Page 156 of Code Bound
“You do not look the Queen in the eyes!” they start shouting. “Or else I’ll pluck them out. You don’t need eyes in the dark.”
“What the fuck?” I murmur under my breath. “Cipher?”
“Yes?”
“What is going on here?”
“You seem to have gotten yourself into a pickle,” Cipher answers flippantly.
“Can you help me?” I ask. The question is metallic in my mouth. I hate having to ask the asshole for anything, but I don’t know what else to do. Vesper could be in one of these cages.
He hesitates for a few seconds.“I can give you time.”
“Better than nothing,” I grunt. “Tell me.”
“Look the Rat Queen in the eyes, give her your signature attitude, and remove your shirt. Put it in your inventory.”
I furrow my brows. “What?”
“Quickly,” Cipher grunts. “You don’t have much time.”
I do as he says, jerking my shirt over my head and shoving it and anything else in my inventory. My chest is thankfully clean. The woman in the cage with me raises her brows, but doesn’t say anything.
“What exactly is the goal here?” I ask.
“The Rat Queen has a particular appetite,” Cipher says helpfully. “Your goal is to catch her eye. She will select you for her harem. You will be forced before her. Keep her entertained until help can arrive. This is the best I can do.”
“Her harem?” I hiss. “I won’t?—”
“The other people in these cages are food, Locke,” he interrupts. “The Rat Kingdom captures players for only two reasons. Feasting and fucking. Which is the better option?”
I swallow thickly. Fuck.Fuck.
“I swore I’d never belong to another master when I entered the Harrow,” I croak. Mother Remainder held me hostage to her endeavors for so long, I forgot what it was like to be touchedwithmy consent. Until I met Vesper. And now, if I want to see her again, I’m going to have to do it again. I’m going to have to give myself away again.
“Your body is a tool, Bone Breaker. Use it.”
I swallow down my revulsion and straighten, tilting my chin up. “Where’s Vesper?”
“On her way to get herself killed trying to save you,” Cipher admits almost reluctantly.
“You didn’t try to stop her?”
“I cannot.”
I chuckle. “You’re learning then.”
Cipher scoffs. “Look appealing, Bone Breaker. Give her an attitude. The current Rat Queen really likes breaking her harem.”
My hands clench into fists as I prepare myself. We’ve run out of time. I hadn’t been able to ask if Steve and Svetlana are with Vesper. Only a few seconds later, I realize I’m shaking. I brace myself better against the bars, so it isn’t noticeable.
“Her familiar is with her. Steve is within the sewers, planning to light her way once she makes it inside.”
Good. She’s not alone.
When the Rat Queen appears, the bile in my stomach churns. If the rat guards are hideous, the Rat Queen is particularly repulsive. She’s dressed in a large dress that appears to be made out of trash. Black plastic is woven together to form a bodice and skirt, dragging against the ground as she moves with slow precision. It makes a strange rustling sound as she moves, further made unappealing by the glittering sound of aluminum pieces rattling together as they drag behind her. Her hands are dagger sharp claws tipping furred fingers that she clasps in front of her. Her snout is long and pointed, her nose missing a chunk out of it to reveal the pink beneath. Her large beady eyes trace over the cages to the left of us, large whiskers cut in various lengths like she’d lost some of them to a fight. Her fur isn’t as mangled as the others, but it’s still patchy, and in the areas it’s patchy, she’s covered in scabs, as if she’d been scratching at the skin there. At least Mother Remainder had been human. At least she’d been clean and unblemished.
“This is all you could find?” she asks the nearest guard.
