Blood Lands (Savage Lands #5)(93)

A woman and a man. Threadbare clothes, dirty and beaten.

“Oh, gods...” My mouth hung open as I watched one look around in utter fear and confusion, while the other seemed to understand what was happening, his brown eyes looking straight at Warwick, his forehead wrinkling in a mirror of confusion before his gaze jumped to me.

“Caden,” I muttered in shock, my gaze jumping to the woman next to him. “Rebeka.”

“Let the Games begin!” Olena’s voice cheered out.





Chapter 25





“Rebeka!” Nora’s cry for her friend rang across the arena, jerking Rebeka’s head. Her mouth dropped at seeing her oldest friend approaching her wearing a prison outfit.

“Nora?” Rebeka’s voice cracked as she got to her feet. Rebeka had always been trim, but now she was emaciated. Her silky hair was dirty and knotted, her beautiful face cut up and bruised. A far cry from the regal woman I grew up with in designer clothing, expensive perfumes, who held a queen-like demeanor.

“You’re alive.” Nora clutched her arms, her head shaking before she hugged her friend.

“Wha-what are you doing here?” Rebeka’s question was drowned out by a loud clatter, the sound of a machine cranking.

“Oh shit,” I muttered, knowing that resonance as if it was embedded into my nightmares. My attention snapped to the floor of the pit. Cages were quickly rising from below, shrieking noises and howls coming from them, making me positive they were filled with wild animals again.

The cages clicked in as they became level with the ground, shapes moving quickly and frantically, their cries growing louder and more piercing.

“Same as last time?” Scorpion’s shadow stood between Warwick and me, though he was across the pit from us.

“Yes...” My response tapered off as I made out what was inside the pens. Everything changed. My plans, my thoughts—they sunk to the bottom, drowning in the abyss.

“Oh, my gods.” Terror cracked through my system.

“What are those?” Ash’s shock stepped him back.

“Holy. Fuck.” Warwick uttered.

Wild. Feral.

But it wasn’t animals inside.

It was all the old guards. The ones I knew from HDF who had taken Istvan’s first dose of pills.

My attention was locked on the men. Or what used to be men. All of them now acted more like rabid animals. I had noticed the decline before, feared they would take on whatever fae essence they were given.

My deepest nightmare had come to fruition.

The doors to the cages swung open with a clank. The figures inside instantly scrambled out. Low to the ground and ready to attack, they still had enough human in them they didn’t go down on all fours.

Joska was the first out, getting himself in front. The already large guy puffed his chest, beating on it as a gorilla would, rallying the dozens of beast-like men behind him.

He was the alpha.

“Joska?” Caden wheezed, taking in his old classmate. Then his gaze went to Samu, not too far behind. “Samu?”

Joska’s and Samu’s heads snapped to Caden, a sneer hitching on their lips, responding to their names.

They understood him.

A howl from Joska pierced the air, sending chills down my spine. He grabbed the cage he came out of, his arms flexing. Grunting wildly, he snapped off a metal bar, his dark eyes landing on me. Recognizing. Despising. The feelings Joska had for me before seemed to only heighten in this state.

He howled again, ramming his fist with the metal rod into the air, rallying up the group behind him, ready to attack. One by one, they each broke a bar from their cage, displaying their excessive strength, shaking their weapons with his.

Then they did something that sunk terror into my gut. Spreading out, they started to move around us like we used to do on sweeps. It was methodical. Planned.

“Shit.” I stepped back, oxygen slipping from my lungs, my gaze snapping from Caden to Hanna, their eyes coming back to me with the same horror and understanding. They saw it too. The old guards seemed to still have enough cognitive understanding of a human but double the strength of any fae I’d ever seen, with animal instincts to kill. They were far worse than the wild animals.

There were ways to counter a sweep in the real world by breaking through one side, spilling out of the circle. Here there wasn’t anywhere to go. No breaking free.

The only chance was to get their weapons from them and spread out as we did last time, lessening the power they had as a group. With Joska the leader of the pack, most followed his cues. They wouldn’t be as strong alone. Depending on what fae essence they took on, some would be better than others at fighting.

As if Joska knew what I was thinking, he let out a yowl, the entire throng running for us like we were on a battlefield. They moved so fast our human reactions couldn’t keep up.

“Mom!” Hanna’s voice shrilled through the stadium. Nora didn’t even have time to turn as Samu chucked the metal rod in his hand like a javelin.

The jagged point struck its mark, spraying blood over Rebeka’s face. It was so fast, Nora stared unblinking at Rebeka, her body not registering what had happened. Her mouth opened to speak, blood drooling from it.

“Nora!” Rebeka screamed as Nora’s body finally crumpled to the ground.

“Mooooommmmm!” Hanna wailed, moving forward. Wesley grabbed her, holding her back as she thrashed. “No! Let me go! Mom!” she sobbed, her body sinking in despair against him.