I laughed, offering him a wide smile as I leaned a little closer, pushing the bowl of strawberries towards him. “I’m not on the menu. But these are, if you want them?”
His gaze fell on the fruit and he licked his lips in a way that had me seriously considering his offer to go back to his cell. But I’d been sent here to bust him out of this place. Sin Wilder was a job, letting myself get pulled into his charm would only complicate things.
“What do you want for them?” he asked seriously.
“Not everything is a transaction. It’s just strawberries between friends.” I pushed the bowl at him and his gaze narrowed in suspicion.
“Tit for tat. You give me strawberries, I gotta give you something. If you haven’t figured out that’s how this place works yet, wild girl, then you really are a pup.”
I rolled my eyes at him, my gaze catching on a tattoo which he had inked onto the back of his hand. It was a clock hanging from a chain which wrapped around his wrist. Roman numerals were scrawled either side of the chain and the time on it was thirteen minutes past eight.
“Give me a story then,” I asked, reaching out to tap the tattoo with my finger. “Why this tattoo?”
Sin inhaled deeply and turned his hand to capture mine, winding his fingers between mine as he groaned in satisfaction.
“That’s the exact time and date of my very first kill,” he whispered conspiratorially. “You wanna know how long it took for me to choke him out?”
“I want to know what he did,” I replied instantly.
“What do you mean?” Sin asked, tilting his head to survey me as he pushed the strawberries into his mouth one after another.
“You only kill the bad guys,” I said. “So what did number one do to push you over the edge?”
Sin finished his strawberries and smirked at me over the bowl. “What do I get for that answer?” he asked. “My strawberries are all gone now.”
“I thought we said this doesn’t have to be a transaction?”
Sin thumped his other fist down onto the table suddenly, making his whole tray jump. I didn’t flinch but I did tug my hand back out of his as I raised an eyebrow at him.
“You weren’t listening to me,” he growled, the light in his eyes turning to shadows.
I pushed myself to my feet and placed my hands flat on the table before leaning down low to look into his eyes.
“You’re the one who said we were exchanging things, Sin,” I reminded him, letting my Alpha tone ring in my voice. “Just because I played along once doesn’t mean I’m dancing to your tune now. I’ll leave you to think about that.”
I turned my back on him, offering up the insult of showing him that I had no respect for him as I stalked back across the Mess Hall to my pack.
His booming laughter suddenly ripped from his throat behind me and he started pounding his fist down on the table again and again.
“I love watching you walk away, wild girl!” he called after me.
I raised my middle finger and held it up for him to see as I kept walking and by the time I dropped down between my pack, the smile on my face felt etched on permanently. Sin Wilder may have had more than a few screws loose, but I was pretty sure I liked it.
Thankfully Banjo had called time on his song in my absence and I fell into thought as I listened to my pack chat and gossip around me. Their discussions were usually too small to interest me much. Their lives were so confined to this place that their topics of conversation almost all circled around who was screwing who or what minor fights had taken place. My mind still lived free, outside of Darkmore and its petty politics, and if I wasn’t focusing on my escape plans then I preferred to think about my family who were waiting for me. The others tended to avoid that, not wanting to pine over the things they’d left behind and were missing out on.
“Twelve!” Cain’s voice carried to me over the crowd of inmates, but I pretended not to hear him as I stayed in the thick of my Wolves.
I cupped my hands around my mouth and howled to the ceiling, encouraging my Wolves to start up a chorus of noise around me as I smirked to myself.
They circled me, touching my back and arms, nudging each other aside to get close as I found myself in the centre of the group and I encouraged them closer still. My smile was enough to urge them on and the pack of around a hundred Werewolves closed in tightly, keeping Cain away.
Sonny flexed his muscles and wrapped an arm around me as his dark eyes danced with amusement. He nuzzled against my hair and I gave in to my Wolf instincts as I snuggled closer to him for a moment.
“What are you up to, Alpha?” he asked in a low voice.
“Me?” I asked innocently. “When am I ever up to anything?”
I caught sight of Cain moving towards me through the throng of Wolves with a face like thunder, but I quickly looked away again.
“Why don’t you transfer to our cell block, Alpha?” Brett asked suggestively as he moved closer to me, crawling up onto the table. He was tall and broad with rugged good looks and dark eyes which promised trouble but without the scent of an Alpha on him, he just didn’t do anything for me. “We could do anything we liked in there whenever you wanted it.”
The closest Wolves all started nodding in agreement, calling out suggestions for the ways they’d like to pleasure me and I rolled my eyes at them as I waved them off.
“Sorry guys, but like I tell you every day, I don’t enjoy pack orgies. I need another Alpha to push my buttons,” I teased. “But just keep giving Sonny all the pack love on my behalf, he’s happy to join in.”
“I am,” he agreed with a smirk. “I’ll gladly make use of your offer, Brett.”
Brett’s eyes widened with excitement as he moved around me to kiss my Beta. I laughed as Sonny failed to release me while they were making out and Esme started trailing her fingers through my hair.
“Would you like to watch instead?” she offered. “We could watch them together, or I could go down on you while you watch, or-”
Esme yelped as she was suddenly ripped out of her seat and I looked up at Cain’s angry face with an innocent expression.
“Twelve,” he snapped. “I’ve been calling you.”
“Have you?” I asked with the hint of a smile playing around my lips.
Cain reached out and grabbed my arm, hauling me from my seat as he leaned down to snarl in my face. My pack all leapt to their feet, barking and growling as they swarmed forward to defend me but I raised a hand to wave them off. They didn’t need to end up in the hole because of me.
“I know you heard me,” he growled darkly, glaring into my eyes.
“Prove it,” I breathed so low that only he’d be able to hear me with his Vampire ears.
Cain’s dark eyes flared with the challenge I was presenting him and my heart leapt at the threat in his gaze.
“Your work assignment starts now,” he snapped.
“But lunch isn’t over yet,” I complained half-heartedly. I’d finished eating anyway so it didn’t really matter, but I wasn’t just going to roll over whenever he gave me a command.
Cain reached out to my tray and snatched my half eaten pasta into his hand before shoving it straight into my face. Mac and cheese smeared over my skin before falling to the floor with a wet splat and every single Wolf around me fell utterly silent in shock.
My lips parted as I stared up at Cain in total surprise and his eyes dared me to flip out over what he’d just done.
“There you go,” he announced. “All done.”
Sonny started growling and my pack rose to their feet as the violent sound poured from a hundred sets of lips. From the corners of my eyes I noticed more guards shifting towards us as they sensed danger in the air and Cain just fucking waited to see what I’d do about it.
The balls on this stronzo!
After another beat of silence, my lips parted in a wide smile and I started laughing.
I dragged a finger down the side of my cheek, gathering cheese sauce onto it before pushing
it into my mouth and moaning with exaggerated pleasure. “Mmm, that tastes even better now,” I taunted and my pack all started laughing too.
Sonny grabbed my chin in his grasp and ran the pad of his tongue straight up the side of my cheek, licking off the cheese sauce as he moaned too.
“Oh fuck yeah,” he groaned, panting like a dog as he put on a show for the others. “That tastes good enough to get me hard.”
My smile widened as I looked up at Cain and I swiped more sauce from my chin onto my finger before offering it to him.
“Want a bite, sir?” I offered, batting my lashes at him and I could have sworn that for half of half a second, he almost smiled.
“Come on,” he snapped, grabbing my outstretched arm around the wrist while ignoring my offer.
Before he could drag me from the table, I reached out and snatched up my unopened pudding pot.
“Pudding!” I yelled, spotting the enormous Bear Shifter in the crowd at the far side of the Mess Hall.
He raised his eyes from his food to look at me and I launched the pudding pot in his direction, throwing it over the heads of the other prisoners. His hand snapped out at the last second and he caught it, tucking it within his jumpsuit and looking back down at his own meal instantly as if it had never happened.
That guy totally loves me.
Cain yanked on my arm and pulled me out of the room at a fast trot and I fell into step with him rather than trying to resist.
We started walking down the corridor and he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, offering it to me so that I could wipe the remains of the pasta from my face.
“Holy shit, Cain, do you carry a hanky?” I teased as I used it to remove the pasta. “Does your mamma tuck it into your pocket for you every morning just in case?”
He growled at me and I couldn’t help but laugh as I pushed him further.
“Has she sewn your name into all of your shirts too?” I whispered conspiratorially.
“Shut up, Twelve.”
“And what about your boxers? If I pulled them off of you would I find the name Mason Cain hand stitched into the waistband?”
“That’s enough,” he growled in a dark voice.
“When did I cross the line?” I asked. “Was it when I suggested that I’d take your underwear off or when I called you Mason?”
Cain twisted towards me in a flash of speed, catching me by the throat and shoving me up against the wall as he bared his teeth at me.
“Do you want another hit from my shock baton?” he threatened.
“Yes please,” I purred in response.
He stared at me for a long moment like he was trying to figure me out then released me just as suddenly as he’d grabbed me.
I stayed silent as I started following him again but my tongue wouldn’t remain tied for long.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we headed for the stairs.
“Isolation,” he growled and I sighed dramatically. “Do you have a problem with your work assignment, inmate?”
“It’s just so boring down there on my own,” I muttered in a petulant tone. In all honesty I was perfectly happy with cleaning the isolation unit for work because it was where the door to the maintenance level stood and I’d been aiming to get down there to start the next part of my plan.
“Well it’s not my job to make sure you’re entertained,” he said in a dark voice. “So just do what you’re told or I’ll write you up.”
“Yes, sir,” I agreed in a meek little voice which made him narrow his eyes at me suspiciously.
We headed down to the ninth floor and Cain unlocked the isolation unit where a mop and bucket already stood waiting for me. I was well used to the routine down here now so I headed away from him to dunk my mop in the water and started cleaning the floors.
Cain set himself up by the door as he watched me and I made a show of doing a good job to save myself from the complaints he liked to toss my way.
As I moved towards the far end of the corridor, his radio buzzed and I listened in as he answered it.
“Boss, I’m having a bit of trouble with the kitchen workers,” Hastings’ voice came over the speaker. “There seems to be a chopping knife missing…”
“For the love of the moon,” Cain growled irritably before lifting the radio to his lips. “Hold on, I’m coming.”
I paused in my mopping and turned to look at him with a hopeful expression. “Does that mean I’m done for the day?” I asked eagerly.
“No,” he snapped predictably and I fought down the urge to grin as he fell into my trap. “Just keep working and don’t go talking to any of the isolated prisoners again or I’ll be forced to punish you.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” I joked.
“I mean it, Twelve, don’t cross me.”
I nodded seriously and he grunted something beneath his breath before turning and heading out of the isolation unit. He locked the door after him, trapping me down here and I counted to ten as I waited to make sure he was really gone.
As soon as I was confident he wasn’t coming back, I dragged my mop and bucket to the door at the end of the corridor. It stood open and a narrow staircase looked back at me, lit with dim yellow lamps which hung from the wall.
I super casually lifted my bucket into my grip and then headed on down.
My heart pounded with excitement as I jogged down the stairs and I found myself in a huge room at the base of them.
The maintenance level was at the very bottom of the subterranean building which made up Darkmore Penitentiary and it held everything they needed to contain over two thousand powerful criminals. From the power blocks which kept the various magical shields enforced to the vat of evermist they used to contain us in our cells. Not to mention water pump, boiler and oxygen tanks plus whatever else they needed to keep us all alive. But the thing I was most interested in were the tanks which held the Order Suppressant.
Unlike the magic which powered the shields surrounding the prison, the Suppressant tanks had to be running constantly and kept topped up with the ingredients required to create the gas and pump it up into the prison.
For my plan to work, I was going to need to neutralise the effects of the gas which meant I had to pump the antidote through the vents instead. Luckily for me, all that required was adding the right quantities of Nepula Weed, one Sunstone Crystal and the stone of a Nevercot Plum to the mix. Unluckily, the tanks were sealed up as tight as a duck’s ass and getting into one of them without my magic was going to be a total bitch.
But I’d known that before I’d gotten myself locked up and so, with a little help from Roary’s brother, Leon, I’d managed to get my hands on a tank exactly like the one they had here to practice on. I knew that motherfucker more intimately than the dude I’d given my virginity to, and I already knew exactly how I was going to slip my little ingredients into her when the time came.
I just needed to find the exact location of the tank and make sure that there wasn’t a CCTV camera pointing at it so that I could find my way down here when I needed to.
The constant thrum of heavy machinery filled the space as I stepped down into the enormous room on the bottom floor and I placed my mop and bucket by the door with a grin hooking up my lips.
The room was lit with a dim red light and my heart pounded with excitement as I delved into it.
There were pipes and wires running along the ceiling and the scent of dust and smoke hung in the air.
My veins thrummed as I passed a huge glass cylinder filled with sparking white energy which was used to power the outer fence and my shadow danced around me as I moved beyond it.
I took a twisting path through the machinery, my eyes widening at the sheer scope of the things which were required to keep this place secure.
The space was huge, but there was so much crammed into it that it felt like a maze and I had to double back on myself more than once before I found the beast I was searching for.
I grinned as I hurried towards the e
normous black tank but as I got closer, my heart fell right into the pit of my stomach.
“No,” I breathed, reaching out to touch the machine just to make sure I was really seeing it. Because this couldn’t be right. I’d found the purchase invoice from eight years ago when the prison had last upgraded this system. Or at least, when I’d thought they’d last upgraded. Because this wasn’t the machine I’d spent countless hours working on and getting to know. It was newer, shinier, slicker and had a goddamn electronic control system instead of a manual one.
My heart fell and my pulse thundered in my ears. My entire plan hinged on me neutralising the Suppressant. I couldn’t get us out of here without it. There was no other way. No other fucking way.
I tipped my head back and screamed my frustration at the stone ceiling before kicking the asshole machine for good measure.
What the fuck was I going to do now?
I can’t believe this. I’m going to be stuck in here for the rest of my motherfucking miserable life with a bunch of psychopaths and nut cases…
I snarled and started pacing back and forth, clawing my hands into my hair as I tried to think of some way around this. There had to be something I could do, some way to overcome this issue. I wasn’t going to give up. I was Rosalie goddamn Oscura and I’d survived the worst of fates twice over, I wouldn’t be beaten by some damn hunk of metal.
I released a slow breath and smiled. It was going to be okay. This was just a speed bump. I’d call Dante and we’d figure it out. No big deal.
I ignored the little asshole voice in the back of my head who was wailing in despair and moved forward to get a look at the name stamped at the top of the machine. ipump500.
You’re going down ipump.
“Twelve?!” Cain’s voice echoed off of the walls and ice slid down my veins at the pure fucking rage in his tone. He was beyond pissed. Way, way beyond.
I looked around hopefully as I wondered if I might find something I could use as a weapon against him before realising that that was a terrible idea. I couldn’t attack a guard. Which meant I was going to have to face his wrath.
“When I find you, you’re going to be begging me for mercy!” he bellowed and my heart thumped out of rhythm.
Darkmore Penitentiary (Supernatural Prison for Dark Fae Book 1) Page 27