The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) (32 page)

“My family was killed in the electric storm. The
apartment building we lived in collapsed, and they weren’t able to
get out.” Her voice trembled, but didn’t crack. “I was at school. A
volleyball game. My entire school was destroyed... I don’t know how
I got out alive; only a few of us did. We tried to stay together,
but I heard about the Red Cross tents, and one night trying to get
there I was kidnapped and brought here.”

“If you could escape, do you have any extended family
you could go to?”

One of Annabeth’s shoulders raised and dropped. “My
dad’s parents live in Wisconsin, but I was never close to them. I
only visited them once when I was a child before my dad had a
falling out with my grandfather. I don’t even know where they live
or their phone number.”

“We will find them,” I pronounced, her gaze met mine.
“I promise I will get you out of here.”

A flash of hope glinted in her eyes before her head
dropped, and she went back to finish what she was doing. With what
little movement I could manage, I helped her put fresh leggings on
me.

“Thank you, again. I will not forget this, and I
never make promises I don’t intend to keep.” A thin empty smile
curved her mouth at my words. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

She nodded.

I gulped, forming my dreaded question. “What does Duc
have you here for? You are clearly not a fighter.”
Please, don’t
let it be what I think it is.

Her lips pressed together, folding her hands in her
lap. “Duc wants to have girls at the fights walking around and
serving. He said my role would be more of an ambassador.”

The knots in my belly folded over themselves. Duc
could sugarcoat it all he wanted, but I knew exactly what it meant.
They were there to satisfy whomever Duc wanted to please in
whatever way they desired. He was prostituting all of us one way or
another.

At first, I’d thought coming back here was a mistake,
but what if Annabeth was my reason?

I knew I couldn’t do shit tied up in this room. I
wasn’t even sure I could do much from the inside, but I needed to
try. But even if I could convince everyone to escape this
warehouse, where would they go? Duc wouldn’t simply let them go,
and they wouldn’t be able to hide at the Red Cross. The police had
too much on their plate to do anything. Some of the girls might not
even want to go. Their lives might be better and more comfortable
here than they were before.

If I could get a few to safety, the ones who had
families, who wanted to be free of this life, it would be good
enough.

When Annabeth left and my legs were once again
restrained, I knew what I had to do—let down my walls and release
Ryker’s powers. The dream of arguing with myself rang through my
memory. I was the one blocking them. I had to change not only my
fate, but every girl’s here.

Sweat poured down my face, my concentration
wobbling.
Come on, Zoey. Try harder!
So far I only was able
to give myself a crushing headache. There was one moment I felt
myself jump. I stayed inside the cell, but I jumped to the other
side of the room then snapped back. It happened so briefly I was
starting to doubt it even transpired. Still, it gave me hope to
continue.

Deep down I understood what was really blocking me. I
cared about Ryker. A lot. No matter how I tried to talk myself out
of the fact or denied it, it was true. I would not let myself give
it a name. I’d never experienced anything like this. It felt
different from Daniel. This was the exact thing blocking me from
taking Ryker’s magic completely. When I first met Ryker, I would
have taken his powers from him, no question, no matter what it
caused him. I could no longer do that.

Somehow, I was going to have to do it, and it killed
me to know what the consequences would be after I did.

The room was perpetually pitch black, so I had no
concept of time. But when my stomach gurgled past growling and my
eyes grew heavy with sleepiness, the door to the cell unlocked and
flew open. Generated light streamed in behind the figures,
outlining them. Flashlights flicked on, blinding me.

“Get up,” a man’s voice barked at me.

The guards didn’t even wait for me to respond before
they grabbed me and yanked me to my feet. Between the torchlight
and the light outside the room, I could make out Duc’s slight form
walking toward me. He looked exactly like I remembered, down to the
suit he was wearing. The fabric was thinning from incessant wear.
Threads hung from a few buttons, and it was wrinkled, but the man
in the suit still held himself like he was in Armani. He had thick
dark hair, small dark eyes, and a thin mouth. His face was strong,
his cheekbones defining his angular face. Power and ruthlessness
pulsed off him, instilling fear in those around him. I pinned my
shoulders against the wall and kept my head up. I would not show I
was afraid.

Maria stepped in the room after him. She also tried
to hide her fear, although it seemed etched in her stance and her
wringing her hands. “See, Duc? I got the Avenging Angel for you. I
was not lying.”

He grabbed my face, his nails digging into my chin.
His eyes ran over me critically. He had seen me at least once
before—in the fight with Marcello—the one when I almost killed his
star fighter. That night I had been adorned with wings and heavy
black makeup.

“Yes, I remember you now.” His lips pinched. “You
will compensate for the girl I lost.” Duc’s eyes drifted over to
Hiro’s, giving him a nod. Hiro’s hatred for me grew in his
expression as he clenched his jaw. “Your name will bring me
money.”

It didn’t seem I was really needed in this
conversation, so I kept my mouth shut.

He swung around. “Maria, announce her return at
tomorrow’s event. She will fight in Friday’s match. I want flyers
all over this town. Pictures of her if we can. Let’s increase the
excitement and up the bets.”

Maria nodded obediently. “I have photos of her from
the last fight.” She shifted from foot to foot, not looking at
him.

“If you lose or throw this fight...” Duc grabbed my
face again, letting the unsaid threat hang in the room. He did not
need to continue on. I understood perfectly. The rumors of the
types of torture he delivered would make men trained in combat
weep. “You will be reprimanded. If you try to run, there is
nowhere
you can go I would not find you.” Duc motioned to
the guard next to him. “Release her.”

“What?” Maria bolted forward. “Sir, I don’t think
that is wis—”

Duc shot her a look, slamming Maria’s mouth closed. A
creepy smile grew on his face as he stared back at me. “I think she
comprehends what disobeying me would entail. Don’t you?” His
fingers nipped at my chin. “Keep the monitor on her if it makes you
more comfortable. But she will eat, sleep, and train with the
others... and do everything I say.”

A guard unlatched my restraints. Then Duc swiveled
around and proceeded to the door. Maria glared at me before
following Duc. The sound of the group marching down the stairs
echoed in my chest as I fell back against the wall and slithered to
the floor.

Every moment I could spare, I was going to work on
getting out of here. It felt like the moment I stepped into the
ring, Duc would truly own me.

I would forever be lost.

I peeked through the curtain at the hordes of people
packing the warehouse, chanting and cheering at the two girls in
the center of the fighting ring. My legs trembled as the shouts of
the crowd escalated.

Training filled almost every waking hour till the
night of my fight, leaving me exhausted. I could barely focus on
trying to jump, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Whatever
was blocking me held firmly in place.

Another roar of the crowd skated over my skin, giving
me shivers. The energy all around pumped against my spine, dancing
my legs about. Screams and bellows of the enthusiasts vibrated
against the walls of the abandoned warehouse. Duc had taken the
fights to an industrial area by the railroad tracks, a good
forty-five-minute walk south of Seattle. From the unrelenting line
still flooding through the door as hundreds of bodies and shoving
themselves into every free space around the ring, the distance
hadn’t deterred them.

It wasn’t the fight causing my nerves, but the
sensation of human energy drenching me, like I had electricity
coursing through my muscles. Getting a high off energy was normal
for humans. What
I
felt wasn’t. Like the night Ryker’s
powers were hurled into me, I could feel my body absorbing the
force coming from them. There were fae around too. Their
multicolored auras blinked constantly through the mass of people. I
shouldn’t have been surprised; many dark fae lived off energy like
this. Wrath, greed, pride, envy, and probably lust dangled in the
air like dust particles.

Even in a month, the fight scene had tripled. At
first people thought the devastation in Seattle would be temporary,
but hope was dwindling, and the worst in human nature was taking
precedent. More people were desperate for an escape from the life
here in Seattle.

Fae were probably having the time of their lives,
loving this new turn of events, which created even easier victims.
I could no longer exclude myself. I was also sucking up the human
energy, like a sports drink powering my adrenaline. I could now see
why fae were addicted. It was an unbelievable high. Maybe I should
have been shamed by my thoughts, but things were not cut and dry to
me anymore.

The crowd gave up a final cheer or hiss, the fight in
the ring coming to an end. Energy circled, tumbling nervously
around in my stomach.

The opening fights were over, now it was time for the
headliner to come on stage.

“You’re up.” Maria pulled me away from the curtain,
placing the mask on my face, letting the bands snap on my ears.
Carlos stood guard at the doorway. The crowd on the other side of
the curtain chanted a shortened version of my moniker.

“AN-GEL!” The pounding of feet and hands set the
rhythm of my heart.

“They are riled tonight.” Maria came around,
straightening the wings on my back before kneeling down and
releasing me from my charged ankle shackle. “You better not fuck
this up. And if you try to run. He will hunt you down and kill
you.” Her threat would have meant more if the real fear for her own
life didn’t break through, flooding her demeanor. She stood and
walked over to the table, grabbing something out of her bag.

She tilted the needle up, tapping the air bubbles out
of the syringe with her fingertip.

“No.” I stepped back.

“It’s merely vitamins.” A smirk rolled her mouth.

“Vitamins, my ass.”

My feet struggled to maintain their ground as she
walked to me. Whatever she injected me with last time had caused
withdrawals, nausea, and a fever.

“You will thank me later, when you are numb to the
pain.”

I shuffled back. “No, I don’t want drugs.”

“It’s not heroin.” She advanced toward me. “We don’t
want our girls becoming junkies. This merely gives you energy and
dulls the pain.”

A set of hands came behind me, pinning my arms
against my body. Carlos locked me in place. Maria was fast, jabbing
me with the needle before I could wiggle out of Carlos’ hold. I
sucked in a hiss, my eyes narrowing on her. She patted my arm with
a cotton ball and flashed me a smug grin. The heat in my veins was
instant, working down my arm and across my chest.

“Ladies and gentlemen...” The room filled with the
announcer’s voice. It was the same guy who introduced me last time.
His words rose and fell with emphasis, rallying the audience and
teasing them. “Descended from the heavens above, our own fallen
messenger has come back to fight for us. Let’s all welcome... THE
AVENGING ANGEL!”