Chapter 11

Olivia’s POV

Since the night Damien bit me, I never saw him again. Instead, I was taken down to the lower levels of the castle, where I was forced with the other slaves to do rougher work. Fortunately, I was also given more suitable clothing, though I was also given my rougher collar back. This time it was labeled

Over the course of a few weeks, I made fast friends with a fellow slave, Andy. He and his sister Angela had worked at the castle for a long time, enough to know things that newbies, like me wouldn’t. Andy took me under his wing at once, and for that I was grateful.

Andy didn’t even judge me when he learned that I was wolfless. He only cautioned, “You need to be careful. One wrong move around here and you won’t come back.”

I already knew that but thanked him anyway.

Andy was attempted to save up money. This was a difficult prospect as a slave, but sometimes when the vampires needed things done in a certain way, they were willing to put in a bit extra. Some vampires found rewards more beneficial than punishments. Not many. But some.

“I know a vampire who has promised to redeem Angela for enough money,” Andy had told me once. “He’s asking a lot but I’m determined to see my sister free of this place.”

I valued that, and we bonded when I told him how I was only here to save my sister.

“I can’t believe you were a tribute,” he said. “You are lucky to be alive.”

I could only agree. My time working as a slave in the castle was not easy. I was given hard labor, working in the fields or scrubbing the floors or hauling laundry up and down the stairs.

But at least I didn’t see Damien.

Sophia, however, remained a constant in my life, and she enjoyed torturing me. She criticized absolutely everything that I did, often directing me to do something twice or three times, not liking how it was at the start.

After one verbal lashing, Andy revealed to me, “Don’t take anything she says too personally. Sofia has always hated any woman who approached Damien. I think she dreams of being a duchess herself.”

“I was never trying to steal him away,” I said. “I wasn’t even his pet by choice.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Andy said. “It’s just being near him that upsets her.”

The slaves of the lower levels and one big cafeteria directly downstairs from the kitchen. Typically, all the slaves would gather at once at the tables, while a few were selected to bring the food from upstairs and distribute it among the rest.

On the day I was selected, I went upstairs only to see a vampire taking half the slaves’ food and putting it into the trash.

Outrage flooded through me, and without thinking things through, I stormed forward. “Hey, that’s our food!”

Sofia, who had also been there, grabbed the pot that held the rest, and tipped it so that it drained out all over the floor.

I was supposed to deliver the food, but now I only had choices between what was on the floor and what was in the garbage.

“Slaves don’t deserve clean food,” Sophia spat. “Especially when they talk out of turn.”

Between the floor and the garbage, I decided the food on the floor might be cleaner. Perhaps I could rinse it off first.

I grabbed the pot, then went to my knees to try to salvage what I could.

Sophia, smirking, walked closer so that I was essentially kneeling at her feet.

“How does it feel, little slave? Since Damien abandoned you, you’ve fallen so far…”

“Damien may not want me, but he doesn’t want you either, or he would have made you a duchess by now,” I said.

“How dare you,” she grunted through grit teeth. Moving forward, she kicked the pot away from me. “You will scrub every floor in this castle tonight, and none of the slaves will eat until you are finished.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, standing. I immediately set to work.

Yes, the work was grueling, and there wasn’t enough food. But I had to keep thinking of the positives. Because Damien had lost interest in me, I was more likely to escape. I just needed to wait for the right moment.

Things only grew worse for the slaves, though. We were given less and less food every day. Many of the slaves were starting to get sick from malnutrition. Those that showed signs of sickness were herded away from the rest and locked in a dark room.

They would die in there, I knew, without proper treatment.

On moments I could sneak outside into the courtyard, typically during the day, I plucked a few herbs and mixed them into potions and ointments to help the sick. I slipped these treatments under the door.

One of the sick was Angela, and when Andy learned what I was doing, the look of relief on his face touched a place down in my soul.

He also had news, and whispered it to me, “A pet escaped yesterday.”

I perked up at once. “She did?”

“She fled to the border. I’ve heard there’s a place there that takes in stray pets.”

Finally, I started to feel my own hope. If I ran to my family, I would just be found again. But if I could get to this safe house, and then send word to them…

A few days later, I heard that the male slaves were being sent outside the castle walls to build new ones, giving the vampires more space within their refuge.

No sooner had I heard this than I planned to sneak into that party and make my escape.

When I shared my plan with Andy, thinking he might want to join me, he was adamantly against it.

“Even if you are able to get away, there are too many vampires. They’d find you and eat you, and as a wolfless you wouldn’t recover,” he said. “Why don’t you just save your money, like I do, to eventually redeem yourself?”

I shook my head. “Andy. Do you really think a group of vampires who would purposefully starve us would ever help us redeem ourselves? I won’t be a slave the rest of my life. I’m going to escape, no matter what.”

Andy frowned at me. “It’s safer to stay.”

“I’m still going,” I said.

On the day the male slaves were being sent outside the wall, I dressed in a men’s outfit that I had been given by one of the slaves I helped heal. With my hair tucked up into my hat, and my waist padded to hide my chest, I weaved my way into the crowd, blending into the team.

Yet, just as we stepped outside of the wall, one of the vampire chiefs who had been in charge of watching us, stopped me, stepping directly into my path.

“You are thin and short,” he said. “What number is on your collar?” He checked his paperwork, ready for me to identify myself.

“Uh…” I hedged, unsure what to say.

At just that moment, the wagon hauling the timber suddenly caught fire. The flames licked the wood, spreading quickly. Columns of smoke plumed up into the air, blocking the stars.

The vampire chief was immediately distracted. “Someone get some water!”

Some of the other slaves clutched my arms. One whispered in my ear, “Let’s run!”