Page 65 of Forgotten Fate

Vick stopped squirming in their grasp. “We may not be able to fuck her, but there’s no rule against beating her.” He walked back over and kicked me in the ribs, completely knocking the wind out of me. I gasped, writhing from the pain.

“Easy, Vick. Markus ain’t gonna like if she’s not in one piece,” Ripp stated. Ripp was the largest of the three. Probably the largest man I had ever seen. He would tower over even Elias or Horus easily, which was saying a lot.

“Shut up,” Vick barked, and I was surprised to see Ripp shrink back, seeing as Vick was half his size. Vick bent down and grabbed a fist full of my hair, yanking it backward. I winced as my head shot back. “One more word out of you, and the three of us will fuck you before we kill you.”

“Vick…” Ripp started.

“Shut. The fuck. Up. What Markus doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

I looked over and saw Remi smile and rub his hands together enthusiastically.

“Who’s Markus?” I said as Vick loosened his grip on my hair.

Vick glared at me. “None of your fucking business. Yet.” The corners of his mouth turned upward in a menacing smile.

“Once he knows about you, he’ll probably take you all to himself,” Remi said as he licked his lips, eyeing me with lust. “Wish I could get a taste first,” he whispered. I cringed.

I sat there, wondering who could be worse than these guys, and how this Markus person was involved. It seemed I really shouldn’t stick around to find out. While the three men snickered to each other and made crude comments about my body, I looked around. In the corner of the tent, on top of the blankets, was a small bag lying on its side. As I inspected it, I noted the hilt of a dagger peeking out. My mother’s dagger. I would recognize the elegant detail of it anywhere.

If I could get to my knife, I could have a chance. Vick certainly wasn’t a good fighter, and while Ripp was very large, he didn’t seem very smart. Neither did Remi.

But how was I going to get my hands free? I began to try to wiggle them out of their restraints, but they were bound tightly with a thick rope that was digging into my wrists. I would have to find a way to cut it, or somehow try to convince them to untie me. The latter seemed impossible, since Vick was out for my blood, and the other two followed his every word.

Just then, Vick’s voice had my attention turning back to them. “We’re four days out from Markus’s camp, and she’s the only woman we’ve captured in weeks.” My brows rose as my eyes widened. Ihadn’t heard anything about women disappearing in the woods. “He let us screw the last one after he didn’t want her, remember?”

Remi grinned. “I hope he lets us do it again.” He glanced sideways at me, looking right between my legs. “But she’s awfully pretty. I bet he’ll take her for himself.”

I shivered, and found myself scooching backwards. They noted the movement, and Vick stepped towards me.

“Don’t even think about trying to escape,” he hissed at me. “There’s nowhere for you to go.”

I glared at him. “Fuck you,” I cursed. Then before I knew it, the back of Vick’s fist of his non-broken arm was flying towards my temple, smashing me in the same wound from earlier, and causing me to black out once more.

I had no idea how much time had passed when I awoke, but the sun appeared to be slowly starting to set. I groaned. My arms were numb and my wrists burned from being tied so tightly, and my head ached immensely. But something else felt off. I felt like I was floating. I looked down and saw that I was hanging by my arms from a large tree limb, my feet inches off the ground and my ankles bound together. While unconscious, they must have tied me to the tree. I hoped that’s all they did to me.

I looked around, and only saw Vick, standing at the center of what I was now noticing was some sort of basecamp for them. There were two other small tents within the camp, presumably belonging to Remi and Ripp. In the center of the camp, Vick was sorting through a large pile of items like weapons, bags, clothing, and jewelry. These idiot were bandits, I discovered. Vick appeared to be inspecting their lootbefore placing it in a larger tote. I looked down, happy to see that my necklace from Trybe was still around my neck.

The necklace! Didn’t Trybe say if I was in trouble, I could use it? But what did that even mean? I closed my eyes, trying to think back to what she had said. Then I remembered, she told me to hold it in my hand and think of something that made me feel safe. Would that even do anything? It seemed so silly, but I was desperate. It may be my only hope now, except that my hands were tied to a branch above my head, so I couldn’t hold the stone in my hand like she instructed. I stared down at the necklace, trying to figure out another way.

“I couldn’t get the damn thing off of you.” I looked up, and saw Vick staring at me. “That gold chain must be indestructible.” He walked over then stopped right in front of me, eyes still on the necklace. “It’s ugly as shit anyway, you can keep it.”

“Please untie me,” I begged with the most innocent voice I could muster. “I won’t run.”

A wicked smile reached his face. “See what happens when you insult me?” he mused. “I tied you up real tight. Now your body is on display for my viewing pleasure.”

Bile rose to my throat as his hand caressed my cheek. I tried to pull away, but was at the mercy of my restraints.

Vick peered around for a moment as he lowered his hand. “Now that those two fools are making their rounds, we finally have a moment alone together.”

My eyes widened, noting the malicious smile on his face. “Please,” I said, unable to hide the tremble in my voice.

“Shut up,” he snapped. He grabbed me by the hair again. “This will only take a minute.”

“Markus will kill you,” I reminded him while trying to pull away, although I still had no idea who Markus was, or what his plans were with me.

“I said, shut up,” Vick barked, before letting go of my hair so his hand could make its way towards my belt. Without hesitation, I brought my legs up with force and kicked him in the stomach, which was no easy task since they were tied together. I was glad my uncle taught me the importance of core strength.

Vick stumbled backward and fell to the ground, coughing hard. “I knew I should have tied your ankles to the fucking tree,” he screeched. He got up and ran towards me, but I threw another kick at him, this time landing at his shoulder. He screamed in rage, and pulled a knife from his pocket.Myknife. He must have taken it out of the bag to add to the loot pile.