Laci slowly began to open her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and there were pressure sores all over her side from being crushed into the shower. Her legs were completely numb, and the shower was running cool water on her constantly. Sultan paced back and forth anxiously outside the door of the bathroom, tail flicking and head held high. She let out a low whine, and he rushed to her side, crouching by her face.

  “Easy, little dove. Oh, I thought I’d lost you,” he said, relieved. He carefully brushed the mane from her eyes with a hoof.

  She tried to climb to her feet, but slipped back down to the tile and bruised her shoulder again. She winced and pinned her ears sideways.

  “It’s alright. Just relax,” Sultan soothed. He saw that her face was still stained with blood. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  She reached for the soap, but it seemed like it was miles away, four feet above her head on a rack. She stretched her foreleg as far as it would go and swept it down toward herself. It landed on her head. She splashed her face with the water in the bottom of the shower and gently washed away the blood.

  “See if you can stand up,” Sultan encouraged.

  She flexed her muscles painfully to ready her legs, then slowly dragged herself to stand. She leaned against the wall weakly, head swinging and fighting for balance. Gingerly, she worked her way out of the bathroom, grabbing the towel in her teeth. Sultan sat on the foot of the bed, and she practically fell onto it, her legs stiff with strain. He rubbed her shoulder tenderly.

  “I know you’re scared, but you should rest. I will keep watch,” he whispered.

  Tears rolled from her sharp blue eyes. Her thoughts were all running together like mud, but her body was excruciatingly on edge. Sultan hummed a lullaby to her, and she started to melt into the sheets. She pressed closer to him and listened to his oversized heart beating. It was so strong and rhythmic, it sounded like ocean waves. She let out a long breath and closed her eyes.

  …

  “Wake up, Laci. Someone’s here,” Sultan said.

  She threw her head up and jumped from the bed, snorting with fright and swiveling her ears toward the door. Her heart pounded with dread, making her chest feel hot and pressurized. The lock clicked open, and the handle turned abruptly. A sporty-looking Cremello Thoroughbred horse entered, holding a halter with a chain.

  “Come on, time for dinner,” he said.

  She backed into the corner and whimpered, tucking her tail down tightly.

  “Hey, steady. It’s alright,” he said softly, slowly approaching her.

  She allowed herself to be haltered, but her skin shivered incessantly. He walked her out into the hall, and she made long sweeping strides, trying to relieve some of her tension. He let her set the pace.

  “Gabriel!” a gruff voice shouted.

  Laci spooked and reared up, and the Thoroughbred brought her back down. She pulled hard on the line, but he was firm and unyielding. Nathan was standing at the end of the hall, ears flat against his head.

  “What are you doing with that mare?” he demanded.

  “I was just taking her down to the dining room, sir,” he replied frantically.

  Nathan grabbed Laci’s line and shanked her with the chain a few times, and she leaped into the air. “Don’t you know anything? She needs an experienced escort. This is a high profile case.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. There wasn’t anything posted on her room,” Gabriel said.

  Nathan pushed Gabriel up against the wall. “You didn’t think to ask me before traipsing around with this beast? She’s murdered dozens of horses. She’s worth two million dollars. The last thing she needs is an intern screwing up her training.”

  “It won’t happen again,” the Thoroughbred promised.

  “You’re right, it won’t. Next time you won’t be so lucky. You’ll be dead.”

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  Nathan led Laci down the hall into a modest dining room, which looked like a dilapidated school cafeteria. He chained her to a ring on the wall and sat her down in front of a metal tray of grain. She didn’t even touch it.

  “Laci, you must eat. If you don’t, you’ll feel worse,” Sultan said. “They’re trying to make you sick so you don’t fight back.”

  She looked up at the cafeteria doors and watched the other horses walk in. The Appaloosa stallion she had seen previously was among them. He had a bandage strapped across the right side of his face, covering his eye. She crouched down, embarrassed. His handler sat him right next to Laci. The shame was killing her.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  The spotted horse laughed heartily. “About this? Don’t be sorry, Laci. That was the best thing that happened to me all week! I got to watch Chase get torn in half.”

  One of the guards slammed his hoof on the counter next to him. “Quiet, Oliver!”

  He was undeterred. “What, I can’t welcome our new resident?”

  The guard smacked him across the face with his crop. “You know the rules. Shut your mouth.”

  He rolled his eyes and went back to eating for a moment, waiting for the guards to walk off before speaking. “So, Laci, what are you doing here?”

  She looked at him suspiciously. “How do you know my name?”

  “Who doesn’t know who you are at this point? You’re a legend. Everyone was scared stiff by Chase until you showed up,” Oliver said.

  She panted and pinned her ears anxiously at the mention of his name.

  “You can’t be afraid of him, too, can you? You’re his first big boy case. He’s in over his head and we all know it,” he pointed out.

  She went to work on her food and ignored him.

  He sighed, annoyed. “Alright, have it your way. I thought you were cool.”

  The doors swung, and Chase strode in. The whole dining hall went silent. He walked right up to Laci’s side, and her hair stood up on end.

  “Make sure you eat plenty. You’ll need the energy for tomorrow,” Chase teased.

  She stood up and jerked back on the line, pawing and rearing, trying to attack Chase. He stood patiently waiting for her to give up. Oliver was taken aback when saw her hind end was dashed with stripes from the whip. Laci growled and pulled back still harder, weaving back and forth on the line, until the chain snapped in two. She turned and sized up Chase, who was surprised and stepped away warily.

  As soon as he retreated, she jumped for the kill, jaws wide open and hooves held up like daggers. Chase sidestepped away, but hit her on the shoulder, making her shriek and recoil. He walked toward her, tapping the stick on the ground in front of her and making her back up into the corner. She crushed her tail into the wall, but there was nowhere else to go, and Chase kept coming closer. She reared up and threw her head back, screaming fearfully. He countered it with the whip over the back of her neck until she cowered on the ground, whining pitifully.

  All eyes were on Laci as he grabbed her halter by the broken chain and led her to the center of the room. She curled her head back and snapped her jaw, dripping blood on the ground. She spotted Gabriel standing by the door, blue eyes darting around her with shock and wonder all at once. Chase choked up on the lead and jerked her head downward, then tapped her legs with his whip until she danced in front of the others. Oliver felt sick as he watched her piaffe before the crowd. The only thing that could be heard was her shod hooves echoing against the tile.

  Finally, Chase ordered her to stop and started walking her toward the door, but halted before he left.

  “Oliver!” he barked.

  Oliver shrunk back by the counter until he looked no bigger than a pony.

  “Stay out of Laci’s way,” he hissed.

  He strode out, snapping the whip behind Laci to get her attention. Nathan waited a few minutes, then followed behind him. He silently crept down the hallway and approached Laci’s room.

  Violent squealing filled the air, a kind that he had never before heard, and he hurried toward the noise. Peeking in through the half-shut door, he could see the tips of Chase’s ears and a black stick swinging through the air. In time with the pendulum swinging of the stick, Laci jumped up onto her hind legs as though she were trying to get air and lunged at him. He heard the cruel cracks of the stick and could not bear to watch any longer, but sat near the door, feeling her pain in spirit. Grieving the loss of the soul Laci, because by morning she would be no more, and there would be nothing left but the body of a mare walking dead.

  “You can make success happen. You just have to try harder. You and your anarchist people just want to waste your lives in the wilderness,” Chase said.

  His face was blanketed with the light of his magic, and he appeared angelic. His expression was serious, his eyes showing great emotion as though he cared for her.

  Laci pinned her ears back and lashed her tail. “God, I wish I had thought of that. Don’t you know how hard I’ve been trying my whole life to please people who don’t understand? I’ve spent my life thinking I’m an incapable wreck. You aren’t special. I know where I belong. You cannot break me of who I am!”

  She shoved him, and he pushed back, pinning her against the wall.

  “I don’t care how untamable you believe you are. You belong to me and I will make you into what you need to be for my purposes. I have never failed at that.”

  He ran his hoof through her mane, feeling down her jaw bone like it was a toy.

  She shrieked deafeningly. “Get away from me!”

  Her body writhed in panic, her tail clamping and the whites of her eyes popping out. She struck out at him and blood came forth from the wound. He drew his hand over it and it disappeared, but there was wrath in his eyes. He beat Laci until she was on the ground, but she never stopped howling and twitching her legs.

  “That’ll teach you to make a fool of me,” Chase said.

  He locked the door behind him and wiped the blood off his whip, then carried on down the empty hall.