about. Wolf. Damn it! She cursed herself.
This was what happened when feelings clouded the mind. She should have left him to die. Now her own life was forfeit because she had tried to save his.
Not once in the last seven years had she put another’s life ahead of her own. She had watched people she knew die in front of her eyes. She had seen women and children slaughtered pointlessly, but she still failed to act. That was how she survived. Training and warring for only one purpose: To stay alive long enough to kill The Wolf.
But she had failed, and would probably never get another opportunity to exact her revenge. She was not sure if she wanted it. For the first time in seven years, she had felt something for someone else, and it had cost her…everything.
Red jumped off the bed and charged at the metal bars. She grabbed one in each hand and shook them, 48
Blood Red
screaming out in frustration,
“Aaaargh! You lying, deceiving bitch, where are you! I know you’re there. I can smell your rancid stench.”
A mist gathered on the floor outside Red’s cell. It swirled around lazily. Red watched it as it moved. It became a circle and swirled up like a tornado.
Morgana materialized from inside it. The mist dissipated. Morgana smiled sweetly. “You’re awake.
How glorious.”
Red reached out from the bars, trying to grab Morgana. She stepped just out of reach.
“Temper, temper, little girl. That’s going to get you into trouble.”
Red seethed with anger. It foamed at her mouth, like that of a rabid dog. “When I get free, I’m going to kill you nice and slow. I’m going to lick the blood from my blade like it was sugar.”
“I’m sure you will try. But before you do, I’m going to enjoy breaking you into a thousand weak, quivering pieces. When I am done, you will beg me for more. You will kneel at my feet and plead for my attentions. You will be my plaything, my slave, for all of eternity.”
“I am no one’s slave.” Red reached out with both hands and frantically tried to grab Morgana. She pushed with her feet, trying to squeeze herself between the bars.
Morgana laughed. The sound vibrated off the rock filling the entire chamber with the mocking sound.
“Guards.”
Two large beefy men dressed in chain mail tunics 49
Vivi Anna
rushed to Morgana’s side. Dangling from their hands were long chains with metal cuffs.
“Bind her.”
Red backed up from the bars. She looked around her cell for a weapon, anything she could use to inflict pain. She saw nothing. She was defenseless, save for her own fists.
The guards opened the cell door. They entered cautiously. They knew a wild animal when they saw one. And this girl was as wild as they came. They flanked her on each side.
Red knew she could not escape. But she would be damned if she went down quietly. She looked at each of the men. One of them would have to pay. Pay with pain.
Red leapt up and wrapped herself around the guard on her right. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. She locked her legs around his midsection and crushed him in her powerful vice. He cried out as she bent her head down and bit into his fleshy cheek.
The other guard hit her in the back with his fists, trying to beat her off his partner. He struck her viciously on her back and sides. She remained on the guard like a leech. He struck her in the side of the head. Her grip loosened.
She was finally dragged off the guard, still kicking and gnashing her teeth, and was pinned onto the ground. She snarled and growled as the guard encased her wrists and ankles in shackles.
The other guard touched his face where he had been bitten. His fingers came away smeared with 50
Blood Red
blood.
“You filthy whore!” He looked down at Red who still struggled inside the shackles. He raised his foot, and kicked her in the stomach.
“Enough!” Morgana stepped into the cell, her hand raised. “How dare you damage my prize?”
The guard looked at her sheepishly.
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley