The pain in my heart matched that in my body and the darkness finally took me.
I’m sorry...
I headed into Cell Block D for the count, folding my arms and waiting as everyone filed into their cells.
Hastings moved up beside me, his arm rubbing mine and I instinctively took a step away, not that he seemed to notice. A Cerberus like him was all about making friends, but as a Vampire I didn’t need company, let alone a friend.
“Hey, so I noticed our shifts finish at the same time tonight,” he said, throwing me a hopeful look and I frowned, wondering where the fuck he was going with this. “I thought maybe we could head out to Silvertown and grab a few beers. The Blueshine vs Starfire game is on. Which Pitball team do you support?”
My eyes narrowed on him. “I like to watch the game in my quarters.”
“Oh cool, so maybe I could go grab some beer and swing by later?”
“I like to watch it alone,” I said coolly and I could almost see his little mutt heart breaking as he bowed his head.
“Oh…okay.”
I clenched my jaw, turning away from him and trying to ignore the stirring in my chest, but it wouldn’t quit. He’d made friends amongst the guards so I didn’t know why the fuck he thought I was a good candidate to cosy up to. We might have been paired for work, but I didn’t get close with people. Not since I was a kid…my heart twisted at the painful memories waiting for me in the past and I forced them away, refusing to let them in.
A buzz sounded to signal the doors closing and the inmates were soon locked in their cells or in the huge coop on the bottom floor. I headed upstairs with Hastings while the other guards split off toward the coop and the second floor.
On the top level, Hastings headed away from me as we moved systematically around the walkways, using our scanners to take the count.
I reached Sixty Nine’s cell and found his expression anxious as he rested his hands on the bars. I lifted the scanner to his face with a scowl.
“What is it, inmate?” I growled.
He ran a hand into his long hair, refusing to answer me and I moved away from him toward Twelve’s cell.
I banged on the bars when she didn’t appear and leaned forward to hunt for her in her cell. My throat tightened with rage as I found it empty.
“Hastings!” I barked over at him as he tried to scan Twenty Four’s face while the pervert twirled the long grey hairs of his chest, standing butt naked before him.
Jack turned to me in surprise, raising his brows. “What’s up, boss?”
“Have you counted Twelve? Is she in someone else’s cell?” I strode around the walkway to join him, looking in all the cells I passed, fury coiling around my heart.
“No, sir,” he said instantly.
I growled, hurrying around to finish the count, scanning faces while hunting their cells for Twelve.
Where the fuck is she?
When it was done, the total flashed up on my screen with an alert saying we were one short.
“Fuck!” I rushed to the railing, taking hold of it and staring down at the guards. “Everyone is on high alert. We have a prisoner missing. Find Twelve now.”
Everyone rushed to obey including Hastings and I snatched the radio from my hip to alert the Warden. “Ma’am we have a code red. Potential escapee.”
The static crackled down the line then she answered in a clipped tone. “Follow protocol. You have fifteen minutes to search the prison, if she’s not found dead or alive, release The Belorian and send a team to the perimeter.”
My throat tightened at the word dead. “Yes ma’am.”
I hung the radio back on my belt, turning and finding Sixty Nine watching me too closely for my liking. I narrowed my gaze, striding towards him with a snarl.
“Where is she?” I snarled. “You live on her back like a fucking limpet, so if anyone knows where she is it’s you.”
Sixty Nine glowered at me, folding his arms. “I don’t know where she is, asshole. She left the Mess Hall to go and look for her Beta.” Worry flickered in his gaze, but he hid it quickly behind a steely mask.
“Where?” I hissed, reaching for my baton, tempted to have his cell opened and beat the answer from his lips. I was sure he knew more than he was letting on. The guy had made a living on deceit before he came here.
“She went to the library!” someone called from down below and my heart juddered. I abandoned my line of questioning and rushed down the stairs to the second floor, landing with a heavy thud on the walkway.
I headed down to the bottom level and sprinted out of the block, slamming my palm on the security panel to retract the bridge.
Guards were racing through the halls, splitting off in different directions as they hunted for her. I rushed into the elevator in a burst of Vampire speed as an armed unit moved out of it and my jaw clenched as I slammed my finger on the button for level six. My heart thundered in my ears as I descended. If we had to let that fucking Belorian loose in the halls while she was out of her cell block, she wouldn’t stand a chance if it found her. I’d never known an inmate to survive an encounter with it in all my years at Darkmore.
The doors slid open and I rushed out with the speed of my Order, the quiet pressing in on me as I shot into the library.
“Twelve!” I yelled, heading down an aisle and hunting the stacks. I forced myself to be quiet, extending my Vampire hearing into the space and picking up a soft heartbeat.
I pivoted around, tearing down the next aisle and finding her at the end of it. I almost stalled at the sight of her battered body, but I couldn’t stop. She had multiple injuries and the thought of who had done this set rage burning a passage through my heart. And in that instant I was transported back to my past, replaying the moment I’d found my friend in a pool of his own blood.
I was moving so fast that as I dropped to my knees, my radio fell from my belt, skittering across the floor and slamming into the nearest shelf. I ignored it, resting my fingers to her shattered collar bone and closing my eyes as I released wave after wave of healing energy into her body. I took away her pain and fixed bones and bruises as my magic flowed into her, giving her everything I had to offer.
Whoever had done this would pay in blood. I didn’t care what rules I had to bend to make it happen. And I had a feeling I knew exactly which gang was targeting her because there weren’t many fuckers in this prison tough enough to face her. The assholes who didn’t respect Fae on Fae fights. Who discarded their pride to get the upper hand in this prison. But she’d never admit it, and I’d never get a confession from any of them.
Twelve groaned softly and relief spilled through me as she lifted her head, her eyes fluttering open as she gazed up at me. I schooled my expression, refusing to let her see how much it killed me to find her like this. But this was why I didn’t let people in. It was happening all over again. As soon as I cared for anything, it withered and died before my eyes. I couldn’t protect her.
“Every time I get hurt, you show up, Mason,” she whispered and I swallowed thickly.
“I’m just doing my job,” I growled.
She reached up, brushing her fingers over my cheek. “Sure you are.”
For a moment, I fell into the warmth in her eyes and a deep, primal need unfolded in my chest telling me to hold her close and protect her. But I wasn’t her saviour. I was a guard with a corrupted soul and me helping her meant nothing. It had to mean nothing.
Warden Pike’s voice sounded across my radio and I was jerked back to reality. “All personnel please move to the nearest elevator and return to the Guard Barracks. The Belorian is releasing in thirty seconds.”
I cursed, jumping to my feet and rushing forward to pick up the radio. I lifted it to my lips, holding down the call button and static hissed out of the receiver. “I’ve found Twelve, ma’am. Keep the beast in its cage.” I released the button and static flared down the line. I pressed it again as my heart thudded harder. “Ma’am, inmate found. Confirm.” I pressed the bu
tton again, swearing as the light didn’t come on. It was fucking broken.
“Cain,” Twelve breathed, the fear in her tone making me fall still.
I turned to her, finding her pointing at the glass doors to the library where a hulking shadow was cast against it. A grunting, sniffing noise reached me and my blood turned to ice.
I lifted my hand, casting a silencing bubble around us, but I couldn’t do anything about our heat signature. And that was how this thing hunted best.
The door to the library pushed open and the scrape of its spines against the glass made me wince as the Belorian entered. I caught Twelve’s hand, dragging her down the next aisle as my pulse thrummed in my ears.
We pressed back against a bookshelf and I gathered flames in my hands.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“It hunts by detecting heat,” I growled.
“That sounds like a good reason not to start a fire, asshole.”
I ignored her, snatching her around the waist and throwing her over my shoulder at the same moment as I launched the fireball towards the far end of the library. A shriek sounded as the Belorian raced after it and I used a burst of Vampire speed to race out of the room and tear towards the elevator at the end of the hall. I nearly crashed into the wall as I came to a halt, dropping Twelve to her feet and slamming my hand against the scanner.
Another shriek sounded behind me and I turned, casting a fiery wall before us as the monstrous creature came for us on its six spiny legs, its eyeless face angled toward us. Its skin was grey and its grotesque, spidery body took up most of the space in the hall. The fire sent it into a frenzy, chasing us down at high speed and I jammed my thumb on the call button again and again.
“Unlock my cuffs!” Twelve demanded, shaking my arm.
My flames couldn’t penetrate the Belorian’s iron-like skin and I knew we were fucked if the door didn’t fucking op-
The doors parted and Twelve dragged me inside. I slammed my finger on the button to shut them again and they slid over, closing just before the monster collided with them, releasing a horrible wail.
I leaned back against the wall with a heavy sigh, sweat trickling down my brow.
“Thank fuck you found me,” Twelve said heavily, giving me an intense look.
I shrugged, dropping her gaze but I could practically feel her rolling her eyes at me. I stepped forward to the call panel on the wall and typed in the code to patch me through to the Warden.
“Yes?” she asked sharply.
“Ma’am, my radio broke. I found Twelve on level six. We had a run in with the Belorian.”
“Goodness, are you alright?”
“Just about,” I said in a low tone. “I’m taking Twelve down to Medical, we need a lockdown on level six to keep it contained.”
“I’ll have it done immediately. Well done, Officer.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” The call cut off and silence stretched between me and Twelve as the elevator headed down toward level eight.
“You should’ve killed that thing,” she commented with a shudder.
“That thing is a bio-weapon. And it’s made specifically to withstand Fae magic.”
“Well whoever created it is an idiota.” She pursed her lips.
“In what way?” I asked dryly as the doors slid open.
“If you make an unkillable monster, then one day…” She stepped out of the elevator and turned back to me with a dark look. “It’s going to kill you. Better to put it down now before that happens, don’t you think, Mason?”
“Don’t call me Mason.” I strode after her, snatching hold of her arm and dragging her in the direction of the medical bay. “And that monster is controlled. It has a collar which will drive it back to level seven where it lives.”
“You’ve got a lot of trust in a thing that nearly ate you,” she said lightly, attempting to thread her fingers through mine.
I shoved her forward, making her stumble and she laughed. We reached the ward and I moved to open the door, but before I could, Twelve leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Thank you for coming to save me, my valiant knight.”
“I didn’t-” I started but she opened the door and slipped inside, blowing me a kiss before shutting it behind her.
I pressed my lips together tightly as a smile tried to carve itself into my face.
Damn that girl knows how to get under my skin.
I lay in my bunk with my lips pursed and a scowl on my face. Fucking Gustard. I’d let the first encounter with him slide, partly because I’d gotten my revenge by setting up Two Hundred and partly because I didn’t have time for his shit. He wanted to teach me a lesson and I’d taught him one instead. Or so I’d hoped.
But now it had happened again. And I couldn’t let that kind of disrespect slide. I needed to strike at him hard. But, I had to admit that Ethan had a point when we’d snuck into Gustard’s cell the other night. Just killing him wouldn’t solve the problem for me. First off, I’d have to be sure that I could get away with that kind of thing anyway as I couldn’t afford to waste time stuck in the hole. And secondly, death was too easy for him now. I wanted his reputation annihilated, his followers abandoning him and his spirt broken.
So I was going to pick apart his empire brick by brick. And if that meant working with Ethan to do it then all the better. Because that would only further my plans to unite our packs and seize control of the prison anyway.
Officer Lyle had escorted me back to my cell first thing this morning and I couldn’t say I was sad to be away from Mother Brenda. That woman was a straight up whack job. Though I was happy to have eaten more of her chocolate.
I was cranky after missing out on a lot of my sleep and I’d spent way too much time going over the events that had led to The Watchers beating the shit out of me again. And one particular detail just kept on twisting through my thoughts.
Amira was the one who’d sent me there. She told me Sonny was waiting for me and yet he clearly hadn’t been. I intended to ask him whether or not he’d been in the library at all last night when I saw him, but I was pretty damn sure I already knew the answer.
And if that bitch had sold me out she might as well have slit her own throat, because if I had to do it myself I was sure as shit going to make a messy job of it.
Not yet though. I’d had time to think it over and let my temper cool. If Amira had decided to sell me out to Gustard then I might just be able to use that to my advantage and lay a trap of my own for him in return. Which meant I was going to have to bide my time, act like I had no idea that ass munching whore had sold me out and let her believe I hadn’t figured it out. Then, when the time was right I’d pounce and she’d be praying to the moon for mercy long before I was through with her.
“Tell me how it feels on the inside, baby,” a rough voice carried to me from somewhere beyond my cell and I frowned as I was almost certain that I’d recognised Pudding. He groaned enthusiastically and I shuddered, wondering who he’d brought back to his cell last night. I guessed grumpy old Bear Shifters got urges too, but I didn’t really want to become too familiar with them.
“I bet it tastes so sweet. Did you use cinnamon this time?”
My frown deepened. That was damn strange pillow talk.
“And did you bake it until it was just golden brown?”
Okay, he was definitely talking about food which was a relief, except I couldn’t hear anyone replying to him. Which either meant he was talking in his sleep or doing something much more exciting.
“Think of me when you eat it,” he growled urgently. “Can you put Guntar on now?”
My heart stilled. I sat up straight and held my breath as I listened for more.
“Hi. I’m just checking in, I wanted to make sure you’re doing okay with the Aborini job?”
Oh yes, yes, hell to the fucking yes!!
I jumped out of my bed and moved towards the cell doors with my heart in my throat. The guards had done the count already and it was almost tim
e for us to be let out of our cells. Which was perfect because I needed to make a stop off with my favourite Bear ASAP.
I listened as he continued to talk to whoever he was on the phone with for another few minutes then everything fell silent.
Or at least it did until the all too familiar sound of Plunger using his home made pube trimmers reached me alongside his commentary on his progress. “Come here you scruffy duffy…”
Bleugh.
I moved away from the door and dropped into a set of push ups, hoping that if I concentrated hard enough on a workout then I might be able to block him out.
By the time the doors rattled open for the day, I was coated in a layer of sweat and panting from my exercise. I hadn’t entirely managed to cut Plunger’s trimming efforts out of my head, but I’d done a good job of distracting myself.
I headed straight out onto the walkway before turning left and stopping outside cell eleven.
“Pudding?” I called in my sweetest voice through the sheet he’d hung over the door.
He grunted in response and I took that as an invitation to twitch the sheet aside.
It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness in his cell as he’d managed to pile his hoard so high that it covered the light fitting in the ceiling. I couldn’t even see him amid the carefully heaped pudding cups and other accrued crap he’d used to decorate the space.
“Can I come in?”
“Just don’t touch anything,” he replied.
“Okay.” I stepped inside, letting the sheet fall back into place behind me and the darkness deepened.
I looked around for Pudding but I couldn’t spot him anywhere amid the mountain of shit. There was a hole carved into the side of the mound which looked like it led in towards the bunk and I crouched down to look through it into the dark, wondering if Pudding would actually be able to fit through it.
“Get to the point, hound,” he grunted from within the heap, giving me my answer.
“I’d like to use your cell phone,” I said, doing as he’d asked and cutting the shit.
“We’re half a mile underground, pup,” he scoffed. “There’s no service down here for cell phones.”
Darkmore Penitentiary (Supernatural Prison for Dark Fae Book 1) Page 34