We reached the top of the hill fifteen minutes later. The path flattened for ten yards before it ended at a stone building set into the rocky mountain. The thick steel door was opened and revealed a long, wide hallway that had been carved into the hill. The rough walls were a mixture of primitive concrete and stone, and the floors were uneven. Torches hung from the right-hand wall and lit the way, and between the lights were smaller doors. There were tiny openings in the upper half of the doors that were covered with sliding slats of wood. Metal bars lay over the center and acted as primitive locks.
A new group of men greeted us. They were dressed in cloaks of fine, green-colored silk and wore bowled helmets on their heads. Thick pants covered their legs, and they wore leather boots on their feet. Their faces were clean-cut and clean. They had swarthy faces like those who herded us and their hair was long, but tied behind their backs.
The barbarian men pushed us inside and the new men sneered at our captors. One of the men stepped forward. His helmet sported a round yellow circle on the front.
"How many?" he asked the burly man.
"A dozen, just like was ordered," the burly man replied.
The circle man glanced over his shoulder and gave a nod to his men. They opened the doors to the cells and I saw there was exactly a dozen rooms. The barbarians pushed us forward, and Lillian, exhausted and scared, cried out in fear and fell. The burly man grabbed her hair and pulled her up, but her tired, shackled legs couldn't gather enough energy to help her stand.
"On your feet!" he growled.
I don't know what happened. Maybe I was too damned tired of all this torture, or maybe I was just too damned tired to care. Either way I broke from my beast man, leapt forward and jumped onto the man's back. I swung my arms over his head and yanked them back so my manacle chain pressed against his throat. Then I leaned back and pulled my arms against me.
The effect was to cut off the man's air supply. He dropped Lillian's hair and grabbed my chain. My weak strength was no match for his. He flung me over his head and I landed hard on my back. The air was knocked out of me, and before I could recover a shadow fell over me. It was the burly man. He tore a wooden club wrapped in leather from his belt.
He pulled back the club to bring it down on me. "I don't care what the count needs do be. This is the last time I deal with you," he growled.
"What's going on here?" a voice questioned. It was a clear, firm voice that commanded attention. The burly man hesitated. A man stepped from the new group. He was tall with black hair and dark eyes. On his helmet was another round yellow circle, and his cloak was pinned with the same symbol. He was thinner than the others, but still had long hair. His sharp eyes swept over the scene and his gaze stopped on the burly man. He still had his arm raised over me. "Well?"
The burly man lowered his arm and glared at the new man. "I was teaching one of these women how to respect the men," he explained.
"That's for their mate to perform, not you," the new man bit back.
The burly man nodded at me. "This girl is trouble. She's already tried to escape once."
"That still doesn't give you the right to discipline her," the cloaked man shot back. His eyes fell on me. "Stand up."
I sat up and frowned at him. "Where the hell are we?" I asked him.
"Those are questions to be asked later. Now stand and enter your cell," he ordered me.
"No." I stood and firmly planted my feet on the uneven cobblestones. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me and everybody else what the hell we're doing here and when we can go home."
"Very well," the man replied. He turned to the first helmeted one. His underling nodded and strode over to me. He swung me over his shoulder and carried me into the nearest cell.
"Let me down!" I screamed.
The man obeyed my orders to the letter when he dropped me onto a bed of prickly straw. He exited the cell and shut the door behind me. I sat up and heard the other women cry out. Their cries were followed by more shut doors. The slats in the doors were opened, but from my position I couldn't see anyone beyond them.
"You will remain here until tomorrow night," came the voice of the lead 'clean' party. "Then you will be part of the Choosing, and will be given in marriage to a fitting husband."
"Like hell we will!" I heard Bree shout.
"Hell or heaven, it will be so," the man argued. "The blood chooses the best mate for you. If he won't suit you then no one, man or werewolf, will do. Now get some rest. You have new lives waiting for you tomorrow night."
The slat was closed on my door and the rest, and the men marched down the rocky tunnel. I heard boots leave in the opposite direction, the one through which we'd entered, and all was silence.
CHAPTER 3
"Fuck," I heard Bree mutter.
"That's the understatement of the year," Carey quipped.
"Shut up," Bree growled.
"Come on, guys. Now's not the time to fight," I called from my cell. "Maybe we can find a way out."
I sat up and looked around my small prison. It was a seven by five rectangular room with stone walls and the wooden door. The ceiling was seven feet above me. All the walls were solidly built. I couldn't even see a rat hole, not that there was much light to see by. The only source was from the torches, and they created only a glimmer that shone beneath the door.
"I'm not seeing anything. What little I can see," Bree shouted to me.
"Why don't you two girl scouts just give up?" Carey insisted. "We're not getting out of these cells until they take us to get picked or whatever it was."
"Chosen," Bree corrected her.
"Whatever. All it means is their selling us as slaves to some fat, balding, rich guy who will have his way with us," Carey replied.
"Sophia?" Lillian's quiet voice interrupted us.
That sounded like the cell next to mine. I shuffled over to the wall and placed my hands on the cold stones. "Yeah, Lillian?"
"Are they. . .will they really do that?"
I leaned my forehead against the rocks and sighed. "I don't know, but I do know that whatever happens we all have to try to escape. No matter where we go, we have to keep trying."
"Never give up, never surrender? Please, that sounds so stupid," Carey retorted.
"Not as stupid as your giving up," Bree argued.
"Yeah, well, we'll see who's stupid tomorrow. In the meantime I'm going to get my beauty's sleep. If there are rich men waiting to buy us than I'm going to make sure I get sold to the richest," she quipped. Her voice fell silent.
"Sophie, we'd better think of something fast tomorrow when they open these doors," Bree told me.
"We'll all try to, but right now I think Carey's right. We need to get some strength back or it won't matter what we think of," I suggested.
"All right. Sleep well, if you can," Bree replied.
I lay my back down on the pile of hay and winced when the dry stalks poked me in the back. "Yeah, if I can. . ." I muttered.
My thoughts wandered to what the man had told us. Marriage, mates, werewolves. It all sounded so ridiculous, so insane. I wondered if we'd been trapped by a colony of syphilis-laden men who intended to have one last thrall before they died of the disease.
I pursed my lips and rolled onto my side. My active imagination was darkly influenced by my dreary surroundings. I needed sleep, rest, and a bite to eat. Maybe in a few hours I would think of something.
It turned out that being kidnapped and dragged to a god-forsaken island had an exhausting effect on the body, or perhaps there was something more than hay in our beds. I lay my head on the scratchy straw and fell immediately to sleep.
What awoke me was the march of boots. The feet vibrated through the floor and into my head. I opened my eyes and sat up. Around me were the same four stone walls, and beyond the door was the march of the boots. The metal bar on my door slid aside and the entrance opened along with those of the other girls. One of the cloaked men stood on the other side, and behind him I saw more of his c
ompanions pull my fellow captives down the hall in the direction of the hill.
He swept inside and knelt in from of me. In his hand was a key, and he soon released me from my manacles. My wrists and ankles were bruised and rubbed raw by the confines. Once freed, the man grabbed my arm and with one clean yank he pulled me off the straw and into the hallway. We were near the end of the group that marched forward to a large door at the end of the passage. I was relieved to see Lillian ahead of me, and that she had strength enough to walk on her own. Through the door was a winding stone stairway that wrapped around a column of chiseled rock. The stairs led up and down. We were dragged upward over countless steps. I grew dizzy with the winding steps and was relieved when we reached a flat landing. The stairs kept going, but we were marched onto a wide stone hall. This hall, too, was lit with torches, but there were far more than in the lower passage.
The new hallway led to the left and right, and at both ends it joined other passages that ran in perpendicular directions. Far down to our right and left I glimpsed pane-glass windows set in arched borders. The view showed a bright full moon in the dark night sky.
A pair of large wooden doors sat on the opposite wall to us. The sounds of revelry drifted through the doors. There was laughter and talk, and even the clatter of mugs against one another as people drank a toast. Bright, cheerful music produced by flutes and violins mingled with the voices. I noticed the lieutenant of the cloaks was at the head of our little group. He strode up to the doors and knocked loudly on them.
The music and voices died quickly. The doors opened into the room, and I saw it was a banquet hall that lay beyond the entrance. We were marched in one at a time and lined up beside each other with our captors behind us. We were a dirty group of quivering, frightened women set before a room full of men.
I glanced behind us and saw two dozen long wooden tables with benches for seats. To our right were heavy silk curtains dyed red. They partially hid large stone balconies that looked out on the night sky. I couldn't see what lay beneath the wooden railing. On the benches seats were men, and only men, who also wore cloaks, but of finer quality than even the men who held us. They looked on us with curiosity and, in some cases, an immodest interest.
Unfortunately, at the far back of the room sat the men from the truck and ship. They were as filthy as ever, more so in comparison to the cleaner folk in front of them. The burly one sneered at us, and he directed his particular hatred at me.
I faced forward and gazed upon a strange sight. Ten feet in front of us stood a wide, short platform. The podium was covered in a thick layer of soft cloth like oriental rugs. On the podium sat three chairs. The center chair, with its wide arms and tall, pointed back, was like a throne, and on that throne sat a man of about sixty. His hair was graying, but his gray eyes were still keen. He sat erect and over his shoulders was draped a large fur coat. On his head was a garland of branches from an oak tree.
On his right was a smaller chair, but identical to his in appearance. A woman of roughly forty sat in it. She had long blond hair that was adorned with a garland of lilac branches. They still held some of their purple blossoms on their tips. She wore a dress of shimmering silver and sat straight, but her soft face was more welcoming than the hard, wizened one of the man beside her.
On the man's left was a simple chair of wood, and in that chair sat a young, handsome man with long black hair that was tied behind his back. He was muscular, clean-shaven and had the same gray eyes as the man beside him. The young man had an indifferent expression on his face that marred his natural beauty.
On the far side of the platform, beside the young man, stood the leader of the cloaked men. His eyes watched the room and one hand lay on the base of a protruding sword hilt.
The woman looked over us with a smile on her lips, but that faded when she glanced across the throned man at the other, younger man. Her smile faded and a sad look swept over her face.
We stood in an empty area between the benches and the platform. The men behind us whispered until the older man stood and held up his hand.
"We are gathered here to perform the Choosing where any man of age may place his blood in the Choosing bowl and see if any of these women are worthy of you." He turned his attention to us. "My fair ladies, you are privileged to have been brought here-"
"Against our will," Bree spoke up.
The man's thick, bushy eyebrows crashed down. "You will learn what we have to offer, for we are not mere men. We are lycan, or what you would call werewolves." I wasn't the only woman to shrink back at his pronouncement. This was the same bullshit crazy talk as last night.
"You're crazy," I spoke up.
A wisp of a smile slipped onto his lips. "I assure you we are not, but know that we will not harm you."
I snorted. "Like we're going to believe a bunch of psychotic, kidnapping monsters."
A deathly silence arose from the audience. The old man stiffened and pursed his lips. "We are not like you would see in the movies. We don't become mindless beasts on every full moon, and we don't hunt prey unless threatened. We are as civilized as any in the human realm."
"Haven't you ever heard of dating sites?" I bit back.
"We do what we must to continue our race, and then only sparingly, but I will not argue the point with you any longer. You'll see for yourselves what manner of man or monster we are once the Choosing is finished." He signaled to a pair of men nearby, and one of them brought forth a bowl with a cloth over the top. The other one held a eight-inch long needle in his hands. The old man swept his hand over the room. "Anyone who wishes to join in the Choosing must submit their arm for the bloodletting." He then resumed his seat.
Dozens of men stood and navigated through the tables to the bowl. Even the cloaked man beside the younger, seated one joined the line. Most men passed around us without stopping, but a few paused and studied us like we were cattle put up for auction. One curious man got too close to Bree. She lunged forward and snapped her teeth at him before her movement was arrested by her jailer. The man stumbled back and the others burst into laughter.
"Don't touch the merchandise!" one of the men jeered. That made the men laugh louder than before.
I noticed the woman on the smaller throne frowned. She leaned to her left and touched the man's arm. He pursed his lips and stood.
"Quiet!" the older man yelled over the sounds of amusement. "Stop showing yourselves as fools and give some dignity to this ceremony!"
The men quieted and each one stepped into line in front of the bowl. Each man rolled up his sleeve and held it over the bowl. The man with the needle stabbed the bottom of the arm, and a prick of blood dropped into the bowl. This was repeated for all of the men until there were no more in line.
The old man turned to the younger one by his side. "Will you not partake, my son?" The young man's frown deepened and he shook his head. A flash of anger swept over the older man's face, and he turned away from his son. He stepped off the podium and up to the pair who held the bowl between them. The leader grasped the edge of the bowl with one hand and swept his other hand over the contents. "We have all who wish for a bride. Now which bride should begin the Choosing?"
"The loud-mouthed one!" the burly man yelled from the back of the room. The room erupted in laughter.
The old man held up his hand and there was silence. His eyes fell on me and he gestured with his hand. "Come here."
I pursed my lips and buried my feet into the floor, but the man who guarded me shoved my back. I stumbled forward and he led me over to the bowl. The old man turned to the man with the needle, and he produced a small cup. Their leader dipped the cup into the concoction and held it out to me.
"Drink, and choose," he told me.
I pressed my arms against my sides and glared at him. "Go fuck yourself," I snapped.
The old man frowned and looked past me at my guard. My arms were yanked behind me and my back I was pulled against his chest so I couldn't move. The old man stepped forward and grab
bed my chin. He forced open my mouth and tipped the contents of the cup into me. It spilled down my chin and throat, and I choked on the vile, rust-flavored drink.
Then I knew pain. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced. My whole body was awash in a fire I couldn't hope to douse. My skin crawled and shivered, and the heat swelled inside me until I thought I would be consumed. I threw my head back and screamed, and felt the man release my arms. I fell onto my knees and slammed my hands onto the floor. My fingers and palms left cracks in the rocks. I hunched over and gasped for air.
The pain sped through me like a wild forest fire. The flames focused on one spot on the upper part of my arm. I clapped my hand over the searing flesh and could feel the heat bubble just under the surface. A faint glow appeared beneath my hand and it felt as though an invisible pen was etching something deep into my flesh.
"See what house it is," the old man ordered.
The man behind me knelt and grabbed my hand. He wrenched it from my arm and pulled my flaming arm up so the old man could view what was there. My vision was blurry from the pain, but I could see as the old man leaned down. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. His voice came out in a soft, stunned whisper.
"My house."
CHAPTER 4
"Speak up, Lord Greenwood!" one of the spectators pleaded.
The old man straightened and looked over the crowd. "She has been chosen to join my house."
A stunned silence swept over the audience. The young man in the plain chair jumped to his feet. The woman, too, stood, and moved to stand beside him. She grasped his arm and quelled some of the anger in his face.
Lord Greenwood raised his hands above his head and smiled. "She has been chosen for my house, and as I am too old then the duty must fall to my only son-"
"I object!" the young man argued. His eyes swept over the room. "My blood wasn't placed in the bowl, you all saw that. There has to be some sort of sorcery at work here."
The old man whipped his head to him. "Whatever was done, the Choosing has chosen you a mate."