The room was covered in red as the mist of rage descended over my eyes. The guards struck, one after the other, the charge from their picanas singeing my skin. But I didn’t stop. I swung and lashed out. The guards tried to stop me, but every crush of bone or spill of blood only fueled me more.
My wounds from the fight were forgotten as I replayed Inessa being ripped from my cell by her hair. I had seen the look in Master’s face. He was going to hurt her.
He was going to kill her.
A loud roar spilled from my mouth, and I grabbed the nearest guard by his neck, lifting him clean off the floor. The others struck me with their picanas, bringing me to my knees. But I took the guard with me, using the last of my strength to slam him to the ground. The guard’s spine cracked on the hard floor, eyes rolling back in his head as his life drained from his body.
Shaking my head from the aftereffects of the electrical charge, I didn’t see the blow coming to the back of my head. I fought to keep awake, until my vision faded and I blacked out.
The next thing I knew, I woke with blistering pain throbbing throughout my skull. I forced my heavy eyes to open, my vision clearing to show me the wall of my cell. I frowned, unable to remember what had happened, when I suddenly remembered someone being dragged from my cell … Inessa!
“Inessa…” I growled low, my throat dry and sore.
Pushing off the floor, I staggered to my feet. The cell seemed to tip, and I fell against the wall. I focused on the cell door. Forcing myself to push forward, my hands felt along the wall, my muscles screaming for me to stop.
I ignored my aching body and wrapped my hands around the cell bars to keep upright. A guard stood on the opposite side of the champions’ quarters, his gun raised and aimed at my head.
I didn’t care.
“Let me out,” I snarled. He shook his head, rocking nervously on his feet.
I could hear the distant sound of the crowd and knew I had slept long enough that the tournament had started. I was due to fight today if I wanted to get to the final. I squeezed my eyes shut when another harsh throb pounded my temples.
Incensed at the thought of where Inessa was, at what Master had been doing to her, I shook the cell doors. “Let me the fuck out!” I screamed.
The guard paled but otherwise didn’t move.
I broke.
Bellow after bellow left my mouth. Even low on energy, I shook the bars until chips of stone began to break away above. I didn’t stop. I kept going and going, until I saw another Wraith, one unfamiliar to this cell, put his hand on the other guard’s shoulder.
“Go,” he ordered. “I’ve been sent to cover these quarters. You are to go to the pit.”
The guard that I had been screaming at relaxed. “Thank Christ!” he said in relief, and nodded his head toward me. “He’s insane. Master took his slut. He’s just woken up and he’s pissed.” The other guard looked my way and nodded.
The previous guard left, and I began where I had left off. I shook the bars of the cell. “Inessa! Inessa. GET ME THE FUCK TO INESSA!” I screamed relentlessly. The sound of footsteps approached, and I raised my voice as loud as I could. The bars creaked under the pressure of my strength.
The guard before me didn’t show any emotion. Suddenly, people moved before me, and I growled louder seeing it was the fighters from the pit. The blond was in the lead, led by their short trainer. The long-haired Georgian followed behind, and the scarred Russian took up the rear.
They were dripping with sweat and coated in blood. Each held his weapons in his hands. They had been fighting today. I understood why they were here—they had made the final.
I had to make the final. It was my only way to him.
“Let me out!” I boomed out to the guard. The males stopped to watch me. 194 glared at me through the bars, and I saw scars on his face. My stomach lurched when I thought of Inessa and how she had said she dreamed of someone with scars. How this fighter reminded her of the male in her head.
I physically shook with rage and I roared, “Inessa! GET ME TO INESSA!”
The males that had commenced walking to their cells suddenly turned to stare at me. I noticed them from the corner of my eye, then looked at the guard. “Inessa! INESSA!”
I saw the males muttering to one another. When I screamed for Inessa again, 194 suddenly ran to my cell door and stared me down. “Who are you calling for, hui?”
My muscles tensed and my neck ached in his presence. He had called me a dick in Russian.
“Get out of my way,” I warned.
He laughed coldly but lost that laugh when I screamed, “Inessa!”
At the call of Inessa’s name, he slammed his hands against the cell, rocking the loosening metal. “I said why are you calling for her?”
I gritted my teeth, then noticed that the new guard wasn’t doing anything to stop this piece of shit. He was watching the hallway like he was making sure no one was approaching.
194 slammed his hands against the cell door again. “Answer me, fucker! Or I’ll tear your arms from their sockets right here, right now!”
Rage took hold. I was about to strike out when the blond Russian called, “Valentin, calm the hell down!”
My fist, which had been raised, ready to strike this asshole through the bars, stilled. My eyes collided with his … blue eyes … blue eyes the exact color of …
“Inessa,” I whispered, and my heart began pounding too hard and too fast. 194 flinched like I had gone through with the threatened punch. Instead, I lowered my hand and dropped it to my side.
My eyes found the guard again. He was still not reacting. I watched as the trainer walked over to him and whispered something in his ear. The guard nodded. Heat rushed through my veins when the guard smiled back.
He was with them? A Wraith was under their command?
“Why did you say her name? That name?” I stared at 194’s heavily scarred face and shorn black hair as he hissed out his harsh question.
“Valentin?” I questioned, but the male didn’t react.
I met the blond Russian’s eyes. “His name is Valentin?”
He folded his muscled arms over his chest. “Why? Why do you want to know?”
It was … it couldn’t be …
Valentin pushed his broad chest against the bars and hissed, “Tell me why you said her name? Don’t, and I’ll kill you.” He pointed to the guard. “He’s with us and won’t stop me from slaughtering you slowly, painfully, until you’ve been stripped of your flesh.”
The blond pressed his hand on Valentin’s shoulder and then looked at me. “Answer him. He’ll do what he promises. And I won’t stop him if you don’t speak.”
I walked back to the bars. The long-haired Georgian moved closer, extra protection for the two males already confronting me.
I met Valentin’s eyes and asked, “You are Valentin Belrov?”
His eyes widened a fraction before he asked, “Why?”
I inhaled deeply, then said, “Inessa is my female. Inessa Belrova.”
“You lie,” he snarled. His hard grip caused his palms to creak on the metal bars.
“I do not,” I replied just as coldly. I pounded my hand over my chest. “Master needed to bring me under his control, so he gave me his High Mona. I didn’t want her at first, but then…” I shook my head, unable to find the words to confess what Inessa meant to me.
“But you fell in love with her.”
My head lifted as 818 spoke. I frowned. “Love?”
A flash of sympathy flooded his expression, when he explained, “You feel her in your heart. It hurts when you are away from her and you need her with you always.”
The male perfectly described the feeling. I nodded. “Yes,” I rasped. “Then I am in … love … with her.”
“Where is she?” the Georgian asked from behind. I stared at the dark male with long black hair and replied, “Master forbade her to see me anymore, but Inessa came to me last night. I was wounded from the fight. Master killed a champion’s mona and he attacked. So did 140, the other champion. They charged at Master in the stands, killing some of his guests. I was in the waiting cell and tried to fight alongside them.”
The three males all looked to one another. When 818 faced me again, he asked, “Why? Why did he kill her?”
“Because it’s what he does,” I snapped, and felt my anger rising to boiling point.
“And Inessa?” the Georgian questioned. Valentin growled low, his crazed, piercing eyes never leaving mine as he waited for my answer,
I felt my heart turn black with hate as I replied, “He took her. She was here with me. She came to me. And he took her. He found us and took her as they pinned me back with picanas.”
Valentin launched himself off the cell door and began to pace the hallway floor. His fists were balled at his sides. 221 moved to be near the guard. I knew it was to stop him from fleeing down the hallways.
“You knew his name.” My eyes left Valentin and focused on the blond male.
I nodded. My stomach sank when I thought of what Inessa had discovered about us. Ilya and Inessa, from Russia.
“Inessa told me last night,” I said, and watched Valentin pause. He kept his head down, eyes focused on the floor, but I knew he was listening. Gripping the bars, I said, “Neither of us knew our names. Inessa’s chiri discovered that 152 is Inessa Belrova and I, 901, am Ilya Konev from Russia. We were both taken from orphanages as children.”
Valentin’s head snapped up and he muttered darkly, “Wraiths.”
I nodded. “I don’t remember much, but I remember them snatching me from my bed.” I sighed and ran my hand down my face. “Inessa has been having dreams. She has been having dreams of a boy that held her tightly as they were taken by the Wraiths. She dreamed of a female all in black that made her feel fear. She dreamed of waving good-bye to a boy. It made her feel sad. But she couldn’t remember more; only flashes, odd images came to her mind. A scarred man in a collar telling her to hold on. Telling her she was more than just a number. Telling her that one day he would come and set her free.”
I looked to 818. “She was also told that she had a brother, Valentin Belrov. She didn’t know where he was. If he was alive or dead.” I looked to Valentin, who was now staring at me, a grief-stricken expression on his face. Directly addressing him, I said, “She had seen you in the pits and you made her think of the male in her mind. She doesn’t know if the images are of her brother, because they are of an older male. She only remembers her brother as a child. But she saw you. For a moment she entertained the thought that you could be him, but you look different from her mental images.”
Valentin stroked his hand over his neck, over the red scar. “I look different because I am free.”
“But…?” I trailed off.
“I am Valentin Belrov. I am Inessa’s brother. I have been trying to free her for many years.”
My heart raced and my eyes widened as he confided, “We are here to get her back. We are here to kill Arziani and burn this pit to the motherfucking ground.”
I shook my head, convinced I hadn’t heard right, when 818 held out his hand. “I’m Luka Tolstoi, knayz to the New York Volkov Bratva.” I stared at his hand, then lifted my hand and threaded it through the bars to clasp his.
“I don’t know what a Bratva is. Or a knayz, for that matter.”
He smirked. “Neither did I when I escaped my gulag. I have learned a great deal since.”
“You were in a gulag?” I questioned. Luka nodded and pointed to 221. “This is Zaal Kostava. He is the Lideri of the Kostava Clan, a Georgian crime family. He was held here as a child along with his twin. The drugs were tested and developed on him.”
Zaal walked forward and offered his hand to me, too. “Georgian, but an enemy to Arziani. A rival crime family.”
“He experimented on you and your brother?”
He nodded. “My brother died. I have a sister in New York.” He pointed to Valentin, who was silently watching from behind. “Arziani sent Valentin to come and kill me and my family. He was Mistress Arziani’s Ubiytsa.”
“Mistress Arziani is dead,” I stated.
A cold smile spread on Valentin’s disfigured face. “I know. I killed her.” Valentin stepped forward. “He took me and Inessa from an orphanage and made me her personal assassin. She used Inessa as bait to keep me submissive. I captured my Zoya, Zaal’s sister. But we fell in love. When Mistress found out I had betrayed her, she told me she would send Inessa back here. But it was too late. Arziani had already seen her on a screen and demanded her return.”
“To be his High Mona,” I added, the unfolding picture making sense.
Valentin nodded. “We are all fighters. We entered this tournament to get her back.”
“How?”
Luka spoke. “Not all of the Wraiths are loyal to Arziani; many are forced or sold to service as we all were.” I glanced to the guard over Zaal’s shoulder, and he flicked his chin. I faced Luka with a confused frown. “Selected chiri, the ones that administer the drugs to the males, have, from the beginning of this week, been injecting all fighters with the antidote my family have developed to counteract the Type A drug. They have been doing this every day. The guards on our side have been talking to the fighters. They have been preparing them.”
“Preparing them for what?” I asked, my heart finding a new beat.
“For the riot,” Luka said calmly. As I stared at his male, I knew that he was a born leader. Everything about how he spoke and the calmness that he kept showed to me it was the role he was made to fulfill.
“The riot?” I asked, my heart pumping my blood through my body like a torrent.
Valentin stepped closer to me and through gritted teeth said, “The final. We three are in the final. After we slaughter the fourth male, we will rush the crowd and cull every one of the sick bastards. Everything is in place.” He smiled a cold smile. “Then we will go for Master.”
“No,” I hissed and hit at the cell door. “He’s mine.”
Valentin challenged my stare. But I would take that kill. Master was mine.
“You have a match today,” Luka said. I nodded my head. He looked to Zaal and raised a brow. Zaal addressed me. “You are wounded.”
“I will win.”
“Even injured?” he questioned.
“I will win,” I repeated, “I am the champion of the Blood Pit. The Arziani Pit Bull. I am undefeated on this sand. And until Master used my Inessa to control me, I never even gained a scratch in a match.”
“You win,” Luka said. “You win and you join us tomorrow.” He glanced to Valentin, then back to me. “You will get Arziani.”
“What?” Valentin hissed, and Luka faced him. “You got Mistress. This is Ilya’s kill. We all had our closure with the males that ruined our lives.” He pointed at me. “He deserves his, too.”
Valentin shook his head, but then met my eyes and asked, “You love my sister?”
“Yes,” I said truthfully, feeling this answer right down to my bones.
Valentin stared at me for a long minute, then nodded. The turncoat guard suddenly held out his gun, and ordered, “Out!”
I stared to the hallway, as did Luka, Zaal, and Valentin. The three males prepared to strike, when a small female chiri walked through. Her head was bowed as the guard flicked his chin for her to stand before us. When she raised her head, and swallowed in pure fear, I noted the right side of her face.
It was scarred. Her hands trembled at her front. She was young, very young.
“Maya?” I guessed.
Maya’s eyes widened when I addressed her by her name. Her eyes then filled with tears and rolled in thick drops down her face.
Valentin looked to Maya and asked, “Inessa’s chiri? The one that told her about me?”
Maya watched Valentin, and questioned, “Valentin?” Valentin nodded his head in reply. “Then she was right?” Maya confirmed, and her hand flew to her mouth. She shook her head and then looked to me. “Ilya, Master took her to a torture room. He has her tied up with ropes and has lashed her back.” Maya sniffed and wiped at her cheeks. “He retrieved me from her quarters. I have fed her and allowed her to drink. Master is keeping her alive. He wants to draw out her death as punishment for her betrayal with you.”
Maya looked to the other males, then she stepped closer to reveal, “One of the chiri told me they were being sent to drug you tomorrow if you make the final. He knows that under the drugs you cannot win against the other warriors.”
I glanced to Luka, Zaal, and Valentin. “Galina, the chiri he commanded to drug you, told me of the order. News is traveling of you and Inessa. The chiri don’t want either of you to die. You are the champion, they respect you.” Maya blushed and said, “And I have told them all of how Miss Inessa has treated me from day one. They want her to survive. We all want you both to survive.”
Valentin walked off to one of the cells as Maya spoke, and Maya flinched when the sounds of his pained bellow traveled to where we stood. I gripped the bars and asked, “Is she in pain? Is she being strong?”
Maya nodded her head. “She is being very strong, but…” She glanced away, chased her tears. “But she is in great pain. Her back…” Maya shook her head like she was ridding the image from her mind. “Her back is heavily wounded. Her arms are not much better.” She sucked in a breath and said, “I’m worried she won’t last as long as Master wants.”
I gritted my teeth and walked back to the mattress on the floor. I lifted it and hauled it against the wall. “I fucking hate him!” I screamed. My neck bunched as I shook with rage.
“Ilya!” someone called, but I couldn’t calm down. “Ilya!” the male repeated. But I was lost to my anger, the red haze descending again over my eyes. The cell door opened. When I looked to see who had entered, Luka approached. “Calm,” he said slowly. “Breathe.”
I did as he said and took a deep breath. I saw Valentin appearing at the doorway looking equally pissed off. He stood with his hands balled at his sides, but he was holding back his anger and pain.
I had to do the same.
I forced myself to calm. When I did, Luka addressed Maya. “Can she hold on? Can you help her keep strong until tomorrow?”
Maya looked among us all, and nodded her head. “Master will be busy with the tournament. I’ll try to feed her and keep her as strong as possible.” Maya then looked to me and timidly walked forward. I stared down at the small chiri and watched her lift her head to me. My stomach tightened on seeing her scarred face. I remembered Inessa had told me it was an acid attack because she had refused to fuck a guard.
I felt nothing but respect for the young female in this moment.
I waited for her to speak. When she did, my heart shattered. “Miss Inessa sent me here to tell you that you are in her heart forever.” She swallowed, her gaze racked with pain. When Maya managed to regain her composure, she said, “Miss Inessa said she has your name readied on her lips and will find you in the next life.”
I heard Valentin curse under his breath. I stared at her brother falling apart. Then I looked to Luka and Zaal. Luka nodded. “Maya,” I said, and she blinked back her tears, “tell moy prekrasnyy to hold on. Tell her that her brother is here. Tell her that he, along with me and a few others, are going to win us our freedom.” Maya gasped and swept her eyes around all the males in the group.
“So it is true?” she exclaimed. “I have heard rumors of a revolt, but the older chiri that have discussed it in private will not speak of it when questioned.”
“Yes,” I replied. “It is tomorrow, during the final.” I reached out and touched Maya’s arm. She flinched. I immediately withdrew my hand.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. The skin on her good cheek reddened. “I … I find it hard to be touched by males since…” She pointed to her scar, and I nodded in understanding.
“It’s okay,” I soothed. Maya’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Just tell my Inessa that we are coming for her. Tell her that her wish will soon come true. We will leave this place together. We will choose our lives. We will be together every day aboveground.”
“You will?”
“We all will,” I responded, and saw the flame of hope flicker in her gaze.
“I’ll return to her now,” Maya stated, and turned to leave the cell. Just before she did, Maya added, “You are the champion of the Blood Pit. You must win today. Win it for her.”
Maya left, but her words struck my heart. I would win it for Inessa. I wouldn’t put on a show. I would take the kill, then rest for tomorrow.
Luka placed his hand on my shoulder. “We have to go to our cells while the tournament is on. We must keep up appearances. But you win this next fight, then tonight, we will go over the plan for tomorrow.”
I nodded, then sat on the floor. Luka and Zaal left the cell. I felt someone hovering in the doorway and looked up. Valentin was watching me with suspicious eyes. His arms were folded over his chest. I waited for him to speak. When he did, he said, “My sister has had nothing but pain and heartache in her life.” He pointed to his chest, then said, “I failed to save her. I couldn’t secure her freedom.” His strict and forceful voice softened, then cracked with emotion. I saw his blue eyes glisten with tears, as he said in a husky voice, “She deserves someone to love her. Really love her. Treat her right. Treat her like the printsessa she is. Inessa deserves a warrior. A champion that will protect her and keep her safe.”
I paused, then replied, “I know.”
Valentin’s eyes narrowed, then he darted to his cell. My mind raced with a mixture of excitement and fear. Because although many obstacles stood in our way, freedom was close. Inessa had to hold on so we could be together.
* * *
An hour or two passed, then a guard walked in to take me to the tunnel. My muscles were weakened and my body was tired. But I was energized more than ever before.
I wouldn’t lose this fight.
I jumped to my feet, and the guard handed over my Kindjals. They had been removed from my cell when Master took Inessa away. I held them in my hands as the guard held the gun to my head. When the cell door opened, I looked across to the other cells. Luka, Zaal, and Valentin watched me go.
This time I didn’t jog to the tunnel; I sprinted. I sprinted all the way, pushing my legs to their absolute limit until I burst from the mouth and launched myself, Kindjals high, into the pit. My opponent charged, swinging his scythe, but I didn’t play his game. Ducking the curved blade, I sent not one, but both of my long Russian Cossack daggers, one after the other, flying through his stomach until their sharp blades sliced through his spine. My opponent separated, torso and legs now sliced apart. As they thudded into the sand, I turned and ran back to the cells.
Luka, Zaal, and Valentin nodded their heads in approval as I reentered my cell, coated in my opponent’s blood. I threw my Kindjals to the ground and righted my bed. I slumped down to the mattress and forced myself to close my eyes. When the tournament was done tonight, I would convene with the remaining champions and plot out tomorrow’s riot.
Tomorrow, when I walked out of this place.
With moy prekrasnyy by my side.
* * *
Sleep hadn’t come easy. My mind was clogged with what today would bring. But most of all I had pictured Inessa with Master. I had pictured her in pain, tied with rope between two posts. I felt sick when I thought of her being lashed.
I pushed myself off the floor, up and down, as I finished my push-ups. I needed my body warm and prepped. My muscles protested, pushed too far over the past few weeks. But I knew they had in them one more day.
The most important day I would ever live.
This day would bring only one of two possible outcomes: liberty or death. I faced both with a smile on my face.
The sound of Luka, Zaal, and Valentin warming up echoed outside my cell. Luka with his bladed knuckle-dusters, Zaal with his black sais, and Valentin with his unpowered steel picanas.
I replayed last night in my head. The plan. The rules and the show we must perform until it was time to strike. Until Luka gave the signal. Viktor and the rebel Wraiths would ensure everyone moved into position as we fought. I shook my head at that news. At the knowledge that not all of the guards were true Wraiths. That, like me and many others, they had been forced into servitude by Master. The rebels, as we fought, would take out as many Wraiths as they could. Master and all his guests would be in the crowd, watching the four-man fight. Unbeknownst to them, the doors would be sealed. There would be no escape.
Not for a single one of them.
The sound of footsteps approached the champions’ quarters. I detected three, two heavier than the third. I jumped to my feet, stretching my muscles, when there was movement at my cell door.
I didn’t need to look to see which fucker stood there. I closed my eyes and forced myself to keep from charging the bars and killing him on the spot. I held in my thirst to kill.
Just barely.
“901,” Master’s voice said, the sound of it slitting down my spine like shards of broken glass.
I turned and glared at the soon to be fallen king of the pit. I was on a countdown to slay.
He smiled at me. It was proud. It was victorious. He stood close to the bars, a guard and a chiri flanking him. The chiri held an injection pack in her hands. Her head was bowed, and I knew this was the female that Maya had told me about last night. The one that was sent to drug me.
“So,” Master said coldly, “you made it to the final?” I didn’t answer. My jaw ached at how hard it was clenched. He laughed, then pointed at the other cells behind him. “I never really doubted you could. After all, you’re the greatest fighter the Blood Pit has ever produced.” Master dropped his hand and said, “But you won’t be after today.”
Master clicked his fingers, and the guard cautiously opened the cell door. He kept his gun aimed at my head as Master pushed the chiri inside. The older woman stumbled in and quickly righted herself. She silently opened her bag and made quick work of retrieving the needle filled with the drugs that would make me weak.
As she held it, Master raised his hand, signaling for her to pause. The chiri did as commanded. I glared at Master, and he shrugged nonchalantly. “You didn’t think I would allow you to win, did you? Not after you pathetically fell in love with my High Mona and decided to covet what was mine.”
I lifted my chin, refusing to show any remorse for falling in love with Inessa. Master’s face lit with challenge at my defiance. He shook his head, tutting loudly like he was reprimanding a child. “You see, 901, this has always been your problem. Even as a child, you never quite conformed. You never took a mona. You never built friendships with the other fighters. You lived alone.”
Master slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks. Shrugging, he added, “And now you will die alone.” Master’s taunting face fell. Then a cruel, sadistic smile appeared on his face. “As will she.” My blood ran cold when he added, “Alone. Racked with pain. Slowly, in the most cruel manner possible.”
I heard a livid roar coming from Valentin’s cell. Master raised an eyebrow as he looked that way. When he faced me again, he said, “You fucked up, 901. If you had obeyed me from the beginning, you could have been great. You could have gained your freedom if you had simply played by the rules.”
“I wouldn’t have,” I replied in a low hoarse voice.
Master tipped his head to the side. “No?”
Balling my fists, I said, “No. Because there is no such thing with you.” I pointed out of the cell. “You tell these champions that the winner will gain his freedom, but we know it isn’t true.” Master’s face froze. “Freedom doesn’t exist in your world. You exploit. You use and you bring pain. You strip people of their choice and punish them if any morsel of happiness is found. You force the males to kill. You force the monebi to fuck, and you force the chiri to exist in the shadows.” I inhaled deeply, and continued, “You delude yourself into thinking you are our Master. No soul in this place respects you. You have no honor. No female that you force to take your cock welcomes it unless forced or on drugs.” I took a step closer, then another. Mere inches from his face, I said, “Inessa was repulsed by you. Every time you took her, she hated it. She would tell me how her skin crawled when you touched her. She would tell me how she avoided your eyes as you stroked her hair and rutted above her like a desperate fool.” I watched as Master’s face filled with red. He was holding his breath, his anger rising to boiling point.
Allowing myself to smile, I leaned forward and emphasized, “But with me, she wanted it all.” I lifted my hand and showed my palm. “She wanted me to touch her.” I held out my arms. “She wanted me to hold her.” Reaching down, I gripped my cock and locked onto his stare. “And she loved me freely. Without the drugs, she gave herself to me … simply because I was me. No demands, no coercion.”
A part of me felt sick talking of Inessa this way. But what I said was true. We never fucked. With us it was something else entirely. And I could see my words striking Master as effectively as if I were slicing into his bare flesh.
Delivering the final blow, I announced proudly, “And every time you took her after me, she told me she would picture my face hovering above her. She would imagine it was me that was filling her.”
Master couldn’t take it anymore. Slamming his hand on the metal bars, he snarled, “I will watch you die today, 901. I will watch you die slowly and painfully in the sand, where you’ve killed so many others. I will laugh as you draw your last breath, then spit on your corpse when your blood has drained away.” Stepping back as if he hadn’t just exploded with rage, he promised, “Then I will end 152. I will strip her flesh in your honor. Her slow death will be down to you. She will die hating you. She will die knowing that wanting you was the stupidest thing she could have ever done.”
Master flicked his wrist at the chiri. I stood resolute, furious eyes fixed on the male that had imprisoned me from a child as the needle broke my skin. I watched as he smiled triumphantly.
He had no idea what was coming his way.
Sticking to the plan, I closed my eyes when the chiri stepped away. I swayed on my feet, reaching out to grip the wall as the liquid traveled through my veins. When I opened my eyes, I saw Master smile.
Turning on his heel, he said, “I’ll be in my seat, watching you take your last breath. Unlike every other match, I’m going to enjoy you dying quickly, 901. No games this time. Just death. I should have done it years ago.”
With that, Master walked away, his guard following behind. When he was out of sight, I straightened, feeling the drug infuse my muscles. But this wasn’t the drug that Master had demanded I receive. It was adrenaline to keep my body strong and able while we slaughtered them all.
The chiri female looked up at me. She met my eyes and a smile pulled on her lips. Closing in, she said, “We are all ready.”
I nodded in acknowledgment. Just as she was about to leave, she said, “Master has taken every one of the chiri females against our will. We are not so different from your Inessa. When you fight today, you fight for us all. When you stop his heart, you free our hearts. We are with you, Champion. We are all behind you. The fighters. The chiri. Anyone who is enslaved. We will follow your lead and we will die if we must. Today the Blood Pit falls.”
“Thank you,” I rasped. The turncoat guard that had been watching us since yesterday let her out. The chiri rushed away, I assumed to take her position. My cell door had been left open and I entered the hallway. In seconds, Luka, Zaal, and Valentin walked out, too. We were all dressed the same: bare chested in the obligatory black pants. I could see the adrenaline pumping in their veins. Our muscles were tense and our veins protruded from the need to kill.
I met each of their eyes, but locked a few seconds longer on Valentin’s. He inhaled through his nostrils, then declared, “For Inessa.”
“For Inessa,” I repeated.
Viktor approached us, and Luka placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are we ready?”
Viktor nodded. “Everyone is in place. You have about seven minutes to fill before the doors will be sealed and the fighters will be in place.”
Luka patted Viktor on the back. “You give me the signal”—Luka looked to us all—“then we attack.”
I rocked on my feet and gripped my Kindjals tighter.
“Are we all clear on the plan?” Luka asked.
“Yes,” we each replied.
Luka bowed his head and his eyes closed. I watched as he mouthed something to himself. When he lifted his head, eyes open, he said, “This, everything that we have been through, endured, and survived, ends tonight. Each of us has his own story. We have our own versions of hell. But they all stem from this place. They all exist because of one male.” Luka didn’t name Master; we all knew who he meant. Luka met each of our gazes and said, “We have fought for freedom, but true freedom doesn’t exist until Arziani is dead and this place is razed.”
Grunts and heavy breathing came from us all as we envisioned what that would be like. Luka pounded his chest with balled fists. “Freedom comes at a cost. If any of us falls, the others continue. And we don’t fucking stop until every last bastard in the place is dead.” He curled his lips and raised his voice. “Our bodies will ache, we will tire, but we don’t stop!”
I jumped from foot to foot, hearing the crowd’s volume beginning to rise in the arena. Luka glanced toward the tunnel. Facing us again, he said, “We all have females we must return to. Keep them in your heart, keep their faces in the forefront of your mind. We kill for them. We kill for the future children we will have. Children that will know nothing of this hell. Children who won’t face danger because of the deeds of their fathers.”
Images of Inessa, full with child, played in my mind, pushing my determination to the highest possible level. By the look on Valentin and Zaal’s faces, I knew they were imagining the same.
The sound of a whistle cut through to our group, and Luka turned on his heel. He brought his hands down to his sides and looked back to say, “I’ll see you in the pit.” Luka ran forward toward the tunnel, his back muscles bunching as he entered the arena, spoiling for the fight. A second whistle blew, and Zaal followed suit, his long dark hair resting on his back. Valentin moved beside me and said, “When he’s dead, you get my sister. Don’t wait for the rest of us, just get her out.” I nodded just as the third whistle blew and the scarred male sprinted to the pit. I heard the crowd roar louder when he entered.
The living monster of their nightmares.
I walked to the mouth of the tunnel and stared at the light coming from the pit beyond. I had traveled this tunnel many times before, thousands of males had fallen at my feet in this sand. But as I heard the crowd screaming for blood … when I caught sight of the three champions circling the ring … I knew this was different.
This would be the last time my feet pounded on the sand-covered stone. It would be the last time my blood spilled on this sand.
This was the end, but …
… It could also be a beginning.
As the fourth whistle blew, my feet led me forth. And with every crunch of sand under my feet, I recited two names: “Inessa, Ilya. Inessa, Ilya. Inessa, Ilya.” As I trudged toward the open mouth of the tunnel, playing the part of a heavily drugged male, my voice built in volume. As I broke through into the light, focused on the pit, I screamed out, “INESSA!” as Zaal ran my way, slicing across my stomach with his sai. Slowly lifting my blade, I swung back. The crowd roared when I missed. I purposely missed. My gaze drifted to Luka and Valentin, who were going through the motions of a fight.
A fist smacked across my lip. When I spun, Zaal had struck. Using the blunt handle of my blade, I struck him, too. Minutes and minutes passed; we hit and fought. Blood spilled from mouths and noses, surface wounds. But no one had fallen.
We were giving the crowd a fight, whipping them into a frenzy.
Luka ducked under my arm, and as he did, he shouted, “Ready!”
My heart slammed into a new beat, one that was about to get its kill. I faced Valentin, slicing a cut on his arm with my blade. Then just as Valentin moved to strike back, Luka threw back his head and roared out a deafening bellow.
In one practiced move, the four of us closed in, shifting to face the bloodthirsty crowd. The people watching glanced to one another, questioning what was happening. As I raised my blades, Luka, Zaal, and Valentin raised their weapons, too. I then searched for one male only.
Master.
Catching his confused gaze, I smiled, blood from my lips rolling down my chin. Master saw my smile, but before he could signal for his precious guards to come to his aid, the exit doors all opened. The footsteps of the fighters sounded like a stampede as they rushed through the doors, war cries screamed from their throats.
The crowd began to move, scurrying like the scared rats they were. But the fighters were fueled with rage, minds clear after God knows how long.
They clearly felt the need to kill.
Master’s guards charged at the fighters, but the rebel Wraiths turned on them first. The sound of machine guns joined the cacophony of terrified screams and victorious shouts. Luka raised his fist into the air as guards charged our way. When he ordered the attack, the four of us charged forward, weapons held high, rage in our hearts. My vision clouded with red as I swung. My blades cut through flesh and bone. One by one, I cut through the guards. The screams and the tinny scent of blood grew strong with every passing second. When I glanced up at the stands, some of the crowd had tried to fight back. The warriors cut them down. Monsters preying on the weak.
Finishing off the final guard in my path, I then looked up to Master’s seat. Two guards, including the head guard, shielded him from view.
My blood scalded my veins, flooding every muscle. My legs began to move with greater strength. I pushed my muscles to the very edge as I leapt into the stands. I jumped up the seats, slaying anyone in my path. The high guard didn’t see me coming until it was too late. He fired his gun, but the bullet only grazed my arm. His face paled as my blade pierced his heart. I kicked his dying body to the ground, his lifeless limbs rolling down the stairs by my side. The other guard ran, his loyalty to Master forgotten at the sight of my unleashed wrath. But before he could escape, I sliced the tip of my blades across his hamstrings. He fell to the floor. Making sure Master watched, I slit his guard’s throat, kicking his back until he smashed his face on the floor.
Then I turned. I turned, my torso blanketed with the blood of the many I had already killed. When I locked gazes with Master, I smiled. His face paled and he tried to search for a way out. I shook my head, telling him silently that there was nowhere to go.
Reaching forward, I gripped the collar of his jacket and wrenched him close. A terrified cry left his throat as I did, then I spat in his face. I dragged him down the stairs, pulling him down until we reached the pit. My heart thudded with excitement when I heard his perfectly polished shoes crunch on the bloodstained sand of the pit. Around me, the volume of the riot quieted.
Reaching the center of the pit, I threw Master to the ground. I took hold of his hair and wrenched him up until he was on his knees. I looked up, and my breath caught when I saw that every other fighter in the pit was looking my way. The crowd that had not yet met their death watched with wide eyes as I circled Master.
Luka, Valentin, and Zaal moved closer to me. Their eyes were bright with their recent kills. Blood covered us all. We looked wild and insane.
We looked like Blood Pit warriors.
The fighters around us closed in, until a large circle kept Master trapped. I watched as he raised his head and met the eyes of every fighter. Then I saw his face drain of blood even more when he clicked his fingers. That click would once have ordered his males to obey.
As they stared at their former master with circled lips and clenched hands, I could see the realization sink in.
“They are no longer your slaves,” I informed him, my voice rough from the fight.
Master blinked and I stepped back, holding out my hand to Luka, Zaal, and Valentin. Master watched every move I made.
“Master,” I said dryly, “it seems your tournament has been taken over. You cannot command loyalty. Loyalty is earned.”
The Wraiths that had helped in the revolt pushed to the front of the circle, led by an older man in a suit. “Abel,” Master hissed. Abel nodded slowly.
“The champions you so love, Master,” I said sarcastically, “are the Volkov Bratva and the Kostava Clan of Georgia.” Master stared at Luka, Zaal, and Valentin. I pointed to Luka. “Luka is the knayz, once a prisoner of the Alaskan gulag. Zaal, one of the Kostava twins you experimented on for years right here in the pit.” I then pointed to Valentin, who was rocking rabidly on his feet. His knuckles were white as he clutched his picanas. “And this,” I said, “was your sister’s—”
“Bitch sister’s,” Valentin corrected and bared his teeth.
“Bitch sister’s Ubiytsa.” Valentin stepped closer to Master, and I added, “His name is Valentin Belrov … he is Inessa’s brother. Inessa, you know. But to you she is 152. Your High Mona. The one you left tied up and hanging on for life in the basement.”
I didn’t think it was possible for Master’s skin to blanch even more. But as he stared at Valentin, Valentin who had tipped his head back and roared out his pain, I was wrong. Valentin ran forward, and sent the tips of his picanas through the back of Master’s calves. Master roared out as the picanas pegged him to the ground.
Luka reached out and dragged Valentin back. For a second I thought he would fight Luka to kill Master. But Zaal stepped up to his side, helping keep him in place. Valentin glared at me instead.
“Finish him,” he ordered with a deep harshness. “End him!”
Casting a glance around the room, I saw every fighter that Master had enslaved watch me, pure hope in their eyes. Hope this was it. This was the liberation every one of us craved but never believed we would get.
As I stepped closer to him, Master looked up at me. Narrowing my eyes, I said, “This ends today. From this point on, this pit will not exist. The gulags that Luka has told me of will be destroyed one by one. Your associates will be murdered. Your name will be forgotten.” I pointed my Kindjal to every one of the fighters thirsting for his blood. “We will all leave this place.” Bending down, I said, “We will all get our names back. We will live … in freedom!”
“I made you!” Master hissed, and stuttered through the pain Valentin’s picanas where causing. “I made all of you! In this arena you were gods!”
“No,” I said, slowly shaking my head for emphasis, “we were slaves. But out there, we will be whatever we want. As I have been told it should be.”
“Ilya,” Luka said, and I met his eyes. He nodded, telling me to get it done.
So I did.
Walking to stand behind Master, I surveyed all of the fighters and the mesmerized crowd, Master’s investors who had profited from our imprisonment. Taking one of my beloved Kindjals, I slowly raised it high. With a thunderous roar, I plunged it straight through the top of his skull. I kept screaming as I did. The remainder of my hatred and fury released and drifted to the ceiling.
The males were quiet in the aftermath. They all stared at Master, dead, bent on his knees.
This time he was below us.
He had submitted to our collective strength.
Valentin broke the silence by facing the fighters in the stands and calmly ordering, “Kill them all.” He pointed to the rest of Master’s people. The fighters didn’t move. Then they all looked to me. My chest filled with pride when they waited for my command.
Luka stepped forward. “You are their champion. They will only take orders from you.”
Taking hold of my blade’s handle, I ripped it from Master and kicked his corpse to the floor. Turning in a circle, I then raised my blade into the air and ordered, “Fucking kill them all!”
The room seemed to shake violently with revenge and the sheer need to cull. The fighters attacked as one. They charged the crowd, weapons held high.
Valentin gripped my arm as he retrieved his picanas from Master’s legs. “Go,” he pushed. “Get Inessa.” He looked to the crowd. “We’ll get these dicks.”
I nodded and ran. Racing out of the tunnel, I pushed my legs as fast as they would go and followed the directions Maya had told Valentin last night. Valentin remembered everything, including the way to moy prekrasnyy.
Descending the steps that led to the lower basement, I then rounded the corner, sprinting down the narrow hallway. I arrived at a metal door and without pause kicked it wide open.
My stomach dropped at the sight that greeted me. Inessa was tied up by ropes, her pale skin dripping with blood. Maya was holding her up, the young female easing Inessa’s pain.
Hearing me at the door, Maya looked up. Her eyes immediately filled with tears and she said, “She is losing consciousness.” Maya sniffed. “I have tried to keep her awake, but the blood…”
I took my Kindjals and, moving to the tight ropes, sliced through them both. Inessa immediately collapsed on Maya. Before Maya herself fell, I grabbed Inessa. When I saw her lashed bare back, her blood pooled on the floor, I instantly saw red.
I breathed through the anger until I composed myself enough to push Inessa’s hair from her face. She moaned as I held her in my arms. I tried my best to avoid touching her open wounds. Inessa’s eyes rolled open and her sleepy gaze met mine. She tried to smile through bruised lips. “Moy voin,” she whispered. “My Ilya. You have come for me.”
Her eyes closed. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I called, “Inessa?”
Maya moved beside us. “She keeps slipping in and out of consciousness. She needs help.”
I turned to sprint back upstairs, when Maya asked, “Is it over?”
I heard hope lace her words. Turning, I replied, “Yes.”
Her hand lifted to her mouth and tears fell down her cheeks. When I moved to the door, I realized Maya didn’t follow. When I looked back, she rocked on her feet and said, “I … I don’t know what to do now. This is all I’ve known. My family doesn’t want me.” She lifted her hand to her scarred face. I saw the fear of the unknown in her expression.
My chest cracked at the little-girl-lost look on her face. I stared down at Inessa and recalled how much affection she had for the young female. Looking up, I said, “You come with us. Inessa loves you like a sister. You belong with us.”
Maya stared for several frozen seconds, then she choked out a sob. My heart squeezed for the youngster. “Come,” I ordered, and fled into the hallway. I smiled when I heard the sound of Maya’s light feet following behind us.
I raced up the stairs and through the tunnel. I suddenly stopped when I looked at the pit. It was done. There were fighters milling round the pit. When I looked to the stands, I saw Luka climbing to speak to the fighters, Zaal by his side. The Bratva knayz and the Georgian Lideri. Valentin hung back and waited at the bottom. The fighters all stared up, waiting for what needed to be said.
Luka cleared his throat. His knuckle-dusters were still on his hands. “Warriors,” he began. The males all listened intently in absolute silence. “My name is Luka Tolstoi. This will not mean much to you yet, but I am a product of the gulags that Arziani—your slain master—owned.” He next pointed to Zaal. “This is Zaal Kostava. He was raised in this pit. He is one of you.” He pointed to Valentin. “As is he. Valentin Belrov.”
The males looked to one another in confusion. “I’ll keep this short. I belong to a powerful family in New York City. It is in another country, America. We have recovered the files of most of you. In those files are your names and where you are from. Many of you have family. Some, like Valentin and Ilya, your champions, were kidnapped from an orphanage. You have no family.” He paused, then said, “Today, you are free. You get to choose what to do with your life. For those who discover they have family, the guards that helped plan this riot will help you find your way home. Those of you who have none, you are welcome to join me in New York.” Luka placed his hand over his chest. “If you want, there is a place for you in my organization.”
Zaal stepped forward. “I am Georgian, the leader of my people in Brooklyn, New York. If you are Georgian and have nowhere to go, I will give you a place among our people.” Zaal looked at Luka. “Our two families are joined. It is your choice.”
Luka looked to Viktor, who was waiting at the rear of the pit. He nodded and Viktor disappeared. “Right now, we must leave.” Luka’s face frosted with coldness. “We are going to destroy this pit and all the dead will remain in it. You have thirty minutes to leave.”
Then the males turned and headed for the exit doors. A sound from behind caught my attention. When I listened harder, Maya said, “It is the monebi. They are being released, too.” Maya sighed. “There are children here, too. The chiri are getting them out. There has been housing made available for them by these males.” Maya pointed to Luka and Zaal. “For the monebi, too.”
My head swam with a thick fog. It was all too much to take in. Inessa moaned again, her eyes fluttering open. Spurred forward by her glazed gaze, I ran into the pit. Valentin saw me first. In no time at all, he rushed to me.
“Inessa,” he called. I stopped when he reached us. I saw Valentin’s expression darkening at the state she was in.
“We need to get her help,” I said. Luka nodded.
“We have a plane that can get us to New York. We have a doctor waiting for us on board.”
I stared at Luka in confusion. Luka placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “You have a home with us. Inessa is Valentin’s blood, you are her male.” He smiled over my shoulder at Maya and said, “And you are her new family. You all come with us. The males and females that need our help will follow later.”
Inessa moaned again and I held her tighter. A sudden rush of emotion settled within me as I stared at her. “Thank you,” I rasped to Luka, my chest tightening.
We were free.
This was real.
When Inessa moaned louder and shifted in my arms, Valentin leaned over her, pushing her matted hair from her face. “Inessa,” he said softly. It was strange to see such a brutal cold male so soft and caring with my Inessa.
As his voice carried to her ears, Inessa’s eyes flickered open. I could still see the weakness, the confusion in their depths. But my heart raced when she smiled and held up her little finger.
A pained sound left Valentin’s mouth, and he linked his little finger with hers. Inessa smiled, then whispered brokenly, “You … came for me…” She sucked in a breath, then sighed. “Big Brother Promise … my Valentin…”
Inessa’s eyes closed. When I looked to Valentin, he had tears tracking down his cheeks. In a soft voice, he said, “Let’s go home. I want to go home to my Zoya.”
I could tell by Luka and Zaal’s shocked faces that Valentin was never this way. This calm and … at peace?
“Let’s go,” Luka agreed, and we all followed behind. When we left the stairs to enter the night, I gasped when fresh air filled my lungs. Maya had found a blanket and placed it over Inessa. As the cool breeze caressed Inessa’s cheeks, I held her closer, needing her warm touch.
I scanned the outside of the pit, all metal fences and towers. A shiver ran down my spine. For a moment, I remembered being brought down these steps as a child. In a flash, the memory had gone. And I was glad. I never wanted to think of this place ever again.
Males dressed in black ran from a machine waiting in the grass. “A plane,” Zaal informed me as I stared at it blankly. “It will take us home.”
The machine brought me trepidation, but I climbed the stairs and entered the small space, driven by a single promise: It will take us home …
We would have a home.
I snarled when a male in a white coat tried to take Inessa from my arms. Valentin placed his hand on my arm. “He is a doctor,” he told me. “He will help her.”
Staring at the fearful male, I told him, “I will lay her down. Just show me where.” The doctor eagerly nodded his agreement. He led the way, and I laid Inessa down on a bed, chest against the mattress so her back could be treated. I sat down on the end of the bed, taking hold of her hand. The doctor looked at me with a raised brow. “I’m not going anywhere,” I told him plainly.
Maya moved beside me and patiently watched what the doctor was doing. I smirked when the doctor raised a brow at her, too. She lifted her chin to show she wasn’t leaving, either.
As the machine began to move and propel us into the sky, I kept my gaze on the doctor as he patched up moy prekrasnyy. As we sailed into the clouds, I glanced down at the pit. Flames were bringing down the towers. I could only imagine what it looked like inside.
Appropriate, I thought, as I watched the orange and red flames climb ever higher. The Blood Pit was my hell. Engulfed in flames with all its evil burning inside. Now it had been transformed into the hell I’d always believed it to be.
I watched it burn until it disappeared out of sight.
Then I watched my Inessa.
I watched her breathing.
I watched her sleep in peace.
The two of us now completely free.