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I placed my hand on hers and together we paced along the window until we walked its entire length. It was a popular spot with the other prisoners. Between my cell and the fighting pits, there wasn’t much else I’d seen of the prison.
“Hey, Harper,” another of the inmates said.
Harper turned and it took a moment for her to recognize him.
“Ajar,” she said coolly. “Nice to see you’re still… alive.”
There was no doubt something had happened between them. She was a Prize and had likely slept with a lot of prisoners over time.
Just the thought of that brought a sour taste to my mouth.
“How are you doing?” Ajar said, pointedly not looking at me. “You look good. Really good. Listen, I know it’s been a while, and I’ve struggled to win a fight since last time, but do you think you could throw me a free one?”
Harper’s jaw stiffened and she turned to lead me away.
“Let’s go,” she said.
We turned to leave.
Ajar grabbed her by the arm.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m talking to you.”
The moment his hand touched her arm, my hand snapped around his wrist and twisted him off her.
Ajar’s eyes bulged and he moved with the twisting motion to prevent his arm snapping in its joint.
“I’m only asking!” Ajar said.
“So, go ask somewhere else,” I said icily.
I released his arm and led Harper away.
“You stupid slut!” Ajar bellowed, clutching his arm defensively. “The next time I win a fight, I’ll make sure you never forget our time together! Do you hear me?”
His shout got the attention of the other prisoners. More than one saw Harper and their eyes lit up with recognition. They opened their mouths to utter something I wasn’t interested in hearing.
We couldn’t just stand there. Not with them gathering around like a swarm of angry locusts. They could mass and attack all at once. I might be a good fighter but no one could stand against that onslaught.
I took us down the hallways and headed directly for the Prize Pool. There were always guards on duty there. They patrolled the rest of the prison but it was impossible to ascertain when they would be passing by at any given moment.
“I’m sorry about that,” Harper said as we came to a stop outside the Prize Pool. “I didn’t know… I thought…”
She didn’t know what to say. Her eyes crinkled up with anger and tears shimmered in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
I took her in my arms and shushed her comfortingly.
“It’s all right. It’s not your fault.”
She calmed in my healing embrace and turned quiet.
“I never wanted to be in this place,” she said. “I was abducted. And then they… they… They forced me to be with these… things! Most days there was one that claimed me. I hated it. I hate every single one of them.”
I pressed her head to my chest to help calm her. Her madam, Lily, didn’t need to hear what she was saying.
She quietened and relaxed. She didn’t raise her head as she drew a breath and said her next few words.
