“S-na…tcher?” I mumble, doing my best to get the word out even though it’s hard. I’ve never talked in front of someone I don’t trust, but the need to know more outweighs my fears right now. I need to learn every detail I can if I ever want to try to get out again. It’s my only hope. So every time I open my mouth, I pretend I’m talking to my mom, picturing her image in my head and her sweet voice talking back to me when I do.
He cocks his head. “What … you thought I was alone in what I do?” He chuckles. “Oh dear, you’re so sweet, so innocent.”
His words make me feel nauseous again, and they sound like poison coming from his mouth.
“Yes, I’m a snatcher,” he says. “Part of a company that deals in … well, you know. People.” The smile that follows makes me sick.
“S-sell …?” I ask with trouble. How many has he sold, and how long has he been doing this? How big is this company, and how many people are involved?
“You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?” he says, nodding to himself as if he thinks it’s clever. “But yes, we sell them. At least, I did until recently.” He taps his foot and rubs the back of his neck. “Damn Vladim disappearing on me like that … makes it hard to do business. Snatchers live for cash. I’m lucky I have my fighting ring as a side business. The bets bring in good money. But I want more.” He balls his fists.
“Why m-me? W-why C-Cage?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
“Cage was created for fighting; it’s in his veins, his blood. My blood,” he says, grinning.
“Which is why I want him to spread his seed,” he muses, letting his mouth run wild. “Everybody needs powerful, well-trained fighters in their ranks. They sell like crazy, but they’re so hard to make, considering what you need. Good genes, fighter DNA, a womb.” He clears his throat as he realizes he’s telling me too much. More than is good for him. “Not that it matters to you. You’re just an incubator.” He inches closer again. “Don’t think you’re useful for anything else here, girl.”
A mere touch of his hand on top of mine makes my skin crawl.
“You can try to escape, but you’re much too valuable for me to let you succeed. Good try, though. You’re not the first, believe me.”
I shake my head, wanting to get away, but I can’t. I’m trapped, locked in place by his heinous greed.
“Do you want to know what I did to the other ones who tried?” he asks, raising a brow.
I don’t respond, but he answers anyway, sliding a finger across his throat.
Bile rises again, and I have to swallow to keep it down.
He grasps the wheelchair’s supports, inching eerily close to my face, his breath smelling like death. “You know you deserve it, right?”
I try not to react, but it’s hard when my breath hitches in my throat. He grins when he hears.
“So are you going to be a good girl from now on?” he asks.
I nod vehemently, not trying to get killed.
He pauses, leaving me in agitated anxiety.
“You’re lucky I’m nice. Because you fucked my son and actually did what I asked, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but …” He holds a finger right up in my face. “Don’t think you can ever do that again without losing a finger or two.”
He turns and walks to a cabinet, plucking out a syringe, which he tucks into his pocket. Then he takes out a packet of pads and throws them on my lap. When he approaches me, I lean away, desperately trying to avoid getting stuck with a needle again, but he doesn’t attempt to stick it in me. Instead, he goes behind me and starts to push the wheelchair back through the corridors … back to the hole again.
I try to fight, try to struggle, but no matter how hard I try, the relaxant poisoning my muscles makes it impossible. I’m helpless as my captor brings me back to the place I never wanted to see again.
To that cell … where I left him.
The only one I can talk to even though he’s his son.
The moment Graham opens the door, I see him gazing at me, the look in his eyes feeding my despair. I feel guilty but, above all, sorrowful because I didn’t make it outside. That I now have to face his wrath as he realizes I abandoned him.
I feel terrible knowing he was in there when I wasn’t. That I betrayed his trust and left him even though I care about his fate too.
I wonder if Graham already told him what I’ve done.
Does he know I tried to run?
Does he hate me for doing it?