Whatever It Takes 3: Love in Chains - EXCERPT

Author’s note: This book will leave Dreame on June 2. After it is edited, it will be available on A m a z o n (probably in October). *** Something was dripping through the planks above her head. Laina tried to convince herself that it was water, even though she knew very well what it was. The sound of fighting was subsiding slowly but instead of optimism, it filled her with horror. Because it wasn't their side that was winning the last time she was able to see anything, right before Lamar forced her into a tight hiding spot under the floor below the deck. Someone was running, sobbing desperately, the wooden floor creaking and squeaking under his weight. When the man was right above Laina, he stumbled and fell, crying out in pain. There were more footsteps and quiet chuckles. The man begged for mercy but he didn’t get any. The sword went straight through his body and into the thin gap between the planks, the sharp, bloodied tip ending inches away from Laina’s face. She yelped out in surprise, immediately realizing her mistake and slapping her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. In just a few moments, the body above her was rolled away and the whole section of the floor lifted up. Rough hands dragged her out into the dimly-lit passageway and she found herself surrounded by three rugged men with victorious smirks on their dirty faces. Laina struggled against them but they just laughed as they forced her up the steep stairs onto the main deck. The fight was over. The deck was covered by blood and dead bodies, mostly belonging to the crew of the Western Wind. All the survivors were on their knees in front of the pirate captain, tied up. Laina felt a second of relief upon noticing Lamar among them, bruised and bloodied but alive, with unwavering defiance in his eyes. “Oy! Cap’n!” The man was holding her arm so tightly she was certain she was going to have bruises. But that should probably be the least of her concerns right now. “We found this one hiding below deck. Would be a shame to leave such a treasure behind, wouldn’t it?” The laughter following his words made Laina’s skin crawl and when the captain turned his head towards her, she shuddered. Head tilted to the side, he carefully sized her up, his dark eyes slowly sliding over her figure. “Well, that is definitely a gem I did not expect to find.” Of course not. Western Wind was not a passenger ship, it carried cargo to Xi-huan, the capital of the empire of Cchen-Lian. A cargo that was apparently valuable enough to attract a pirate ship set on stealing it. What an extremely bad luck. Despite the ship swaying on the waves constantly, his step was steady as he walked over to her, grabbing her cheeks to force her to look up. “It would be a shame to miss out on such beauty,” he grinned. “Take her to the Fortune, along with the young and strong ones, those who will sell well at the slave market. Kill the rest.” Laina let out a strangled scream as the pirates rushed towards the kneeling prisoners, mercilessly slitting the throats of the few of the older ones. So much blood. So much death. One of the pirates got to Lamar, leaning down to grab the Orellian’s arm. Fortunately, Lamar was apparently deemed as young and strong and they weren’t going to kill him, but the thought gave her little comfort. They were going to sell them as slaves. In Xi-huan, no doubt, which was ironic, because that was exactly the place they were trying to get to. But instead of arriving into the city as inconspicuous travelers, Laina and Lamar were going to arrive in chains, to be sold like some f*****g livestock, and spend the rest of their lives in pain and misery. Cchen-Lian didn’t have any law protecting the slaves as Orellia did, they were considered property and their owners could do whatever the hell they wanted to them, even brutally torturing them for no reason at all. No one would bat an eye. Laina was too busy wallowing in her misery and imagining the horrible fate that awaited them that she almost missed Lamar’s movement. Somehow, and she had absolutely no idea how, he managed to get his hands free. When the pirate bent over next to him, Lamar reached for his blade, pulling it out of the scabbard and promptly running it over the side of the man’s neck. More blood. Before the other pirates realized what was happening, Lamar moved to another one and slashed over his stomach. The man’s horrified scream finally broke the others out of their stupor and they pulled out their weapons and turned to face the Orellian. Even against several of them, Lamar held his ground for a while but eventually got overpowered. One sword nicked his thigh and Lamar stumbled, falling out of rhythm, giving the men around him an opening. A fist landed on his chin, knocking him back and more hits and kicks kept coming even when he was on the ground. When one of them brought out a knife, the captain finally stopped them. “Enough!” The tip of his leather boot poked the body of the first man Lamar killed and the captain's lips twisted in contempt. “Take that bastard to the Fortune and string him up on a yard. Finish transferring the cargo and the prisoners and set a fire below deck. You can have fun with him once you are done.” Lamar seemed barely conscious as they dragged him over the plank to the other ship. “The Dragon’s Fortune” the golden letters at the back of the hull read. The large dragon figurehead at the prow of the ship was not visible from there but Laina had a pretty good look at it right before the pirates boarded the Western Wind. Like everything here, it was scary. The men roughly wrapped a rope around Lamar’s wrists, making sure to secure it properly this time, and threw the other end over the yard above the main deck, pulling on it until Lamar was hanging mid-air, swaying slightly as the ship moved on the waves. Laina was forced to cross over to the other ship as well, hearing Lamar’s quiet pained groans as the pirate pushed her around him. She and the rest of the Western Wind crew were led into a dark, damp storage room. The air was heavy and filled with horrible smells of unwashed bodies, vomit, urine, and excrements. And death. There were already several people chained to the floor and the newcomers quickly joined them. Laina was given a spot in the corner, a bit aside from the others, heavy shackles attached to a loop sticking out of the floor snapped around her wrists and ankles. She was too frightened to fight. How would she even? Lamar was the one who was supposed to be doing all the fighting while she was the brain of the operation. And even he couldn’t win. Laina knew nothing about combat. In fact, she despised it, hated violence and people who hurt each other for the sake of honor, greed, or even just for fun. That’s why she ran off to join Lamar on his mission. Because he was a soldier and, like all soldiers, he was stupid, prone to solving everything with the edge of a blade. What the f**k was king Hayden even thinking, sending him alone? To be a spy in a country the man knew nothing about? He didn’t even speak the damn language! But, while Hayden was slightly brighter than the others, he was a soldier as well. Stupid like the rest of them. Karina usually managed to talk him out of his dumbest ideas or at least turn them into something useful but this time, she failed. Men. Always so full of themselves. Arrogant. Selfish. Dangerous. And right now, she was surrounded by them. The only woman on a ship with how many, fifty, sixty men without any morals to speak of? Laina tried very hard not to think about what was going to happen. The sounds from above changed and so did the movement of the ship. It started swaying more again which must have meant the pirate ship finally disconnected from the Western Wind and picked up speed. There were other sounds as well. Whip. Punches. Groans of pain. Desperate coughing and wheezing, gasps for air. Were they going to beat Lamar to death? Laina’s prospects were bad already, being left all alone was just not an option she was willing to accept. “Excuse me?” Fortunately, she was right next to the door to the storage room and she knocked on it softly, knowing there was a man standing outside. Keeping her voice quiet and timid wasn’t hard, she was so scared it took all she had not to start crying. “Wat?!” The door had a small hole on the top, covered by metal bars, and the pirate peeked in through it, revealing his rotten teeth in a sly smirk upon noticing Laina. “Waddya want, lass? Lonely?” Laina swallowed roughly, trying to ignore his last remark. “I was… What are they going to do with that man? Are they going to bring him down here as well?” “The wannabe hero?” The man laughed. He was chewing on something incredibly stinky. It wasn’t even food, it smelled like tobacco and it colored his saliva dark brown. Laina could clearly see that because he didn’t bother to close his mouth while his tongue pushed the disgusting thing from side to side. “Don’t ya worry about him, lass. Bastard’ll be shark fodder soon ‘nough.” It took her a moment to decipher the meaning behind his words. They were going to kill Lamar?! “B-but… the captain said you will sell us as slaves.” Why would he get rid of his “merchandise”? “What’s one less?” the pirate shrugged without any real interest. No! She couldn’t just let them kill him! Not that she particularly liked Lamar. Sure, he was tall and muscular and handsome and even funny from time to time. Awkward around women, that was hilarious. Yes, he was just a dumb soldier with barely anything in his head, but over the weeks they have traveled together, Laina found out that he was honest and reliable, caring even. Like that time he brought her a handful of strawberries he picked in the forest. He couldn’t have possibly known that wild strawberries were her absolute favorites, it was no doubt just a lucky guess from his side, but still, he did not have to do it. Especially with how mean she was to him most of the time. And now he was going to die because he tried to fight and save them? No, not if there was something she could do about it. The captain seemed like a smart man, surely he could be reasoned with. Laina could convince him to see the value in keeping a strong, young man alive. Those must sell well, right? Gods, she couldn’t believe she was actually trying to figure out Lamar’s worth on the slave market! How the hell did they get themselves into this horrible situation? “Could you please take me to the captain?” she asked sheepishly. “I need to speak to him.” The pirate snorted, spraying his brown-colored spit all over the window bars. “Dunno. Wat’sinit for me?” Was he asking for a bribe? All her belongings remained on the Western Wind, which was no doubt just a barely floating burning wreck by now. Not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention, she wasn’t even wearing any jewelry. “I-I don’t have anything,” she stuttered, desperately trying to figure out what could she promise him. “Don’t ya?” She did not like his chuckle one bit. He leaned closer to the bars, his eyes sliding up and down her body. “I wanna touch.” Laina’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion while the man continued to explain. “Your cunt. Lemme touch your cunt and I’ll take ya to the captain.”