by C. R. Jane
A shiver crept down my spine, and my power slithered unhappily inside of me. I’d always known the warden was powerful, but the way he’d just handled that…
That was terrifying.
The warden turned his back on me, a classic power move signaling that I was no threat to him. “Come in,” he called out, and a nervous-looking guard peeked his head in the room.
“Your guest is here,” the man said.
“Take Selena to him. Our guest will be overjoyed at the chance for a reunion.”
My whole body stiffened, and for a moment, I imagined what it would be like to launch a full-on attack, sending everything I could at the warden, at the guard, at everyone in this hellhole.
“Selena,” the warden said, warning laced through his voice. I thought of how easily he’d deflected my attack, and my shoulders sunk.
“Let’s go,” I told the guard in a defeated voice.
The warden’s cold laugh followed us all the way down the hallway.
Julian was just as I remembered him—silver blond hair, eyes so dark they might as well have been black, perfect skin that practically shined. The fact that a monster could be so beautiful… Somehow though, his beauty wasn’t as striking as it used to be. Not after Keon, Alaric, Seth…and Laz.
His eyes widened when I walked through the door. They grew hungry as his gaze flickered over my body. I wondered what I looked like to him. Before this place, my mother had me on a very strict skin and hair regimen. My food was carefully measured, every calorie counted to make sure that I had the perfect appearance. The best I could do here was to wash my face morning and night, and makeup was nowhere to be found. My calories were probably all right, just because the slop they served here wasn’t palatable most of the time and I could stomach only enough to survive.
Julian’s expression didn’t show any disgust, so I guessed my appearance hadn’t changed that drastically. Or maybe it was my power hiding all the flaws I must have now.
The men didn’t seem to have a problem, a voice in my head reminded me.
Julian’s gaze grew desperate, like I was water he’d seen in the distance in the middle of the desert. “Selena,” he whispered, his smooth voice coming out choked.
“Julian,” I said coldly, before remembering that I was supposed to be getting something from him.
“I’ve missed you,” he told me in a rare moment of weakness that I’d never seen from him before. I could see the self-loathing on his face the second the words came out of his mouth. Julian had always prided himself on his self-control. My mother had mentioned he’d been cracking lately…attacks on the other sirens.
“You look well,” I told him evenly.
He just continued to stare at me unnervingly. I could see the hint of his fangs peeking out from his lips, meaning he was experiencing a strong emotion, or he was aroused.
It was all I could do to keep the repulsion from my face.
“Are you ready to come home? I must say, I’m impressed that you’ve lasted this long.”
It was a strange thing. When I’d first gotten here, I’d been desperate to leave. But now there was no other choice for me but to leave on my own terms. I couldn’t exchange one prison for another. And that’s all Julian would ever offer me—a prison.
“I’ve been fine, living my best life and all of that,” I told him breezily, my thoughts darting to my recent death and all the other shit I’d been through since I’d come here.
“The warden must be slacking off. I’ll have to have a word with him,” Julian spat, my attitude enraging him.
It hit me then how much I’d changed since I’d arrived. I wasn’t the desperate, fearful girl who shrank back at the sight of her shadow. Standing in front of Julian, I no longer felt the terror that I’d once choked on every time I was in his presence.
When had that happened?
Maybe it was the fact that I’d slept with a serial killer.
I smiled at my internal monologue, only annoying Julian more.
“Care to share with the room?” he snarled.
My smile dropped.
“Did you need something from me if you aren’t here to beg for my forgiveness?”
“The warden thought we might want to catch up,” I told him.
Understanding flashed on his face. “He thinks you can convince me to give him the book.”
I shrugged, wondering how he wasn’t seeing my power. My reason for being here should have been obvious from the second I stepped in the room. Why else would my power be back?
My puzzlement over this development was pushed away when Julian started laughing. His rich, malignant laughter filled the room. Julian must be considered a special visitor, since we were all alone in the room.
My power bubbled up to the surface as his laughter continued to ring through the room. I was sure most would find his laughter attractive, after all, everything about the vampire was designed to entice…to seduce.
But to me, it might as well be nails on a chalkboard, and my power agreed.
“The warden should know by now that I can’t be swayed by pussy, even if it’s the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen,” Julian said once his laughter had calmed down.
Disgust churned harder in my gut.
“Why did you renege on your deal?” I commented, thinking that it was a strange thing for him to have done. Julian wasn’t stupid. One way that he’d become so strong was because of his ability to make alliances that benefited him. This move was out of character for him. “Isn’t it in your best interest for you to have a good relationship with him?”
“I don’t need anyone. And the warden should have realized that.”
“Hmm,” I said in a noncommittal tone, wondering if the rumors about him changing had been understated.
There was a tense silence as Julian continued to stare at me as if he was going to lunge at me and gobble me up at any second. I sneaked a look to the side, making sure there were still guards nearby just in case he did.
“How is everyone back home?” I asked, trying to distract him from whatever he was thinking.
It was his turn to hum in a noncommittal tone, and the move filled me with unease.
“Do you think about me when you’re alone in your cell? Do you find yourself touching yourself as you imagine what I could do to you?”
I gaped at him, amazed at how he could be so off in the night, how he could know me so little.
“Every time I come, it’s thinking of you,” he said in a gravelly, thick voice laden with lust. I watched, incredulous, as his left hand drifted towards the new tent in his pants, like he wanted to rub one out right in front of me.
I’d had enough. Julian was a sicko creep and would always be a sicko creep. I didn’t want to play any more games. This little task the warden had given me needed to be done, and then I never wanted to see this asshole again.
I’d seen a siren use her powers before, and although I’d only gotten a taste before, there was no time like the present to try out my powers of persuasion.
“Julian,” I whispered, and the voice that came out of me was not my own. It was interlaced with a vibrant energy. It was seductive, beckoning. And then my voice cracked, and the power retracted back into me with a snap that had me stumbling back a step.
Julian shook his head and frowned. But he still didn’t seem to be aware of my power. Had the warden done something to hide it?
Squaring my shoulders, I tried again. His name came out smoother this time, but just like the time before, it cracked and the spell, or whatever it was that my power did, broke.
I tried a few more times, trying to focus my energy, my calm.
And finally, Julian’s name left my mouth, and this time, my voice didn’t crack, not even a bit.
As soon as the word left my mouth, I knew that this vampire, even with thousands of years under his belt, wouldn’t stand a chance.
“You want to fulfill your deal with the warden. It’s imperative that you keep a good relations
hip with him. You will give him the book.”
A siren had once visited from a different clan. The vampires in that clan weren’t as hard on their sirens, so this one was actually quite old. She’d visited with a few of us, asking about our power coming in, and she mentioned something offhand about the most powerful act of persuasion was to plant ideas that would lead to what you wanted, rather than ordering someone to do it outright.
I tried to remember that as I continued to work my power on Julian.
It was working. I could tell by the way his eyes were slightly dazed looking. He was gaping at me like he would do anything for me, give me the world if he could.
“You should get the book right now,” I told him soothingly. “Make sure that your alliance with the warden remains strong.”
He nodded slowly and then pulled out his phone. “Bring the book to the prison. Now,” he ordered to someone before hanging up and continuing to stare at me deliriously.
For a second, I was tempted to try and plant an idea to free the sirens. But I knew it wouldn’t work. An act like that would dismantle too much of vampire society. He’d be met with so much opposition that even if my power were to last outside of me standing in his presence, which I doubted it would since I was inexperienced, the sirens would never be released.
While we waited for whoever he called to come to the prison with the book, I continued to tell him how good of an idea this was, how powerful he would be with the help of the warden, how he should always keep his commitments with him.
It was exasperating work, but I tried to think of it as a learning experience. Instead of thinking about what it would be like to have it ripped away, I would use this week to try and hone my skills, so that when I did get my power back, I wouldn’t be like a newly born foal stumbling around with no clue how to use it.
And I would get my power back. If there was one thing this experience reinforced was that I could not live like half a person forever. I’d been motivated to get my power before, but then I’d gotten distracted. With Keon, Alaric, and Seth. I wouldn’t forget the end goal this time.
My heart broke, thinking of all the sirens who lived permanently without their real self.
I wouldn’t be like them. I couldn’t.
The door suddenly opened, and the warden strode in, a big grin across his handsome albeit terrifying face. He was holding what looked like a thick gold-plated book under his arm, and he slow-clapped as he entered the room.
Whatever magic he contained in that clap dissipated all the hard work I’d just done on Julian. Julian’s gaze became sharp and focused once more. He looked around the room as if he wondered how he’d gotten there.
His eyes flicked to me and then to the warden. I knew when he noticed the book because his entire being stiffened, a dangerous aura surrounding him.
“How did you get that?” he growled, right before a wave of recognition hit him. He turned towards me, and I knew that he saw me. He saw the cloak of power I held.
“That was a stupid thing for you to do, you little bitch,” he seethed at me. He lunged at me, and my power cracked at him like it had with the warden, sudden and uncontrolled. Except unlike with the warden, my power struck home. A giant red welt appeared across Julian’s face, and he yelped at the pain.
He lunged at me again, and again, my power struck, this time slicing him right across the neck. Julian’s pallor had turned a furious purple color, a mix of embarrassment and rage I supposed.
I’d only seen him turn that color once before, the day I told him I’d given myself away to a stranger.
Julian would have killed me in that moment if he could have, but the warden stepped in right before he could lunge again.
“That’s enough,” he barked, but there was no real heat in his voice, only amusement. “You should have known better, Julian. Nobody double crosses me.”
The words were more than a slap in Julian’s face, they seemed like a warning as well. To me.
“You’re both going to pay for this,” Julian said in a voice that was so enraged, he could barely get the words out.
He flew past both of us, vibrating with irritation and the promise of retribution. The door slammed behind him, and silence filled the room.
My body was beginning to tire. Controlling my power, or even wielding it, since it was obvious that I had very little control, was tiring, that was for sure.
I looked over at the warden, but he wasn’t paying me any attention. He had the book open, and he was attentively going through it. The gold pages made a soft ringing sound as he flipped them. I gazed in amazement at the aura I could see around them. Whatever was contained in those pages was powerful.
No wonder Julian hadn’t wanted to give it up.
I waited a few long moments before I cleared my throat. I was ready to get back to my cell, and it was almost time to start delivering meals. I was excited about the prospect of having a week to try out my powers. Maybe I could use them on the guys…make them do embarrassing crap or something.
“Selena, you did good work today,” the warden said, that annoying amusement still laced through his voice.
“I did,” I told him calmly, because my mother had once told me that a lady deflects compliments, and when I’d woken up from the dead, I was more determined than ever to be the opposite of her.
“I hope that was fun for you,” he continued, and a trickle of unease began to build up inside of me…along with panic.
“It was good,” I told him hesitantly.
“But I’m afraid that your fun is going to have to come to an end.”
I just gaped at him. It took me a minute to understand what he was talking about.
“But you said a week,” I told him softly. “I did everything you wanted.”
He slowly closed the gold book and nodded in agreement. “You did do everything that I wanted. But you can’t honestly believe that I could allow a prisoner with your kind of power to run amok among my prison, now could you?”
“This was all about Julian not keeping his word. You’re doing that very same thing right now,” I told him, trying to keep back the frustrated tears.
“I am, aren’t I?” he said unrepentantly as he began to walk towards me.
I stood there shocked for a moment before my brain and my power woke up. It lashed out at him, and this time, I was helping it. Snap after snap sounded out in the room as my power struck at him.
But the warden just laughed as he swatted the bursts of power away like they were nothing but flies and continued to walk towards me.
I finally gave up, my chest heaving, once he was standing directly in front of me.
“You might have felt powerful up against someone like Julian, but he’s nothing compared to me, little girl,” the warden said in a soft voice that was more menacing than if he were screaming at me. “You’re nothing when you walk these halls. I own you. I own every single prisoner in every single cell. And the fact that you haven’t gotten that through your fucking head…well, you’re more naïve than I thought. The idea that you would ever have a chance against me, you’re out of your fucking mind.”
He suddenly grasped both sides of my head, pulling on my hair until I grunted in pain and a tear slid down my face. He eyed the tear with interest before he began muttering something.
And then I felt it—my power being stripped away. It was like pieces of my soul were being hacked off with a jagged knife, and I screamed at the pain and the sensation of losing myself. Whatever the warden was doing, it was way more painful than it had been before.
When it was done, seemingly hours later, I collapsed to the ground, spent and weak, feeling like my entire world had imploded around me.
“Remember this lesson, little siren. I own you. That won’t change until you’re outside the walls of this place. And we both know that might never happen.”
I lay there on the ground, staring at the wall as his footsteps faded away. It felt like all the hope had been sucked out of me, along with
my energy…along with my power.
The door to the room opened and closed, and I was alone. I knew the guard would be in here soon, the warden wouldn’t allow me time alone for long. So the second the heavy door slammed behind him, I let myself cry.
Life was indescribably hard sometimes.
With my power, something inside of me had filled up, become whole. I didn’t need anyone else, or at least that’s what it felt like for a couple of hours today.
But without my power, I was not only incomplete inside, I was also devastatingly reminded how alone I was.
The tears came hard and fast.
Just as I predicted, a guard arrived not two minutes later.
“Get up,” he barked. It was the same guard as this morning. His voice wasn’t as gruff as it had been though. Maybe he felt sorry for me.
I stumbled to my knees, feeling drunk and disoriented. My power made me so focused, so strong. I felt like I was just learning to walk as I struggled to stand, and eventually, the guard had to grab me in order for me to make it out of the room.
The walk to my cell seemed to be much longer than normal. My body was in physical pain. I was like an addict who needed her fix.
Keon appeared seemingly out of nowhere as we walked. He gave the guard a loaded look, and the guard practically threw me towards him as he all but ran away.
“Come here, baby,” Keon whispered as he scooped me up in his arms.
Distraught, I couldn’t be held accountable for my actions as I laid my head against his chest and wept.
“Whatever it is, I’ll make it okay,” he told me softly.
I shook against him, my sobs turning into manic laughs. I sounded crazy. And maybe I was. Maybe this had been the thing to push me over the edge.
The idea that this serial killer I’d found myself involved with could make everything better suddenly sounded like the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard.
Keon didn’t say anything, he just continued to walk to my cell, stroking my hair soothingly.
He opened up my cell and gently laid me down.
“Just go away, Keon,” I told him as tears continued to flood out of my eyes.