by Helen Scott
Incantations and Inmates
Prisoners of Nightstone Book Two
Helen Scott
May Dawson
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
A Note from May
Also by May Dawson
About the Author
Also By Helen Scott
About the Author
1
Nasima
Bane was possibly the stupidest man alive.
“He’ll talk to you when he’s ready,” Ambrose growled as the two of us watched Bane.
The big, sexy bounty hunter sauntered through the cafeteria line as if all eyes weren’t on him. Some of those gazes were admiring. Some of the supes seemed to think Bane had superpowers.
And some of those gazes were murderous.
I chewed my lower lip. I was sitting with Ambrose and some of his shifters--Christian and his vamps rarely came into the cafeteria for long, preferring to spirit their blood away somewhere else. I thought that was for the best, really; I didn’t need to watch Christian sipping blood.
“Nas,” Ambrose said, his voice low and firm.
My gaze jerked to his in surprise. He was looking at me with worry in his eyes, and it took me a second to realize that the shifters at his table were watching me, not Bane.
As if they were curious why their alpha’s lover was so obsessed with another man.
I was starting to realize I’d signed up for more than I bargained for when I fell for Christian and Ambrose. Both were the alphas for their different breeds of supes, which meant both had expectations to live up to.
And now I had expectations to face, too.
I ignored Bane as he carried his tray past the table, but I could’ve sworn I felt his gaze on me, even though I didn’t look his way. Somehow just the sense he was watching me made me shift on the seat, my nipples pebbling against the soft fabric of my dress. I tried to make small talk, but Ambrose’s nostrils flared, as if he’d scented my desire. It’s really hard to talk about the weather with a werewolf.
And if Ambrose knew, then most likely the other shifters at the table knew, too. Lara and Alexandria, two shifter girls, were whispering together and I was pretty sure they were talking about me. I ignored them as I locked eyes with Ambrose.
“See you back at the cell?” I murmured, letting my voice go husky, before standing from my seat.
He frowned, and I knew he still hated for me to be alone for a few minutes, still worried that someone else would attack me.
I didn’t want to deal with an argument in front of his people. “I won’t be alone. I’m walking down the hallway, Ambrose. No one’s going to kidnap me.”
He snorted at that. “You should be safe. No one else should want to deal with your pain-in-the-ass ways.”
“So grouchy,” I said, then leaned over the table to peck his lips.
But Ambrose was incapable of a quick kiss, apparently. His arm looped my waist, pulling me closer, and he kissed me so hard he took my breath away. My lips parted against his, his tongue stroking into my mouth. My hips swayed forward against his body, wanting to get even closer to him.
He broke away, then finally gave me the quick peck on the lips I’d been aiming for originally--now that my lips were beestung, my hair wild, and my inner thighs throbbing.
“Go on then,” he said, even though heat flared in his eyes. “I’ve got pack business to attend, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“You can tell me all about it tonight,” I said. I didn’t like the idea that he had so many secrets from me. Christian too. I knew they had other responsibilities, but I’d had to reveal my biggest, darkest secrets to them.
In response, he just smacked my ass as I walked away. I mock-glared at him over my shoulder, but his attention was already fixed on the two burly shifters who had eaten dinner with us. They spoke quietly, glancing around to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard.
“I’ll be going too,” Tisha said. She was by my side in a second, reaching to take the tray from me. She gave me a long look as I tried to hang onto it. “Y’know the alpha’s woman doesn’t need to worry about little things like clearing her tray.”
Well, at least she didn’t say the alpha’s bitch like his crazy old stalker who had been desperate to hold that august title. This conversation was bad enough, but I couldn’t have dealt with that.
“Thanks, Tisha, but I can do it myself.” I had no intention of turning into a spoiled brat just because Ambrose’s pack was apparently eager to do things for me now.
She gripped the tray firmly, apparently ready to fight me for it. When she eyed me the way she was now, she reminded me of my own grandmother, strangely enough, even though my grandma was neither a werewolf nor a convicted felon.
“You don’t have to worry about the little things,” she chided me, “because you have big things to worry about.”
Her voice had gone very soft, and I doubted anyone else could hear over the noise in the room.
I released the tray and raised my hands to my shoulders in a gesture of surrender. She shook her head at me as she stacked my tray on top of hers.
“Was that a threat, Tisha?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how to read what she’d just said, but I hoped it wasn’t. I’d liked Tisha since my first night here, when she told Ambrose to leave me alone. She always said what she wanted to say, and damn the consequences. Tisha was apparently solidly into the “give no fucks” age span of a woman’s life cycle; I looked forward to that someday myself.
“No,” she said, with a shake of her head. “But Nasima, not everyone likes how Ambrose and Christian have allied themselves--for your sake--and there’s a power vacuum with Nana gone. You three need to be a united front, if that’s the choice you’ve made.”
“We are a united front.”
“Mm-hmm.” She stared me down.
When she didn’t say anything else, I gave up on the conversation and headed for the doors, but she came with me. I’d wanted to corner Bane, who was eating by himself at a table by the door. God, that man should have someone to watch his back. He didn’t look at me directly and I didn’t look at him, but I could still feel tension rippling between the two of us, coupled with a keen awareness of the other.
I tried to focus on Tisha as she dumped the trays, then joined me exiting the cafeteria.
“You know I lived my whole life as a loner, involuntarily,” I admitted. “Once my coven kicked me out. I’m not exactly a… pack type.”
“I understand that,” she said. “But whatever you do reflects on Ambrose. Makes him look weak. And if he looks weak, he might find himself fighting for his power.”
“I hate that,” I said, surprised by the vehemence in my own voice. The weight of those expectations felt as heavy as chains.
She snorted. “Of course you do.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, coming
to a stop as she walked ahead through the empty corridor.
She turned to face me. “I like you a lot, Nasima. But you’re a hazard for Ambrose.” Her voice was blunt, but her dark eyes were kind in that wrinkled face. “You need to figure out if you want to deal with the pack--if you even can--and if you can’t, maybe you should just go back to that bounty hunter you like so much.”
“That’s not even an option,” I muttered. “And I don’t like him.”
“Mm-hmm,” she said, a spark of amusement entering her eyes.
“He betrayed me,” I said hotly. “He’s a worthless dickhead. He could crawl to me on his knees and I’d tell him to--”
A familiar intoxicating scent washed over me. Bane nodded to me coldly as he passed by, heading toward his own cell.
No wonder Tisha looked as if she were holding back her laughter.
“I hate you, Tisha,” I said. “You’re supposed to watch my back.”
“I am, I am,” she said.
And of course she walked me back to my cell.
I was the alpha’s woman now, after all. No one was going to let me get hurt again.
I stayed in the cell for all of ten minutes before restless agitation drove me out. Ambrose could find me when he was done with his business.
Right now, I had my own business to take care of.
With Bane.
2
Nasima
I wished I didn't know exactly where Bane's cell was. It would make it so much easier for me to not be able to do what I was about to do. I did know though, and as my feet carried me forward toward the slice of the prison he called his own I was filled with both fury and nerves.
The man had taken my heart and crushed it, even though I begged him not to. I almost turned around, told myself to forget it, but then I saw him sitting in his cage looking fucking miserable and I couldn't.
The bars were just the same as the ones on my cell, so I knew not to try and fuck with them, but his door was open so I didn't have to. It was almost like the fucker was goading death, especially sitting there with his eyes closed. Did he not realize how much danger he was in?
"What do you want, Nas?" He didn't even open his eyes as he spoke. His rich melodic voice had my core heating as memories flashed through my mind of the way he would call my name when we were in bed together.
"I wanted to talk you out of this freaking suicide mission you're on," I said as I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall.
"I'm not on a suicide mission. I'm just trying to survive in here," he snarled at me, his eyes flying open as he spoke. I didn't miss the way they locked on my face for a moment before traveling down my body, making every inch of my skin ache for his touch.
"Making a deal with the Black Guard to come into a supernatural prison when you're as human as they come? Sounds like suicide to me," I said with a haughty sniff.
He was off his bed and pinning me to the wall with a hand around my throat before I even saw him move. Sometimes I wondered just how human he was.
"What did you say?" he demanded in a low growl.
The pressure on each side of my wind pipe was cutting off the blood flow to my head, but it didn't really matter because it was all flowing south anyway. This wasn't unlike many situations that had led to us fucking like maniacs. Apparently, my body remembered that all too well.
"Can't. Talk." I croaked out. His hand immediately eased up but didn't go anywhere, as though he couldn't bring himself to stop touching me. "I know you made a deal with the Black Guard. I know about Jonathan Went."
Sure it was a slight stretch. I did know something about both of those things, but I didn't know everything. I desperately wanted him to tell me what the deal with the Black Guard was, or at least allude to it so I could figure out what the hell was going on.
"Sure you do. People talk, it's no surprise that the word trickled down to the filth here." He released me suddenly then like I was burning him where he touched me and spun away from me, but it was his words that hurt the most. Filth? I wasn't filth when he was balls deep in my pussy.
"I know your ex had her guys beat the ever living shit out of you before they brought you in."
His shoulders tensed.
"You know nothing, Nas. I may as well call you Jon Fucking Snow for how much you understand about the situation I'm in." His hands went to his head, pushing through his hair.
The urge to smack him was almost uncontrollable. Why was he such an ass? And for that matter, why the hell was I still attracted to him? Since our last encounter he'd done nothing but betray me, be rude to me, and ignore me. Why was I still trying?
Apparently, my mouth didn't care that I was trying to figure out why I wanted to help him because I found myself saying, "Then tell me. Help me understand. I want to help you, Bane." I was practically pleading with the asshole and it was pissing me off.
"I don't need your help. I don't need your friendship, or anyone else's for that matter. How could I ever trust you, Nas? You'll probably just stab me in the back the first chance you get."
His words were like a slap in the face, and I physically took a step back. "I think, if you remember, that's your department."
I turned to leave and saw one of the big shifters standing there watching me. I'd been so damn focused on Bane I hadn't even noticed him. How long had he been there?
When I went to move past him, the guy stepped in front of me. "Should've stayed in Alpha's cell," he growled menacingly.
"I'm allowed to go wherever I want." I tipped my chin so I could look the big man in the eye. The last thing I needed was for this shifter to think of me as less than. I was just as capable as he was, for the most part.
"You're the alpha's bitch. You're supposed to be there for him, not slumming it with this piece of shit. How can you even be interested in human dick when you've been fucked by our alpha?" he demanded.
"I'm not interested in that human dick," I snapped.
He took a long, obvious sniff of the air. "Try again, bitch. Scents like you practically creamed your panties for this piece of trash."
"Sounds like you're more interested in your alpha's cock than you should be, champ. Why don't you back off?" Bane said, coming to stand behind me. The heat radiating off his body made me feel safe, which I fucking hated.
"What'd you say to me, human?" The bulldozer of a shifter snarled.
I pointed at the shifter, poking him in the chest. "Listen, asshole, your alpha is going to be mighty pissed off if you hurt me, so why don't you back off?"
"My alpha? He's your alpha too. You're supposed to be part of the pack now, but you don't fucking act like it. You're so horny for this human you've practically scented this whole area with it. It makes me sick. It's bad enough you're fucking the vamp too, but the human? Have some respect for yourself, or better yet, for our alpha." He hacked and moved to spit on me, but never made it.
I had barely felt Bane move when his fist swung past my head and connected with the shifter's jaw. The guy's head snapped to the side before slowly coming back to face the two of us again.
Fuck.
Double fuck.
Oh, we were so screwed now.
"Stop!" I screamed as the shifter growled and lunged at Bane with me still standing between them.
It was too late though. I was the meat in the shifter and Bane sandwich as Bane fell to the floor under the shifter's weight. I tried to struggle out of their wrestling match but I couldn't get free.
A fist missed and hit me squarely in the ribs, but neither of them so much as paused, so I brought my knee up as fast and as hard as possible. After managing to nail the shifter in the balls, he rolled off me and Bane, too busy howling in pain and cupping himself to care what was going on around him anymore.
I pushed to my feet and looked at the man writhing on the floor. I wanted to do more. To hurt him, kick him while he was down, to make him see that I wasn’t just some weak little girl that could be pushed around and insulted without consequen
ce but that wasn’t who I was. I wasn’t violent by nature, although Nightstone appeared to be trying to beat it into me. Who knows what I’d have to do to survive here, to protect those I cared about.
There was nothing stopping me from hurting this shifter. Maybe if I made an example out of one of them the others would back off a bit. No. No, that wasn’t who I wanted to be. I’d do what I had to so I could survive, so I could help protect Ambrose and Christian, but that was it.
I stared down at the two men. "You two are made for each other," I said before walking away.
"Nas," Bane called.
I stupidly stopped and turned around to face the damn bounty hunter. "What?"
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes running over me in an evaluating way, looking for injuries.
"Fine." I turned on my heel and walked away once more. He'd made his position clear. As much as I wanted to help, if he wouldn't accept it then there was no point in beating my head against a brick wall.
Besides, I had bigger problems to worry about if this was how the pack viewed me.
3
Bane
I’d been hoping trouble would find me, but instead Nas had come to my door.
And now I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I pressed my fingers absently to the sore bridge of my nose, hoping the pain would ground me, because god damn it, even after fighting that brick shithouse of a shifter, I was hard from having her so close.
I had to find a way to distract myself. If I let her get too close to me, she was going to get hurt.