by Tamara White
I don’t know why I thought this would just be like visiting a guest when it’s so much more. I need to remember I’m not in the human world anymore. This place, this world of supernaturals, is way harsher than the human world ever was. But the sooner I learn the ropes properly and take my rightful place among these people, the sooner I can relax. Maybe after the council is destroyed I’ll be free to live a normal life and only rule as an Alpha when the time calls for it. I don’t want to be some glorified queen forced to sit on a throne all day. I want to be a woman with her own life, her own wants and needs, neither of them dictated by others. I want to fall in love, have a family, be human in every sense of the word.
“Are you ready, Isobel?” Ellen asks, her hand on the door handle ready to step out.
I take a deep, calming breath and beg my body to behave. I don’t want a repeat of the glowing that happened earlier. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Jordan
For the past few days, Drake and I have been discussing the perfect moment to make our move. He understands it will only be him escaping these cells, because I simply can’t guarantee we’ll both make it. The luck of both guards coming down with the right keys at the right time, well, those odds aren’t exactly good.
We kept our words quiet while we discussed the plan, which is about to take place at any moment. But despite our hushed tones, we knew there was a chance that the girl heard every word, unless she’s too absorbed in her private torture to notice us. We both agreed she’s most likely innocent, but I plan to test her once Drake is gone. Only then will I know for sure.
We’ve kept Isobel’s whereabouts to ourselves. Both of us already know exactly where she is, but the moment Drake is gone, I’m going to let it slip to the girl that Drake is going to get us help from the Supreme Alpha. I’m going to make up a lie of where he’s going to see if it causes a reaction in her.
The doors open upstairs, and sure enough, the guard begins his descent. Drake is always fed first, and always with that disgusting steak that must have been sitting out way too long.
We’ve set the trap with Drake lying prone against the wall, blood on his head and over his face. I had to cut myself to ensure that it would be realistic. The guard wouldn’t be stupid enough to enter the cell if Drake was simply lying on the floor. He had to make it look like he’d attempted to kill himself, possibly even succeeded. Only then would a guard be rash enough to open the cell to check on him.
And since we couldn’t leave Drake weakened by making a physical wound, we had to use a lot of my blood so we could to make it believable. Which was hard to hide from the girl but we managed it.
“Quick, help!” I call out, trying to put panic into my voice to make the whole thing seem believable.
My only hope is that no one actively watched the cameras to see Drake stage this. Although we managed to conceal most of it, he even went as far as running against the wall before splashing my blood on his face to make it all the more authentic.
He did it over and over in an effort to make it appear real, but only the guard’s reaction will tell us just how believable it was.
The steps increase, and none other than Locke appears in the hall leading to our cells. I can scent the raw steak that’s most definitely off as he approaches. I really hope Drake eats some proper food once he gets free from this hellhole, because he’s had no choice being in here and that shit is definitely not good for him. He needs freshly caught meat.
Locke curses when he catches sight of Drake on the floor. “What a fucking pussy. Does he really think the council will let him die with all the knowledge he has on that bitch?”
He’s grumbling low, as if he doesn’t expect us to hear or acknowledge him. I growl at him, my hands gripped on the bars like a grieving friend would.
“Help him, you dick! Why the fuck weren’t you watching the cameras? I called and called but none of you fuckers were watching!” I rage, doing my best to put on the perfect act. The girl in the other cell remains silent, just as she has since she first came here. She barely looks our way, which gives me hope that she’ll keep quiet while Drake makes his escape, because if she chooses to speak up, it could end badly for us all.
“Oh shut up, you pathetic vampire. We have more important shit to be doing than watching you all day every day. It’s not my fault your friend is an idiot,” he gripes, throwing the steak to the floor, the plastic plate clattering loudly.
He searches his pockets for a key and finally opens the door to Drake’s cell.
Locke struts in, not even wary that it could be a trap. Now who’s the stupid one?
Council procedure is to make sure you’re not being duped, but he’s acting like too much of a fool to even be given the position of enforcer. I know if I came in to see this scene, I’d be thinking twice about going in alone. I’d call for another to watch my back in case it was a setup, but no, Locke is a stupid fool. Which works in our favor this time.
He goes straight to Drake, crouching down to look over his wounds. There’s no set way for Drake to surprise him, so we didn’t plan on that. Instead, I told him to wait until he was close enough and then make his move. Whatever that may be. Since he’s still too weak to shift and kill him, I’m assuming he’s going to knock him out.
Locke wipes away the blood on Drake’s forehead, intently looking for a wound. After a moment of searching, I think he realizes there is no wound. But it’s too late. Drake’s eyes flash open with a grin. “Tricked you!”
In a split second, he’s up on his feet and has his arm wrapped around Locke’s throat. The enforcer doesn’t have time to defend himself and Drake holds him tight, waiting for him to lose consciousness. Once that happens, Drake lets go and hurries to search Locke. We agreed for him to try and find a spare key to my cell, but if he couldn’t, then he has to run without me. He knows the secret way out of these cells, so he won’t have to walk through the council compound. If he did that, he’d be caught straightaway. We can’t have that. We need him to get help, to make Isobel step up and take her role as Supreme Alpha.
Drake frowns, his eyes weighed with sadness. “There’s no spare key.”
I nod, understanding full well this would happen. “We knew that was possible. You know what to do, Drake. Go back to her home, where her family is buried,” I lie, making sure my words carry. “Isobel said she’d wait for me there until I came. She’ll still be there, I promise.”
Drake quickly glances over at the girl before looking back at me. He nods in understanding. “Alright, I will. Don’t worry though, J, we’ll be back for you soon.”
I know they will. Isobel will take her rightful place in this world sooner or later. She may not come for me immediately, but I know she will do everything in her power to free me if they take me to the prison. She won’t want me to suffer, and hopefully Drake will tell her the truth about how many innocent people are forced to live within its walls.
Drake gives me one last reluctant glance before leaving his cell and taking off in the opposite direction the guards come from. I wait until he’s gone from sight and sound before turning to the girl in the other cell. Locke will wake up soon and my little trap needs to be firmly in place.
“Hey, it’s okay. You can relax now. My friend has gone to get us help. When he comes back, we’ll both be free.”
For a long moment, the girl doesn’t say a thing, then I hear something. Soft chuckling begins to echo in the cells, steadily growing louder. The girl who’s been in a fetal position for most of her stay down here suddenly gets to her feet.
She throws her dark hair back, her laughter loud and annoying. When I catch sight of her dirty face, her expression is one of malice, not one of a scared girl being forced to endure whatever the council subjects its victims to.
She saunters to her cell door and digs in her rag-like dress before pulling out a key and unlocking her cell from the outside. At the same time, the doorway upstairs opens and more guards come do
wn.
Only when the people appear in the hallway, it’s the council members. All of them.
Elder Jebediah is at the lead, his eyes filled with glee, followed by Elder Dianne. She looks as she normally does, her dark hair pulled back in a bun and an expression of disinterest on her face. Then there’s Elder Patrick, the newest of the council members. If anyone was to be considered the reasonable one on the council, it would be him. He hasn’t yet been corrupted by the other members—I hope.
I don’t know much about the other two council members—Elder Spencer and Elder Lewis. They tend to keep quiet, only speaking when they absolutely must.
When the girl moves to stand out in front of my cell door tauntingly, I simply smirk at her. I knew this was a trap. She just doesn’t know I set my own.
“Ah, Jordan, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard about you and my daughter and the relationship you involved yourself in. I just didn’t think you would be so stupid though. Really, revealing where you planned to meet her? Isobel would be severely disappointed in you.”
Daughter? I study the woman, unsure exactly what I’m seeing. The dark hair is very much like Isobel’s but that’s about it. “I don’t know who you are, lady.”
She cocks a hip out and grins. Her green eyes sparkle with something close to evil. “Oh, come now. You’ve been around Isobel for over eighteen months straight and I’m sure you’ve caught up with her a few times after she left the compound. Are you seriously saying you don’t see the resemblance between myself and my daughter?”
I only saw one photo of Isobel’s mother not long after she came here, and while this woman is similar, there’s something that isn’t adding up. Her mother is dead. Drake and I know that with certainty. We saw the massacre photos of her family, so how is this woman here claiming to be Isobel’s mother?
“You’re not her mother. She’s dead. Died two years ago. Besides, you are way too old to be the mother of someone that young.” I don’t mean that in the physical sense, but her age nears three centuries if the power I’m picking up on is right.
The woman tuts sadly, flicking her hair dramatically over her shoulder. “You should know better than anyone the power of magic, Jordan. You’ve been alive on this earth almost as long as I have. Did you not wonder why my daughter wasn’t simply forced to choose another Alpha on day one? Because I had hoped you and young Drake would breed with her sooner rather than later. Only you both took your sweet ass time and fucked it up. You made her question everything and we were forced to act. No matter though, it’s only a matter of time before she gives in to the urges that come with her kind. She will have an heir soon, and then we will keep the child and kill her as intended.”
I blink slowly, unsure what to think. Is she seriously suggesting using Isobel as a broodmare then murdering her once she births the next Supreme Alpha? What kind of sick fuck think likes that, let alone someone meant to be her mother?
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but you already lost that chance. Isobel was with child when she escaped from this place. She lost her baby from all the stress she went through. So maybe you shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch. Even if Isobel does conceive another child, she’s more powerful than you could ever imagine. She will be untouchable, as will her child. And if you haven’t already noticed, she’s not alone anymore. Drake and I will always protect her, regardless of what you say or do to make us think otherwise.”
Council member Jebediah laughs loudly, like what I’ve said is the most amusing thing he’s ever heard. When he calms to a chuckle, he meets my gaze head-on, his brown eyes darkening in amusement. “You may have come to us because of your intelligence, but you are clearly lacking in smarts. So let me clue you in. We all knew Isobel was pregnant. The moment we scented the change, we started testing her. Testing her loyalty. Which is why we sent you on a mission, and while you were gone, we realized that the connection between Drake and Isobel was too strong. If either of them knew of the child, then their bond would be further tightened and we’d never be able to separate them to take the child. So we acted. With the help of some witches on hand, we made sure the child would die before living. Both of them were put under a spell and saw what we wished them to see. The pain of what Isobel saw, plus the potion made by the witches, was enough for the child growing in her womb to be taken care of.”
Rage bubbles inside me. I thought I heard Locke say they knew before I passed out from the drugs they shot me with but I thought I was hearing things. To have it confirmed has me wanting nothing more than to kill each and every person standing on the other side of the bars. “I’ll kill you for this. Hurting her, taking away her child. Your life will be a living hell when I’m done with you.” My hands are shaking with unbridled fury. I have never in all my life wanted to kill someone as much as I do right this moment.
Isobel’s mother chuckles softly, rolling her eyes at my threats. “Oh dear, I don’t think that will be possible. You see, we now know where my daughter is going. We know where Drake is going. Soon it won’t matter what we do to you. We could kill you and never have to deal with you again. Once I have my daughter back, she’ll be locked in a cell and I’ll take pleasure in sending male after male to breed with her until a child grows in her belly. Then, when the child is born, I’ll make both you pathetic men watch as her life is taken before your very eyes.”
This time it’s my turn to laugh. None of them have one fucking clue what Isobel is or what she’s capable of. Any man put into a cell with her is going to die from having their balls ripped off. “Okay, go ahead. Go back home where your body was supposed to be buried. Call me when either Drake or Isobel show up.”
If they think that’s where they’re going, then they really are fools. Not one of them is laughing now.
Jebediah is glaring at me, his lips thinned in anger “What did you do?”
I chuckle, leaning back against the concrete wall. “Did you really think either Drake or I would talk aloud about Isobel’s location and be truthful? You may think we’re stupid, but the moment you put a girl in a cell next to us instead of down the halls, we knew there was a chance it would be a trap. So we made sure to set our own trap.” I gesture over to Locke, still unconscious on the floor. “When you sent that pathetic lump after us, Drake and I had already talked about where Isobel was. There was no need to mention it once we arrived here.” I feel absolutely giddy at the expressions all the council members and the woman claiming to be Isobel’s mother are wearing. “So have a good time looking, guys, but I can guarantee you’ll never find her.”
“Why you little shit!” Isobel’s mother is gripping the bars, her eyes flaring in frustration and annoyance.
“Oh, don’t go calling me names. From where I’m standing, there are all kinds of names that could be tacked on to you. If Isobel is indeed your daughter, then you should be the one labelled here. Your daughter suffered immensely after she thought you died. She blamed herself over and over again. She relived her father’s and brother’s death before her eyes. Always blaming herself for not being fast enough, for not being strong enough, for not doing things that wouldn’t have helped anyway. Still, she placed the blame on her shoulders. I lived with her while the nightmares plagued her, and I tried to be there for her as best as I could, but where the hell were you when she needed you?”
The woman’s eyes are practically spitting malice my way. If looks could kill, I’d be a pile of ash right about now.
I just grin wider. This woman should be fucking ashamed of what she put her daughter through, yet she’s plotting to make her daughter birth the next generation of Alphas for some sick twist of power.
To think Isobel thought her family had all died, and she was left alone to handle this life in a new world with no one to trust but people who were the same monsters. The poor girl knew she was different even to those she already saw as monsters, but yet she handled it like a pro. This, though, to find out her mother is more of a monster than any of the others,
I don’t think this is something she’ll be able to handle. She’s either going to crumble and be an inconsolable mess, or she’s going to light the world on fire.
I want her mother to know just what’s in her future. “One day soon, Isobel is going to see you again. When that day comes, I hope she makes you suffer a thousand times more than you could ever imagine. Just as you did to her.”
I direct my gaze to the council. “As for you corrupt assholes, I hope you enjoy your seats for now, because when my girl takes her place in this world and accepts all the power she holds, you guys are going to be the first to go. Maybe we might throw you in the prisons with some of the criminals you thought it necessary to house and see how grateful they are for their life sentences. Once they’ve had their fun, maybe we’ll free them to hunt down your families as you did theirs.”
All of them appear frightened at my words, which tells me they genuinely fear what Isobel is capable of. And they should be. Less than two years into this life and she’s a hell of a lot more powerful than most supes my age. Just imagine what she could be capable of if she grows to my age or older. She could destroy the world with her power if she truly wished it. Not that she would. She is much too kind to ever hurt another without malicious intent.
Isobel’s mother clears her face of all expression before morphing into a grin of delight. “Well, since you’ve made it clear everything we’ve done is nothing but a waste of time, I think it’s time we move you to comfier accommodations, don’t you?”
She looks way too excited as she holds out a hand for Elder Jebediah to hand her my cell key. “I believe there are some old friends who’d absolutely love to see you again. You know, since you foiled their plan to escape a couple of centuries ago. Or have you already forgotten the friends you abandoned?”