Traded

Chapter 83

• Colette

My body shudders involuntarily, the cold leeching in through the dirtied denim pants I have on and the thin shirt I pulled back over my head to retain whatever heat I can.

Mom breathes heavily just on the other side of the bars, as close as she can be without being too affected by the silver. I expected them to come back for me, but as my mom expected, they are letting me heal before they start up again.

It seems they want it to last as long as possible. No doubt they get a sick sense of enjoyment out of our pain. But maybe that is how the dragons are, maybe instead of living for fire they live for others suffering.

“Are you still awake….” I whisper over to my mother. I hear her groan before she clears her throat.

“There is no such thing as sleep in this place.” She says back, her voice hoarse from dehydration.

“How is your pain?” I ask her, not really knowing what else to say.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of questions running through my head. Questions I have pondered for years, answers I had convinced myself that if I knew them, maybe I could be happier. But now when I have her here, I can’t think of a damn one.

She chuckles before breaking into a coughing fit. My chest aches with every chest rattling expelling of dust she lets out and I press my head to the cement, holding back tears. After a moment, she clears her throat and I hear a heavy sigh.

“Ten years and these are the questions you ask me?”

“It seemed polite to have a little small talk first,” I joke, and she chuckles lightly.

“Well, at least my brother was good enough to teach you manners.” She muses. I don’t have the heart to tell her he taught me a lot more than that but that it was quick learning at the end of his whip or the whim of her niece.

“What do they want from you?” I ask, deciding to skirt around the familial problems she may not know we even have with her brother.

The cell goes silent, then there is an exhale and the sound of shuffling. When she speaks again, her voice is closer, more hushed.

“At first, they wanted to know where you were. I assumed you were alive and that your uncle had come for you as promised.” She explains. I furrow my brows in confusion.

“Alpha Bentley didn’t come for me.” I say slowly, “I was left in the pack for him to find.”

“No, you are mistaken. He promised me he would come for you. I couldn’t reach Caspian and-” She trails off, going silent again.

“Melody…?” I whisper, and I hear a soft, quiet sob in the darkness.

“I need a minute,” she murmurs, and I hear her shift away from me.

There is a clatter as the door opens, echoing through the damp prison, lights flickering on as I cover my eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the sudden change. There is a shuffling and I can hear a sizzle to my right as I blink and look at my mother clutching the bars.

“Do the video.” She whispers, her eyes darting toward the entrance of my cage with fear written all over her face.

“What?” I hiss, ashamed she would back down so easily, though pain has been a constant for her for many years.

“The sooner your mate knows you are missing, the sooner they will come for you.” She mutters. “I can handle torture, but you need to get out of here. This place will kill you, my sweetheart. I need you to promise me you will say what they want you to, but don’t you dare show an ounce of pain or fear? Otherwise, they will storm the mountain and it will be their death.”

She recoils away as footsteps echo closer and the same dragon man from before stops in front of me, a permanent scowl on his face. He plays with the keys in his hands for a moment, his eyes trained on me in thought before he exhales and unlocks the door. As if to mock me, he holds it open and gives me a fake bow, showing I should exit the door.

My heart skins a beat, my eyes sliding to my mother, who stands now, watching me closely, and shakes her head as she seems to read the thought in my mind. Panic rises as she touches the silver that burns her, but she never seems to react to.

Everything in my body is telling me to run. I know I won’t get far. How can I when he is so close and we are apparently on a mountain? No doubt this guy has wings when he needs them. One more glance at him reveals a small smirk on his lips, and I realize that is exactly what he wants, He

wants me to run.

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Chapter 83

Instead, I exit my cage, stepping to the side, allowing him to close it as I wait patiently for him to point me in the right direction. His disappointment is noticeable as the smirk falls from his face, replaced by a sneer, as he reaches out and shoves me.

I jolt forward, stumbling for a few steps before catching myself on the silver bars, the metal sizzling as pain zips through my hand. I retract it, hissing as I hug it to my chest and glare up at his all too pleased face.

“You enjoy hurting innocent people?” I grumble at him and he chuckles.

“Innocent? No. But you aren’t innocent, are you hybrid?” He asks, tilting his head while I try to understand what the hell he is talking about.

*Just existing makes me guilty of whatever bullshit you decide I did?” I scoff.

He doesn’t respond, and I roll my eyes. “Of course the evil ones get to dictate who they kill and make up lies as to why.”

“You aren’t supposed to exist.” He says flatly.

I whip around, glaring up at him.

“I didn’t create myself. A mate bond created me. To you dragons mates may mean nothing, but to us, to my kind, a mate is everything. It is a gift from our goddess and a refusal of that is the grave sin.” I hiss at him.

He steps into me, forcing me to keep moving back as he glares down at me.

“Why would a mangy dog and a fish be given the gift of a hybrid?” He goads me. “A species who only fights and one that only hides. You were created as a weapon to be used against us. Our only weakness is now walking the earth instead of remaining where you belong, in the sea.”

I spin forward again, my mind whirling as I take in his words and digest them. Me being here isn’t just because of their desire to kill off the werewolves and lycans. Though clearly there is some tension between our species, but they are using me to lure out Caspian as well. Fire and water don’t mix, they can’t.

So with the sirens restrained to their respective habitat and the dragons to theirs…everyone was safe. Until me, though, if what that last bitch said is true, then I’m not the first or only hybrid. So why do I get to be treated like a problem and not the other supposed hybrids?

“Turn left,” He grunts and I follow his instructions.

“Where are we going?” I ask curiously as the hallway grows warmer with every step, the air dry and suffocating until we break into a massive room.

“The king wants a look at you,” he murmurs, sounding displeased by this command.

as he continues to shove me along

The vast ceiling is light up with fire, providing a flickering light along the lava rock floors. Sweat beads at my brow and drips down my back and I see the walls lined with warriors all standing at attention, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

There is a fountain in front of me, not of the water I desperately find myself in need of, but of bubbling magma in the center of the long walkway. He pushes me to the right, and I trip on a protruding rock, crashing to my knees.

Heat burns through my jeans, as pain erupts over my knee cap and I cry out in pain. I place my hands down, trying to stand as fast as possible and my skin sears, the pads of my fingers and palm sticking to the rock as I tear them free with a gasp and hold them to my body.

“Help the pitiful creature up,” a man sighs in boredom. “Clearly, she has no taste for our preferred level of heat.”

“What is it you want from me?” I ask, my jaw clenching from the throbbing in my hands and knee. I am struck in the back and I groan.

“He is the king. Address him as such.” He growls in my ear.

“What do I want from you?” The Dragon King asks, sitting forward and out of the shadows. “That is a curious question to ask for a spy. I believe it is more appropriate to ask what it is you want from us.”

I furrow my brows and scoff in disbelief.

“Me? A spy?” I ask him, “Is that what Giselle told you?”

“Why else would you be here?” He asks me curiously as he stands and moves toward me with slow and stiff movements. It is clear he is suffering some type of injury, his eyes filled with pain with every step he takes.

“Do you honestly think I came here because I wanted to?” I scoff.

“Spies go where they are ordered, not because they want to go somewhere.” He shrugs.

“Your kind ambushed me and killed my gamma.” I growl, taking a limp toward him. “Giselle attacked first at the council meeting. Not the other way around.”

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Chapter 83

“So that is why you are here then, revenge on my mate?” He asks, arching a brow.

I realize now that the pain in his eyes is not from any physical ailment, but mental. The way he seems to beg for freedom while doing something he has no control over. He is under control of Lily and Giselle, and whoever else is in on their little shitty plan.

“There is no talking to you.” I whisper to myself in shock. “You are as free as I am.”

“Take her back.” He flicks his wrist at the man escorting me, who grumbles as he drags me out of the room.

After a few moments, he stops walking and allows me to stand on my own, his eyes scanning the area before he steps close and looks down at me with a look of determination.

“What did you see in his eyes that made you say that?” he asks.

“He is a prisoner just as much as I am,” I scoff. “Can you not tell?”

“I can, but no one else seems to…” he says, glancing around like he is paranoid that someone may be listening. “Well, Princess, I think we may be able to help each other…”

1 narrow my eyes and click my tongue. “Oh, and what makes you think that?”

“I can get you out of here, if you help me first,” he offers, and I bite my lip warily.

“What do you need from me?” I ask, feeling hopeful for the first time in days.

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