that oily blackness, and this time, I imagined picking up a dirty snowball.

I raised my hand, and there, cupped in the palm of my hands, was a slimy, turgid black tar snowball.

It oozed between my fingers.

I shut my eyes and imagined it had a more solid form.

When I opened them, I found the snowball had adopted the characteristics I'd imagined.

At my shock, the ball faded as if someone had shone a bright light over it, expelling it from existence.

"No, no, no, no," I said.

I reached back into the darkness and attempted to form another snowball.

I scrabbled at the shadows but couldn't bring another into being.

Clang!

The lock on the door at the end of the hall snapped and the door swung open.

The jailers were coming again, their boots click-clacking across the scuffed stony floor.

Somewhere deep inside, I knew they were coming for me.

Why?

Because it was the worst possible moment.

The worst thing always happened right when you needed it not to.

I needed time to practice but I wasn't going to get it.

I took a deep breath and reached once more into the shadows.

I let out a slow breath and recalled my meditation lessons from Olivia.

I had a big exam the following morning and needed to stop stressing out so much.

I managed to pass—barely.

I closed my eyes and shut my mind to the approaching danger.

The calmness washed over me like a cool summer breeze.

I cupped my hand and imagined something solid in my hand.

I raised it and marveled not at a snowball but a sharp blade.

It was identical to the steak knife I used whenever I ate Olivia's home-cooked food.

The meat was always tough and I needed a blade that could handle the job.

It probably wasn't the best weapon to use against these creatures but in my panic it was all I could think of.

The heavy boots thudded down the hallway and stopped outside my door.

The other inmates had already become quiet.

I imagined them huddling in the corner of their cells.

It wouldn't help them.

The only way to help us now was to help ourselves.

If they came in my cell, I would have to be quick.

They wouldn't give me half a chance to defend myself.

Right now, I had the element of surprise on my side.

They didn't know I could manipulate their realm.

Thanks to Vai.

My dear beloved Vai.

The thought of him producing a thick hot wad at the back of my throat.

Hot and blistering, it clogged up my nose.

I refused to let it overtake me.

He was the reason I could do this.

If I escaped, if I could reach him, I would jump on him, tear his clothes off, and complete the mating ceremony.

With my heart full of him, I turned to face the door.

The heavy boots thumped loudly and came to a stop.

Right outside.

They turned toward me, the soles grinding the grit to dust.

I tucked the knife behind my back.

The guard was so tall he peered through the slat without having to perform my earlier gymnastics.

His eyes glinted, curling with glee as he angled his head down to slide the key in the lock.

I felt at the serrated edge with my thumb.

Sharp, sinister.

When my door creaked open, I heard the audible sighs of relief from the other cells.

The other inmates got to live in peace for another twenty minutes.

The guard stepped inside my cell.

He had to crouch to fit through the door.

I peered up at the monster.

One of his parents must have been a giant of some description.

The blade behind my back suddenly seemed very flimsy.

Like fighting a mighty warrior armed only with a toothpick.

The blade flickered in my hand for a moment as the giant stepped forward.

"Up, you," the giant said.

His buddies waited on either side of the door, faces twisted and grim.

I edged further into the corner.

My imagination went haywire, thinking up what I should do next.

What kind of weapon could I use against creatures this size?

I was tiny compared to them.

The giant reached forward, his fingers like bulging sausages.

My mind turned blank, not with fear, but peace.

"Come," the giant growled. "This don't need to be bad."

He leaned forward further and, without thinking, without even a clear thought in my mind, I swung my arm around.

My intuition took over and conjured something that slammed hard against the giant's skull.

Crack!

He made a strange "Goi!" noise and stumbled to one side.

He lost his balance and peered dazedly first one way and then another.

His head was still within range so I swung again.

Crack!

This time, I caught him at the base of the skull.

His eyes rolled back and he hit the floor, landing in a heap.

The prison guards peered at me, their eyes bulging wide, reflecting my own.

My hands shook.

I peered down at the giant mallet I'd unconsciously formed.

It disintegrated, dissolving into a million flakes of ash that melted back into the shadows before they even reached the floor.

A squat-nosed guard entered the cell.

He wasn't nearly so big as the giant.

Finding a new reserve of confidence, I left the imagining to my instincts.

I rushed him, leaped, and swung my arm around again.

This time, it wasn't a mallet that formed—which was what Squat-Nose expected as he raised his beefy arm to block it.

I didn't know what it was at first either.

It might have been a snake.

Its tail wrapped solidly and tightly around the creature's beefy neck.

As I fell back to my feet, I realized it was some sort of whip.

I had no idea I could be so creative!

I yanked on it.

The jailer tripped over his fallen buddy's legs and his chin smashed to the floor, his face landing in the stinky toilet corner.

I ran for the door.

The remaining two creatures were already pulling a weapon from the darkness.

A sinister-looking mace with gigantic spikes arranged like a porcupine's quills.

He swung it.

I ducked and skidded forward on my knees.

The mace whumped through the air and struck the door frame.

My knees caught a protruding block and I felt the pain instantly.

I flew forward and my face smacked the flagstone hard.

The guard yanked his mace from the door and yelled as he brought his arm around to smash the mace down on me again.

I raised my hand and came out with a pistol.

Exactly the same make and brand I had used against Vai during his training session.

The guard seemed as surprised to see it in my hands.

I pulled the trigger without hesitation.

It spat tiny black bullets that bit into the monster's chest and neck.

He lost his balance and stumbled back.

His mace swung around and caught him across the face.

He landed in a heap.

Still lying on the floor, my breasts heaving, I peered at the fallen bodies.

I couldn't believe what'd just happened.

"Hey!" a voice hissed.

I peered up at the cell door beside mine.

A pair of large yellow eyes peered down at me.

"You go!" she said. "You go now!"

She snapped me from my catatonic state and I shoved myself up onto my feet, turned, and ran.