Page 42 of The Arbiter

An alarm sounds, and red lights begin to flash from above me. I pay them no mind as I call in just a snippet of my power into my palm. His skin begins to turn black and cracks, spreading to his face and chest. I feel his life force draining from his body as he screams and steadily turns to hot ash in my hands.

I barely get to finish killing him before four different sets of hands latch onto me. Silver chains wrap around my arms and torso, then around my wrists once again. I let them, knowing I will have my revenge for what’s been done. Killing those men helped ease the anger that flooded me.

Standing perfectly still as they bind me, my eyes sweep the curious faces of the Damned that are peeking through their cells at what I’ve just done. Some even smile, knowing that their Arbiter has come.

I give them all a wicked smile just before something sharp is stuck into the side of my neck. The world fades to black around me as liquid ice spreads through my veins.

***

When I come to, I notice I’m in a different area than I was when they stuck whatever that was into my neck.

The room is mostly dark since there are no windows, but I can see a small vanity with a mirror on the wall next to me. The walls are stone like the rest of the building, but it’s been cleaned. On the wall opposite of the vanity is a large armoire. Both things look so out of place in this scarce, concrete room that’s barely big enough to hold these three pieces of furniture in it.

I feel a hard mattress beneath me, letting me know I’m lying on some kind of bed.

Where the fuck am I?

When the chill runs along my skin from the coldness of the room, I realize something that immediately has me bolting upright in a panic.

I’m naked.

I growl then instantly begin to groan as my head starts to pound from the sudden movement. My brain is a bit fuzzy from whatever it is they injected into me. I try to lift my hand to feel my neck where they stuck me, but my hands are bound. They’re clasped together tightly with my fingers interlocked, probably so I can’t touch them with my mark. Not that it’ll stop me. I didn’t need to touch them to hurt them with my power.

I hiss as the silver chains dig into my skin, burning and blistering it.

When they first bound me, it burned, but it was bearable. Now, it feels like my wrists are being held over an open fire.

Must be whatever they injected me with that’s making me weaker.

Thankfully, there’s some good news. I notice a sheet on the mattress, so at least I don’t have to stay naked. I fight through the headache and jump from the bed, snagging the sheet off to wrap it protectively around me. I can’t wait to find the fucker that undressed me. Why even do it in the first place? I highly doubt they’re going to try and have their way with me. They should know by now I’d drain the life of anyone who tried.

A slight bit of light is coming through a window in the metal door, and I quickly walk over to it and peer out. Two men stand outside my door, both holding very large assault rifles.

“Pfft. I sure hope they have silver bullets,” I muse to myself quietly. “Cause those won’t stop me, fellas.” Looking down, I see there’s no handle on the door. “That might, though.” The door is at least a foot thick, so it’s unlikely I’ll be able to bust it down with how powerless I feel right now.

I huff and turn, eyeing the armoire.Hoping it will give me some clue as to why I’m not in a cell with the others, I walk over and open it.

The others…

I fight back the tears. The monstrosity of what’s been done to them has my stomach churning. Who could do something like that? Who would divulge secrets on how to hurt us?

I shake my head and will the tears to dry, knowing I can’t fall apart right now. Those Damned saw the promise in my smile that I was going to set them free. I can’t do that if I let the wrong emotion rule over me., so there is no time for sorrow. Only strength and rage. Those will be what help me find Monroe and figure out how to take these fuckers down.

I force my mind to clear and begin looking through the armoire, frowning when I see it's actually filled with quite a few very fancy ball gowns.

“What the hell is this place?” I mutter.

Voices begin to filter through the door. I quickly close the armoire and tie the sheet in a knot at my ribs, then stand in the middle of the room in a fighting stance. Naked or not, I’m ready to fight off whoever’s coming. Even though I’m not at full strength, I can guarantee at least a few will die before I go down.

A face I can’t make out peers in through the window, moving back as the guards open the door. I crouch a little more and dig my heels into the ground, preparing to pounce should the need arise. However, I’m a little taken aback when an older man steps into the room holding nothing more than what looks like a clear makeup case.

I lift my brow in confusion as he waltzes in and smiles. He looks to be at least in his late fifties. He’s wearing a white, button-down shirt, black suspenders, and black slacks, all of which look to be expensive. His hair is balding at the top with just thin bits of hair on the sides. His face is friendly, but something about him tells me he’s not nearly as fragile as he looks.

“Hello, I’m Mr. Grady. I’ll have you all nice and shined up in a jiffy,” he says politely. His smile is almost too pleasant, giving me a bit of a creepy vibe from him.

I don’t move. Instead, I just stand there completely blown away that they’ve really just sent in this little old man to do my makeup.

“Have a seat, dear. We don’t have much time before the auction starts.”

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