Blood Red (25 page)

She wondered where she was. Morgana was her captor, she was sure. This was exactly what Wolf had warned her 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