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As bad as my fate was, it was nothing compared to what they would have in store for Ohara — especially so soon after the riots had taken place. They would want to make an example of him the same way they had me.
I tried to find solace in the idyllic beach images I had sought out before, but now they tasted sour and made my throat sting. They were a cruel joke.
The time of freedom was over — if it had ever really existed in the first place.
The bedroom door cracked open and a small figure I recognized as Erishia peered in at me.
I turned my face away so she couldn’t see my tears. I was still the madam, even if it was in name only now, and I would maintain at least a little of my pride.
Erishia entered and I glimpsed half a dozen other Prizes out in the hallway before she shut the door behind herself.
I felt the soft press of Erishia’s body as she sat at the end of my bed. Neither of us spoke. The assistant stroked my arm and the dam of tears I’d been struggling to hold back began to break. It was her kind softness that did it.
“We were close,” I said. “We were so close.”
Erishia made soft shushing noises. It felt comforting to have someone listen.
“We were going to be happy together, live our lives together. Start a family. But now, none of that is going to happen.”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to fall in love with the prisoners?”
“I said shouldn’t. But I’m only human. Maybe at least one thing will come out of this. Now you will all listen to my advice. I can serve as a warning that none of us will ever find our happily ever after.”
There was a long pause as Erishia pressed at the metal hoops around my wrists and ankles. The magnets only grew stronger, squeezing me tighter.
“The harder I struggle, the tighter they become,” I said. Erishia immediately took her hand away. She was a good kid and I hoped she would do well after they were done with me and I was no longer able to take care of her.
“The others are scared,” she said. “They think the Supervisor will punish us all.”
“Maybe. I don’t know what he’ll do. But what difference does it make? We’re dead on the inside with what they make us do.”
The assistant stopped stroking my ankle. “But I thought after we served our time, however long that might be, they would allow us to return home.”
I shook my head. “No one knows what happens to the Prizes. I’ve lost track of how many passed through here. They remained positive so they could cope. They were never seen or heard from again after they left this place. Maybe they do return home. But judging by the way they treat us here, would they really be kind to us once we’ve served our purpose and are no longer of use to them?”
Erishia was quiet for a long moment. “But it’s possible, right? That they’ll let us go home? If I knew I would never get out of here, I never would have done it.”
I listened to her words and wondered what she meant with her final comment. Then I looked over at her.
When my eyes met hers, she looked away and removed her hand from my ankle. Then her fingers slid together, forming a spiky hedgehog shape that I recognized as her species’ way of praying.
“If I knew, I never would have done it,” she repeated.
She bowed her head low. I might not be fluent in her language but body language was — for the most part — almost universal. And I’d never seen such an obvious display of guilt before.
She had seen me last night… when I left with Ohara. She had seen me…
“No,” I said, the blood draining from my face. “You didn’t tell them? Didn’t I treat you well? I stopped you from being a Prize so none of the Champions could Claim you. And this is the thanks I get?”
“I didn’t know what he would do!” Erishia said, suddenly alive with energy in a way I had never seen before. “I thought maybe if I told him, he would reward me and let me go. I didn’t tell him right away. I gave you lots of time to escape.”
My eyes could have drilled straight through her. It was a good thing I was chained to my bed or I would have slugged her hard in the face otherwise.
Erishia got to her feet and shuffled side to side. “If I waited too long, it would be too suspicious. It would be like I was part of it, part of your escape, and he would blame me too.”
“You didn’t need to say anything!” I spat. “You could have pretended to sleep through the whole thing! You didn’t think about me. You thought only of yourself! I had a future with my fated mate and you stole it from me!”
My words might have been physical by the way they struck her, making her rock back on her heels. “I didn’t know he was your fated mate!”
