Broken by Presley Hall

Author:Presley Hall [Hall, Presley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-10-09T05:00:00+00:00

Brele seems to be in complete agreement with me that the most important thing at the moment is to figure out if there’s any path out of here. There are several small tunnels in the walls of the cave, and the cave itself is massive, big enough that we spend what feel like hours exploring it and trying to figure out if there are any passages that would lead us up and back outside.

The silence in the cave makes my skin crawl, and the last thing I want is to sink into my own thoughts, where my confusion about Brele and this supposed mate bond is currently living. So instead, when he casually mentions that he’s rarely seen a woman fight as well as I do, I jump at the chance to change the topic.

“It’s a sport, back on Earth,” I tell him. “There are different divisions for men and women. I was unbeaten in my category so far,” I add with a hint of pride. “Do you have sports here?”

I glance over at him curiously. My eyes have adjusted enough to the dim light of the cave to see his face pretty well.

“We fight for sport too,” he says with a smile. “And there are some sports children take part in.” He hesitates, and I notice a faint shadow pass over his face for a second, although he quickly shakes it off. “But fights in the contest ring are the primary form of sport for adult Kalixians.”

“The only sport? Huh. We have a lot of them.” I wrinkle my nose. “But fighting is the only one I really enjoy, either as a participant or a spectator.”

“So that’s why you learned to fight, then?” He shoots me a curious glance as we turn around, giving up on one dead-end tunnel and heading to try another. “In order to compete?”

I hesitate. I rarely tell anyone about my past. In recent memory, it’s only been Emma that I’ve confided in. But something about Brele makes me want to tell him. Part of me wonders if he might give up on this whole idea of us being mates if he knew how much baggage I come with.

And after all, I tell myself, if he’s so convinced you’re perfect for each other, how can he really know that unless he knows everything about you?

“I had… a difficult childhood,” I say slowly as we emerge back into the cave and go right, heading into a new tunnel. This one is a little more narrow than the last, and I talk a bit faster, wanting to take my mind off the close quarters. I’m not exactly claustrophobic, but being underground beneath several tons of rock in a small space isn’t my favorite way to pass an evening either.

Brele says nothing, just looks at me with an open, curious gaze. It makes me relax a little and want to tell him more.

“My father didn’t want a girl.” I shrug. “He wanted a boy, someone who would grow up to be tough and do the things he didn’t get to, I guess.

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