The metal braces snap open. Silver Rings bounds up, brushes his matted coils of hair aside, and reaches into the pockets of his leather pants. He pulls out a rusted key. His pale features take on an unnatural glow under the black light as he unlocks each cuff one-by-one, freeing the captives until he gets to me, where he stops and crooks a sneer.
“Still have some fight in you, protector?” he asks. “Best save it for later. One move that isn’t ordered and I’ll skewer you to my sword.”
Drawing my eyebrows together, I square my shoulders, but say nothing. He laughs a throaty, deep chuckle, then proceeds to uncuff my arms. I wrap my fingers around my wrist and massage the irritated skin. Then quickly inspect it. My skin, though dirty and bruised, bares no evidence that the blood beneath is anything other than blood. I thank the goddesses.
I need to check my emotions—make sure I stay calm. I’m not sure what the Otherworlders would do to me if they found out. Maybe drain me for the mercury. Maybe experiment on me. I don’t know.
“Move ‘em out,” Long Dreads shouts, and the two Otherworlders take up their swords and wave them through the air, motioning us forward like cattle.
A metal bridge stretches across a cavernous divide, connecting two of the mountainous structures. Atop their pointed, misshapen rooftops, dark lights swirl in glass orbs, casting the Otherworld in an unearthly blue-green hue.
My boots clank against the grating, and I look over the side. The thin lights running along the walkway block the depth below, but from the echo, I’m sure a fall would mean death. I wonder how deep it is, or if there’s even a bottom. Steam hisses from the void, shooting past me and into the wide open vast that is the Otherworld.
The tower before me rises up from the abyss as we approach. Its jagged exterior and dim lighting makes my skin crawl. I’m not sure how a building can appear evil. But it does. A dark essence seeps from the structure’s core, filling the air and dragging my soul into the murky deep below.
Long Dreads stops before a large, rusted metal door and bangs on it three times. A slat slides open and two glowing eyes peep out. They rake us over, then the door whines open. We’re ushered into the dark, and a light ahead reveals a large chamber with more Otherworlders hustling around.
There’s a long iron table in the center, and an Otherworlder with the palest skin I’ve seen yet is seated behind it. His eyes settle on us, then he looks to Silver Rings.
“Bax,” Pale Face says. “What have you brought me?” He palms the table and pushes himself up into a hunched standing position. His back is curved awkwardly, as if his spinal cord is damaged.
Silver Rings—Bax walks up to him and clasps his shoulder. “We have another protector. Another Nactue.” He lifts his chin on this last part and smiles, his pointed teeth illuminated wickedly in the eerie light.
My whole body stills. Another Nactue. By the way he said it, it sounds as if the others are still alive. Alyah, lead me to them.
Pale Face jeers, his skin stretching across his bony, misshapen face, and he laughs. “Krewl and Collar each have two.” He works his jaw. It jerks sideways and back with a revolting crunch. Then his luminous eyes sweep over me. “And she looks fresh. Probably hasn’t had proper training yet. Krewl’s one girl would eat her alive.”
My confusion must be apparent as both of them look at me and their faces crack with knowing smiles. But I’m not completely lost or stupid. If they have my girls, then this Collar and Krewl must have captured one of the former Nactue as well. A seasoned Nactue. If so, that means there are five of us here. My body trembles with hope.
They don’t reveal their intentions, though. Pale Face limps toward us, his beady eyes seeking each face. “Most can be sent to the mill,” he says to Bax, then points to the mother and daughter who still cling to each other, their arms wrapped tightly. “Take the young one to the Trade, and this one”—he points to her mother—“to the mine.”
Otherworlders with chains strapped around their torsos appear from the shadows. They march toward the couple and pry them apart. The mother screams, her fingers clawing the air as she tries to keep a hold on her daughter. My teeth clamp down. Anger roils fire-hot in my stomach.
Pale Face continues down the line, pointing and sending the captured off either to be traded or to become their personal slaves. It’s been nearly a hundred years since anyone has been informed of Otherworlders enslaving people. At least in Cavan. But it seems as if they’ve been abducting all this time. Maybe on a smaller scale than they’re now doing by waging wars. Only, our Council never reported it to us.
Straightening his hunched back as much as possible, Pale Face rises up to look the prince in the face when he reaches him. As Pale Face’s eyes search Prince Caben, my fingers dig into my thigh, gripping my uniform to keep my hands from shaking. I push the fury boiling over into my gut, restraining myself from lashing out if he should send him to the Trade or worse; end him here.
Pale Face rubs his crooked jaw. “He’s strong,” he says. His eyes quint. “But weak, too. Proud. Yes, very proud. What is your name, above-worlder?”
Prince Caben sucks in a breath, pushing out his chest. “Payne,” he answers, and I notice a twinge of regret as his brow furrows. He hadn’t yet prepared a fake identity.
“Payne?” Pale Face repeats, amusement lacing his gritty voice. He quirks an eyebrow, then cocks his head in the direction of Bax and the Otherworlders. “Take the protector and Pain to the Cage.”
My eyes meet the prince’s briefly, and though I don’t know what lies ahead, I’m relieved that we at least remain together. Thank you, Alyah. I can still keep watch over my charge.
Bax laughs and our heads jerk toward him. “I should very much enjoy watching the protectors beat this weakling of a man into a bloody whip.” He flicks his wrist and the Otherworlders grab our arms to lead us away.
Bax continues to laugh, his husky voice
grating my eardrums. “To the Cage!”
The inner city quarter of the Otherworld is dank and cool, and large fans blasting semi-fresh air are mounted into the rock sediment walls. Their giant blades cause a low, rhythmic drumming that fills the realm. I’m getting accustomed to the black lights, and my eyes take in the hazy effect they have on the city.
The rock walls and earth towers are lit up in bright colors—illumined and glowing as the ultraviolet light catches the minerals in the rock. If not for the darkness and vileness slithering down here, it may be beautiful.
Prince Caben walks ahead of me as our Otherworlder guards escort us through a thickly packed downtown area. Though it seems the whole of the realm is tightly woven as such. Buildings on top of buildings, houses stacked awkwardly between them. And the electrified Cage I spotted when we first arrived is in the center of all the chaos.
As we approach the stadium area, the excited shouts and swarm of Otherworlders makes my head spin. Tiered risers reach into the dark sky above, filled with dark-clad citizens. The stands encircling the Cage are pushed a safe distance back from the snapping electrical field. Inside the cage—