1. Harper

The alarm screamed into the night.

It was a strange warbling sound and beat in time to the pulsing lights around the cell's ceiling. They came up to full brightness and then dimmed back down to pitch darkness.

I shot up and pressed the blanket to my breast, recognizing I was not in my own bed. That meant I had to be in someone else's. But that wasn't exactly unusual.

What was unusual was how comfortable the bed was. It couldn't possibly be mine. The springs didn't jab me in the back and Mixxar wasn't there to snore so loudly I couldn't sleep for more than twenty minutes before the vibrations woke me up.

I also knew I couldn't be in a regular fighter's bed because I wasn't half crushed by the victor's heavy muscular arm draped over me.

I peered at the cell and realized it wasn't typical at all. The bed was large, king-size, for the victor who it belonged to. A large wardrobe spanned the length of the back wall. On the other side, tucked away in a single corner, was a small kitchenette. A small stove sat with a single saucepan on it from where I'd cooked the night before. Between that and the entrance was the door that led into the private bathroom.

It was the champion's quarters. Kren's quarters.

I tossed the blankets aside and scooped up my sheer dress. I slid it on over my head and crossed to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. When I drew halfway up to it, the entrance door opened.

I froze in surprise. I had never seen a cell door open when I approached it before. We were always locked in the fighter's rooms until morning. No exceptions.

So, what was the exception here?

Why were the lights flashing and the alarm blaring?

My curiosity trumped my fear and I edged toward the open doorway and peered out.

The lights flashed out there too, the alarm screeching its deafening duet.

I wasn't alone in the prison. Over there, I heard the scream and shout of inmates as they confronted a pair of guards.

"Stand back!" one of the guards bellowed, lowering his rifle to aim at the nearest prisoner.

The prisoners darted toward the guard, who released a shocking streak of blue and white from the tip of his rifle.

A prisoner took the bolt of lightning to the chest. He dropped the metal rod he was carrying and went down, body shuddering against the floor. He threw up over himself.

The second guard opened fire and it missed its intended target and streaked through the air and passed directly in front of me. My hair stood on end and my face and chest clenched tight as it slammed into the adjacent wall.

There were too many prisoners for the guards to handle by themselves. The inmates grabbed the guards and wrestled them to the ground.

A powerfully-built prisoner with straggly hair seized a guard's arm that held the rifle and smacked it on the ground powerfully with all his strength.

The guard lost his grip, or perhaps he lost his consciousness, as a second prisoner had his arm wrapped around his neck and choked him out.

The prisoner wielded the shock rifle. His comrade rolled off the guard, who gulped and gasped for oxygen. The prisoner unloaded the rifle into him. His metal armor sparked and flashed as the lightning filled him.

The guard's body shuddered aggressively. The prisoner didn't let up until smoke issued from the armor in a wispy haze.

I raised a hand to my nose to block the stench of cooked meat. I could smell it even from as far away as I was.

The prisoner released the trigger and peered at the rifle with a sense of wonder. He grinned maniacally at this new sense of power.

Another prisoner bashed him over the head and took the rifle for themselves.

Easy come, easy go.

Over there, two alien gangs attacked each other, stabbing and pummeling. They were all fighters, and it made for a very vicious battle.

I backed into the room and the door slid shut. I felt relieved—a little—that it was happening out there and not in here.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

A riot had seized the prison.

A riot. At Ikmal!

How had this happened? Why had it happened?

All questions, no answers.

I shook myself and focused on what really mattered.

My safety.

How could I stay safe?

Should I head to the Prize Pool? There would be more of us there and we could mount an effective defense.

Except we were weak females, alone in a prison full of marauding masculine creatures.

And there was no doubt in my mind the Prize Pool would be the first place many of the prisoners would head to. If they couldn't win a battle in the pit, many wouldn't have felt the warmth of a girl in years.

The Prize Pool could well be the most dangerous place to be right now.

I would stay here, I decided. It was the champion's quarters. It would be the last place any of the prisoners would go. No one would want to fight Kren. He was the champion for a reason and nobody wanted their heads bashed in.

Plus, this was where he was most likely to return. If he came back here, I could follow him, and I would be safe.

I caught a glance of myself in the full-length mirror that hung on the front of the wardrobe. Dressed the way I was in this silk negligee, it wasn't exactly the best clothing to wear in a prison during a riot.

I opened the wardrobe and pulled out the champ's clothes. A baggy T-shirt and a pair of fighting shorts that swamped me.

Nothing less sexy than this, I thought.

I could even pass for a small alien inmate if I had to.

Now all I had to do was wait. It was only a matter of time before the guards restored order. An emergency contingent would be sent by the warden and they would retake the prison.

I just needed to stay away from the other prisoners and wait until the riot was over.

The door shifted open and my heart leaped into my chest, hoping it was Kren.

The blood drained from my face as a trio of vicious aliens entered the cell carrying metal poles and lumps of wood.

Their eyes passed over me, then quickly scanned the rest of the room. There were four of them. The largest was called Fayn. He was the leader of this motley crew. They spread out and checked the bathroom, the other side of the bed, and the wardrobe.

I backed away, pressing my back to the wall.

"Where is he?" Fayn said.

I couldn't speak, I was so terrified. I knew what the alien Fayn and his gang were capable of. They were known as one of the most vicious crews in the entire prison.

"I said, where is he?" Fayn growled, drawing closer to me.

"W-Who?" I said.

"Kren," he spat. "I have a score to settle with him."

"I… I… Don't know," I said.

Fayn turned to his other men. They finished performing their search and shook their heads.

He wasn't there.

They eased, relaxing a little. My guess was the others didn't really want to find him.

Fayn looked me over.

"You're his latest prize?"

I nodded.

"He left soon after he brought me here. I'm sure he'll be back any minute."

"I'm not so sure about that," Fayn said. "I placed a large wager on him only lasting until the third round in the pit during the Survivor Challenge. That was before the power went down. He escaped and I assumed he would come here."

If I could tell them he went somewhere, perhaps they would leave me alone and head there themselves.

I thought of the place furthest from here but my mind was numb with fear. The only place I could think of was the Prize Pool but I didn't want to send Fayn's gang there. The girls had enough trouble already.

"The… Supervisor," I said, my mind latching onto the idea. "He went to see the Supervisor."

Fayn fixed me with a sardonic grin and his eyes flashed with amusement.

"Did he now?" he said. "And what business would he have with the Supervisor?"

"He… didn't tell me," I said.

"I suppose he wouldn't, would he?"

His eyes drifted over my face, and then down the new ensemble I'd chosen for myself.

I didn't like the way he leered at me, or his buddies.

"Take off your T-shirt," Fayn said.

He removed his own jacket and let it pile on the floor at his feet.

Horror settled in the pit of my stomach. In staying put in this room, I had just condemned myself to what I feared most.

Why didn't I run? Why didn't I try to escape? It would have been harder for them to catch me if I'd just taken off.

"Please, don't do this," I said weakly.

I backed up further, now trapped in the corner with nowhere to run and nowhere to escape.

His men spread across the room, blocking any attempt I might make at an escape.

"We might as well amuse ourselves while we wait for Kren to show up," Fayn said.

He pulled his shirt off over his head revealing the familiar scars and abrasions from countless fights.

A high-pitched squeal escaped my throat as he approached. He reached for me with his huge arms and yanked the T-shirt off over my head.

I didn't put up any resistance. I knew how strong the fighters were. I had learned long ago not to make things more difficult than they needed to be.

I wore nothing underneath the T-shirt.

Fayn grabbed my breast with his muscular hand and pinched my nipple hard.

I shut my eyes and looked away. I smiled, looking up at him, attempting to play the role I had successfully played for the past five years.

But it was no use. It felt like my first time again, when I was forced to do what they wanted and, with the hungry look in the gang members' eyes, I feared the worst.

The worst tended to happen at Ikmal prison.

The leader slipped his hands down my hips and under the waistband of my baggy shorts. He rubbed my pussy with his dirty, calloused hand.

My body didn't respond to him.

"Looks like I'm going to have to warm you up myself," he said.

He tore the shorts off me.

I whimpered as he seized the flesh of my hips with both his hands and dragged me toward the bed.

He threw me down, hard, as he opened his fly. He placed his intimidating length at my opening.

I clenched my eyes shut and murmured a prayer.

"Shut your eyes if you want," Fayn said. "I'll make you remember where you are, whore."

His gang members licked their thick lips and smiled as they watched the show they would soon be a part of.

"Well, well, well," an unfamiliar voice said at the doorway.

All eyes turned to the figure leaning against the frame.

"Trayem?" Fayn said. "Buzz off. This room's taken."

He bent over me and reached down to insert himself.

The mysterious alien known as Trayem bit into a piece of purple fruit called an oggenberry and tossed it aside.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

Fayn sighed and stood upright.

I just stared and watched the scene unfold.

What did this prisoner think he was doing? He was only going to get himself killed. And make Fayn and his gang go mad with bloodlust. It made them even more aggressive during sex. I wished he would stay away. If this was going to happen, then let it happen.

Trayem drifted into the room and stood between two of the gang members, and a third who approached from behind.

Fayn approached, not wearing a stitch, and addressed him as if they were having a regular conversation.

"We came in here to settle a debt with Kren," Fayn said. "This has nothing to do with you. He probably saw us coming and took off like the coward he is. We found her here. So, we're going to take what he owes us out of her. I doubt there will be much left after we're finished but you're welcome to have her then. I can't say fairer than that."

Trayem nodded and scratched his chin as if he liked the terms.

"That sounds like a really good deal. But I've got a better one. How about you guys leave and I keep the girl for myself?"

Fayn chuckled and his cohorts joined in as if he had made the funniest joke in the galaxy.

I didn't chuckle. This guy was about to lose his life for no good reason and bring the bloodlust down on me.

"It's okay," I said. "You don't have to do this. These guys are used to getting what they want. You're only going to get hurt if you try to help. Just go."

Fayn pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders.

"She might be a dirty whore, but she has some sense. Leave now and we'll forget this whole thing happened."

Trayem peered at me. His eyes didn't drift to my naked body but stayed on my face. Those dark circles were cold and hard like stone. And, unless I missed my guess, angrier than anyone had good reason to be.

Then his expression broke into a grin of agreeableness.

"Let me go second. And I swear I'll never whisper a word of this to anyone."

My heart sank. Even if the guy couldn't help me, there was no need for him to make the situation even worse.

Fayn snorted and peered from Trayem to his men and back again.

"Can you believe the balls on this guy?" he said, not without a hint of respect in his tone. "He wants to go second, bypassing all you guys."

He glanced at the gang member with a flat shovel-like face and a nasty gash through his bottom lip.

"Olkas," he said. "What rank are you?"

"Must be around fifteen after my last fight," the one called Olkas said.

"And you, Chisa," Fayn said, nodding to the gang member with long white hair that reached his ass. "What rank are you?"

"Lucky thirteen," he said.

"And you, Etib," Fayn said, addressing the thick-chested alien behind Trayem.

"Seven," Etib said.

"Seven," Fayn said, impressed. "I'm number five. In the entire prison. He's seven, he's thirteen, and he's fifteen. And you're in the mid-hundreds. Around five hundred maybe. On a good day. Why don't we tear you apart right here and now and make you watch us take this Prize?"

Trayem scratched his chin.

"Now that is a very good question. I guess I'll leave you to it."

"I think that's for the best," Fayn said.

The leader turned back to me, still standing proud. His cock looked even harder than before.

"Oh, there is one more thing," Trayem said at the door.

Fayn growled.

"What?" he barked. "Do you want tickets to watch?"

"I remembered the answer to your question," Trayem said.

"What question?"

"About why you shouldn't tear me apart right here and now."

"So?"

"Maybe I've been holding back all this time."

Fayn smacked his knee and his cock wobbled to and fro.

"Holding back!" he said. "That's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Why would anyone hold back in the pit?"

His gang chuckled along with him.

But there was a dangerous glint in Trayem's eye, one I had seen many times in the pit fights. It happened the moment the victor realized they were sitting on an ace card and were about to release it and claim the victory.

The gang must have noticed it too because their bodies tensed and their muscles tightened, preparing to spring forward and destroy Trayem. Adrenaline flooded their systems and they would release it on my body.

Thanks a lot, asshole.

"You can't claim a prize until you win a fight," Trayem said.

He turned his head to one side and the bones cracked in his neck.

"I'm here to provide that challenge for you," he said, glancing over his shoulder and watching as the entrance shut.

Fayn had had just about enough of this guy.

"I warned you," he said. "Now we're going to have to beat you."

He nodded to his men, who descended upon Trayem.

I couldn't catch what exactly took place the following moment from my position on the bed. My head was thrown back and my neck was turned at an uncomfortable angle. All I could make out were blurred fists, grunting, smacking, and the shuffling of feet on the floor.

In the blink of an eye, two of Fayn's gang members were on the floor. One lay unconscious on his back, the other screamed as he clutched his fractured arm in his other hand.

I focused on Trayem, who drove his knee into the third gang member's gut, then spun his elbow around and caught the creature on the side of the head with a hard thwak noise.

Trayem marched on Fayn. His movements were confident, determined. He didn't stop.

Fayn bent down for the clothes he'd removed earlier and came out with a pair of sharpened blades.

Trayem altered his stance. It was strong, his movements stiff and yet graceful. Precise, powerful, and faster than a python's strike.

Fayn attacked Trayem. His blades sliced through the air, making a sharp hissing noise.

Trayem backed away, but not quick enough. One blade found his cheek, another his forearm. He shifted his weight and went on the attack. He lurched out with a coiled fist to Fayn's chin.

Fayn staggered back, stunned.

Trayem pressed the advantage, throwing one blow after another, striking the leader in the face, gut, and chest.

Fayn was nothing if not tough and struck with his blades, slicing Fayn across the stomach and chest.

Fayn backed away.

Injured.

Bleeding.

Beaten?

As Fayn leaned forward to maintain his attack, Trayem leaped, spun, and performed a perfect kick that I'd only ever seen in the movies.

Fayn took the blow on the chin. It knocked him sideways. As he turned back to Trayem, another spin came, loaded with another vicious strike to the face.

Fayn grunted painfully, staggered, and hit the floor. He landed on his hands and knees and lost his grip on his blades. They skittered across the floor and out of reach. He spat out a wad of blood and turned to look up at Trayem.

"Who are you?" he said.

In response, Trayem drew back his foot and smacked the leader across the chin.

Fayn slumped to the ground. Two, maybe three, teeth came loose from their moorings and danced across the floor and struck the opposite wall.

I just stared, my chest heaving, my breath heavy. As fearful as I might have been, I was less afraid of a single alien than a gang of them.

I watched him and didn't move a muscle. I fully expected him to claim what he had fought for—what he was entitled to.

He rounded the bed and stood facing me. His eyes drilled into mine. His breath was heavy with exertion, or perhaps it was desire. His face was cut from Fayn's blades but they were already healing.

Then his eyes moved down my neck to my swollen breasts. I was ashamed to admit the fight had excited me, turning my nipples hard and alert.

His eyes swept down my flat stomach to my sex. He must have noticed how excited I had become at watching the fight, how unembarrassed I was to lie there before him.

Was this any different from the fighters coming to claim their Prize in the Pool?

Not so far as I could tell.

I wondered if he was going to take me right then and there. He had every right to, by the prison's rules.

Okay, so the fights usually took place in the pits and not in a cell but he was still entitled to me.

If he wanted me.

With a single great wrench, he tore his eyes from me and bent down to pick up the clothes Fayn had stripped from me.

He handed them over.

"Get dressed. You're coming with me."

I'd beenin Ikmal prison for the past five years. Like the other girls, I'd been abducted. There had been no bright lights, no flying saucers, no broken-down old truck in the middle of nowhere. I had gone to sleep one night and then awoken the next in this place.

This hell.

When I arrived, I was surrounded by female aliens, each stranger and more bizarre than the last. One had the skin of a snake that could change color on demand. Another had googly eyes that spun of their own free will in their sockets. Another had hair that changed depending on her mood.

They had all been abducted and now, for better or worse, we were sisters.

The most terrifying thing was the reason we'd been brought there.

"You're to pleasure the fighters victorious in battle," Lily said.

Lily was the madam of the Prize Pool. It was a small domain, but it belonged to her. She was human like me. I thought the fact we came from the same planet had to account for something, so I asked her for help in escaping this place.

"There is no escape," she said shortly. "And the sooner you put it out of your mind, the sooner you can get to learning to survive."

Survive? I thought. What was there to put our lives at risk in this place?

The klaxon sounded and I pressed my hands over my ears, it was so loud.

"Follow the other girls," Lily said and proceeded to march away.

I did as she said. They were busy dressing up nicely, with perfectly primped hair and makeup.

It turned my stomach.

The clothes we wore were little more than single-ply tissues. I wore more when I went to bed at night. But I followed the others through a doorway and stepped onto a raised dais.

I felt like a fraud standing there among the other girls, who smiled and pursed their lips, turning their bodies to their most favored angles.

I shivered. The sheer negligee I wore gave me little protection and even less warmth against the persistent prison chill.

Or maybe I was just shivering with fear.

And if I wasn't afraid enough already, I was when I saw the "victor" who would be choosing from us, the Prizes.

The fighter was big, brash, and smothered with scars. There wasn't an inch of his skin that hadn't been kissed by a blade. Two enormous tusks jutted from his bottom jaw. They curved inwards and almost met two feet in front of his face.

"Congratulations on your victory," Lily said, bowing low to the tusked fighter. "Come check out my wares. And I have something new that might interest you."

I knew without a doubt the huge creature was going to pick me. There was a sense of morbid destiny about it.

He was going to claim me and there was nothing I could do about it.

The tusked one snorted as he ran a fat finger along my jaw. His crooked nail scratched the tip of my chin. He grinned at me, his huge teeth chipped and rotten. I could smell the haggard breath on my face.

I emitted a high-pitched squeal like a child confronted with a feared and dreaded clown.

"This one," he growled.

"No—" I managed before he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me toward the hallway.

Lily and the others just stood and watched.

I beat at his arm and kicked at his muscular calves but it was no use. A gnat would have the same effect on him as I was.

He marched me through the hallways, turning this way and that.

Prisoners nudged each other in the ribs and glaring at me and gave chase, pinching my ass and cupping a breast when they got close enough.

The only thing holding them back were the guards armed with their heavy bolt rifles. They alone could put these animals down with a single twitch of their trigger fingers. I doubted the hairy, smelly tusked one would lift a finger to help me.

He gripped my arm so tightly I was afraid he might snap it.

Not that he cared about that. There was only one part of me he was interested in. And he dragged me to his cell to make good use of it.

The door to his cell drew shut and he tossed me onto his bed. He removed his armor and undergarments, and threw himself on top of me.

He tore my dress—such as it was—off me and fucked me. There was no better word to describe it, really. We rucked like animals, with no foreplay, no softness, no tender moments, it was hard and rough and lasted far too long.

I cried the entire time.

Once he was done with me, he rolled off, and shoved me off his tiny bed and onto the floor.

I landed hard on my ass but I counted myself lucky. If it meant I could get away from him, it was all to the good.

His was a single cell, with no bathroom, no kitchen, no amenities to entertain myself with.

When I approached the door, it didn't open. I was trapped and didn't know when I could leave.

The answer turned out to be the next morning.

By that time, the beast had taken me three times. He got up from his bed, found me, put me into the position he wanted—usually mercenary or doggy—and hammered me until he was done. Then he returned to bed and fell back to sleep.

Each time was unpleasant, but none had been as painful as the first.

I was relieved to leave that place once morning rolled around. The guards stood outside and didn't lift a finger to help conceal my nakedness.

They led me back to the Prize Pool. I hugged my arms across my chest in a vain attempt to cover myself. The only positive point was that it was early and few prisoners were awake yet. I didn't think I could take the jeers and howls of derision again.

When I returned to the Prize Pool, Lily placed a comforting hand on my arm and another on my back. She led me toward the communal bathroom.

"Come on, my dear. Let's get you nice and warm and clean."

Clean? I wondered how I could ever be clean again. The monster's fingerprints would forever stain my soul. I'd never been a religious person but I began to wonder if this was some form of recompense for my bad behavior in the past. I couldn't think of what I might have done to deserve this treatment though. Maybe I was a dictator in a past life or something?

Lily led me into the communal showers and into a small side room that she, as the madam, had exclusive use of.

When we got there, I found she'd drawn me a bath. It was a small tub and had been filled using a leaky wooden bucket that sat to one side. Steam billowed in soft plumes from the still surface. I looked forward to easing my aching bones in it.

"It was rough, wasn't it?" Lily said.

I nodded but didn't say a word. I feared if I did, tears would stream down my face. And Lily didn't seem like the kind of person I should show weakness to.

"It's always rough the first time," she said.

She removed what remained of the torn garment from me and dropped it in a garbage can. Then she led me into the bath. I sank into it. I felt my muscles unfurl.

"Head back," Lily said, and she began to wash my hair.

Ever since I arrived in this place, Lily had been strict. I was surprised, and more than a little suspicious, why she was being kind to me now.

"Where are you from?" I said.

"It doesn't matter where I'm from," she said. "The only thing that matters is that I'm here now."

"Don't you think you're going to get out of here?" I said.

"No. And you shouldn't waste your time thinking on such things either. You're here and you're not going anywhere. Trust me, things will go a lot easier if you accept you're never escaping. I've been here much longer than anyone else and the reason I managed to survive this long is because I followed the rules and did as I was told."

I looked Lily over. She was older than the other girls but not by much. The lines on her face were caused by hardship, not advanced years. She had a firm set to her jaw and a scowl I associated with her whenever one of us refused to follow the "rules."

She picked up a sponge and dipped it in the water. She let it swell and then squeezed most of the water out before rubbing soap over it and scrubbing my back.

"You need to accept this situation," she said. "The only way you're going to survive is if you turn your weakness into strength. And the fighters' strength into weakness."

I had no idea what that meant.

"You will be light and bouncy, you will smile—and trust me, you have a beautiful smile—and you will pretend like you enjoy being here, enjoy servicing these aliens. You won't. You will hate it every moment but there are some moments you can learn to enjoy if you're smart. You will wear makeup, you will wear sexy dresses, and you will be everything they want you to be. You will boast confidence but you will not be obnoxious. You will be funny and never insulting. You will learn about each alien species in the prison and learn how to pleasure them. Each has their own preferences. Do this, and your time here, although it won't be fun, it will be less scary. And I promise you, things will get easier."

"I don't want things to get easier. I want to get out of here."

"I told you. That's not going to happen."

"Why me? Why did I have to be the one to get abducted and brought here? Why couldn't they have taken someone else?"

"Those questions will play on your mind every minute of every day you're here if you let them. My advice is to ignore them every time they come up."

"What about you?" I said. "How did you end up here?"

"That breaks another rule. You do not ask about the past life of the other girls before they came here. It's not fair. This is a place to forget, not to regret or relive."

"But there must be a way out of here. There must be a way to escape."

"You're welcome to try but you will fail. Just as everyone else has failed. Even if you escape this place, there is nothing outside but an endless desert. The sun will bake your skin. The shade will freeze your bones. Forget escaping. The only escape you can do is in here."

She tapped the side of her head.

"You will learn you can become anything in your mind. And nothing can harm you."

"What about my life back on Earth? What about my friends? My family?"

Even as I said the words, my throat clogged with emotion, the tears ready to slide down my cheeks.

"There's one other rule you must obey," Lily said. "Your sanity depends on it."

"What?"

"You must never, under any circumstances, fall in love."

I glanced at her over my shoulder to see if she was being serious. I was surprised to find she was. I snorted. It was an ugly sound with my blocked nose.

"Fall in love?" I said. "In this place? With these things? Give me a break."

"You say that now but many a Prize has fallen for their captors."

There was a flicker behind her eyes, I thought. It was the first time I'd seen a crack in the veneer of her expression. It was hairline-thin, but it was there.

"Your body and mind evolved to adapt to any situation thrown at them," Lily said. "Including this one. Later, there might be an alien you take a fancy to. Not all these prisoners are hideous and ugly. Some are exceptionally gorgeous. And when that one comes along, you must refuse any warm feelings toward him. You must focus on your task—to survive through each night. Love in this place can only end in tragedy."

She picked up a cup, dipped it in the water, and rinsed my hair. She grabbed a ratty towel and held it up.

"There," she said. "All done."

I had thought she was referring to the bath but it turned out she meant our heart to heart conversation. This was the first and only time she showed any warmth toward me or the other girls. The next time I saw her, she treated me with the same cold attitude she had since I arrived.

I took her advice to heart and practiced it each time I was claimed by a fighter.

I smiled even though it was the very last thing I wanted to do. I studied each alien species and got to know their strengths and weaknesses. I also befriended the other girls. They really weren't so bad once you got to know them.

I realized Lily was right. Although I could never enjoy this way of life, I could learn to deal with it.

Suddenly, the monsters were no longer monsters. They were prisoners forced to fight and deserved a little… appreciation for their efforts.

When I was nice to them, they were nicer to me. I was no longer just a piece of meat.

I was pleased when one of my "clients" took it upon himself to dispose of the tusked demon who fucked me that first night. The poor old sport was skewered by his own tusks in a freak accident.

There was power in controlling the pleasure of others.

And never once in all my five years had I broken the most important rule: to never fall in love.

Never once had I considered even one prisoner might be the one I'd like to spend the rest of my life with.

All that changed when I met Trayem.