Betrayed by Allison Brennan

Author:Allison Brennan [Brennan, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780999456507
Publisher: Authors on the Air Press
Published: 2017-10-15T05:00:00+00:00

THE FIRE WITHIN

A Brennan Coven Short Story

By Elle J Rossi

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Mystic Nights. A world of marvels. An escalation of the extraordinary.”

Bevva tugged on the steel collar buckled around her neck. With her other hand, she twisted her red corkscrew curls around her index finger. She yanked the curl down until the lock was completely straight before letting it go to spring back into place. Anger simmered in her gut. Anger at herself for being caught, and murderous rage at the man who’d captured her.

She peeked around the heavy curtain. The announcer, dressed from head to toe in black leather, including a top hat of all things, stood beneath the spray of a spotlight. “You’ve been promised performances and adventures beyond your wildest dreams.”

The announcer had it wrong. This place should have been called Mystic Nightmares.

Beads of sweat slid down her spine. She wore nothing more than a top the size of a Band-Aid and a tiny pair of shorts that covered about half her ass. Buckets of sweat must have been pouring off the leather man haloed by light in the center ring.

He flicked his wrist and cracked a whip. “That is indeed what you will get.”

She couldn’t see the crowd, but she heard their reaction. Their cheers and whistles sounded odd to her, as if there was a sort of sophistication to the outburst. How in the name of the Goddess did she get herself into this situation?

“Don’t let them see you messing with your collar.”

Bevva turned toward the direction of the whisper. A pretty Fae sat in the corner, eyes cast downward. Sores covered the bottom of her pale feet. Heavy shackles adorned her tiny ankles. Like most Fae, she had blond hair, seemingly dusted with diamonds. While Bevva couldn’t see them, she knew the tips of her ears would be pointed. The Fae’s shimmery blue dress, frayed along the edges, fell to just below her knees.

She didn’t need the reminder but thanked the Fae with a fleeting smile. “I know.” Bevva let her arm drop. If she got caught trying to take the collar off, they’d only make it tighter. As it was, she could barely breathe beneath the thin strip of metal. Meant to look like an ornamental choker, she’d quickly found out the collar served a multitude of purposes. Stray too far from the cages and get shocked with enough voltage to drop you to your knees. Try to use magick during restricted hours and suffer headaches so bad you’d pray to the Goddess for decapitation. Plain and simple, this week had sucked.

“Get ready, witch.”

Bevva jerked away from the fingers that gripped her elbow, and came face to face with a monster. Oh, he looked normal enough. But monsters wore all kinds of masks to disguise their personality flaws. This one had slicked-back, thinning brown hair. Gaunt cheeks contradicted his distended belly, making him appear almost as if he suffered from malnutrition. But he ate just fine. She was the one who was starving.

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