The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) (29 page)

Oh hell no.

A guard in the assembly walked over, nudged a firearm
into the back of my head, and urged me to continue into the
space.

I tried to glamour, again; to no avail.
What the
fuck?

Carlos pulled me over, latching me into the
shackles.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d begun to respect fae’s
rules of battle. They still were old school, and few fought with
guns, choosing blades instead. There was an honor in that. It was
about who was a more skilled fighter. It was about smarts. Guns
could render the slowest person a winner in a duel. But in the
general sense, I liked the concept of “may the best fighter win.” I
went into all my fights with only my fists and wits.

It rattled my bones to be forced to do something
without a fight. Until I jumped, I would watch for any moment their
defense went down.

The metal clasps around my ankles and wrists allowed
me to move only a foot in any direction. Carlos rechecked all the
fastenings, testing for a weak connection. “Get comfy,
bruja
.” He and his two other minions walked out and slammed
the large iron door behind them, plunging me into sheer blackness.
My stomach screwed into a lump, my breath immediately becoming
short. Being tied in a dark room brought back too many horrible
memories. My first reaction was to soothe myself and go to my happy
place. But at the same time, there was a chance if I worked myself
up enough, I would jump. Fear seemed to be my trigger.

I let the dark soak into my skin, focusing on the
ties binding my wrists and ankles, remembering my younger self
confined in small quarters in utter darkness, left for hours with
no food or water. A mist of sweat beaded my forehead. My heart beat
irregularly in my chest as I focused on the memories.

Why am I not jumping?
I yanked at the chains
in exasperation.
Why isn’t it working when I need it?

Indignation at myself, at my situation, prickled at
my eyes, but I was far too angry to cry. The girl who held so much
rage for life, for the cards she was dealt, was bounding to the
surface again. The girl who could only solve things with her fists
growled inside, wanting to break out like a caged animal.

I seethed for hours in the dark. I’d promised myself
I would never be a victim again. Even if I were forced to a wall,
they would not possess me.

The door swung open and dim light leaked into the
small room. Maria’s shoes clicked on the stone as she sauntered in
with Carlos and the other two men behind her.

“Not sure if the sight of the Avenging Angel chained
could ever get old to me.” Maria’s brown eyes glinted with
amusement.

A slow methodical smile grew on my mouth.

Maria blinked, glancing over her shoulder, and then
back at me. “What are you smiling about?”

My grin expanded.

“Stop it,” she demanded. “Why are you smiling? You’re
chained up. You have no way out. Your life is now mine. I
own
you.”

I only smirked.

“Stop that!”

Damn, she was easy to rile. It was one of her biggest
flaws. Quick to anger and quick to act.

“I tell you when to eat, sleep, and shit. Don’t you
understand you are mine now?” She grabbed my face, squeezing my
jaw.

In this moment she reminded me of her brother.
Marcello’s need to fashion himself above everyone else by control
and dominance. The power he felt when someone cried or showed fear
had governed his existence. When someone didn’t give him this, he
got angry and unsettled. She was exactly the same way. It was
amusing to watch. Even if I knew there were reprimands, it was
worth it.

Like the time before, she did not fail me. Her slap
whipped my head to the side. The bubbling of rage tickled my gut. I
chuckled.

“Dammit, you bitch!” Maria closed her hand. The punch
hit my upper lip and nose, slicing my gums and cracking the
cartilage in my nostrils. Fresh blood broke free, sliding over the
previous nosebleed, crusted above my mouth.

Come on, Zoey. Jump!

My body stayed in place. Extreme emotion was usually
the source of my previous jumps. Anger, sadness, fear. I hoped one
of these would finally click in and work.

Anger was an emotion I understood well and was easy
to invoke in me. Once I started down the path, it took a lot for me
to come back. Like a bull, all I saw was red. The more Maria hit
me, the more my emotions narrowed down the tunnel, inciting my
wrath.

“Still can only fight me when I’m chained up, huh?” I
taunted her.

A punch to the stomach.

I bent over, coughing. “Poor Maria, you were never
any good at fighting. Hope you are better at changing diapers.
Looks like your brother might need a nanny.”

Whatever switch I snapped in Maria, it flooded her
with a billowing rage. She cried out and came after me with all she
had.

I closed my mind to the pain and centered on
escaping. My muscles twitched with the need to act. I could feel
the magic in there, but for some reason it was not coming to the
surface.

Another jab to the stomach doubled me over, gagging.
A cry mixed with annoyance and agony tore from me, bringing me back
to my outer shell. Blood gushed from cuts on my face. My eye
already puffed, pulling the lid shut. The taste of blood coated my
teeth.

“Maria,” Carlos shouted over her wails. I lifted my
only operational lid, seeing him pull her off me. “Stop.” He
wrapped his arms around her, keeping her still. “
Detengase, mi
reina
.”
Stop, my queen
. He whispered so low I knew I was
probably the only one who heard him. Maria’s attention was still
locked on me so she didn’t seem to hear or see anything else.

Saliva dripped from my mouth and I spit, feeling the
thickness of the blood mixed in.

“That was for my brother.” Maria ripped from Carlos’
hold, coming back for me. “And this is for me.”

I felt and heard the crunch to my cheek as her fist
collided with my face. It was the only sensation I had before
everything went dark.

A faraway squeak of metal brought me out of my hazy
dreams. Right away I wished I had stayed unconscious. My face
pounded in sync with my heart, shooting ice picks into my temple.
Soreness rumbled over my ribs and tender bruises flickered their
own torture over my stomach and face. My head lay on a cold,
unforgiving ground, and my body huddled in a tight ball. I shivered
from the icy room.

Soft footsteps on the stone pulled my one lid up. The
other partially opened, but it felt better to keep it closed. In
the shadows an outline of a girl bustled through the door, her
hands full. Two guards stood on the other side, holding the door
open for her. The only light came from a flashlight one of the
guards held. I had no idea what time it was, but it seemed late
night. The girl moved to me.

I always had sharp senses. Probably something DMG
made sure was in my coding. Now with Ryker’s powers, they’d
heightened to extraordinary. Similar to someone blind, my senses
were tiny fingers, making out faces, bodies, and auras in the
dark.

Human. Girl. Young. Timid. The taste of her fear
glazed over my tongue.

An Asian guard I recognized from earlier, Hiro,
pushed around her, a semiautomatic hanging from his side. “If you
make any move, I will put a bullet into your brain.”

I wanted to laugh. I was chained to a wall, beaten,
and so cold my muscles decided to go into hibernation. In a few
months I had acclimatized to Peru’s heat. I missed it.

Hiro grabbed my shoulders and propped me against the
wall. Air hissed between my teeth. The girl kneeled in front of me
with a bottle of water, rags, bandages, and antiseptic. Her hands
shook as she dampened the cloth with the disinfectant and reached
for my face. I hissed when the alcohol touched my cuts, rearing my
head back to the wall. The girl jerked her hand back.

She was clearly terrified and a pretty little thing,
only about fifteen. Naturally skinny, but the sharpness of her
cheeks told me she was being underfed. Dirty, knotted beach waves
of long dark blonde hair tumbled over her shoulder out of her loose
ponytail. Her light blue eyes reflected in the torchlight as she
reached for me again. I bit on my lip and forced myself to stay in
place as she dabbed the wounds. She continued to clean my cuts,
keeping her gaze away from mine.

“You’re scared of me.” It was a statement. She set
the cloth down, picking up the bandages. I saw her nod. “Why?”

The guard grunted in warning but didn’t stop me from
interacting with her.

“Why are you afraid of me?” Her fear might also be of
the guards or even this place, but I could feel it was mostly
directed at me.

“You are the Avenging Angel,” she whispered, voice
shaking.

So much for keeping my identity a secret. “Yeah,
so?”

She frowned, like her saying my moniker was enough of
an answer. “People have told me about you and what you are capable
of doing.”

“Enough talk. Keep working.” Hiro nudged the girl
with the handle of the gun. She quickly got back to patching me
up.

“What are they saying about me?”

She pressed the bandage to my cheek. “That you are a
killer. You enjoy the taste of your victims’ blood and drink it
after you’ve murdered them.”

Wow!
Okay. Now they had turned me into some
dark fable, scaring children.

“What’s your name?”

The girl tugged at the bottom of her lip before
answering. “Annabeth.”

“Annabeth, look at me. Do I look like a murderer to
you?”

For the first time, her eyes met mine, and her gaze
bored into my soul. I can’t say what it was, certainly not her
looks, but something in the way she met my gaze reminded me of
Lexie. Like they could see past all the bullshit people used to
hide themselves and really see the person underneath.

Her head shook back and forth. “No.”

“Not to say I am not capable of it; we all are. But
you don’t have to fear me.”

A smile hinted at her mouth, and she nodded.

“But only you.” I winked. It was good if most of the
others feared me. Kept me protected. For some reason I didn’t want
her to be afraid of me. She was already scared enough.

“What are you even doing here?” I asked.

“That’s enough.” The guard tapped on Annabeth’s
shoulder. “You are done here.”

She nodded and collected her items. “The water is for
you.” She stood and was escorted by the guard. The metal door
clanked as he shut it, plunging me back into pure darkness.

Annabeth stayed in my mind till I drifted off. I
wondered how she became a part of this group. Was she kidnapped?
Joined willingly? She didn’t have the body language of someone who
spent time on the streets. My intuition told me she came from a
sheltered, loving world. She could not possibly be a fighter.
Skinny and timid, she would be eaten alive out in the ring. Why was
she here? What use was she to them?

I knew I would not like the answers to my questions.
But with this one girl, I felt I could no longer run away and
forget she existed. I had done that once, and there was never a day
that went by I didn’t regret it. I hadn’t stopped the man who
abused me from doing it to other little girls. This time I would
stop it. Make sure these girls got free of this life.

When I was awakened again, daylight streamed in from
behind Maria as she entered. A frown creased her forehead at seeing
me. “You seem to be healing.”

My fingers reached up, touching my face. The cuts
were swollen but closed and on their way to mending back together.
My bruises felt less tender and my lid could almost fully open.
This might raise questions if she kept hitting me and I kept
healing in only a few hours.