by Ginna Moran
I scream and thrash, trying to swing my body up in an attempt to knock him over. He slams me into the metal door, smacking my forehead hard enough for starbursts to pepper my vision. Blood trickles down my forehead, sending panic through me.
The door whooshes open, engulfing me with cool night air. I gasp and heave, my whole body rippling with agony. Marching forward, CO Bright rams his hand into the chain-link gate, separating the Visitation Center from the prison yard. He hops over a body lying face down in the dirt, and I thrash as hard as I can, trying to break free. Because this traitor killed CO Lowe. He murdered him and will blame his death on me. No one will believe me otherwise. If I can’t get out of here before the other COs find out, I’m dead.
“Hold fucking still, Drakovich,” CO Bright snaps, swinging my body to smash me into the chain-link fence. “The Liohts request you pay them restitution with your life.”
Oh. My. Fuck.
Dragging my hands over my head, CO Bright locks me to the chain-link fence. He whistles through his fingers, the loud sound piercing my ears and making me flinch. I yell and swing my body, trying to break the damn plastic tie. He couldn’t get the chain out quick enough, which is my only saving grace. I know I can break free. I have to.
CO Bright locks his fingers around my throat and holds me in place, jabbing his fist into my stomach. I can’t even scream at the force of his punch. My eyes water, my whole body feeling the agony that swells in my core. And like a coward, CO Bright turns on his heels and runs away. He abandons me, leaving me vulnerable and restrained to the fence.
A catcall whistles through the night, and I jerk my attention to the vast, dimly lit prison yard. Panic tightens my chest, and I push past the pain and twist and yank my arms, trying to contort my hands to slide free of the ties.
“Baker, my man, I can’t believe your brother actually came through,” a guy says, his voice light and full of excitement. “Just look at her. A filthy slut. I can’t wait to taste her.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Not until she begs to end her life.” Baker’s husky voice constricts my muscles, threatening to freeze me in fear. “I want to enjoy this—for Rhett.”
Grinding my teeth, I link my fingers into the chain-link. I turn my attention to Baker and another inmate, strolling in my direction. It’s like they want their slow approach to torture me, but all it does is give me a moment to think.
I might be stuck to this fence, but I’m not defenseless.
Forcing a small whimper through my lips, I play on these assholes’ need to frighten me. They crave seeing me weak and defenseless. But what they don’t realize is that I’m stronger than ever before.
Heat burns through my veins as my dragon fire sizzles under the surface of my skin. A calm wave of tranquility slows my racing heart, giving me better focus. The two men grin at each other, their sadistic smiles nothing compared to anything I’ve faced.
“Grab her arms, Malone. Make sure she won’t break the ties. Dragons are strongest when threatened,” Baker says, rubbing his hands together. Something sparkles as it slips from his sleeve and into his hand. “I’ll start by giving her my mark.”
My muscles scream, my mind whirling. The strength of my mates falters as my fear shoves it away, warning me that I’m in trouble. The vampire, Malone, shows off his capped fangs, the sight the only thing stopping me from screaming in panic. He holds up his hands, getting closer, expecting me to fight.
But I wait. I will not give him the chance to figure out how to hold me still by seeing any of my skilled kicks.
“Hurry up,” Baker snaps. “We only have minutes before yard time.”
Minutes? I can fight for a few minutes...right?
Malone jerks his hand out and grabs one of my arms. I guess I’m about to find out.
Swinging my leg up, I perform a high kick and hook my foot to the chain-link instead of trying to kick the vampire. I hold on tightly with my fingers and manage to swing my other leg up into a modified bridge pose. My muscles burn at the move, but I only hold it long enough to flip back down, kicking Malone’s shoulder and buckling his legs with the force.
Baker lunges at me, crushing me with his weight. The fence bounces from his strength. It’s not enough for me to shove Baker off, and he jerks his hand down and stabs me with his makeshift shank in the leg.
I scream, pain bursting through me, weakening my legs. The weight of my body giving out from the pain stretches my arms, pulling them in an awkward position. Stepping on my shin, Baker ensures I won’t kick him and unzips the front of my jumpsuit. I thrash and scream again, my body running on adrenaline, pushing the pain away.
“Hold her still!” Baker commands Malone, and the vampire gets his shit together and locks his fingers through my hair.
Sparks pop in Baker’s eyes, his magic vying to break free. Tugging my jumpsuit off my shoulder, he exposes part of my breast. Malone hums and shifts, his body hardening with desire. My stomach twists, and I buck and fight, trying everything to get the two sickos away from me.
“This is for my coven,” Baker says, his fragrant, florally breath blowing in my face.
Swiping his shank over the top of my breast, he starts to carve something into my skin. Agony consumes me, and I screech and shriek, the pain unbearable as he draws something with his blade. My vision shadows and light bursts around us, setting the prison yard aglow with orange flames. My hands drop from the fence, my dragon fire melting away the plastic ties.
A buzzer cuts over the sound of my screams, and I expect Baker and Malone to flee, but Malone drags me to the ground and smacks out the flames flickering in my palms. He twists my hair again, yanking my head up. Hissing a breath, he growls into my ear.
“Burn me and I’ll break your hands,” he says, bending my fingers back hard enough to make me scream.
Voices hum through the night, and I scream again, praying for someone, anyone to help me. Baker slaps me, cutting off my voice with his hand. Climbing on top of me, he straddles my waist, bringing the blade to the other side of my chest.
I convulse, my body breaking, my mind screaming for reprieve.
I black out, icy darkness swallowing me whole. Savoring the nothingness, I think about my mates. I wish with everything in me to speak to them one last time. To tell them how much they mean to me, even after only these few short weeks.
“Nova, fight!”
I jerk upright at the sound of the Drekis and Darkonians voices erupting in my mind at once. A wave of heat burns the chill from my body, and fire explodes from my mouth. Baker’s eyes widen, and he holds his palms up, chanting a spell that does nothing. My dragon fire consumes him so quickly that all that remains is a pile of ash in his place, scattering and disappearing on the breeze.
Someone hollers. I whip my attention to a group of inmates grabbing loose rocks and whatever they can find on the ground.
“She’s mine,” Malone says, his voice echoing through the night. “Stay back!”
“The Lioht Coven has a reward for her head,” an inmate says. “Get her!”
A hulking man tackles Malone and punches him in the face. Yells and hollers, twisted noises of excitement sound out as more inmates race to capture me. Vampires fight warlocks and witches, each trying to outmatch the other to kill me.
McKenzie will get what she wants after all.
I can’t see any way out.
Someone throws a rock, pelting me in the forehead, knocking me back. I blink through my hazy vision and can’t do anything but stare at the night sky. My body trembles, my fire dying with the all-consuming pain. There’s no way I can face all of these inmates. I’ll never make it out alive.
I never thought I’d ever beg the universe for a swift death.
I never thought I’d end up in a magical prison either or fated as the mate of dragons.
A shadow looms on the ground and a man peers down at me, a frown crossing his face. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll get you somewhere safe.”
I don’t resp
ond. I’m not even sure if I can.
Reaching down, he lifts me into his arms, his minty scent somehow manages to calm the fear cooling my blood. Another inmate growls and charges at us, and the world spins. I heave as the man tosses me on his shoulder only long enough to watch the body of another warlock drop dead to the ground with a broken neck.
Taking off into a sprint, the guy runs in the direction of the pits, keeping close to the fence to better watch his back. A siren finally rings, blaring through the night, and several spotlights roam over the prison yard to light a few guards’ ways.
“Almost there,” the man murmurs. “You’re lucky your keeper contacted me in time. It was quite the surprise. I haven’t had the pleasure of receiving a telepathic message in a long, long time.”
I lick my swollen lips, my mind barely able to concentrate. “Hmm?” It’s the best I can do to ask what the hell he’s talking about.
“Ambrose,” he says, navigating the area with the pits. “He asked me to help you.”
Stopping near the last row of grates, the man sets me down and surprises the hell out of me by prying one open. He winks at me and scoops me back into his arms only to dangle me over the hole.
“At what cost? What do you get out of it?” My muscles tense, my mind thinking the worst. I will murder him if it’s something like making another one of my mates bow.
“Brace yourself, Delphia. It’s a long drop,” he says instead of answering my question, like he knows what swirls through my mind.
“Wait, I—” My voice cuts off as my stomach rises into my throat at the sudden plummet into the pit.
I land in a crouch and fall back, landing on my ass. I tilt my head back and watch the man place the grate back over the opening.
“Wait! Come back here!” I yell, trying and failing to get up. “Tell me at what cost!”
The man’s silhouette disappears as he abandons me.
I smack the ground in frustration. “Damn it, asshole! At what cost!”
The soft thuds of footsteps thump across the compacted dirt behind me. I was too busy yelling at the man who saved me to realize I’m not alone. Swiveling my torso, I prepare to once again fight, but a familiar woman stops in her tracks a few feet away, closing the small amount of space from her place in shadows against the dirt wall.
“Your warlock vowed to take down the Liohts if my brother helped you,” Tasha Tenebris says, dropping to her knees to get on my level. “It won’t do much for our life sentences, but at least we’ll get some of the justice we deserve.”
I open my mouth to respond, but a strange sensation crawls up my feet and spreads through the rest of me.
Tasha reaches out and grazes my hand. “You’re being summoned by the High Council.”
And I thought my night couldn’t get any worse.
“I expect you’ll ensure Ambrose keeps his word,” she adds with a hint of her lavender power sparking in her eyes. “Now don’t resist. If you do, it’ll only hurt.”
I disappear.
Chapter 24
The Litendrake Heir
“YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO bring me proof or Delphia Drakovich will return to where she belongs,” High Council Woman Laveau says, standing a foot in front of me. “Until then, you may wait with the princess.”
“My brother is already on his way.” Tiernan kneels beside me, releasing a growl under his breath. “And when he does, you will be held accountable for her condition.”
“We’ll see.” Clapping her hands, High Council Woman Laveau disappears, leaving the two of us alone.
Sliding his hands under me, Tiernan picks me up off the floor and cradles me in his arms. My head lolls, my mind reeling. Everything from tonight catches up to me, and I can’t stop the cry from escaping my mouth. Tears burn my vision. I sob, my whole body aching and hurting, my soul feeling as if the night cracked me open to never be healed again.
“Ambrose, hurry,” Tiernan says, carrying me across the room and to a small cot. “She needs Maddox.”
Light flashes in the small room, and the familiarity of Maddox’s growl fills me up with everything I need to open my eyes. I extend my arms out, silently begging for him to close the torturous space between us. Fire lights his eyes, his handsome features hard as he drinks in the sight of me, beat up and bleeding, on the verge of losing consciousness again. It’s only his presence that keeps me holding on.
“I need space,” Maddox says, his deep voice reverberating through my bones. “Return to your brother and ensure everything is in order. I will heal her and guarantee she is prepared if things don’t go as planned.”
Tiernan kisses the top of my head and slides me onto the cot. “Hold on, Nova. You’re getting out. Tonight.”
“We promise,” Ambrose says, taking Tiernan’s hand. The two of them disappear in another flash of light.
Maddox groans deep in his throat, examining my body without touching me. He doesn’t have to tell me to know how bad I look. I swear I can even feel pain in my hair follicles.
Reaching into a bag, Maddox pulls out a glass bottle with strange ruby liquid. It sparkles under the bright lights above, stealing my attention. Popping the cork off with his thumb, Maddox swirls the elixir a few times, mixing it enough to send the rancid smell into the air.
“I swear, cookie. If you give me a hard time and don’t do as I ask—”
“You’ll spank me?” My words come out as a heaving breath, and I wince, my body wanting to laugh at his glowering reaction but the pain stops me.
Sitting me up, Maddox positions me in his arms. He cradles me in the crook of his elbow to support my head and presses the bottle to my lips. My stomach clenches, and I nearly whack him, but he pins my arm to his hard abs and uses his free hand to plug my nose.
“Just chug it. The faster you drink it, the faster you’ll heal. Then I can have my way with you,” he murmurs, keeping his voice even. “I fucking missed you. If Rowan and Kash didn’t fight me and get me to think with my brain and not my beast, I’d have destroyed Max and everyone there.”
I quietly swallow the liquid, gulping the disgusting flavor as quickly as I can. I shake my head and shudder, trying to will the grossness away.
“Here, drink this next,” Maddox commands, offering me another bottle filled with black liquid this time.
I nearly gag at the thought, but he tips it and fills my mouth with a thick, sugary liquid that sends tingles blossoming over my skin. The pain fades with each passing second, and Maddox strokes his hand over my cheek, just staring at me without saying a word. Silence fills the air, and I shift in his arms, resting my head to his chest to listen to his heartbeat.
“Can I clean you up to make sure you’re healing okay?” Maddox asks after another couple minutes of comforting quiet. “It looks like you’ve had one helluva good time in the pits without me.”
I crack a smile and bob my head, teasing him. “Kash was listening all of those times you bragged about screwing me in the pits.”
“Mmmhmm,” he says, humming the words. “Sure, cookie. Kash refuses to accept that part of you loves it rough and wild. He is confident that you prefer making love.”
I narrow my eyes and purse my lips. “Maybe I do.”
“I’m fully ready to prove otherwise.” Kicking the bathroom door closed, he sets me on the small counter and turns on the shower. “I have to make sure you’re back to normal, and I can’t think of a better way.”
“You really go all out, Dr. Dreki,” I say, shifting on the sink. “But you should know. I still ache.”
Fire dances in his golden irises. “Where?”
Sliding off the counter, I swallow vanity over my filth and shrug out of the singed and torn jumpsuit. It drops to the floor with Maddox’s gaze, and I stand bare in front of him, showing the fact that I don’t wear any undergarments.
I draw my hands over my breasts. “I hurt here,” I say, sucking my bottom lip into my mouth.
His muscles ripple and flex. “Where else?”
Working my way down, I caress my fingers between my legs. “Here. I think only your kisses can help ease the ache inside me.”
Maddox rushes to me and crashes his lips to mine, lifting me off my feet. I scramble to tug his shirt over his head as he kicks out of his pants and carries me into the steaming shower. Hot water cascades over me, rinsing away the filth and dirt of the night while Maddox’s soft tongue pushes away the pain and turmoil I suffered at the hands of Magaelorum’s vilest criminals.
My back hits the cool tiled wall, and Maddox breaks from my mouth to kiss my neck. I rub my hands over his broad shoulders and savor the sensation of his mouth caressing over my skin, kissing away the remaining pain from my body.
His hard cock flexes at the apex of my thighs, his desire as prominent and desperate as mine. I can barely handle the anticipation of feeling him slide into me that I reach between us to align our bodies.
“I need you now,” I say, running my fingers into his long hair, grabbing it in my hands to pull his mouth back to mine. “Fuck me how you like. I just want to forget the world exists outside of us.”
With a moan, Maddox props me on the wall and thrusts into me hard and deep enough to feel his balls slap my ass. I gasp and cling onto him with my arms around his neck while stretching my legs open to brace myself in place and feel every thick inch he has to offer. The gesture frees his hands, and he digs his fingers into one of my hips while rubbing fast circles over my exposed clit.
Bursts of moans escape my mouth with each of his fast thrusts, and I lose myself to the pleasure he awakens inside me. Maddox knows exactly what I want and need from him and gives it to me with sexy passion that makes me crave more.
He licks my throat up to my jaw and finally meets my mouth. His cinnamon kiss curls my toes, and I cup his face, not allowing him to stop. Moaning, he hums at my desperation, gliding his tongue over mine managing to be sensual yet rough, bringing me to my peak. My muscles clench as I scream a moan, bliss rolling through me in wave after wave. My legs weaken and Maddox grabs onto my thighs, swinging his body hard and fast until he groans in satisfaction, holding me in place, his cock throbbing inside me as he cums.