Pretty in Orange

by J B Trepagnier

  “Yeah, we will,” Roman said. “We can’t just destroy the labs. Rathmore needs to die. Even if we destroy his research, he’s still got magic, he could spell someone else like he did Serafina and me.”

  I hissed. I didn’t want to think about Rathmore doing that to another person. How many people in this prison were under his influence that we didn’t know about? I’m sure not all of them had an Amduscias looking after them like Roman, and I knew none of them had a Fergus like I did.

  “Rathmore dies,” I growled. “I’m not picky, and it doesn’t have to be me. Whoever gets to him first kills him. I just want to leave here knowing he’s dead and can’t do this to anyone else.”

  “There are a lot of Fae wards in that wing of the prison, my Ena. You could be powerless, and I might not be able to follow.”

  “How do we disable them?”

  “You can’t. Your element is not earth. The ward needs to be disrupted. A crack in the wall would work.”

  “Well, I’m not bringing one of Jasmine’s girls with me.”

  “Ask Charley or Amduscias if that’s something they can do.”

  “We need someone who can crack the walls where the wards are. I’m not taking an earth elemental with us. The ones here that took up with Jasmine give me bad vibes.”

  Amduscias looked grim. “I can do it with sound, but it’ll alert every guard in Scorchwood.”

  Charley just yawned. “Why is the little witch always saving all your asses? A magical pulse will do it, and it’ll only alert a witch or warlock.”

  I grinned at Charley.

  “You’re pretty badass, you know. I’m glad you’re on our side. How do you know all those spells?”

  “My dad. He was a police officer. He knew all the nasty spells and how to remove them. A woman couldn’t become an officer then, but he taught me so I could protect myself. I didn’t think it would come in handy in prison.”

  “We know how to disable the wards. How do we do this so we aren’t caught?” Roman asked. “Every time I escaped, they caught me.”

  Amduscias just grinned. “This might be a Fae prison, but the Fae didn’t build it. This is all demon built. I can just wave my hand and open the doors. Once we are outside, it will be cold and frozen. I’ll just open a portal home. Getting through the front door without alerting the guards, trashing the lab, and killing Rathmore will bring attention to us.”

  Roman just gave us all this crazy grin. “Before I got arrested, I used to love live theatre. They used to say you should always make a grand entrance. We will just be making an extravagant exit with some fire, mayhem, and murder.”

  That was what I loved about Roman. I could sense him now that he bit me. He could taste his freedom, and he was racing towards it. It was more than that. It was one thing for Rathmore to turn him into a killer. It was entirely different for him that he used the same magic on me. Roman was pissed, and he wanted to burn this entire prison to the ground if it meant killing Rathmore.

  “There is a Fae secret door to get to Rathmore’s lab, Ena. I memorized the pattern and can walk you through unlocking it, but if you get anything wrong, something bad will happen. I’m not sure what this particular door does, but they ward most of them to kill if you try to break in.”

  “Amduscias can’t just open that one, can he?”

  “No, because it’s Fae magic, not demonic. It was put here by a Fae. The only thing that will open it is the correct code.”

  “There’s a door here Amduscias can’t open,” I announced. “Fergus said there’s some Fae secret door to Rathmore’s lab. He’s got the pattern, but if I make a mistake, we could all die. I want to destroy the lab and kill Rathmore, but I’m not alone in this. Do all of you want to take the risk, or do you just want to leave?”

  “Rathmore dies,” Roman growled.

  “Rathmore should have died a long time ago. We can’t leave him alive when we go,” Amduscias said. “Whatever this Fae plot is, we’ll throw a wrench in it if we take Rathmore out of the picture.”

  “You haven’t told us what he did to you, but just watching Charley remove the spell and that he tried to control you means my wolf wants to kill him.”

  How to explain this to them without totally infuriating them? I was pissed, but these men lived before those kinds of exams were a regular part of healthcare.

  “Okay, Rathmore did exams on me like he was checking to make sure I could get pregnant. I get those kinds of exams on purpose every year, but it’s different when you are drugged, and it’s against your will.”

  “Don’t you just look at the hips?” Skoll asked.

  Okay, this guy right here. I was trying to remember they had locked away Skoll in prison for the last hundred years and did not understand what modern medical science was, but seriously? Did men used to size up women by the size of their hips to see if they would have healthy babies? That was a little gross, but so was what Rathmore did to me.

  “No. In the modern world, you get naked on a table, and they look inside you with tools. They take swabs and feel inside you for things. This is all normal unless you’re in prison in Hell, and they did it against your will.”

  Skoll’s eyes flashed amber, and his canines elongated. Skoll was ready to go full wolf over a sneak pelvic exam. We would have to have some serious come to Jesus talks when we got out of here about what was considered normal in the modern world so they didn’t get us kicked out of Hell because they didn’t understand something.

  I got up and wrapped my arms around Skoll’s waist.

  “Skoll, it was horrible that Rathmore drugged me and did that against my will, but six months ago, I walked into a physician’s office and asked them to do that for my health. It’s completely normal except for when it’s done like last night.”

  Skoll just snarled and squeezed me. “I know the world is different now. I’m sure that’s perfectly acceptable now when it’s your choice. That’s my problem. Last night wasn’t your choice, and none of us could do a fucking thing to protect you. I want to rip Rathmore’s throat out with my teeth. I want to kill every single person involved in taking you last night.”

  I just grinned into Skoll’s chest.

  “Between Fergus and Amduscias, we can get to Rathmore and his lab and walk right out the front door. I think everyone involved in my father’s plot will find tonight goes a little less favorably for them than last night.”

  It was time for Elemental Batwoman to come out and play again.

  Chapter 12

  Serafina

  U

  sually, when I brought Elemental Batwoman out to play, I liked to celebrate my impending activities with massive amounts of Chinese food. I wasn’t exactly getting a hotpot and dumplings in prisons. The menu in Scorchwood never changed. We got oatmeal and oranges for breakfast, a baloney sandwich and an orange for lunch, and meatloaf with fake mashed potatoes for dinner and an orange. I had no idea if all the oranges were to keep us from getting scurvy or someone high up in the prison was somehow profiting off prison hooch. Honestly, based on what I’d seen here at Scorchwood, providing oranges at every meal to keep the hooch business flowing was a more likely scenario than giving a shit about us getting scurvy.

  Still, that stale baloney sandwich and mystery meat meatloaf tasted like the best thing in the world now that I knew I was getting out of here and taking away my father’s key player in his plot. And unleashing my fire and killing some evil guys always brightened my mood. I’d never gone after anyone who had hurt me personally. I usually flew under the radar, so I was pretty shocked to end up here in the first place.

  Still, if I went around burning property and killing people because they hurt other people, I certainly would not sit back and let them do this to me. I was antsy. It wasn’t like there were clocks in here, or we ever knew what time it really was. We were planning on making our move a few hours after they cut the lights out for the night. Most people went to bed, but a few stayed up to fuck in their cells or get drunk and get high.
We needed to wait for the stragglers to go to bed before we snuck out. We didn’t need anyone following us or joining our little breakout party. Sure, we could do with extra bodies when we trashed the lab, but Amduscias made it seem like Hell was a beautiful place. He’d be claiming us so we could stay there. It would make us all look bad if we brought a hooch addicted rapist with us and they acted up when we got out.

  I think we were all antsy. Fergus was this buzzing ball of fire in my stomach, and he kept interrupting people talking to me. Amduscias would not leave his post watching our door. I liked Charley a lot and wanted to get to know her more. She was pretty chill through all of this. She just took a nap. Skoll was pacing like a restless wolf. Roman was totally adorable. It was like if you gave a serial killer happy party drugs, and they were like a four-year-old on sugar because they knew they got to kill someone soon.

  As for me, I had no idea what to do with myself. I couldn’t do any of the things I usually did when I went hunting. I’d order my Chinese food and take a bubble bath, then listen to soothing death metal to calm myself. I had none of that here. Those were my good luck charms. It was my ritual before the hunt. Could I pull this off without my Chinese food, bubble bath, and Norwegian death metal? I didn’t know, but at least I had help.

  Finally, the lights in the jail were cut. I don’t know. It was like it just set me even more on edge. Now it wasn’t just that I was antsy without all my pre-murder comforts. I was sitting here in the fucking dark with several equally keyed up people. We all had our reasons for wanting to do this. I know a lot of them centered on me, but I think we could all agree Roman was an enormous part of it, and we were all honorable psychopaths. Like Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, we murdered so the big guy couldn’t hurt the little guy. Maybe I should rethink my nickname. Perhaps I should change it to something related to Robin Hood. Was it time yet?

  Skoll was pacing, and I kept brushing my teeth. Skoll decided he didn’t want to pace anymore, so he grabbed me and pulled me over to my bed. Charley had claimed Skoll’s bed and was napping on and off. I wished I had Charley’s level of utter chill about this. I usually slept like a baby after the hunt but was way too keyed up before. Charley was peacefully passed out like she was topside in her own bed.

  Skoll spooned my back and nuzzled my neck.

  “My wolf wants to come out, and you smell nervous, killer. How can we make this better?”

  “I just have rituals before I do this kind of thing, and I can’t do any of them here in Scorchwood. It’s a luck thing.”

  “Well, we’ll make new rituals tonight.”

  “You ate oranges at all three meals. Did you know they consider oranges lucky in certain parts of the world?” Amduscias said.

  I scoffed. “They certainly didn’t feed them to us for luck, but I’ll take it.”

  Roman always seemed to have a shiv out and subconsciously played with it. His face brightened, and he waved that thing at me like it was a present.

  “This is my lucky shiv. It was the first one I ever made here. It’s never broken, and anyone who has come at me when I’ve had it has died.”

  Charley just yawned and stretched on the bed. “Everyone knows you kiss for luck. Just kiss each other, and you’ll be fine. I don’t want kisses from any of you. I’ll take my chances, but if you need a little ritual for luck with what you have on hand, just cross your fingers, kiss each other, and put it out to the world that you will succeed.”

  Roman started cleaning under his nails with his lucky shiv.

  “I’ll take another kiss.”

  Skoll just nuzzled my neck and squeezed me. “I’ll take any kiss you want to give me.”

  Sometimes, I didn’t know where I stood with Amduscias. He was helping us, but I never knew if that was because of Roman or because he liked me too. He had this thing with fluttering his long lashes when he flirted, and he was a tremendous flirt when he wanted to be. I enjoyed teasing him. He finally turned away from the door and gave me this devious grin.

  “Well, it appears everyone has gotten kisses but me. I’ll want some later that aren’t just for luck before we set off for mayhem.”

  Kissing wasn’t a bad pre-murder ritual, and Charley said it brought luck. Something told me kisses from these three would distract me. And I couldn’t kiss Fergus just yet. It needed to be all four.

  I knew he told me they forbid it, and my life was already in danger. If we lived through this, I would wish Fergus real. I just had this feeling I could get through anything if I had the four of them to kiss for luck before anything.

  Chapter 13

  Serafina

  I

  t was time. There was something to be said for guys that were born several centuries ago. They all kissed me like they intended to keep me up all night having endless orgasms, but they could stop and focus on the task on hand. I was the distracted one. And I couldn’t tell if it was sweet or hot as fuck when Roman and Amduscias got their first kiss out of the way. There was a lot unsaid in that kiss because they had been sitting in this jail denying their feelings instead of talking to each other. Roman and Amduscias kissed me with just as much passion as they kissed each other.

  Charley just yawned when we broke away from each other.

  “That was totally disgusting, but I think you have enough luck to last you for the next five years. Are we doing this?”

  “It would have been better if I could kiss you too, Fergus.”

  “I know, my Ena. And if I was flesh and blood, I could unlock the secret door and kill for you with my bare hands. I can still burn for you.”

  “If we make it to Hell, can I wish you real then?”

  “It’s not up to either of us. Amduscias’s friend Bael might not want to take the risk of offending the Fae further.”

  “It’s not fair, Fergus.”

  “Don’t focus on making me real, my Ena. I will always be with you, no matter what. This is bigger than both of us. We have to take Rathmore out of the equation. Focus on your revenge.”

  Yes, revenge. I said I didn’t care who did it as long as he died, but really, I wanted to either see him burn alive or Roman kill him. We’d both been the subjects of his filthy magic, and if we didn’t have Charley as an ally, we’d still be his puppets. There were people inside and out of this prison who knew what was going on here. They would have to pay too.

  Amduscias raised his finger to his lips.

  “Quietly. I can silence the surveillance system, but we don’t want to wake any of the inmates.”

  “The way out is on the top floor,” Roman said. “We’re near the bottom levels. We will have to go up several flights of stairs, and they are all wood. Some stairs make noise, and the railing is metal. Don’t touch the metal, or you will get a metal splinter. Those hurt like a bitch, and even if the guards don’t hear you if you cry out, an inmate might.”

  “My Ena, I can either stay with you or scout ahead. After what happened last time I left, I never want to leave you again, but it might be best to know what lies up ahead.”

  “Yes. I don’t want to leave any loose ends. We also need to know where Rathmore sleeps so we can kill him. I hate it when I can’t feel you, but I know why you need to do this.”

  “You can talk this way to both Roman and Amduscias. Amduscias can relay the message to Skoll. Until you’ve gotten out of here, it might be best to talk this way.”

  He was right. I was so used to only talking to Fergus in my head, I had to get used to the idea that I could do this with other people. It wasn’t unwelcome. It felt right to have Roman in my dream when I was recovering. We’d already set out down the hallway, so I couldn’t announce this without waking someone. Instead, I reached out to my connection to Roman.

  “Roman? Can you tell Amduscias that we all need to be talking telepathically, and he can relay the messages to Skoll? He’s welcome in my head. Fergus is scouting ahead.”

  “I’ll let him know, but only when needed, Serafina. We all need to be
concentrating. You will need all of your senses to get out of this prison. Only talk to us if Fergus reports something we need to know.”

  Well, that sucked. Fergus and I had all kinds of witty banter when we were burning shit down and killing people. I got what he was saying though. This wasn’t arson and murder. We were woefully outnumbered, and any person in this prison could snitch on us. I needed to be at the top of my game. Before I got here, I thought no one had ever broken out of Scorchwood. I knew now Roman had, but he had always been caught. Not only did we need to get out the front door, but we also needed to get as far away as possible and hope Amduscias’s demon friends would give us sanctuary.

  The stairs in the prison were the original wood from when this place had been built, but there were planks nailed in from when something started rotting. The staircases were sturdy but noisy. It felt like every single creak under my foot echoed through the entire prison. I would have loved to have eased some of my weight on the metal railing so it was less noisy, but I took Roman’s warning about metal splinters as gospel. The metal railing was almost entirely rusted, and it looked like if it cut me I’d have to remember the last time I got a tetanus shot.

  We were slow moving because we were trying not to make a lot of noise, but we finally made it to a door when Roman held up his hand and stopped us. We were out of range for the rest of the inmates to hear us now, and out of respect for Skoll, he whispered to us.

  “This is the door that leads down a long hallway. It’s a maze until you get to the front door.”

  “We don’t need the front door. We need that hallway Fergus talked about that leads to the secret wing with Rathmore’s lab,” Amduscias said. “I can unlock the door, but this is where Fergus comes in. I don’t sense anyone on the other side, but better safe than sorry.”

  Fergus had been giving me updates the entire time we were sneaking through the prison. I already knew what was on the other side of that door.