by Jaymin Eve
What the hell was he talking about?
“I’ve seen it once, and it was not something I’d forget in a hurry,” Maximus said.
I looked between all four of them, unsure if they were kidding or not. Was there actually something scarier than Braxton’s dragon? Since no more information was forthcoming, I guessed only time would tell.
Braxton started to move then, and I recognized that expression: he was focused, nothing would blow him off his current path. In so many ways he was as unmovable as his dragon. The personality of our animal definitely bled into the human, and in turn we tamed the beast inside. It was a beautiful symbiotic relationship. I always felt as if one could not survive without the other. I certainly would not want to exist without my wolf.
We continued through the forest. It was colder today, but no snow. I would guess we were due for another storm very soon. Even with my shifter metabolism at peak, I still had chills racking my arms and legs. It was dark under the canopy. Keen eyesight took care of that; I simply let my wolf out a little and she leant me her senses. From our many years roaming this massive landscape I had a pretty good idea where we were heading – toward the back left pocket, where the very largest of the old redwoods were.
Mischa was close to my right side. I reached out and grabbed her hand, our frozen fingers tangled together. She looked scared, but managed a smile. No one spoke, knowing on instinct to stay quiet. The boys surrounded us like the four points on a compass. Pun intended. I knew when we had reached the spot. Braxton’s back was one mass of rigid muscle as he held a silent hand aloft to halt our progress. I flicked my eyes left and right trying to determine what he had noticed. But nothing looked amiss. We stood at the junction of two large trees; their trunks had grown into each other, swirling around and around in a crazy manner. Branches, leaves, and twigs intertwined; there was no order to their growth and structure, only chaos. There was a small gap at the base of the trunks. Was that the entrance?
Jacob stepped out of our formation and placed both hands on the closest and largest tree trunk. His blond hair was barely visible in the low light, but I could sense his fey energy working. The very forest around us responded, the fey were earthy like that. Jacob spun his head back and gave us one sharp nod. Braxton and Tyson strode forward, and before I could order my feet to follow, the two of them dropped down to their knees, like bookends, heads bowed in submission.
Okay, so I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit to one or two fantasies of mine which had started just like this, but come on, guys, it just wasn’t the time for role play.
Just as I stemmed my inappropriate thoughts, I noticed the swirls of energy they were releasing between the two of them. Tyson was working some magic and Braxton was helping. It started to form something dark, a misty hole, and as they raised their heads and hands upwards I could clearly see a large hole had shaped between Tyson and Braxton. It was weird, shadowy, shifting as I tried to focus on it. I heard Mischa’s sharp intake of breath and barely stifled my own gasp as the two of them plunged forward and entered the misty door headfirst. They disappeared.
Jacob and Maximus came in behind us, and staying at our backs they ushered Mischa and I toward the space. I so didn’t want to enter that door, but I’d die before admitting to being a coward. My wolf rose to the surface, allowing me to share her courage and strength.
Mischa’s soft voice broke the silence. “I can feel my wolf.” She sounded strangled. “She wants to be free.”
I reached out and grabbed her hand. “No, she’s reacting to your fear. Trying to help you. When you are more experienced you’ll be able to bring her close but not shift, sort of existing in an in-between state. But right now is not the time.”
Thankfully, she was distracted by Jacob nudging us into the portal. Just like with the boys, we entered head first. I dropped in a slow motion sort of twirl. I knew magic was at work here, I could scent a high level magic user all over this. I landed smoothly, in a crouch position, almost as if I’d been guided the entire way down. I stood, relieved to see Mischa next to me. Her wide green eyes were just visible in the very low light. We were underground, in a dirt-lined cave entrance, small lichen mosses up high on the walls giving off a soft, ambient glow. Shadows moved toward us, but thankfully it was only Braxton and Tyson. Jacob and Maximus appeared behind us and we were all ready to go.
Braxton took the lead and started to step cautiously through the tunnel. My eyes were darting left and right as I followed along, but so far there was nothing but dirt and rock surrounding us. We were moving toward a light, or an area that was brighter; it shone as we stepped closer. Finally, as we moved from that small, dark tunnel and hovered near the edge of the light, I raised my hands to cover the series of gasps and curses that wanted to fall from my mouth.
The space before us was massive. From what I could see the underground area was almost the size of Stratford. Beyond the cleared space stood an immense circumference of spotlights, suspended on tall poles. The bulbs shifted around on a rotation, keeping the area well lit. The prison walls towered into the sky. I had no idea how high the ceiling was, I couldn’t see any end from where I stood. The prison looked a little like the human ones I’d seen on television: solid gray walls, styled like stone, but I could sense the other elements weaved into the structure. Iron, which was a weakness for many; salt for its purity; varying bloods which were strong enough to spell for protection and strength; not to mention the standard silver, copper and gold, elements of vulnerability for all five of the supernatural groups.
Which made sense considering who they were containing. But how were we going to traverse this area without being affected by these inbuilt defenses.
Braxton answered me by stepping forward and slipping a leather chain over my head. It had a turquoise stone, around the size of a quarter, tied on to the base. As it touched my skin – resting between my breasts – I felt a sort of buzz.
He leaned down and murmured in my ear. “The stone is spelled to shield us against the protections of the prison.” I notice Maximus place the same over Mischa’s head. And all the boys had one too.
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Where did you get these necklaces from?” I whispered back.
“The guard.”
I silently snorted. I should have figured that.
Jacob was close enough to add to our very low conversation. “We skillfully persuaded him.”
Most likely scenario: they beat him until he promised the stones. Typical Compass persuasion. There were lots of different supernaturals milling around the outer zone of the prison. Some were in a dark gray uniform, carrying what looked like weapons, so I was going with guards. Others were more official, their uniform black, with decorative stars and decals lining the shoulders and lapel area. Management or specialists.
“I don’t suppose you have uniforms for us to blend in,” Mischa asked.
Maximus shook his head. “No, but we know that there’s a guard shift change very shortly. They all meet around the front for a brief rundown. They seem to be more relaxed on the outside then the guards inside. Mostly, they expect prisoners to be breaking out.”
I was reminded of the breakouts that had been happening around the world, the dragon marked. This was probably the worst time to attempt this. Surely security was going to be beefed up. Not that I could see anything specific. Maybe there was stronger magic at work or something, things I could not detect with the naked eye.
“On my signal,” Braxton breathed. All of us lowered ourselves and prepared to move.
His flat palm came up, which meant wait. He held it there for about thirty seconds, and as we watched, the various prison workers started to move like clockwork, converging on a central point right at the main entrance of the huge structure. As soon as they were focused on their meeting, Braxton’s hand straightened and pointed to the right. Time to move. We hugged the rock wall of the cave surrounding the prison, as we slunk along, low to the ground and still out of the spotlights. Heading aro
und the left side of the building, there was no cover anywhere, we would have to expose ourselves long enough to make it to the prison wall.
My heartbeat was reasonably steady, but I could feel the fine line of sweat forming on my brow. I was nervous, although hiding it reasonably well, I thought. I wasn’t sure what would happen if we were caught here. I guessed my father would be brought in and there would definitely be a punishment. Who knows, maybe they’d just shoot us on the spot; they were pretty protective of their secrets. Braxton paused for two heartbeats at the edge of the darkness, waiting for something I couldn’t see. Then when he moved he was swift, like a shadow as he dashed across to the side of the wall. We were right behind him. The entire time, I held my breath waiting for the call of detection, but there was nothing.
We plastered ourselves to the side of the massive stone wall. The true size of this prison was becoming apparent. It was freaking huge. And despite the amulet I wore, I could feel my wolf reacting to the silver, iron and other elements in the walls. It didn’t burn me, like it normally would, but it was uncomfortable, like the sensation of my skin cells attacking each other. I shivered. I did not like it. I heard a stifled sob from Mischa and knew she was struggling worse than the rest of us, but thankfully after that first hitch of breath there was no more. She was a Lebron, we were tough and she’d already pulled herself together.
We moved swiftly along the lines of the wall, but came to a sudden halt about halfway along. I forced my breathing into a shallower pace, silencing even the smallest noise, as my eyes flicked left and right. Were we made? I couldn’t see anything, so what was Brax–
My thoughts were cut off as all four of the Compasses leaned down again, and just like in the forest were performing an incantation.
“This is the weakness. See how all the lines join and form this gap?” Braxton’s voice was almost too low to hear, but I was pretty close to them. I could see what he was talking about. It was as if joins from all the stone pieces on this side of the wall converged into one central point.
This point looked a lot like a mini-inlet, and I remembered Braxton saying it was something to do with the water or sewage release. But it was far too tiny for any of us to fit through; the Compasses especially did not have a shot in hell. I had no idea what they thought was going to happen, but I trusted them enough to wait patiently. I scanned the zone so as not to miss the guards’ return. For the moment, this side was still minus any uniformed security.
Maximus reached out a hand and took Mischa’s arm. “The magical protections are weakened here to allow for the tunnels below. We’re going to create an entrance. Ty and Jake have been working on this since we got out.” His tone was soothing, probably to stop Mischa running out in a screaming mess. She looked like she was about to lose her shit.
“Let’s hope it works,” I heard Tyson mutter.
Braxton was stone-faced. I couldn’t tell if he was worried or not; he was the master at concealing his emotions. Despite the fact that the women of Stratford loved Braxton, they also feared him. Men, too. The hardass was the main side of him that he showed the world, but I knew him well enough to call him on his bullshit, so he tended to keep it to a minimum around me.
The boys stood, and all I could see was the same stone and small drain space. Had it not worked?
Jacob grinned. “Time to head inside,” he said as he shoved Tyson straight in. “Good of you to volunteer, Ty,” he murmured as the wizard disappeared into the prison wall.
Okay, so there was definitely an entrance. I grinned. Jacob was a dead man when Tyson got his hands on him. One by one we entered. I was second last, Braxton coming in behind me. With a deep breath – you have no idea how hard it was to throw myself into what looked like solid stone – I ducked my head and closed my eyes … before diving forward.
Chapter 11
The smell was almost unbearable. My nose was twitching as I fought against the urge to throw up or growl. The six of us stood silent, waiting to see if our entrance had been detected. It was really dark under here, hard to see our surroundings even with help from my wolf. The sewerage area we were in was small and narrow. The boys had to crouch to not hit their heads. Maximus had said that this was just an offshoot, not the main thoroughfare.
Before we’d started this mission, the Compasses had explained the general layout of the prison. There was a large circular room right in the center which acted as a mingling zone. Every day for a few hours the five different supernatural races were allowed out for shared lunch, and to interact and have exercise time. Spanning off this area were five thin tendril-like zones. They formed the prison cells for each group. There was no mingling between different races in the cells; this was strictly enforced – vampires were only with vamps and so on. There were very specific protections on these areas. They catered to the weaknesses of each supernatural race. If I had to guess, judging by the wolfsbane, silver and blood-sacrifice power that I could see threaded through the stone structures above our heads, the spot we had entered seemed to be underneath the shifter zone.
After a few minutes of silence everyone let out the breath they’d been holding. We seemed to be in the clear. Well, no one had followed us through the wall, which indicated we had not been seen.
Braxton started to creep his way along the tunnel, bent almost in half to fit. “Follow me,” he said.
It took about ten minutes for us to emerge into what I would say looked like the central sewerage line.
Braxton stayed in the lead, giving us a quick rundown. “Nash told me how to find the area he slept in. It’s in between the shifter and vampire section of the prison. These are the sewerage systems he uses to get around.”
“So this area is not really accessible from the main prison?” Mischa asked.
Braxton nodded. “I don’t think so. I did a reasonable amount of exploring but never could quite figure out how to get into this eastern section of Vanguard. Nash sort of clued me in on how to do it.”
We started walking again, sticking close to the wall. On the other side of us was a semi-circle dip in the stone which contained whatever disgusting muck ran through a sewerage system, and I was very grateful to not only be wearing shoes, but to also not have to go into that shit.
After about ten minutes, Braxton stopped. “We’ll go up here.” He reached out and rested his hand on a metal ladder that hugged the rock walls. I hadn’t even noticed it until right then. “Let me go first and make sure the area is clear.”
Just like that he was gone, scaling the heights in seconds. The others stood around chatting, but I stayed right near the bottom rung, staring up, waiting for him to return. I was about eight seconds from saying ‘screw-this’ and following his path, when his voice echoed down to us.
“All clear.”
I was four rungs up when Maximus plucked me off the ladder and set me back on my feet.
“I’ll go first, just in case it’s a trap.”
I managed not to roll my eyes. I knew they protected because they loved, but still … give the Superman shit a rest, boys. It must be itchy under all of that spandex.
I ended up following Maximus, Mischa right behind me, and the other two bringing up the rear. It was a lot higher than it had looked from the ground, and unlike Braxton it took me quite a few minutes to make it to the ceiling. There was a small dark opening, I slithered up through the gap into the next space. The room was narrow with no natural light at all, just a few wizard stones embedded high in the wall. They cast the blue tones of fake illumination and I hated trying to see in it. It messed with my eyes.
We had to walk single file. The Compasses were almost brushing the walls with their broad shoulders. Braxton and Maximus, in front of me, had the tunnel pretty thoroughly blocked, and I hated that I couldn’t see anything. But I wasn’t afraid, despite the dark and eeriness of our surroundings. No one spoke and I took this as a sign to keep my mouth shut. Although, as we continued our trek, I was starting to wish I’d asked for more information
before we got in here. Like, how big was this freaking prison?
I was just about at the end of my limited patience when Maximus came to a halt. Of course I ran straight into his back, and Mischa smashed into me. Which did not move him even one inch.
I heard the grating of what sounded like a rusty door and we were moving again, pivoting to the left and through a metal opening. The rusty door was apparent now, shoved back against the wall, showing signs of pockmarking and corrosion. Finally, we entered a larger room. The quads spread out to the side and I could finally see around their broad shoulders.
My heart stopped beating. Or the world stood still.
Holy fucking hell!
Instead of the one small boy I’d expected, there were so many faces turned to toward us … so many faces. Both young and old. My breath caught in my throat as I frantically scanned from one side of the room to the other.
They were all dirty as they crouched low to the floor. I swallowed loudly, my hand lifting to press against my rapidly beating heart. I was still trying desperately to take in the entire room. How was this possible? There were children of all ages … even a few infants mixed in with the adults. In the semi-darkness I noticed the large cuffs which secured them to bolts embedded in the floor.
I was suddenly angry enough to scream. I didn’t care what these supernaturals had done, this was the cruelest form of punishment I could ever imagine. My demon snarled at me, along with the wolf, both of them straining to break free of the restrictions I had placed on them, both of them wanting blood for this.
Maximus sounded as pissed off as I felt. “What the fuck is this, Braxton? You said there was one boy. There are … at least fifty here.”
Braxton’s already rigid features tightened. “I never came into this room,” he bit out. “Nash just gave me directions to the place he slept; otherwise we only interacted when he found me.”