Page 7 of Caged

The map is insistent that inside is the way out of here.

My gut churns.

An alarm shrieks.

I grab the bolt and slide it aside, wrenching open the heavy door and slamming it behind me. Getting out is now imperative. I cannot be found here.

Not entirely sure what I was expecting, but the dimly lit room, yet again hewn from solid rock, contains a number of empty cages.

Maybe this is where they keep the beasts?

It smells musty, the air stale and unused. Whatever it is, I don’t want to hang around to find out, and I hurry down past the empty enclosures, keeping my eyes on the rock face at the far end. The map claims there is an exit, but even when I reach it, I can’t see one.

“Fuck!” I swear out loud. Have I trapped myself? Could Ixor’s intel be incorrect? I give the map device a shake.

Nothing changes.

“Dammit!” I lean back against the bars, drop my head back, and consider my options.

Something moves in one of the cages opposite. I immediately freeze.

Stood in a circle of light is the biggest male I’ve ever seen. He has to be well over seven feet in height, naked from the waist up, presumably due to the enormous slate gray wings which sprout from his back and look more like weapons than anything any angel might sport. His head is bowed, and the light glitters over his heavily muscled body, sliced all over with scar tissue. He has some fresher wounds which are crusted with dried blood, and his chest, defined with a myriad of muscles I can’t take my eyes off, heaves with his breathing.

He is utterly stunning, like a living statue carved by a god.

As I stand, trying not to even breathe, he raises his magnificent head, lifting it high up and scenting the air. With a growl which turns my stomach to jelly, he turns in my direction.

“Eregri.” The word is a rasp, a growl and an intention all in one.

I should move, but my feet are stuck to the ground. He opens his wings and in a single clap, he’s at the bars, huge clawed hands reaching for me.

“EREGRI!” he bellows, causing the entire place to ring with the word.

I should move. I should move.

I can’t move.

His massive hand extends out between the bars, each finger tipped with the most vicious claw I’ve seen outside a dinosaur skeleton. I’m rigid with fear as a single one curls a lock of my long tawny hair around it. My heart is fluttering in my chest like a butterfly in a net as I raise my eyes to look into his.

They’re dark pools, almost tranquil in their deep beauty. This male is so handsome, I forget everything.

There is only us, caught in this moment. I can’t drag my eyes away from him or the near certain death I’m facing. He is anything but tranquil.

The door slams open, and the sharp noise jerks my body back to life. I stumble back out of his reach as shouting fills the air.

My feet ring against metal. The door the map was indicating is under my feet. His eyes are still locked on me.

“I’m sorry,” I gasp out as I wrench open the trap door and dive through.

SYLAS

Eregri. It’s a word I don’t know, but it bursts from me like I’ve been saying it all my life at the sight and scent of the strange, tiny being who should not be in the hole.

A female.

MYfemale.

Mine.

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