Page 31 of Gilded Curses

With their short gray hair, colossal shoulders, and claws that could eviscerate with one swipe, the dogs had heads twice the size of an immortal’s. The scent of the downed man’s blood excited them; they lunged and jerked against the chains as spittle flew from their mouths.

Their lower jaws jutted out beneath their upper ones to reveal razor-sharp teeth. The two canine teeth on their lower jaws jetted at least three feet into the air.

These weren’t dogs; they were monsters.

“Holy shit,” Elsa murmured beside her.

Sahira’s fingers constricted on Orin’s. She should stop interacting with him and cut off any sign they might care for each other around Desmond, but it wouldn’t do much good. The man had already seen and knew too much.

It was also too late for her when it came to the others. Desmond knew they all cared for each other and would do whatever it took to ensure they survived. He would use that against them all.

The dogs were almost to the man lying on the ground when their handlers released the chains. With a savage howl, the beasts lunged forward and sank their teeth into their victim.

Sahira winced and bowed her head as she tried to drown out the victim’s screams by screaming louder in her mind. No matter how loud she shouted, she couldn’t block the man’s agony.

After far too much time, the shrieks finally stopped, but the bone crunching continued. Beside her, Elsa trembled like a leaf in a hurricane, and while the brownies kept their attention on the crowd, Pip couldn’t hide the sheen of tears in her eyes. Loth and Fath didn’t bother to conceal their disgust.

Sahira didn’t realize she was crying until a single tear landed on her hand. The cool drop shimmered in the light before she freed her hand from Orin’s to wipe it away.

She brushed her fingers over her cheeks but felt nothing else there. She couldn’t let these vicious bastards see her cry. They’d only see it as a weakness.

And they devoured anyone they believed was weak.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Sahira didn’t want to look, but her eyes flickered back to the bloody remains of the immortal the dogs tore apart. Done with their initial feast, each beast had retreated with a limb to snack on.

Bile rising in her throat, her gaze shifted to the crying woman on the sidelines. Her shoulders hunched up as she openly sobbed with her head in her hands. None of the servants standing beside her offered her any comfort.

Instead, they stood shoulder to shoulder with their gazes forward while they watched the immortal, one they all must know, be devoured. How can they show so little emotion?

Because they’re probably used to this.

Sahira gulped as the other fighter limped past the servants and into the garden. No one offered to help him, and Sahira suspected that if he fell, the dogs would devour him too.

She’d give anything to be back in Belda’s town, with no answers and frustration mounting daily. That town was a form of torture designed to drive those who encountered it insane, but it wasn’t full of monsters.

These things probably hated Belda because she’d kept her town from dissolving into complete chaos where immortals savagely murdered each other daily. That was perhaps what these assholes hoped to have happen, but Belda had proven them all wrong. Sahira was incredibly proud of the lycan who had thwarted these heartless beings without knowing it.

Why they didn’t stop Belda, she didn’t know, considering they had a way to control the scarog beetles, but they’d allowed the lycan to continue ruling her town. And if the symbols allowed the dagadon to somehow monitor the towns, they didn’t get the pleasure of the pit… which they would have enjoyed.

They must have allowed Belda to continue for a reason. Most likely because, even with her control over that town, immortals still wandered into the Barren Lands, where they could place bets on them.

“If that is all for today,” Zeth said as if none of this fazed him, “I wouldn’t mind walking the garden again.”

“Ah yes, the garden is lovely this time of year,” Desmond said. “My wife and I shall join you.”

Sahira yearned to get as far from this man as possible, scrub her skin until it was red, and cry in the shower, but she didn’t say anything as she rose. When Elsa stood, she rested her hand on the shelf; her legs trembled before she steadied them.

The brownies rose too. When Sahira held out her hand, Loth and Fath scrambled onto it, up her arm, and across her shoulders, where they each settled on a different side.

Pip leapt onto Orin’s arm and climbed up to sit on his shoulder. She didn’t have a weapon, but she looked ready to claw the eyes out of anyone who came near them.

They filed out of the stands, and guards fell in around them as Desmond and Sheree strolled into the garden with Orin at Desmond’s side. Though Orin acted genuinely interested in what Desmond had to say, Sahira wasn’t fooled into thinking Orin liked this man or his wife.

Orin could be cruel and had hurt her many times, and he’d kept Del imprisoned and locked away from her and Lexi, but the dagadon exhibited a different level of cruelty. She didn’t know how he could stomach talking to them, but then, Orin always enjoyed a good game, and he was playing theirs.

Still, she couldn’t look at them as they spoke of the trees and plants while meandering through the garden. Beauty surrounded her, but she barely noticed any of the details as she took strength in Loth and Fath’s presence on her shoulders while Elsa and Zeth walked beside her.