by C. R. Jane
A shadow fell over me. I glanced up to find some bald guy with ink up his arms and neck, standing across from me.
“Been watching you. If you keep eating your soup like you’re having an orgasm, my friends and I can make it a dream come true.” He winked at me and peered over his shoulder at the table with two other men.
Suddenly, I lost my appetite and got to my feet. “Get the fuck away from me.”
Not waiting for a response, I marched out of there, their laughter following me out into the corridor. Assholes.
Chapter 3
Keon
I leaned over the railing, staring down into the main prison area, my gaze locked on Selena. I’d been watching her ever since she left her cell in the morning. Rushing about, looking over her shoulder constantly, but I wasn’t a damn fool.
She was scared of me and keeping her distance. I clenched my fists, loathing how damn wrong the fight against Laz had gone. My inner demon took over, a monster I’d lived with all my life. I was born this way and spent my whole life trying to hide him from the world. His hunger was ravenous, and the only way to control him was to let him out occasionally to sate that need for bloodshed. It was one of the reasons I took this job at Nightmare Penitentiary. Who’d miss a few missing pieces of scum? The worst of the worst resided here, and some of those asshats deserved a far worse punishment than just being locked up.
But all of that meant shit and was no excuse for what I did to Selena.
Nothing I’d ever done filled me with the kind of passion she roused in me, with how she made me feel alive after years of living like an empty shell. Then I’d gone and destroyed it all.
Fuck.
Sickness churned in my gut, and I felt like I was going to throw up. Except I’d already done that earlier, and my stomach was still empty. Now I bled on the inside at the agony pulsing within me.
I growled under my breath, while fury burned through me. My sanity wore thin.
I’d killed Selena. Nothing I did would change that.
There was no other way to look at it.
I’d fucked up so severely, and I don’t know how to come back from the mess.
I glanced down at her as she pushed her empty cart into the mess hall, her dark hair with blue tips draped half-way down her back. Trevor strolled behind her, his eyes on her ass. Jealousy spiked, and my first reaction had me twisting toward the stairs to make him pay, to rip his eyes out and wear them as ornaments.
“What the fuck, man?” I murmured to myself. It was me I was pissed at, and I just wanted to desperately feel something other than the shame and guilt tearing me apart.
Rage slipped down to my fingertips, the beast in me pushing for release, sensing my own anger. Shouting came from the passage to my right, where a bunch of pricks were fighting. I lifted my head and sniffed the air, picking up the scent of blood.
That was my calling, and there was no holding me back. I wanted a fight, and the universe delivered. I bolted toward the gathering crowd, my footsteps thumping the hard floor.
Muffled cries emerged.
My adrenaline soared.
I threw myself into the crowd, shoving them aside, pushing them out of my way. In the middle, two men were fighting, one straddling the other, pummeling his face. Normally, I’d sit back and let them play this out. Plus, it offered entertainment, but not today. I needed this more than them, they just didn’t know it.
Lunging forward, I tackled the barrel of a man on top, taking him down, my fist colliding with his head before he even hit the ground.
Darkness moved through me, my beast feeding off my raging adrenaline, pushing me to spill more blood. I wanted to listen to him, to sink deep into his energy and let him take charge. To shake that ache deep inside me, the regret chewing me alive.
But what then?
No, that was a dangerous route to fall into, so instead, I’d charge my inner assault with fists and aggression. This emotion I could cope with. Anything else was a noose around my neck.
Seth
The walls of my prison seemed to close in around me, suffocating me. Each breath was a struggle. Up on my feet, I paced to the shut door and back to my bed, the quiet giving way to thoughts slowly chipping away at me.
Each time I closed my eyes, all I saw were images of Selena lying on the bed, dead. A soft light had spilled on her face, breaking the darkness consuming her. I shattered into a thousand pieces to see her gone. So I did the only thing possible to bring her back.
But even after that, she’d made her decision to pull away from me. Of course she would. I’d caught her spying on me kissing Alania. I ground my back molars, digging my nails into my palms until they broke skin. Maybe all the torture I’d received had changed me. Now I longed to feel anything but the agony of her catching me.
I huffed loudly and punched a wall, my knuckles scraping the hard surface, tearing skin. She wasn’t meant to see me. Alania meant nothing to me. She was a means to an end, a role I had to play to protect my family lineage. She was all I had left from home, and I couldn’t risk lacerating that connection.
My world darkened without Selena’s presence, with her pulling away from me, but I couldn’t risk what was best for my kingdom. For the safety of so many innocents.
It didn’t change the cold hard fact that she would no longer want me. It destroyed me to know I hurt her and that she may never forgive me. But I’d ended up in this shithole because I’d been set up, and so much depended on my survival. That was my goal, not falling for a siren.
Seething, I returned to my pacing, unsure of my next steps with Selena, unsure how long I could torture myself this way. Did I tell her the truth, risking the news reaching the warden?
Muffled voices echoed outside my prison, and I jerked my head up to the door. A couple of men walked past, deep in heavy whispers. It wasn’t Selena. Of course it wouldn’t be.
I moved away from the door and to my bed, where I flopped down. Selena’s voice filled my head, and for a moment, she was standing in front of me, delivering the crystal she’d claimed back from the warden.
I’m sorry that you were ever parted with it to begin with, she had said.
She’d risked so much to get the crystal back for me. And the way she had looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes reminded me of the sky back home. Unblemished and bewitching. I’d tried so hard to push her away from me, so when had she crawled into my heart?
I fisted my hands, hating that I cared about her pulling away from me.
The metal click of my door unlocking echoed through the silence.
They were coming for me. My torturers.
I stiffened, my heart pounding loudly like it was trying to escape.
Two guards marched inside, wearing grins like they always did when they came to take me to get whipped. I tried to swallow, but I pushed up to my feet, ready to drown in excruciating pain to forget everything else.
Whatever Selena and I had was over. I had to accept that, even as the heaviness of that loss filled me with dark thoughts.
“It’s time,” the man with a hooked nose declared, lifting his hand with the shackles.
I didn’t fight them but raised my arms, offering them my wrists. I’d learned long ago that no matter what I did, the torture still continued. I stepped forward, and they snapped the black cuffs on, then wrenched me outside the prison cell.
I had to focus on my task, and distractions like Selena would only get me killed. It was horrific to learn Keon killed her accidently. Idiotic fool. Except, that shouldn’t be my concern now that she was alive. I did what I could for her, gave her more than I should have any human.
What mattered was my kingdom.
My family.
My realm.
And that meant sacrificing myself and everything that was dear to me, including Selena.
Alaric
I delivered one punch after another to his gut, sending him sprawling to the ground. “Do you yield?” I bellowed, my whole body shuddering with ran
ge as I bounced on my toes.
Liam stared up at me, one eye bloody, his lip busted, and he grimaced when he tried to move his arm. I was sure I’d dislocated his shoulder. “Yes, fuck, man! I yield, psychopath.”
I let his comment pass as two of his cronies rushed onto the court and dragged him away.
“Who’s next?” I called out, pivoting on the spot to scan the outdoor yard encased by a metal fence on three fronts and the entrance back inside the penitentiary dead ahead. Most of the spectators sat on the stairs, filling their miserable sad days with betting on these fights.
We’d often held fights outside to solve problems or other times for entertainment. Right now, I needed to blow off steam before I combusted.
“No one is taking up the challenge? I’m offering you the chance to try to beat the shit out of me.”
The dozen inmates sitting around watching didn’t say a word. Fucking chicken shits, the lot of them.
I tensed, my jawline clenching, needing to fight, to take out my aggression. Anything to get my mind off Selena.
That asshole, Keon, had killed her. Goddamn demon. It was him I wanted to face out here and destroy. What burned me further was knowing how much he cared for Selena. I’d seen it on his face when he brought her to me—the panic, the dread of losing something so precious, he wasn’t sure he could go on.
Fire swallowed me that she meant so much to him, and same with that fucking fae. She was mine, and I wanted to rip them apart for touching her.
Except, that wasn’t an option, especially after my visit to her yesterday, when she’d pushed me away. What the fuck was that about?
I’d tried to save her.
I wrenched from the memory and turned to a mountain of a man strolling toward me. Trunks for arms, head shaved bald, and by the wings inked on the side of his neck, I could tell he was part of the eagle shifter gang. You’d be surprised how corrupt these feathery pricks were, and it explained why there were at least twenty of them in the penitentiary.
I smirked and cracked my neck. “About fucking time.” A challenge to throw myself into.
“Heard you’ve got a death-wish over losing out on pussy,” he growled.
I lifted my gaze to his ugly mug. Large jaw, pointy nose, and beady eyes. I was going to rearrange his face for spewing such bullshit in front of me.
“Be careful what rumors you spread. I don’t take well to bullshit. Get your fucking facts right.” What pissed me off worse was that the shit that just fell from his mouth would be on everyone’s lips. The rumor mill would be on fire in the penitentiary, and well, I had every intention of correcting that error.
Starting with this creep.
“You know what they say,” he droned on. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Maybe instead of throwing punches, go work out your shit with the girl.”
What the fuck? “Stop talking, you snot-sucking bastard. You going to whine like a goddamn shrink or fucking fight?”
I swear these bird shifters loved nothing more than listening to their own voices.
He pushed the sleeves of his orange jumpsuit up to his elbows. “Fine, you pissy scum sack. You want insults and a fight to deal with your emotions, let’s do this.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously. Even when you try to insult me, you sound like a cunt. You’re ruining this for me.”
He laughed, chortling like a hyena. And that was the limit of my patience. The sound was like razor blades down my back.
Anger lashed over me, and my growl deepened, turning feral.
As he kept mocking me, I curled my hands into fists and threw myself at him. He anticipated my move, and in a flash, his wings ripped out from the back of his shirt, large feathery gray things. He pivoted on the spot, a wing whacking into me with such force, it threw me off my course and I stumbled sideways.
I heaved each breath and jerked my head to the bird brain. His dark eyes glinted in the daylight, and he looked up for a split second as a wild falcon flew past. Yeah, he’d love nothing more than to fly up and join him, if it weren’t for the invisible currents way overhead. They’d zap him to death the moment he touched them. That would be a sight to behold.
Grinning, I straightened myself, seeing the ass was going to play dirty. Perfect. That was exactly how I preferred my battles. We circled each other, while the crowd cheered. What pissed me off about him more than anything was that he touched on a soft spot that rang too close to home. And it was shit enough, I didn’t need someone else poking holes in my misery.
I’d get Selena back, I was under no misconception there, but how long it would take was another story.
First, get rid of my rage and teach this bastard a lesson. My demonic side teetered just below the surface, and the first wisps of smoke curled out from the corners of my mouth. Two could play at this game.
He unleashed a bird-like shriek.
“That’s right, you’ll be screaming for pity soon enough,” I said, tossing the words at him.
Then we lunged for each other and collided in a massive clash. Only darkness consumed me, and this was exactly what I’d been seeking—a battle to lose myself in.
Chapter 4
Selena
Listless.
That’s how I felt.
I should have been rejoicing for every day that I was alive.
I was a stranger in my skin since I’d woken up, and every day, it seemed to get worse.
I hated them. I loved them.
I never wanted to see them again.
Or at least that’s what I told myself.
But they were everywhere. I could feel their presence.
They’d all become my stalkers. For days, I’d kept my distance, but I always felt their eyes on me.
Well, at least Alaric and Keon had. Seth was trapped in his cell, but I had no doubt he would join the others if he could. Every time I passed food to his section of the prison, he stared at me. He’d occasionally pepper me with questions, but for the most part, he just stared as if he were trying to see all the way into my soul.
And maybe he could. He could bring people back from the dead, after all.
I hadn’t said thank you to him. Right now, I honestly wasn’t sure if I was thankful.
Everything was a blur from when I’d died, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I’d chosen to come back to this life.
I just didn’t know why.
I picked at my food in the cafeteria, aware of the eyes that were watching me.
A prison was worse than a pack of teenage girls when it came to rumors. Word had quickly gotten out that Keon had killed me, and yet somehow, here I was. No one seemed to have heard about Seth’s role in all of it.
Which was a good thing for him. I didn’t think the fae would appreciate it if it became common knowledge that their royals could bring people back from the dead. Supernaturals would be doing whatever they could to break down the gates into Faerie and raise their loved ones.
I took a bite of mashed potatoes, wincing at their watery taste, my tastebuds not what they were earlier. With the way I was feeling though, I doubt a steak from a five-star restaurant on the outside would taste any different.
Alaric stalked into the cafeteria. The entire atmosphere of the room changed as everyone looked his way. A gaggle of female prisoners tittered nervously as he passed by their table, I’m sure all of them hoped they would get a chance in his bed today.
But he didn’t pay them any attention. His gaze was locked on me.
Goodie.
“What do you want, Alaric?” I asked wearily as he sat down in the seat in front of me.
I was really going to need to start taking my meals in my cell. I was less likely to run into one of them there.
It was a weird thing to both crave and detest being by myself.
“You’re done ignoring me,” he told me bluntly, staring at me intensely.
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? I didn’t know that was your decision to make.”
He
sighed as if I was a petulant child that he needed to lecture.
“I don’t know why you’re acting like this. I helped save your life. You’re treating me the same as that guard of yours, and it makes no fucking sense.”
The phrase “guard of yours” made me cringe.
I was trying not to think about the fact that Keon had ever possibly been mine. Because if I thought about that, and the ways that Alaric and Seth had both betrayed me as well, then I would have to admit that I had the worst taste in men possible.
And I really didn’t want to admit that right now.
“See! You can’t even think about him. I can understand that reaction, but I’m done with you putting distance between us. I’ve let you have your time to sulk. This is done.” His eyes darkened menacingly as he stared at me, as if he could will his way into changing my mind. His eyes were more like flint than their usual glittering silver, and I forced myself not to shiver under his gaze.
He gave a low, short, frustrated growl when my face remained impassive despite his little speech.
I may have looked calm on the outside, but inside, I was fuming.
He didn’t know why I was ignoring him…
That was hilarious. It made me feel a bit powerful in the moment to know that I had one on this powerful incubus, who usually knew everything that went on in the prison. I had one on all of them when I thought about it like that.
“Alaric, I have nothing to say to you right now. And you can tell the rest of the guys that applies to them as well. If—and when I say ‘if,’ that’s a really big if—I choose to talk to any of you again, it will be on my terms. You can leave now.”
Alaric stared at me, his mouth hanging open like I’d shocked him beyond measure. And maybe I had. I doubted that very many people ever had the nerve to stand up to him.
I wouldn’t have the nerve usually, but I guess dying kind of had the effect of making you not give a fuck.