Hellix’s mask slipped for only a second. Beneath the posturing was shame. Audrey wondered if she’d have noticed it before what had taken place in the Cage. The acuity of her senses was amplified. Although Hellix hid it quickly, she was certain Leto had also caught that moment of doubt. No wonder he could stand in the face of Hellix’s hulking body and fierce scowl. Shame could be as debilitating as pride or fear.
Leto seemed a master at exploiting weaknesses.
Hellix laughed, as if none of it mattered. “One day I’ll throw you down. I’ll sever your head from your body and you’ll leave this world.”
“If you even came close to earning a place in the Grievance, I might take that threat seriously.”
“You arrogant—”
“I’ve earned my arrogance.” Rather than push the physical tension, Leto stepped back. The gesture from any other man would’ve seemed like retreat. His condescending expression, accented by the silver scar on his upper lip, said otherwise. He owned the moment. “You boys need the practice. We’ll leave you to it.”
He took Nynn’s clasped hands in one of his and tugged her through the cluster of savagery. “Oh,” he added, meeting the eyes of each of Hellix’s cronies. “The Old Man is here today. Not a bad time to try impressing him— unless impressing Hellix holds more meaning.”
Hellix’s men were surprisingly susceptible to Leto’s ploy. They broke into overtly masculine trash-talking and slapped one another like football players before a big game. Their interest in Leto and Nynn dissipated in a breath. Hellix remained a fuming, intimidating barrier, but even he didn’t stop them from exiting.
Instead, he took control of what resources he had left: the men who’d abandoned him. “Come on, you shit stains. Get in that Dragon-damned Cage.”
Audrey didn’t look behind her as Leto’s grip was replaced by the guard’s manacles. Her exhale was pure relief. The incident added new layers to her situation. Being trained by a fool or a sadist would only get her killed. Now, she trusted Leto more than she would’ve thought possible upon waking that morning.
Morning. What a joke. She had no idea whether the sun shone, or the moon instead.
“How did you know he would back down?”
Leto walked ahead of her with long strides. He cast an assessing glance over his shoulder. He seemed to do that most frequently when she used logic rather than mindless hysterics. Not the best first impression she’d ever made, but screw it. Anyone who’d suffered in Aster’s labs would’ve behaved the same way.
“I’ve lived in close quarters with Hellix for six years,” he said. “I’ve never seen him strike first.”
“And the others? No concern?”
His impressive back gleamed bronze beneath the corridor’s fluorescent lights. “My skills are not limited to the Cages.”
“I’ve seen that much.” She ran a hand over her raggedly shorn hair. She wanted a mirror, if only to even out the damage he’d done. Or maybe to see herself as he saw her. “Brawn seems to be your lifeblood. I’d like to survive, thank you very much. That means learning from you.”
He chuckled so softly that his lips barely moved. The sound was as throaty and scarred as his voice. “I’m not going to need to break you.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Maybe.”
Something close to amusement hovered in his glittering black eyes. Even with the fluorescent glare and the strange brightness of her senses, she couldn’t be sure. She’d forgotten how many subtle human emotions were cloaked among the Dragon Kings. Facial expressions were generally placid and restrained—the better to keep the Five Clans from slaughtering each other millennia ago.
Living among human beings, she had learned to smile and laugh and cry with abandon. She had learned to express what she felt. Here, that was a dangerous weakness she would have to unlearn. Otherwise, every ploy and intention would scream across her features.
“I don’t doubt you’ll find new ways to keep me in my place,” she said quietly.
“An invitation if ever I heard one.”
His scant smile was Audrey’s first glimpse of the man behind the armor. She hid a smile of her own. Women possessed advantages that balanced obvious vulnerabilities. From the dawn of time, they’d latched onto the biggest and strongest males. Safety among alphas. Out among humans who’d layered civility over old instincts, she would’ve been appalled at such a thought.
Leto was the alpha she needed in order to survive. To get her son back. To make the Asters pay.
The guards returned them to Audrey’s cell and locked them both inside.
Leto leaned against a damp wall and crossed arms that bulged with sculpted muscles. Everything he did led back to the Cages. Be the best. Save his family. But he was incurably brainwashed by the Asters. He was part of the system she was going to burn to the ground. Only when it came to surviving the matches did their goals align.
“Are you going to tell me what happened in there?”
He lifted his brows a fraction. “With Hellix? You were there.”
“No, in the Cage.”
Hard masculine features shifted into an expression of . . . confusion? Disbelief? “You really don’t remember?”
“I damn sure remember you kicking the crap out of me.”
Audrey dared to approach him, which she wouldn’t have hours before. The energy buzzing in her blood was like a venomous toxin, but she didn’t feel sick. Only different. More radiant, although that word didn’t make sense. People weren’t
Still. She couldn’t deny that she’d come away changed. Whether that was good or bad would have to wait.
Within arm’s length, she touched his blasted armor—a burnt edge of leather and flame-curled iron. His chest remained concealed, but the pitted metal and singed padding were exposed. The champion had been bested.
She preferred him whole and shielded. Powerful. Useful.
“But I don’t remember this,” she said. “What did this much damage?”
“
“No way. I told you, my gift never manifested.”
“Don’t make me repeat myself, neophyte. You blew a hole in Dr. Aster’s lab. That’s how the Old Man found out about you, and that’s why you’re here.”
Flickers of memory pushed through. Fire. Lightning. Pain and rage fused into energy she couldn’t control. She wanted to protest, but she was too uncertain to contradict Leto’s outrageous claim.
How had she forgotten? She’d unleashed chaos enough for him crawl to freedom. In her previous memories, he’d simply . . . gone.
The truth remained stark. Her hopes were no stronger now than when rage had given over to a burst of power she couldn’t remember unleashing.
Instead, she was left with a new truth. She had a gift from the Dragon.
She’d become reconciled to her lack. Dragon be, she hadn’t lived among her own kind for years. Now she recalled kinship, deep roots, and matched instincts. It should have been a joyful realization. Only, Audrey was ready to vomit. Sick, shadowy fear clenched inside her chest. She sank to the damp floor and leaned against one of the algae-covered walls. Eyes unseeing, she fought to remember just as hard as she fought to forget.
“We start again tomorrow,” Leto said. “Sleep now.”
The sound of the clanging gate echoed through the dank space. Audrey barely noticed. She pushed her fingers against her temples. Something was there, lurking in her mind—something dark and terrifying and ready to erupt.
