Free Caged Warrior by Lindsey Piper Page A

Even Dr. Aster fed me. ‘Keep up your strength, Mrs. MacLaren,’ he always said.
     ‘More work to do tomorrow.’ ” She stood and glared down at the strongest man she’d
     ever seen. “You can’t harm me, sir . Not like he did. So get on with what we know needs to be done.”
    His slow rise from a kneeling stance seemed to go on forever. Deliberate. Controlled.
     Just taller and taller until he was a ruthless warrior once again. “Oh, but I can
     do you harm. And win. I’ll do that at any cost, even if it means knocking you unconscious
     during our match.”
    “What purpose would that serve?”
    “I could fight on. Unencumbered.”
    Audrey’s blood slowed. “You’re giving me quite the education.”
    “And don’t forget about Hellix,” he said, that rumbling voice bathed in menace.
    “What about him?”
    “Your days are mine to direct. Your nights are not my responsibility.”
    “But the guards—?”
    “Are lonely and easily bribed. Don’t expect quarter from them either.”
    The pinch of her lips was almost painful. She forced herself to calm, valuing information
     more than the urge to answer his taunts. “Will you tell me something? Sir?”
    “What?”
    “The brand on Hellix’s head. What is it?”
    Leto’s expression hardened. She wouldn’t have thought it possible after the harsh
     way he’d spoken to her. Apparently his distaste for Hellix trumped almost anything
     else.
    “Sometimes, humans with huge debts volunteer to fight in the Cages, too.”
    “That would mean death, surely.”
    “The other choice is for the cartels to harm their families.”
    Audrey shook her head in vehement denial. “That’s no choice.”
    “Do you want to know about Hellix or argue the way of the world?” He held her gaze
     as she breathed deeply and remained silent. “The humans in the Cages are killed with
     ordinary knives. Dragon Kings set for execution are done so as a prelude to the annual
     Grievance.”
    “Hellix survived.”
    “But he still needed to be punished.”
    “I don’t get it.”
    “How do you kill a Dragon King?”
    Bile rose in Audrey’s mouth, along with the age-old fears of her people. They could
     live far longer than humans. Some for centuries. That didn’t mean they were immortal.
     Old age eventually caught up with even the strongest of the Dragon’s children. And
     then there was . . .
    “Decapitation,” she said, as if by rote. “But only by iron forged in the fiery Chasm
     where the Dragon was born and died.”
    “ That is an honorable death for a Cage warrior. Hellix was branded by an ordinary human
     knife—a shameful reminder that he should’ve died. The lowest of thelow. I think he’d peel off his face just to get rid of the thing.” He cracked a knuckle.
     “He takes out his anger on the women he earns. Do you get my meaning?”
    She shivered. Just because she’d survived degradation in the labs didn’t mean she
     wanted more. Somehow she knew that surviving against Hellix would be at least as difficult
     a Cage match. At least in a Cage, she would have Leto as her ally.
    With a tight swallow, she firmed her spine. “I understand, sir.”
    “Let’s get to work.”
    ♦   ♦   ♦
    Leto had made a number of threats in order to secure Nynn’s active cooperation—threats
     he had no means of carrying out. Using Hellix as a living, frothing boogeyman had
     worked. But she was a perceptive creature. Soon she might realize that to be subjected
     to Hellix’s notorious sexual ferocity would destroy her. Leto would have no warrior
     left to partner with; he would have a broken shell of a woman.
    The idea of beating her into unconsciousness during a match and taking on their opponent
     alone also had its appeal. Yet that would be a failure of another sort. He was tasked
     with keeping her alive through three matches, but the crowd wouldn’t appreciate an
     unconscious fighter.
    He would need a fallback plan when threats no longer worked. In