Compel (Rae Wilder #2)

Chapter Four

I was cold, I was groggy, and I was mad. A sharp, metallic aftertaste stained my mouth, and the smell of urine and dead things clogged my nose. Opening my eyes I was relieved - and infuriated - to meet two sets of adorable brown eyes set in sun-browned, heart-shaped faces.

“She’s waking up,” one of the faces said. “Give her some room to breathe.”

The girl was pretty. A button nose, wide eyed, and a cute crop of dark brown hair. She crouched close by me, almost protective. A purple bruise decorated the side of her face and her pouty mouth looked swollen.

I tried to move my arms to crawl back, but I winced. My body was not fit to do much but lie still. Nevertheless, I did not want to lie there like a dead thing. I shifted up onto my elbows but a chain connected to a rusty manacle at my throat hindered further movement. My skin was swollen from the contact.

Uncomfortable on the hard ground, I scooted a little more before settling. Then I took in my surroundings.

The ceiling was low and dirty and the room wide, built of crumbling red brick. Candles cast glowing arcs of light and spilled sticky wax onto the wall casting glowing arcs of light. Rows of manacles and snaking chains were nailed into wooden panels on the floor. Dark, shiny patches of red stained the grey concrete I sat on, and explained the dead smell. The gloomy corners made the walls seem curved, a room of death and shadows.

I shuddered, and my eyes settled on the brown eyes girl again. Oh hell. I was seeing double.

“What?– Where?–” I made a rude noise, squeezed my eyes shut to hold back the tears.

Panicking would get me nowhere. I had to remain calm and not see double. Whatever had happened, the Priests would find me and save me from this… this… place.

I opened my eyes but little had changed, expect one of the brown-eyed girls was grinning broadly.

“You’re not going mad, fairy. There are two of us.” She nodded her head to the second brown-eyed girl, who stared at my wings with a mixture of fascination and disgust. “That is Nimah, my younger and spoilt twin. I’m Amelia.”

I blinked and shook my head. I could have sworn she said fairy. “Hai,” I said relieved at least I was not seeing things even if I was hearing things.

“Why can we smell our Alpha on you?” Nimah asked and tilted her head back proudly, as if she expected nothing less than a full and immediate answer from me.

I’d knocked something important loose in my brain, I was sure of it. “Where are we?” I asked. I directed the question at Amelia.

She beamed at me, happy I had chosen to finish our exchange before indulging her sister. “We’re in the humans’ dungeon under the place they train the Hoods.”

Biting my lip, I cocked my head. “Hoods?”

“The humans who wear the red hoods,” she said and trembled. “The ones who protect the Wall.”

Why did she speak as if human was something foreign to her? “We’re at Temple?” I said, beyond relieved. I mean, I had never heard o, or seen this place before, but it meant I had made it back alive. That was the last time I ran in demon territory. For a while, I was afraid I had stumbled onto some of them, the demons.

Thank gods I was safe.

Judging by the lack of light and the shape of the walls, we were deep underground. Perhaps a Cleric had found me and not wanted to alarm the other Disciples by taking me to Sanctuary. Intuition told me that was unlikely, since I was manacled. Maybe they were being on the safe side? After all I was a human, but maybe they were afraid a vampire had glamoured me, or something.