Aries

by Kim Faulks

  “How many days…where is she…what have you done with her. It’s always the same fucking questions, isn't it?”

  The clink of the shackle made my will tremble.

  I tried to shove myself upright. Agony drove a nail through my shoulder. I hadn’t healed…not since the last visit.

  “It’s been a month. But you don't have to worry about her, Dragon. She’s having a good old time with her new friends.”

  I rolled onto my other shoulder and slapped my palm against stone. The cold ate the pain, numbing everything but the center of my chest. “A month?”

  “One month here, barely a week topside. Time tracks differently down here. Can you feel it? This fucking place wearing you down? Thirty fucking days of the same shit. You tired of me hitting you yet? Tell the Huntress what she needs to know. Tell her and I’ll stop.”

  I grasped my head, my hair was longer, crusted with blood, and filthy from the dirt of this world. I pressed the long strands against my fingers. The ends rested against the knuckles of my fist.

  A month?

  “They don’t care about you, you know? They’re not even looking for you…what kind of family does that? Marcus, right? He’s the eldest, isn’t he? Not a peep, not a fucking sound. It’s business as usual at that fucking dump you call a home.”

  I shook my head. Cracked lips stung as I smiled. Bricks and mortar meant nothing…it was the mountain that was my home. The mountain with its crevices and cracks filled with treasure. He was trying to wear me down, using my kin as a weapon against me.

  He didn’t know them—he didn’t know them at all.

  “They screamed.” The hard rasp burned as I spoke. “The ones I killed from your pack…they begged and screamed.

  Silence lingered, consuming the air. My lips cracked wider.

  “You killed them?” Suspicion hardened his voice. “Ryder went missing…never came back. He wasn’t one of us though…he was—”

  I coughed and then swallowed. “Human. William, right? That was his name.”

  “You…killed him, and Nance?”

  A smile was all I had. That was answer enough.

  “You vicious fucking bastard. They were my friends.”

  I inhaled hard. I could still smell them, burning, searing. They didn’t scream for long…not nearly long enough. “They sold, they hurt…and they paid the price. No one hurts a woman or a child, and gets away with it.”

  His voice shook now. Hard edges worn away by brittle words. “I’m going to kill that bitch of yours, Dragon. But I’m going to fuck her first. I’m going to fuck her with that wolf baby still in her belly…and I’m going to let you watch.”

  My resolve fractured, just like the fragile muscle of my heart. I could still see her, still smell her body, still taste her love. They wouldn’t hurt her—my eyes seeped, running thick tears down my cheek—they needed her alive—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be broken…

  “I wouldn’t worry yourself, Dragon. I’m sure she’ll be well broken in by the time I get to her. Those military boys…they sure know how to torture. A pretty woman like that…I doubt they’ll keep their hands to themselves for long.”

  My world closed in, breaths and a heartbeat devoured everything else.

  She’d fight.

  She’d fight.

  I knew it in the thud of my heart.

  Knew it in the stillness of my soul.

  She’d fight until her last breath…

  However long that was.

  10

  Joslyn

  I blinked into the glare and rolled over. Red eyes lingered inside my head, dark wings settled around me, protecting me.

  My belly pushed into the hard plastic mattress, a flutter followed with a familiar ache, forcing me to roll and slide my feet from the bed. Cold kissed my toes as I touched the concrete floor.

  I stiffened for a second and walked toward the toilet in the corner of my cell. The viewfinder on the door snapped open, dark eyes peered through. They made my skin crawl. Heat burned my cheeks. I stood my ground, holding his stare. “Can’t I fucking pee in privacy?”

  There was no answer, never was. I turned and backed up to the edge, lowering the pale blue pants at the last minute. Still the bastard watched me. Thin paper didn’t dry a damn thing. I snatched the leaves from the box and wiped.

  “This is how you get off, do you? Watching women pee. Sick fuck.”

  I yanked up my pants and punched the button. The rush was instant, filling the room with something other than the grating silence. I walked the three steps to my bunk and climbed onto the hard mattress.

  The finder slid shut with a snap, and I was alone…but I was never lonely. Never fucking lonely. I picked at the edges of the tape and peeled off the cotton ball. The small drop of blood had darkened. I folded the edges of the tape over, until it was nothing more than a ball.

  “I don’t know what they’re trying to find. I don’t know what answers I can give them. But they won’t stop, will they?”

  I slid my hand to my belly, and cupped the hard curve. The one thing they wanted was the only thing I refused to give. My eyes slid closed and for a second I was there in that dark, dank cell with my Dragon by my side. “I won’t let them take him, Zadoc. I won’t let them take him from us.”

  The overhead lights buzzed, and then died. The low green nightlights came on, letting darkness eat the corners of the room. I’d counted the days until I’d lost track. There were too many…too many things to remember.

  Tears welled as I rolled to face the wall. Sleep was the only thing I had now. Sleep to mask the pain, sleep to find a way back to him…and I had to be back with him.

  All or nothing, Joslyn. Zadoc whispered inside my head. All or nothing.

  “All,” I whispered to the cold concrete wall. “I want it all.”

  I jolted awake with the blare of the siren. Green lights blinked off and were replaced by the harsh white glare.

  “Rise and shine!”

  My door thundered with the blow of a fist. A gnawing ache tore through my middle. He was always hungry, aways needing…I yawned and stretched, pulling my skin taut over the mound. I turned my head and sniffed. My shirt was soaked with sweat, my underarms were rank.

  Goddamn kid was making sure no one came near me.

  A key rattled, lock clicked, and my jailer was there throwing the door open. “Let’s go. We don’t have all day.”

  The day guard was different, but the uniforms were always the same…military…khaki green to be exact. I stared at his name and slid past. Lt. Barney. “I bet your Momma would be proud, Lieutenant. I’m sure locking us in here against our will is what your country needs of you.”

  His gaze hardened as he stiffened—ramrod straight. “Do what I’m told, Ma’am. I follow orders.”

  “Just like a good soldier.” The words stuck in my throat. “I have a brother, you know. He’s not much older than you, wanted to protect and serve in his own way, so he joined the Sheriff’s Department, and became a deputy. Come to think of it, he is very different from you. He’d rather die than hurt a woman whose only crime is to bear a child.”

  His gaze hardened as he stepped to the side. One other cell was occupied, the one next to mine. The door to her cell opened and X stepped out.

  I nodded as she passed under the harsh fluorescent light, but there was no warmth in her eyes, there was nothing but the cutting edge of rage as she strode from the doorway. We shared a barred window, and apart from these bastards in uniform and the doctors, she was the only one I knew.

  But if I thought she was a friend…I’d be wrong.

  She never spoke, not even to acknowledge my attempt at conversation. She was nothing more than a walking, breathing, stunningly beautiful corpse.

  Her chocolate skin still looked perfect under these lights, wide brown eyes and full lips screamed of a Cherokee bloodline. I wanted to ask her of her family, of her land and her culture.

  But I’d never ask her, because she’d ne
ver tell.

  I shoved my sweat-soaked, greasy hair from my face. We walked in silence. This was the same path we trod every day. Showers, breakfast, exercise for her…and back to the doctors for more tests for me. The soldier lingered at the open door. X snatched a towel from the pile and walked to the stall at the end of the room. We had no privacy, not to pee, not to shower…not to eat.

  We were rats in a maze that had no end, just the same path, around and around. I grabbed my towel and stepped into the stall next to my silent companion. I’d seen her initial scribbled on one of the medical records. X. No first name, no last name…just X.

  I hit the tap and the water gushed. Steam billowed from the stall next to mine, but I needed the water cold…I needed the shiver…I eased my arm under the spray and hissed at the shock, taking a breath before I plunged in.

  My stomach tightened for a second and then eased. He was so hot—so unbelievably hot—burning like fire through my veins…even without Zadoc’s DNA he was his father’s son.

  I eased my head backwards, letting the cold sluice down my hair. I punched the dispenser next to the tap squeezing shampoo into my palm. “Why do they call you X?”

  Silence hissed next to me.

  “Is it a Cherokee name? Something pretty and wonderful I bet.”

  I drowned each strand in the lather and rinsed. The conditioner was weak, watered down…but I’d never been fussy. I squeezed the pale liquid and spread it over the ends, working my way to my scalp.

  The soap smelled of sawdust, I lathered my hands and scrubbed my feet, legs, working my way up to my face. This was as close to peace as I had…as close to something normal that remained.

  “Come on, hurry it up.”

  I hit the tap and stepped out of the cool. It took a second for my body to warm from the icy water, and one more second to run at a low-grade fever. I towel dried my hair, leaving the strands damp and ran the cotton over my body. My hand lingered over my bump. He was almost four months old in there…and a little bigger if I was honest.

  The doctors—if they were damn doctors—didn’t seem to care. All they wanted was blood and answers. I had a bed. I had food. But I didn't have the one thing I needed the most…I didn’t have Zadoc.

  I wrapped the towel around my body and stepped from the stall. The guard watched me like a damn hawk—they all did. X followed like a shadow and grabbed a clean pair of pants. We turned at the same time, stepping into the legs and securing the tie at our waist.

  We gave them nothing more than bare backs to look at as we dropped the towel and slipped on the oversized shirt. My old clothes were long gone, torn form my body as I screamed and fought when they dragged me into this place.

  “Move, time to eat.”

  I spun, staring at his flexed jaw and pissed off gaze. He stepped to the side as I stepped into the doorway. One step pushed my spine into the doorframe. His hard body rammed against mine. His belt dug into my hip. I shoved my hand between us, covering my baby, and brushed the swell of his cock.

  White teeth peeked out from his sickening smile, until he was barged from the side. X’s murderous glare made him step away.

  “I’m hungry,” she snarled and turned those soulless eyes on me. “Get out of my fucking way bitch.”

  My heart thundered. I stumbled after her, listening for the heavy tread of boots at my back. The dining room was a glass walled room, small tables and a bank of long lounges along the far wall filled the space. A woman waited at the counter, just as she did for every meal…if you could call it that. The tasteless food was served on a tray she slid toward me. I blinked away the blur and grabbed hold of the sides.

  X headed for one side of the room, as far away from me as she could get. I sat in one of the chairs and stabbed. My throat thickened. I tasted nothing.

  I chewed and swallowed as revulsion made my stomach turn. I wanted to slam the tray to the table and spit in the sonofabitch’s face. I wanted to scream. I wanted out of here. I’d swap that filthy cell for this sterile prison any day.

  I wasn’t normally this fragile. Not normally this constantly close to tears. I swallowed and forced the spongy scrambled egg into my stomach. An ache settled deep. He was always hungry, always needing more. The dry toast followed. I washed it down with the bitter orange juice and swiveled on my seat.

  X watched me from the other side of the room, raising the hair on the back of my neck.

  “You cry too much.”

  Her words were barely more than a whisper, but she may as well of shouted. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to.”

  “Doesn’t matter to me, but it makes you look weak. Can’t be weak here.” She turned her head and stared through the glass wall. “This is not the place.”

  Movement dragged my gaze to the small group of soldiers standing outside. One was a mammoth, as big as Zadoc. He turned his head at that moment, hungry eyes fixed on me.

  “You’ll want to stay away from that one. He’s dangerous…more than anyone else here.”

  I stiffened at her words. I wanted to tear my gaze away, but I was trapped—pinned down by his sinister smile and her ominous words.

  “When he comes for you, and he will come, you pretend you’re asleep. You don't move. Don't open your eyes. Don't say a word. No matter what he says or does, you got it?”

  A shudder raced through my body, finding the most fragile part of me.

  “You do not want to give him a reason to hurt you.”

  “What is this place?” I stared at the stark white walls. Neon fluorescent lights buzzed above me.

  “This place is Hell…as close to it as you’re ever gonna find.”

  I closed my eyes and felt the room sway. This place was filled with demons…of one kind or another. They wouldn’t touch me…not while I held the answers they wanted. They wouldn’t….they just wouldn’t.

  X slid her tray along the table and rose. She strode past without saying another word and headed out the door, turning right. I watched the massive soldier. He followed her every move, eyes bright with need.

  She kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, bare feet slapped the glossy concrete floor. The soldier lifted a hand to catch her arm as she passed. She never flinched, not even when his fingers brushed her skin. Her warning screamed in my head. I swallowed the shudder. This was no place for the weak…only the strong would survive.

  “Joslyn, you ready?”

  The doctor stood in the doorway with the blue folder in hand. I sighed and stood. It was the same every day…same questions, same desperation.

  “I don’t have anything else to tell you. It’s the same fucking questions every day.”

  He forced a smile that never reached his eyes. “Humor me.”

  I followed him to the lab at the other end of the hallway. Medical equipment lined one side of the room with cages crammed with rats and mice along the other.

  The musty smell of them filled the air; it gave life to this hostile place. The soft beep of the machines sounded like a heartbeat. Sometimes I heard that sound in my sleep, and I dreamed I was back here…but it wasn’t me they stabbed with their needles and questions—it was my baby.

  I saw him not as a human, but as a wolf. Bright eyes and needlelike teeth. His fur would be silver and black, with white markings along the bridge of his nose.

  The doctor stabbed the keyboard and the screen came to life. He peered closer, rereading his notes before straightening. “Now, yesterday we left off at the age of five. Can you tell me where you lived then?”

  I shook my head. “I told you all this before. I can’t remember…I don’t fucking know. All I can remember is some cabin in the woods, and some old woman I met once.”

  “Cabin…and an old woman. Do you know where this cabin was?”

  “No.”

  “Was it far from where you lived?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What kind of trees did you see, was it a pine forest, ash trees?”

  “I. Don’t. Know.”

 
He never looked up, kept typing on the damn keyboard. “What was the weather like, was it hot, cold…was the soil dark and rich, or sandy and loamy?”

  I shoved my spine into the chair. Questions…all the damn questions. “I don’t know. I was a kid. I slept in the car most of the way and when we got there I stayed inside.”

  “And what did you do there, any specific things that stick out in your mind?”

  I cast my memory back to that time in my life before Momma found the bottle, when she was happy and smiling…when the old woman drew me onto her lap and looked at my stuffed toy…red…something red. What was that?

  You like dragons, huh?

  A voice slipped through my mind…too faint for me to catch.

  Red…my toy was red with black eyes and wings…and a tail and that voice came back to me clearer now.

  I know of Dragons. I know one that looks just like him.

  Kind eyes came to me, the smell of something old…musty and strange. And then it was gone—like a leaf in the wind.

  “Joslyn…Joslyn…”

  I turned back to the pain in the ass doctor as the old woman’s words settled deep.

  I know of Dragons, she whispered. In my memory I reached for her knotted hair filled with feathers and stones as she looked down and smiled, petting my favorite toy…

  I know one that looks just like him.

  11

  Zadoc

  “Jesus, you look worse than I feel.” Mack edged closer to the bars, only this time he moved slower.

  I cracked open my eyes.

  How many days…how many…where was she…was she still alive?

  Boots scuffed the ground, something heavy hit the bars. I turned my head and stared at him. The wolf…the wolf. My stomach tensed. I scanned the corners…the demons were here…a tremble broke through. They were here…waiting. I closed my eyes waiting for snap of the shackle…waiting for the pain.

  The hollow gnawing in the center of my chest flared.