“These are yours,” Lyle said and I turned to look at him as one of the Minotaurs held out a bundle of material. “One grade B blanket, one cot sheet, one pillow. I suggest you hold on tight to them if you expect to keep them.” The look in his eyes said he didn’t think I could manage that simple task and I accepted the bundle with a sweet smile.
He turned from me, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted out to the other convicts. “Fresh meat!”
The call was taken up by the other inmates and the walls echoed with the sound of their voices as they announced my arrival. Some of the Wolves started howling, prisoners on the gangways stamped their feet so that the metal rang to a hollow beat. There were growls and grunts, shrieks and squeals as the prisoners let their inner beasts be known to me and I walked straight into the centre of the crowd like I didn’t have a care in the world.
The sound of the guards leaving came from behind me, but I didn’t look back to watch them go.
“Look at you, little pup,” a girl with snake tattoos lining her arms purred, the sigil on her jumpsuit marking her out as a Medusa.
“Wanna bunk with me, pup?” A Manticore with way too much nose hair grunted as I passed him.
I was going to be shedding that nickname fast.
“This place will break a pretty little pup like you,” another voice promised.
“You wanna join my harem, pup?”
“Why don’t you hand over those blankets before you get hurt?”
“I’m gonna watch you bleed, pup.”
“Darkmore will eat you alive.”
I ignored them, drowning out their pointless threats and promises as they closed in around me.
A hand reached out to grasp my arm and I caught it, dropping my bundle of blankets and twisting their fingers in my grip with a vicious wrench that broke bones.
The Fae cried out but I shoved him away from me with no more interest, my gaze falling on a Siren girl with full lips and mean eyes.
“Twenty Seven,” I snapped, using her number to name her. “Pick up my shit for me.”
“My name’s Sandra,” she growled.
“I don’t give a shit if your name is Darcy Vega. I say jump, you say how high. So pick up my shit, Twenty Seven.”
Her lips pursed and it seemed like she might object, but as I held her eye with my chin raised and a challenge in my gaze, she suddenly looked to her feet and hurried to grab the blankets from the floor for me.
The noise in the place stuttered as the inmates watched the exchange and more than a few of the bottom dwellers backed up, giving me space to breathe.
I ignored them. No one important would be down here, checking out the new girl like a pack of fleas looking for a mutt to bite. No. The Fae who mattered in here wouldn’t lower themselves to that. They’d have sent their people down to check me out while they remained uninterested. As far as they knew I was just another nobody come to make up the numbers, but they were wrong about that.
And I was gonna make them take note.
“I’ll be needing a cell,” I called out, loudly enough for my voice to carry while not enough to call it an actual shout. “One on the top floor, without a cellmate. Anyone wanna volunteer to vacate?”
Slow footsteps echoed across the walkway above me and I tipped my head back to look as a few of the occupants of the top floor stepped out of their cells to take a look at me.
Towards the end of the right hand gangway, a huge figure stepped out of the cell marked with a big, red twelve and my lips twitched as I eyed him up. The guy was massive, built like a tank with muscles on his muscles. I pegged him for a Dragon Shifter even before he stepped into the light and I spotted the sigil marked on his chest.
“You’re in my cell,” I called, pointing up at him. “I’m number twelve.”
The Dragon laughed darkly, resting his arms on the railing as he peered down at me. His hair was flecked with grey and receding along his temple and he had a scar that ran straight across the centre of his cheek. Which was impressive because there weren’t many things that could scar Fae flesh beyond the power of healing magic. Although I knew from personal experience that there were a few weapons more than capable of causing marks that wouldn’t fully heal.
I bit down on my tongue as bile filled my mouth for a moment as those memories tried to press close but I forced them away with an iron will. I refused to face them when I was awake, though they tended to find me in my sleep.
“Is that so?” the Dragon asked, his jaw tightening as he assessed me.
“Yeah. So maybe you can save us the hassle of me kicking your ass and just pack up your shit?” I suggested.
The inmates who had been circling close to me were quickly backing off. I guessed they caught a whiff of crazy on me or just didn’t want to get caught up in the crossfire of what was coming next, but either way I was cut some relief from the scent of stale bodies by their departure.
The Dragon laughed in the deep throated, I’m-the-king-of-the-assholes way that big fuckers like him tended to do because they thought that their size automatically made them an Alpha. But as he walked along the gangway casual as fuck, I didn’t catch the scent of Alpha on him. And I always spotted one of my own.
The Dragon headed down the stairs and a few more Fae appeared on the upper levels, emerging from their cells to watch. I didn’t spare my attention for them as I waited for my opponent to approach.
Years of underground cage fighting had taught me more than enough about assessing my foes and as he moved closer to me, I noticed the way he walked with a rolling gait that favoured his right leg. When he’d adopted that douchebag way of walking, I was sure he thought it looked cool as fuck but over the years that kind of thing unbalanced the muscles in your legs. Not much. But just enough for me to take advantage of.
The Dragon made it to the bottom floor and stalked towards me. I’d thought he was huge when I’d looked up at him on the top floor but I’d been wrong. He wasn’t huge; he was a fucking giant. My cousin Dante was a Dragon and he was the biggest fucker I’d ever met, but this guy must have been seven foot tall. I wasn’t exactly short but at five foot seven, he towered over me, not to mention the fact that my entire body was about the width of one of his legs.
“What’s the matter, pup?” he taunted. “Changed your mind about taking me on?”
“I’m just wondering how the hell they found a jumpsuit to fit you. I bet they had to sew four together just to cover that ass.”
He growled at me, flexing his muscles so that the number two hundred was stretched across his broad chest and I had to wonder just how much he must have weighed. Probably best if I didn’t let him throw that weight at me to find out.
“I’m going to take that pretty little face of yours and smear it all over the floor,” Two Hundred promised. “And then I’m going to make you beg for-”
I swung my fist straight at his face and my knuckles rang from the impact as I struck him square in the nose. Bone crunched, blood flew and he roared like the fires of hell had just caught light up his ass.
He swung for me with fists like battering rams and I danced between his attacks, twisting closer to him before throwing three sharp punches into his side.
The other inmates were cheering, yelling, placing bets and whooping with shock and laughter at this little Faetalian girl who had decided to take on a Dragon the moment she walked through the cell block doors. But I was used to people underestimating me and I was pretty damn fond of proving them wrong too.
Two Hundred lunged at me but I was already gone, leaping behind him and swinging my foot up in a roundhouse that collided with his ass and should have knocked him from his feet.
He only stumbled, catching himself on the stair railing and throwing himself around at me again.
He was slow, slow enough to make me think he hadn’t actually been in a fight for quite some time.
“Come on, big man,” I taunted. “I thought you were gonna teach me a lesson?”
He swung at me so fast that I couldn’t escape it and his meaty fist collided with my jaw, splitting my lip and sending me flying. I hit the floor, rolling over the concrete and tasting blood as my body sang with the pain of his strike.
Two Hundred strode forward to finish me and I laughed as he came, spitting blood from my mouth and swinging my leg around so that I caught him hard in the side of his left knee. He fell like an oak toppling in the forest and I rolled aside before he could crush me.
Bet that cool walk doesn’t seem like such a great idea now.
I was on my feet in a heartbeat, leaping on him and straddling his chest as I threw my fists into his face as many times as I could before he recovered.
My knuckles rang from the impact with his thick skull and blood splattered over both of us.
Two Hundred threw a heavy punch into my ribs and I cried out as a horrifying crack sounded in response.
His hands locked around my waist and he launched me off of him like I was nothing more than a ragdoll.
I flew into the crowd of inmates, taking three of them out so that we fell in a heap. Twenty Seven scrambled to her feet as I did, almost dropping my blankets as she righted herself.
“I’m holding you responsible for my shit, Twenty Seven,” I warned. “So you’d better not let it get dirty.”
Her eyes widened and she clutched the blankets tighter as I turned and ran back towards the Goliath as he pushed himself back to his feet.
Agony raced through my ribs but I ignored it, focusing all of my energy on the fight and refusing to let pain distract me from my goal.
I howled to the sky as I ran, my voice echoing off of the walls before I leapt forward and landed on his back.
I locked my arm around his throat and caught my wrist in my other hand as I exerted every inch of my strength into choking him out.
Two Hundred roared beneath me, swinging around as he tried to catch hold of me but I wouldn’t let go.
I snarled, gritting my teeth as I drove my knees into his spine and leaned all of my weight back to speed up the process.
The Dragon tried to roar again but my grip was too tight to allow any air to pass his lips.
He clawed at my arm, trying to break my hold as he staggered to one side before stumbling to the other.
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I squeezed harder, victory singing in my veins with a promise so sweet I could almost taste it.
Two Hundred spun about, his arms grasping at me and he managed to grab a fistful of my hair, ripping it out of the knot I’d tied in it.
I cursed beneath my breath as he almost wrenched me off of him, but he only managed to tear a lump of hair from my head instead.
I cried out but didn’t loosen my grip, driving my knees in even harder as all of my weight hung from his neck.
He crashed to his knees and the force of the collision with the ground almost unseated me, but I didn’t let go. I planted my feet on the concrete floor and snarled as I squeezed even tighter and the fight drained from his limbs.
I felt the moment he fell unconscious in the way his body became limp and I released him a second before he dropped to the floor face first.
I cupped my hands around my mouth and howled to the moon which was hidden far beyond the roof of the building, the sound echoing all around me in the silence that followed my victory.
A beat later, every other Wolf in the room joined in and they sang a chorus of my victory to the stars which couldn’t see us. We were the forgotten Fae, buried beneath ground for our crimes as if our bodies were equal to corpses. But there was so much life in me yet, and when I was done with this place, no one would ever forget the name Rosalie Oscura.
I looked back down at Two Hundred, my lip peeling back as I spotted the thick lock of black hair twisted around his fingers. Who the fuck pulled hair in a fight? What a little bitch. I should have kicked him in the balls.
I reached up to touch my fingers to the sore patch of skin on my scalp and sneered at the unconscious Dragon Shifter before turning away from him like he meant nothing at all to me.
But that was bullshit. Because what he was was my ticket into this place. No one would underestimate me again now and despite the fact that there was blood coating my tongue from my swollen lip and I was fairly sure he’d cracked my ribs, I wasn’t going to let anyone know that that had been anything less than easy.
“What are you staring at, Twenty Seven?” I snapped as the Siren’s wide eyes caught my attention. “Go and make up my bunk and get rid of his crap while you’re at it.”
She turned and scurried away through the crowd without so much as the hint of a complaint and I moved after her at a leisurely pace.
Eyes followed me as I went and the Werewolves in the crowd reached out to brush their hands over my arms in a silent offering. But I didn’t have any inclination to bring them with me. If someone wanted to join my pack then they could earn their place in it. I wouldn’t take just any Fae.
But that was an issue for tomorrow. Tonight, I just wanted to rest in my shiny, new cell.
I rested my elbows on the railing of the highest floor, gazing down to the bottom of the cell block where Rosalie Oscura had just put a ten ton Dragon on his ass.
That’s the feisty little pup I know and love.
She didn’t even notice me as she headed up the stairs and walked past me with a crowd of applauding asswits behind her. Didn’t even spare me a glance when I pushed my long, dark mane away from my face. She just sailed into the cell beside mine where Twenty Seven was finishing clearing out Christopher’s stuff. Rosalie stepped past her and the Siren bundled up the last of the Dragon’s shit in her arms, hurrying out of the space. I lifted a finger, beckoning her over.
Her eyebrows arched and she scurried toward me without a moment’s hesitation.
“Toss it,” I directed, pointing over the railing.
“But if Christopher sees me-” she started and I rolled my eyes.
I put two fingers in my mouth, whistling sharply and making everyone look up at me from below. Including Christopher with his wounded pride expression and pouty, bruised face as he came round. I snatched the bundle of stuff from Twenty Seven’s arms and tossed it over the edge, letting it rain down like confetti.
“Have fun sleeping in the coop with the other castaways, Christopher! I won’t miss the sound of your toenail clippings pinging off the walls or your wheezy snore which keeps me up at night,” I laughed and he flipped me the finger, scowling as he set to work picking up his shit.
I seriously didn’t mind my new neighbour moving in for a hundred reasons. I stretched my arms languidly above my head then strode toward her cell at a leisurely pace.
I rested my shoulder against the doorway, the barred door currently locked open for daylight hours. Not that we actually got any daylight in here. We were the stars only knew how many feet underground, so everything below the Order Yard was lit by artificial light. And a Nemean Lion needed the sun like a Werewolf needed the moon. So these bullshit fluorescent bulbs were no substitute.
Rosalie was bent over her bed, smoothing out the creases of her freshly changed seats. My gaze shifted over the roundness of her ass before I remembered she was ten years younger than me and my friend’s baby cousin.
“Well if it isn’t little Rosalie Oscura,” I purred and she stood upright suddenly, turning to me in surprise. She swiped at her bloody lip and straightened her spine as if to show me she wasn’t hurt. But my insides twisted at knowing she was. I couldn’t offer her any sympathy though. She was too proud to bear anyone pointing out her weaknesses.
Her cheeks pinked in that way they always had around me, then she schooled her expression and I tried not to smirk too hard. She’d had a crush on me growing up. Our families were close, the Oscura Werewolves and the Night Lions. And it looked like she still had a thing for me. The last time I’d seen her outside of visitation had been the night I was arrested. I’d done a job with her and her cousin, Dante at Lionel Acrux�
��s manor. In hindsight, going up against a Celestial Councillor, one of the rulers of Solaria and most powerful Fae in the world, had been a terrible fucking idea. To say it had been a shitstorm was an understatement of mind-blowing proportions.
“You don’t look surprised to see me,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she placed a hand on her hip. She was trying to gain the upper hand, so I stepped into her cell, dominating the space and grinning down at her to make sure any thoughts she had of that were fast abandoned.
“My brother told me you were coming,” I said. “But he didn’t say why…I didn’t peg you for a bank robber, Rosa. But even if you are, why did Leon have so little faith in you pulling off the job, hm?”
She stepped closer instead of cowering, lifting her chin and the scent of her washed over me. My little pup never wore perfume, she always smelled like mischief and strawberries. But there was a new scent to her now, something enticing and pure Alpha.
“Maybe I got sloppy.” She shrugged and turned away from me, but I caught her arm, pushing her back against the wall and laying my palms either side of her head.
Her breath hitched and I smiled broadly. Maybe I secretly liked the way she looked at me. It wasn’t like when I used my Lion Charisma on a girl and they turned into a mindless, doe-eyed slave. No, when Rosa looked at me I could practically see the blood pumping through her veins, feel the rush of adrenaline that clawed under her skin. She might have been way too young for me, but Rosalie had blossomed into a sinfully beautiful girl and I wasn’t beyond drinking in her attention.
“The Oscura Werewolves don’t get sloppy,” I said in a low growl. “How about you tell me the truth? Because we’re family, Rosa, I deserve more than a lie.”
“We’re not family,” she said coolly. “And if you don’t mind, I’ve got a life sentence awaiting me so I’d like to get started on it.” She moved fast, ducking under my arm and throwing herself onto her bed. She pursed her lips against the pain in her body and I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to call a guard to heal her. But she would have hated me for it, and as much as I cared for the little pup, I respected her too much to embarrass her in front of the block.
Darkmore Penitentiary (Supernatural Prison for Dark Fae Book 1) Page 5