Chapter 20 · Tamer of the Ash Wilds - Chapter 20: My Name on the Slab

The drop lasted three seconds. Long enough for my stomach to flip, for Crunch to slam against the cage bars with a snarl that rattled my teeth. The platform hit bottom with a grinding clang that echoed up through the auction tiers.

I was on my knees before the cage stopped shaking. Crunch pressed his face to the bars, pupils blown wide, that grey shine starting to creep into the whites of his eyes. The drug. Whatever Vira had dosed him with before we got dragged in here.

"Hey." I grabbed the bars next to his snout. "Look at me."

He didn't. His gaze locked past my shoulder, tracking something I couldn't see. His breathing came fast, shallow, the kind of panting that came before a full break.

The butcher level stank like rust and old blood. No crowd noise down here. Just the hum of industrial freezers and the drip of something I didn't want to name. Three exits, all barred. No windows. The only light came from overhead strips that buzzed like dying flies.

Footsteps. Heavy boots on metal grating.

I turned.

Two handlers in grey coats, the kind with reinforced sleeves and burn-proof gloves.