by G. Bailey
And clueless.
Thankfully, my mother speaks first and I’m not left looking like a lost lamb.
“How are they treating you?”
“Fine,” I dryly answer and her face falls for a moment before she gets her composure back. Was she expecting me to rave about the five-start treatment? “How are you? How’s Ez and Willow?”
Another sniffle, and it actually makes me choke up a little. “We are all still in shock. Your step-father cannot believe what happened. Willow has come back from the Shadowborn Academy to spend time grieving your loss at home with her family.”
I have to bite my tongue from calling bullshit on that last part. Willow never did want me as a sister and she made damn sure I knew that from the start. The only reason Willow is faking some sisterly love now is because she wants something. I doubt even my step-father is at all affected by this.
“Are you going to plead my case?” I ask my mother, rubbing my hands together as another chill sweeps over me. “You know I would never lie to you, Mum. Whoever those wardens were, they kidnapped me and turned me into a light fae. I had wings and everything, and even though they’re gone now, I know the whole thing was real.”
She sighs, crossing her arms and watching me with pity-filled eyes. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, darling, and I’m sure you didn’t mean to kill those wardens, but your story doesn’t add up. I’ve tried everything in my power to get evidence to back up your word. So far, there is none.”
Frustrated by her response, I can only nod.
This is the woman I know. Cold, stern, and straight to the point. No beating around the bush.
“Izora, you never once asked about your father growing up,” she adds, her tone a little softer. “But I want you to know that he was brave. Many admired him for his courage.”
Tears prick my eyes at the mention of my dead father. “I once found your old journal and I read about my father. The only thing that stuck with me all these years later was the saying you wrote about. ‘The House of Dawn never surrenders’, and I don’t want to know more.”
A wan smile pulls at her lips. “Your father never gave up. I can tell you more than that journal ever could. You only need to ask.”
I’m surprised by the beseeching edge to her voice. My father died before I was born. He was a normal Shadow Warden for the light fae. There isn’t anything else to know about who I am with regards to my father. I read that he was a good fighter, though he liked to play dirty, and he was well-respected. He met my mother at a ball in Helios and they fell in love right away. It was all very romantic. Then he died protecting King Ulric, the Light Fae King, from an attack when my mother was nine months pregnant with me, just days away from birth.
“Does it matter now that he is dead?” I ask, tilting my head at her. “I think the made-up ideas of a father in my mind are safer than what you could tell me.”
“Izora, listen to me—” she cuts off, and the room plunges into darkness.
Alarms blast in the background behind me, yet my mother still speaks, her voice much more urgent now.
“Stay alive, Izora! You are telling the truth and my daughter will not be locked up for long. I will find the evidence. Stay alive and keep your head down. I know I never say it but I do love you, my darling baby girl!”
The lights blast back on as the alarms stop and the sphere drops into the water, splashing my legs as my heart pounds in my chest. Luke barrels into the room as I stand up and turn around, his eyes searching for some kind of danger I suspect.
“Did your mother say anything when the lights were out? We couldn’t hear on the speakers,” he demands, his cheek popping once.
It makes me wonder if my mother had anything to do with the blackout. And if so, how?
“Nothing,” I say, shrugging. “The sphere just dropped into the water.”
“Come on, we better get you back.” He grabs my arm and turns for the door.
I don’t know why, but I reach out and let my hand fall on his arm.
“Thanks for letting me have a phone call of sorts,” I whisper, giving a genuine smile.
For a moment, he just looks at my hand, and then he nods. “It’s nothing.” His hand returning to my arm, he lowers his voice. “But don’t tell the others. Inmates aren’t allowed calls in the first month and after that, they have to earn them.”
I keep silent as we go through the gates again and past the guards. A million thoughts run through my mind. I’m touched by his gesture, but now I owe him. Perhaps that doesn’t need to be a bad thing.
I search his cold expression from the side as we walk down the corridor. “Why would you do that for me?”
He shrugs. “I guess I wanted to see you smile.”
His answer does make me smile and feel in danger at the same time.
I have a feeling this Shadow Warden has a few secrets up his sleeve. I just hope they don’t come to bite me in the ass one of these days.
The next morning, Luke accompanies me to the mess hall again. I’m relieved when he decides to speak to one of his colleagues instead of shadowing my every movement. He doesn’t stray far, but I manage to reach the servery on my own. I’m a little bummed to see Axel isn’t around.
“What’s on the menu today then?” I muse, more to myself as I gather some food onto my tray. I feel a little guilty as I look for a table to sit down and eat. Luke said not many are able to eat once they see all the dead bodies getting fished out of the arena, but after talking to my mother, I find myself determined not to surrender. I may not have known my father, but one thing I do have is his courage and my mother’s cunning.
My eyes trace the hall for the governor. He doesn’t seem to be here, or if he is, I can’t see him. I do notice something odd though. Right above the entrance hangs four glass cages. They look like the one I’m housed in except the entire front wall is made of glass that looks into the hall. Only one of them is occupied, and the female inmate is slouched against the glass so nobody can see her eating. I have a feeling those aren’t maximum security cages. More like solitary confinement.
I pass by a table and catch part of a group’s conversation.
“I wonder who the next poor fool is they have coming here to teach us?”
The guy next to him laughs. “Considering the last teacher fucked half the prison, anyone new is going to be a disappointment if they don’t do the same. She was the best damn teacher I had.”
I sit at the next table and stare at the pitiful excuse for porridge, the soggy looking bread and a carton of milk. I stir the clumpy porridge and barely manage to eat half when two women sit down opposite me.
“Where did you learn to hit like that?” the one with spiky blue hair and black, dagger-like eyes asks me.
She’s a little stout, almost like she steals a lot of the food here. My point is proven when she takes my toast off my plate and starts munching away. Lucky for her, I don’t care. Her blue hair makes me think of a friend of mine back at the academy and damn I miss Corvina Charles’ snarky nature. I miss my friends and how they could make me feel safe. It was like I had a family when I was with them.
The blonde next to her rolls her eyes. “Clearly it was just a good shot. Anyway, I’m Janis Roth and this is my sister, Sharon. We part of the Blood Trials committee and wondered if you want to sign up.”
My blood runs cold at the thought.
“No thanks,” I reply with a tight smile. “I don’t want to die for nice shit in here. As the humans say, you can’t put a flower in an asshole and call it a vase.”
Sharon bursts into laughter but it sounds fake to my ears. “Good one, jailbait.”
I eye her cautiously before standing from the table and leaving. I have absolutely no intention of killing myself for a fancy room. I walk over to the bin and throw the rest of my food away, my appetite suddenly gone.
Figuring it’s best that I head back to my cage, I leave the mess hall through the other exit at the front. I pause when I find a sig
n that says ‘TRAINING’ and my ears pick up the sound of heavy grunts and punches. I head through the double doors and into a guarded area where dozens of inmates are training in a gym-style setting. But it’s no ordinary gym. The equipment is high-tech with holographic dummies that explode into stars when they’re defeated by an inmate.
I spot Luke with a group of wardens and several others walking around, always watching. He must’ve come here while those girls tried to coax me into an early grave.
Yeah, as if I’ll ever be signing up for the Blood Trials, girls.
I’d rather slit my own throat than have someone else do it. Dead centre of the room is a chair shaped like a throne, and lo and behold, sitting in it is no other than Governor Gold. His eyes watch his subjects like the scum he thinks we all are. It riles my blood.
Feeling a shadow hang over me, I look up to see a giant of a man at my side.
“Watching him is gunning for trouble, kid.”
“Maybe I like trouble,” I counter, but my reply only makes him laugh, a bellowing sound that can’t help but smile at.
Whoever this dude is, I figure he could crush ten people in his hands and not even feel a muscle pop. He must be at least seven feet, his enormous, muscular body covered in tiny scars and tattoos. He has a vest shirt hanging off his muscular chest, and tight trousers topped with heavy boots that could crush a man’s skull in seconds. I would guess he is in his late thirties, maybe older going by his slightly greying, short blond hair, and he doesn’t look at me like I’m a piece of meat as I’ve seen most the idiots in here do.
Most girls would shit their pants at the sight of a guy like him.
And there must be something wrong with me because I’m intrigued about why he’s talking to me.
“Tell you what, kid, between your smart mouth and mean right hook, I might have found my new best friend. No one would ever suspect you talk like that and punch hard enough to take a man down. Who taught you?”
I cross my arms, twitching my nose. “Mostly self-taught, to be honest. The Shadowborn Academy helped me perfect my skills though. I was the only student in my class that bothered to learn self-defense outside of using magic to defend themselves.”
He thinks about my words for a moment. “Why did you?”
“I don’t ever want to be weak and my powers could always be taken, so I had to have a backup plan. Looks like it worked out in the end.”
His big hand falls on my shoulder, and I meet his grey eyes. “I’m Memphis Hasting, and don’t worry, you can trust me. I don’t expect you to listen. In fact, I would be disappointed if you did right away, but yeah, I’m here and first warning of our new friendship. Don’t attract Gold’s attention. You won’t survive him. Two: Next time you knock a guy out, hit him in the balls. If he wakes up, he won’t be able to chase you.”
I can’t help but snort at the last bit. “Sound advice.”
I repeat his name in my head so I don’t forget it. Memphis? More like Fuckphis. You could climb this guy like a tree. And then his name suddenly hits me. Luke said Axel hangs around with Memphis and I was to steer clear. Why?
He flashes me a toothy grin. “Now you came here for a reason. Want to train?”
My eyes flicker up to Gold, who’s watching me right back. I need to get his attention. I need to prove to him I’m not just some prisoner, and the best way would be to put on a show.
“Yeah, give me someone I can fight. No offence but I’m pretty sure you’ll crush me.”
“Trouble, trouble, trouble, kid,” Memphis almost singsongs with a laugh, walking away.
I follow him over to the other side of the room and the row of mats littered on the floor.
“Dale, come and fight the new girl,” he orders. “Don’t piss your pants if she wins like you do with me.”
“Seriously?” I mutter, eyeing the huge arms of the dude as he stalks over to the mat. He smacks his fists together, leering at me. Other than tight blue trousers, the guy doesn’t have a shirt on, and usually, I would like the sight of a decent six-pack but his face ruins it. He’s handsome, don’t get me wrong, but I know a douche-canoe when I see one. It’s all in his smug green eyes. Oh, this is going to be fun.
As predicted, Dale uses all his strength to tackle me head-on. I stay still, watching his foot movements and propel myself to the left, noticing that he prefers the right. Sure enough, he tumbles right past me and before he can pivot, I’m hot on his ass. I slam my fist into the centre of his neck, and he gasps as he reaches behind me, trying to grab my hair and ass, digging his nails in hard enough to break my skin.
Shit, that hurts.
I knee his back to stop him, and he falls like a plank under the pressure, not even able to stop his head smacking the mat. Unfortunately for him, his legs are open and when I knee him as hard as I can right between his thighs, a high-pitched screech leaves his lips. The poor guy doesn’t even get up as Memphis claps and cheers, and so do a lot of the other prisoners who stopped to watch.
Breathless and panting, I look up to search the face of the only man that little fight was for.
Gold.
And he’s smirking at me as he claps just once and inclines his head.
I’ve got his attention.
Step one complete for now.
Fuck, that felt so good!
Memphis wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Trouble, trouble, trouble, kid. You’re playing with fire.”
I laugh, keeping my voice low when I speak. “No, I’m playing with Gold.”
“Dinner started an hour ago, Izora,” Luke comments as his shadow fills the door of my cage and he slowly comes into focus. I ignore him, staring up at the ceiling, counting the dots of damp leaking through. How long before the water trickles its way onto my poor excuse of a bed? My back aches from sleeping on the paper-thin mattress. I’ve tried the padded floor, but it’s just as poor.
Luke leans over me, his hands fisted at his side. “Move.”
“I’m not hungry.”
The sentence drifts between us and I can tell he isn’t happy about the answer. To my surprise, he pushes my legs back and sits on the edge of my bed, looking at the cage wall.
“Not eating will make you sick,” he warns me, his attention still fixed on the wall. “And being sick doesn’t get you out of here. They just let you die.”
“I’m not starving myself, I just…” I pause, having no clue how to explain to Luke that I feel like giving up. I thought I could keep fighting and never surrender, but the more I think about it, there’s no hope in this place. There’s just death and cruelty. I’m not even sure what I’m going back to when I leave here in the end. The human world isn’t bad exactly, but with no family, no work experience and no money, it’s not going to be easy to get by.
“I know someone who might cheer you up. I’m not good at givin’ anyone reasons to hope.”
Turning my eyes to his for the first time since he sat down, I find a lot of sympathy and pity there. I almost hate this newfound pity of his. I hate that he doesn’t see me as anything more than another prisoner.
“Then why keep trying?”
A frown flits over his face. “Would you rather I gave up on you, Izora?” He closes his eyes briefly. “I wish I saw you like a simple prisoner instead of the wild, silver-haired girl from the academy that I had a crush on once.”
I blink at him, a little surprised by his comment.
“You had a crush on me?” I chuckle, not believing a word he says, though it’s tempting. “I thought no one saw me next to Willow. She’s the beautiful one.”
He laughs, standing up and crossing his arms. “I never saw Willow because of you. I never saw anyone else.”
I slide myself off the bed, feeling my cheeks burning a little as he nods to the door. He might actually be telling the truth. Well, shit. This changes things a little. It’ll make Operation Unicorn easier, that’s for sure.
“The new teacher is here,” Luke says, standing off my bed, “and he personally re
quested to see you first.”
“Why me?” Luke just shrugs at my question. “Fine, let’s go then.”
“Only if you promise to go to dinner afterward,” he demands with an arched eyebrow.
“You drive a hard bargain,” I mutter and he grins, nodding to the door.
I shake my head at him as we go out of my cage and down the steps to the main part of the prison. Luke leads the way to the other side, where there are rooms labelled ‘education’ and ‘therapist’. It doesn’t surprise me to know they have a therapist here. They even had one back at Shadowborn Academy. Turns out dying as a kid in dark magical water and becoming a shadowborn is a little bit haunting for anyone.
I’m glad I can’t remember much. Or at least that was the excuse I gave for avoiding the academy’s therapist, Gage, who’s now my friend Sage’s secret boyfriend. I wish I knew how my friends were doing. Luke knocks a few times on the education door and a deep, familiar voice states to come shortly after.
Luke holds the door open for me but doesn’t come in once I step into the small classroom. My heart is in my throat when I see Professor Mune, a teacher from the academy who I was mildly obsessed with.
Okay, so mildly is putting it, well, mildly.
I had the biggest crush on this sexy beast of a man, but he never once noticed me. It feels like years ago when it’s only been months.
Nothing has changed about Professor Mune since I last saw him. He’s still a hot, rugged, silver fox even though his silver-dotted blue eyes don’t seem at all that old. Just before I was kidnapped, he trimmed his beard down to a stubble, showing off more of his chiseled jaw and the handsome face that hid beneath. Now dressed in a tight black shirt with his sleeves rolled up his tattooed arms, black trousers that leave little to the imagination—thank the goddesses—he’s as gorgeous as always.
A tear falls down my cheek, and I harshly wipe it away, breaking whatever moment there was here for a second. I’m just happy to see him. He’s a light in an otherwise dark world.