Chronicles of the Uprising (Trilogy 1): Trilogy 1 by Katie Salidas, K.A. Salidas Page B

me?”
    “Why should I? You’re human.”
    “I’m trying… That’s why I offered to be your Patron. It is a show of good faith to you that I intend to keep my word. You are safe here with me, under my care.”
    “You live in this opulence, while I sleep on a cold hard mattress with barely a scrap of cloth to cover me. You eat steaks and watch my kind kill each other for sport, while I spend my days fighting for survival. You order the death of my kind on a whim and allow all manner of atrocities to be done to us. You cannot ask me to trust you simply because you paid for me to have a shower and some clean clothes to wear.”
    “I see. I think we are done for now.” He looked down to the com-link around his wrist and pressed a button. “You may return her now.”
    He looked back to Mira. “It’s a two-way street, Mira. At least I am making some effort. Think on that when you return to your cell.”
    The door behind them opened and the two handlers stepped through. They scowled at Mira and one of them grunted, “Get up.”
    She stood without a second look back at Lucian and walked to the door.

Chapter 9
     
    The cell door shut behind her. She was back home in the tiny prison smelling of dirt and mold, filled with the agonizing cries of tortured souls. Coming from the opulent suite she’d just been escorted out of, it was a harsh reminder of who she was and how tiny and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
    Mira wiped the lipstick from her mouth and collapsed onto her mattress. She knew she shouldn’t have pissed Lucian off. Why couldn’t she have hidden her hatred of him and his kind? Was her pride really worth this? She could have just given him some of the information he wanted to keep him happy. Would it really have been so bad to play along? She could have glossed over the important stuff. Told him whatever bullshit he wanted to hear, and enjoyed a few moments of luxury. She could have benefited from extra blood; healed, built up strength, renewed energy to escape. No. She just had to let her anger and her ego get the better of her. Screw everything up.
    “You okay, girl?” George asked. He appeared at the bars with a hopeful smile. “You weren’t gone very long.”
    “I don’t want to talk about it.” Mira rolled away from her friend. Even if she had wanted to talk to someone, how could she possibly explain how horribly she’d failed?
    “The first time is always the worst. It gets easier. He didn’t try to hurt you, did he?”
    As if he could actually hurt her. Mira was a champion gladiator. No. The only thing that was about to hurt her was herself. She’d probably lost her first and only Patron ever. “Go away, George. I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
    “You don’t always have to be the tough girl. None of us like this sort of thing, but we do it to save our skin.”
    “I will find a way out of here.” She said it more to herself than to George.
    “Yeah. I’m sure you will. But for now, try and make the best of it. Whenever my Patron calls, I try to imagine I’m laying with a hot Island girl. Caramel skin, long dark hair, mmmmmm. You might try it. Next time he calls, just imagine me.”
    Despite her self-loathing, Mira let out a small chuckle. “Thanks, I’ll do that.”
     “If it’s any consolation. I heard you’re not going back into the arena this weekend.”
    “What?” Mira shot up from the mattress. “Why not?”
    “Don’t sound all eager to get into a fight now.”
    “I’m not, it’s just… I’ve never had a weekend without a fight.”
    “A Patron is good for some things.”
    Had Lucian really stopped her from fighting? Was it something she’d said? He may have called her a curiosity, but she was the one completely perplexed by him. Why, of all people, would an Elite attempt to keep her safe? It just didn’t make any sense.

Chapter 10
     
    Mira stood outside of her Patron’s door awaiting his answer. He’d called her up in the middle of the