SWNOVELS Chapter Rock Star
The blurry, gray wire fencing is the first thing she sees.
Jessie’s head rages as she tries to lift herself from the floor. The room spins about and her limbs are hesitant to come to her service. Beyond the fence lies little but darkness. She swears there’s someone pacing back and forth but can’t manage any confirmation. Listening carefully to her surroundings proves difficult thanks to a loud ringing in her ears.
Trying to remember what happened and where she is achieves nothing at first, but memories begin to filter slowly back. Glancing around, she discovers a wire fence surrounds her.
As her strength returns and the ringing quiets down, she hears the irritating voice of Colby Beck. Recollection of her circumstances fully restored, she ignores her aches and pains. Letting out an angry growl, Jessie reaches out to rip her way through her tiny cage.
Every nerve in her body burns with a furious agony when she touches the fence. Recoiling, she curls up into a ball, hugging her sides and struggling to breathe.
“Oh. Morning, sunshine.” Beck’s voice is as snide as it is superior. “You probably don’t want to touch the walls there. They’re enchanted. Hurt worse than that tattoo of yours, I bet.”
Running his hand along the outside of the cell, the smuggler smirks as he suffers no adverse effects. “Wizards think they’re so damn big, but magic will serve anyone as long as they can pay for it.”
The hellblood lifts her head and glares with murderous intent. “When I get outta here I am gonna fuck you up like you would not believe!”
Beck shakes his head. “What happened to the sweet talk?”
A hard glare is her only response.
“Fine. Be that way. I wouldn’t be too quick to make plans for when you get out of that cage, though.”
The certainty in his voice gives Jessie pause. With her improved faculties, she pans around the room. It’s too dark for her to get a sense of where they are. The only distinctive feature she can find is a bolted double door. Light peers in from underneath and faint sounds can be heard from beyond. “Where the fuck are we?”
“Irrelevant,” he answers, waving off her question. “I’d rather discuss your little crush on me.”
“Fuck you,” she growls.
“I cannot believe you and Warwick thought I could be manipulated that easily. It would have been insulting if it weren’t so hilarious.”
“I wasn’t crazy about it either. Pretending to be interested in your sorry ass was-.” A startled shriek escapes her as she bumps her head against the roof of her wire prison.
“Careful.”
“What the hell are you doing with me, you motherfucker!” she curses, her anger boiling over.
“I’m glad you asked.” Beck squats down alongside the cage. “As you likely know, I deal in arcane artifacts and such. What you may not know, is that the such includes magical creatures of all kinds. Including hellbloods.”
“How did-?”
“I know who and what you are?” he asks without waiting for an answer. “People talk, Ms. Blackwell. It’s hard to keep secrets on the Shadow Side. And really, how long did Warwick think she could pal around with you and no one would take notice? One little zip through some facial recognition software and bam! There you were. Jessica Blackwell of Boston, Mass. Don’t worry, though. I won’t tell. No one in this city wants House Blackwell snooping around.”
Beck enjoys the burning rage in her eyes before continuing. “Now as I was saying, along with artifacts, I also deal in supernatural creatures like yourself.”
“What the hell for?”
“For the Pits, of course.”
“Pits?”
“Yes.” Rising, Beck dusts off his beige slacks. “You see, all over this crazy world of ours, there are recreational facilities where blue collar scrubs can place their hard-earned money down on friendly wagers. Typically regarding what fierce, deadly creature of the Shadow Side can rip apart what other fierce, deadly creature of the Shadow Side.”
“You...you mean like gladiator shit?”
“Exactly so. In such an arena, the meanest, nastiest, most unstoppable beasts are highly prized, and you, hot stuff, will be a fucking rock star.”
“I am not a damn beast!”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree.”
“So, what? You’re gonna drag me around from town to town and make me fight things for money?”
With a slight chuckle, the smuggler leans against her cage. “Oh, God no. That would be more trouble than it’d be worth. I mean, the longer I shipped you from pit to pit, the more likely you’d figure out a way to escape and horribly maul me.
“No. I’m just going to trot you out here in a minute and let my customers get a good look at you. Then,” Beck looks down on her through the roof of the cell, “I’m going to auction you off to the highest bidder. I’d be willing to bet you’ll never see the outside of a cage ever again.”
Any attempt Jessie makes to hold her anger in check fails miserably. Baring her teeth, she tries desperately to claw the eyes out of the smug smuggler. Once again, the powerful enchantments holding her prisoner rake her body. Growling and trembling, Jessie fights against the torment, pulling and plying the wire roof.
Beck jumps back as the metal began to give slowly. Fearing an imminent escape, he reaches behind his back to the handgun tucking into his waistline. Before he draws the weapon, his prisoner finally falls to the enchantments and drops with a thud.
With a heavy sigh of relief, Beck releases his grip on the firearm and steps back to the cage. Jessie stares up at the ceiling with glazed-over eyes. Despite her fish-on-the-hook appearance, her struggle against the pain was impressive. She’ll fetch a high price indeed.
“Fucking rock star,” Beck says with a confident smirk.