Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“I don’t think they do it intentionally. The food they eat doesn’t always agree with our stomachs, and sometimes, we get sick from it. They mostly give us fruit and roots that we dig up and boil in water, but they keep the meat for themselves. Unless…” She bites off the rest of her sentence as she glances at Maeva, who’s kneeling next to the fire.
Unless they’re selling us today. They want to make sure we’re not going to faint from hunger. That’s why they fed me when they first brought me here.
My stomach roils at the thought. And now my power is useless. I won’t even be able to save us. For all I know, I’ve sustained brain damage, and my power is permanently gone.
A Phaelix pushes me roughly, causing me to fall to my knees. He dumps a bucket full of wiggling tadpoles in front of me and screams loud enough to make my ears ring. Wiping away his spittle that landed on my face, I look at the other women for a clue of what I’m supposed to do, and then I almost vomit again.
They’re using flat stones to crush the heads of the tadpoles before gripping the top and bottom jaws and turning them inside out. The thick leathery skin of the tadpole detaches easily from the slippery body, allowing the women to skin the fishy sperm effortlessly.
I watch in horror as a Phaelix rips the skinned tadpoles into pieces between his sharp teeth before spitting the morsels into a bucket. Karl takes the pieces from the bucket and skewers the meat onto a stick that he hands to a trembling Maeva who roasts the meat over the fire.
Soon, the smell of barbecued chicken fills the air.
Oh, my god.
That’s what they fed me on the night they abducted me? Giant sperm toads?
The Phaelix eat first. When Sandy hands out the leftover meat to the humans, I consider giving my ration a pass, but I need my strength. Only, when I swallow my first bite of juicy meat, it comes straight up again.
The Phaelix sitting closest to me isn’t happy. He waves the pointed stick in his hand at the undigested meat on the ground and throws what sounds like a string of accusations at me. I pick up the meat, dust it off, and pretend to eat, but when he’s not looking, I throw it in the fire.
As soon as breakfast is over, we’re shooed into the bushes to relieve ourselves while two Phaelix stand guard. The fire is quickly put out and the clearing covered with branches, presumably to hide it. Then we take off along the same path to the lake.
Instead of crossing the water in a barge as I was expecting, we walk along the shore to the other side before cutting through the jungle. Yellow, red, and blue flowers with glittery anthers grow everywhere, competing for space with black, spongy ferns.
A rocky mountain leers up in front of us. A broad river divides the landscape. A barge similar to the one from before waits in the water. Once we’re all inside, two Phaelix row us downstream with paddles. At the mouth of the river, we enter a lake. The mountain rises from the water with a halo of smoke hanging over the top.
Holy cow.
It’s a live volcano.
At the foot of the mountain, we enter a cave with a ceiling that’s so low we have to lie flat in the barge to prevent our heads from bumping on the rock ceiling.
On the other side, the cave opens onto a tropical beach in the middle of the mountain. Cliff walls surround the beach from all sides, cutting us off from visibility. It’s a brilliant hideout. Under different circumstances, I’d call this secret beach in the hollow of a volcano paradise.
A big wooden platform stands in the middle of the beach. The circular stone benches surrounding the stage are packed with Phaelix.
Oh, shit.
A Phaelix runs up to pull our barge onto the sand. We’re promptly escorted off the barge and lined up behind the stage.
“This is it,” Sandy says, spitting on the sand. “We’re being auctioned.”
“What are they going to do with us?” Alexa asks in an unsteady voice.
“Your guess is as good as mine, hun,” Sandy says.
The Phaelix who brought us here are on the stage, making some kind of speech while the crowd goes crazy. It all happens in a haze. I blame it on my concussion, not quite realizing what’s going on when a Phaelix shoves me between the shoulder blades and orders something I don’t understand.
I look at the other women and Karl. They’re all naked. We’re definitely not being sold to work. Well, not only. If these assholes want to glare at the goods, it can only mean one thing. They intend to rape us.