Captive by K. M. Fawcett Read Free Book Online Page B

dead end before landing on her back, gasping for breath. Pain stung her hands, chest, cheeks, and back.
    What did she crash into, a tree trunk?
    When she finally got her wind back and was on her feet again, she reached into the brush. The vegetation appeared three-dimensional as it waved in the breeze, but her hand moved through it like a ghost.
    “A hologram,” she whispered in awe. It had camouflaged a long wall that continuing in both directions as far as she could see and climbed upward until it touched the clouds.
    She turned left and jogged alongside it for quite some time hoping to find a way around, but another holographic camouflaged wall crushed her hopes. She was stuck in a corner. What was this place? Chills crept down her back.
    Turning left again, she walked alongside the barricade until the woods converged with a large meadow where several bare-chested men fought with wooden swords.
    An enormous, blondish man knocked the sword from his opponent, cocked his weapon back, and let it fly full force. He shouted when he stopped inches from his enemy’s neck.
    Five others, who had been watching, applauded the winner. The loser retrieved his weapon and fell to the grass exhausted. Just beyond this group, two preteen boys shot arrows into a target hanging on the mysterious never-ending wall.
    Addy didn’t need to turn around when the twig cracked behind her. She knew it was Duncan. She recognized the panting. “What are they doing?”
    “I’ll explain if ye promise to stop running. I’m getting too old for this, aye?”
    “Aye,” she repeated. Poor Duncan had red blotches all over his face. This must have been more exercise than he’d done in a long time.
    He leaned against the hologram wall for support, “These men are practicing for the survival race.”
    “I’m afraid to ask.”
    “It’s a grueling competition that challenges strength, skill, knowledge, and survival instincts. It’s the Hyboreans’ favorite sport and the reason ye’re here.”
    “Me?” The word came out high-pitched. “I’m supposed to compete in this survival challenge?”
    “No, lass. With your athletic ability, ye’ll breed champions.”
    She was about to turn and run again when his hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her. “No matter where ye go, you canna leave. This wall reaches all the way round on four sides.”
    “You mean we’re trapped inside a giant square?”
    “Och, no. Ye got it all wrong, lass. It’s a rectangle.” He let go of her arm and with a proud smile that illuminated his eyes said, “Lassie, this is our Yard.”
    Yard, ha. Pen was more apropos.

Chapter Six
    A fter returning him to the slums, the race master, Yafuk, unleashed Max and shoved him inside his cage. He’d almost forgotten how cramped it was in here. Less than half the size of HuBReC’s breeding box, it required him to sleep diagonally in order to stretch out.
    He’d plenty of space at HuBReC. Though he hadn’t slept much there. He’d been too busy seducing the woman...and failing miserably. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d wanted him. He’d seen it in her eyes. He’d felt her body respond to his.
    And God knows he’d wanted her, too. She was beautiful, and she smelled so damn good. Her feminine scent was a glorious reprieve from the farting and unwashed body odor coming from the gladiators living in this dank three-hundred-square-foot pigsty.
    The fourteen other men in the neighboring cages were their usual rowdy and unruly selves, awaiting a midday meal that might or might not come.
    No one had acknowledged his return. Why would they, when he’d beaten them all on the training field or in the survival races. Yafuk’s gladiators were mediocre at best.
    If they weren’t all half-starved, they’d have the energy to train harder. His stomach rumbled in agreement. They’d better get fed today. He needed major calories for tomorrow’s Survival Race Championship.
    Yafuk appeared without their slop. A leashed gladiator