“Sounds educational.” She sat back, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
“Oh, it was,” he said, smiling brightly. “The humans can learn a thing or two from us.”
“So, what then? You’ve come up with a rousing penal form to present to the US Government.”
“Nah. I’ll tackle their world once I’ve secured rights for our kind.” His grin grew toothy. “As for the Warden, I just killed him and took his place.”
All of the color drained from Jaelle’s face and she dropped the empty mug in her hands. “You can take on a fully sentient form? Of a human?”
“For a short while.” His smile didn’t waver, bordering on creepy.
“But that’s impossible.”
Creed held up a single finger, waggling it slightly. “No, not impossible. But ridiculously painful. I, uh, I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Her mind rocked at the idea. Sure, she had contemplated it many times, and even attempted a few when she was younger. But taking on the form of another Shifter that wasn’t just a slight variation of herself had never worked. There were a thousand and one different variables to consider, and creating such a complex brain was an insurmountable task.
And yet she was sitting across from him in a prison he seemed to have overthrown with little trouble. “I don’t understand,” she said, voice low.
“Why did I see you burning prisoner corpses outside?”
“Patience! You’re trying to skip ahead in the narrative. All of it will make sense in time. I promise.”
“Fine. Continue. So, you took on his form.”
“I did! And I ran the prison like normal, except for one simple difference.”
She was quickly growing tired of all the drama he shoved into his story. It was clearer to her than ever that he thought of himself as the valiant hero of the tale and everybody else was some villain he had to rise up against.
“And what was that?”
“Well, every night I would meet with a different prisoner. You know, a little one-on-one to help rehabilitate them and turn their lives around.”
“Isn’t the whole point of the two Shifter prisons that the inhabitants are impossible to rehabilitate?”
“Well, yeah, but that didn’t matter. Point being, one by one I met with all the ringleaders and revealed my plan to them. It was a real to-do. I took my time, just like you would. I played people and used what they thought was in their best interest against them.”
“Why do you think that’s something I would do?”
He looked taken aback by her question. “Well, it’s what you do, isn’t it? Never fighting if you don’t have to, never spilling blood. Tricking people into taking care of you, using their resources. You know, Jaelle kind of stuff.”
“You make it sound like I’m some sort of master tactician.” She scoffed. “Is that what you really think of me?”
“Am I wrong?” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s how you survived, right? There are a lot of different ways to learn to fight, you just chose a different one than I did. Doesn’t mean it’s not equally impressive.”
Her mouth hung open slightly. The way Creed talked about her made her sound so impressive. If that was what he thought of her, then no wonder he wanted so desperately to have her on his side. But surely, nothing she had done deserved such reverence? She never thought she would say it, but perhaps she should view herself a bit more like Creed viewed her.
She shook her head at the thought and returned her attention to the Aberrant. “So, you made some sort of plan with all the lead prisoners and then what, start a riot?”
“No, nothing so overt. You see, there are several shift changes with the guards that work here, and that’s about the only disruption we can rely on. Thankfully, you need the best of the best to work in such a high security place, so the staff isn’t exactly robust. When the new shift is coming in to relieve the previous, the guards are more than happy to overlook a few things if it means they’ll get home faster.”
“Uh-huh.”
“All I had to do was wait until that first change rolled around, when people were going in and coming out, and then I simply used my master key and Warden’s code to unlock all the doors at once.” He slapped the table and laughed uproariously, like it was the most hilarious thing in the world. “You should have seen it!” He howled. “They were so shocked. We wiped them out in a matter of only a couple of hours and hardly lost anyone. I knew you would be coming eventually, so once things were settled I had them prepare for your arrival and here we are.”
“Why? What’s the point of all this? You know you’re not going to convert me.”
“Well, not quickly enough to be of use for my current plan, but that’s all right.” His manic laughter softened and he regarded her with a light smile. Or she thought it was a light smile. With her damaged vision, she was sure she was missing a whole lot of details from his expression. “I just need you out of the way for a bit so you don’t interfere. Then, once the current power structure has been torn down and our people are free, I will release you do to as you wish.”
He stood, leaning over the table and running a hand through her hair. She jolted back, eyes wide, and he seemed more disappointed than angry.
“I’m sorry for how I reacted last time, when we fought. I know I can let my temper carry me away. But please, know that I would never do anything to purposefully harm you.”
She made sure her tone was laced with venom as she answered, “You’re keeping me in a room so cold that I still can’t see. I’m not being catty when I say even looking at you hurts.”
“That doesn’t count. I said harm not hurt. We’re Aberrants. We get hurt all the time.”
This time his hands slid out, gently taking hers. She didn’t flinch away, not for lack of watching to, but because she was quickly getting the idea that she was going to need to be more tactful to survive being in his custody.
“What I’m talking about is genuine harm. I know I can’t force you to be interested in me, and I’m fine with that. I also know that a good chunk of my fascination with you is probably because you’re the only one of my kind I’ve ever met. So, rest assurde that, while you time here certainly isn’t going to be a resort getaway, it won’t be for long. And when you are released, there will be a whole new world waiting for you.”
“One that you rule?” she countered sharply.
But he just gave a noncommittal gesture. “Maybe. Haven’t much thought of what kind of government we would have in place. I guess I consider myself to be more of a libertarian. You know, against the tyranny we’re currently under.”
She knew she should hold her tongue, but Jaelle couldn’t help herself. “Yeah, but are you an actual libertarian who wants responsibility and self-sufficiency of the individual, or one of those assholes who says that they want freedom from tyranny so they can be tyrants in and of themselves?”
He stood again, taking his mug with him. “I guess we will have to see. Enjoy the warmth while you can. I’m sorry, my dear, but I’m going to have to put you back into your box.”
Her own temper flared at that. “Going to get one of your thugs to carry me or are you actually going to do something yourself?”
He paused, leaning so close to her that she could feel his breath, moist and warm against her ear. “Trust me, my pretty, pretty friend, you don’t want me to be the one to take you there.” His nose gently glided against her skin and her stomach lurched at the contact. “I like to think of myself as a nice guy, but I don’t know if I could resist.”
Then he left, leaving her in a blurry, wavering room with angry -no, infuriated- tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.
Sure, Creed said that he had no interest in harming her now, but it was quite apparent that he was both insane and a sadist. She would hate to think of what would happen if she stuck around long enough to see what happened when the olive branch he kept extending to her eventually snapped.
She needed to get out. She
just had to figure out how.
But she wondered what the hell Bradley and the others were going to do when she didn’t return. She hoped that they would put two and two together and figure out that something had gone wrong, then maybe call in the cavalry to sack the place. But as luck would have it, they would probably all feel the need to be heroes and try to free her themselves. She needed to get out of Creed’s custody before any of them were hurt. She would never forgive herself otherwise.
Looking down, she reached for a small piece of the mug that had broken off. Carefully, she slid it into her bra and waited for her escort to come in.
She clutched the blanket around herself as they walked back the way she came, and she was surprised when the strapping criminal let her keep it once she was inside her cold cell.
She couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was a look of pity that crossed the man’s face before he shut the door and left her in semi-darkness.
Chapter Eight: Unwilling Captive
Time was a runny sort of thing. Technically, it wasn’t real, it was just a term that people used to explain their perception of how things happened. It was an idea, a noun only through a technicality, and impossible to quantify.
Perhaps that is why every second seemed to slow and stretch as more and more time passed. Thankfully there was just enough light to tell as day drifted into night, so she was able to measure its march in the passing of days.
Days.
It had already been two and she still was no closer to escaping. She hadn’t been fed, or taken out of her room. The only water she got was when she scraped the light frost from the walls and her body seemed to be so affected by the cold that she hadn’t needed to relieve herself yet.
She seemed to have reached a sort of plateau where she was always in pain and discomfort, but it wasn’t getting worse. Jaelle felt her mind beginning to grow numb to it, except for one tiny detail.
Her vision.
Every time she woke up, she could see a little less. Blurry transitioned into a haze and a haze slowly became a near colorless soup. Every time she blinked, it felt like her eyelids were scraping over shards of glass, but that shock of pain was the only thing that wasn’t numbed by the cold, so she began to relish it.
Until after she woke up on what she counted as the third day and there was only darkness.
She blinked once, then blinked again, then a third time. The pain was still there, and it was absolutely excruciating, but the blur didn’t come back.
She sat there a moment, the reality of the moment sinking into her. She sat there for quite a while before finally a scream punched through her throat.
It was the first thing she had said since her meeting with Creed—if you could call it that—and her vocal cords went instantly raw. But instead of the sound petering out, something in her pushed the sound for an almost impossible amount of time. She didn’t breathe, she didn’t think, she just screamed.
Then the door slammed open. “What the hell is going on here?”
Finally, her voice slumped and she was left with only silent, choking sobs as her chest tightened painfully.
Footsteps came toward her and fingers wrapped around her chin. She flinched away, but the fingers found her again.
“Whoa, it’s okay there. Be still.” She was not comforted to hear it was Creed who was holding her face, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. “What’s going on?”
“My eyes,” she rasped, wincing as the words scraped through her throat. “I can’t see.”
“Have you tried opening them?”
She wasn’t aware that they had closed. Slowly, she raised her lids only to feel that icy scrape yet again. But still no vision.
“Oh…” Creed murmured before his hand left her face and he turned away. “Do we still have a medic here?”
“Yeah. We have her locked in the infirmary.”
“Good. You’re relieved of your duty for a bit.” Those hands returned, gripping her arm and pulling her forward. “Come on, Jaelle, time to visit the doctor.”
She tried to take a step, she really did, but her muscles refused to budge. Her leg locked in mid-step and she toppled over.
Creed caught her, his arms quickly wrapping under her knees and back then hoisting her up in a carry. “Whoa, there. Don’t worry, I got you.”
She let out a whimper, wanting to push herself away but not having the strength. So, she let him take her away, carrying her over the cell’s threshold like some kind of perverted twist on a blushing bride.
Despite her revulsion, the heat that licked over her was absolutely wonderful, although not nearly enough to make up for the pain that swept up after it. It seemed the more her body thawed, the more the agony that she had grown numb to started to reassert itself.
She didn’t know when she started moaning, but it was quiet at first, barely able to escape her frost-covered lips but slowly grew until it was a frantic, piercing scream that she couldn’t control.
“Whoa, whoa, there. It’s okay. We’re almost there. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine, I promise!” Words that might have been a touch of comfort if it wasn’t who they were coming from. Somehow it didn’t seem to click in his head that he was the one who had caused the hurt to happen. He was acting like he was some sort of grand hero sweeping in to save a damsel in distress.
She would have been furious if she had enough of a mind for it, but mostly there was just pain.
Finally, they burst through a pair of doors and she was set down on a bed.
“Medic!” he cried, sounding so much like a concerned lover that it made her sick. If she thought about it, he was probably getting off on this. It fit his narrative like a glove.
“Yes?” She heard a woman speak, one who sounded both tired and nervous. Jaelle couldn’t blame her in the slightest. “Oh! What’s this? What happened?”
“She can’t see.”
A small, gentle hand pressed against her shoulder. “Ma’am, my name is Natalie Abrams, I’m a doctor and I’m here to help you. I’m gonna take a look at your eyes so can you go ahead and open them for me?”
She wasn’t aware that she had closed them again. The complete lack of feeling was probably not a good thing. She tried to open them slowly, but they felt like they were weighing about a hundred pounds each. Once she finally managed to pry them apart, a pain so deep and burning rocked her being that she felt her stomach heave.
“On her side! Quick!”
They rolled her over before she could get sick on herself and the movement helped calm her middle. After a few seconds, they returned her to her back.
“All right. I can open them for you if that would be better. Do you think that would help?”
Jaelle hated being this weak. Not too long ago, it would have been a death sentence. But she supposed there wasn’t much she could do about it, so she just nodded as steadily as she could.
“I’ll be as gentle as I can, but this is probably going to hurt. So, I need you to take a deep breath, okay?”
One more nod and then she felt tiny, soft finger tips gently press both above and below her eye. “On the count of three, okay? One, two, three.”
Hurt wasn’t an appropriate word for what happened. It was as if someone had taken a pot of boiling water and poured it directly into her eye. She let out a piercing scream once more and the medic cursed viciously.
“What is it?” Creed asked. How dare he sound worried. He was the one who had caused this.
“You want to explain to me how a woman has frostbite in her eyes when we’re in the middle of a goddamned desert? I’m willing to bet in her fingers and hands too.”
Jaelle wished she could watch his face to see if an ounce of responsibility flitted across it. “She was being held in one of the pacification cells her,” he answered. “But a Shifter can’t get frostbite!”
“No, not normally. And what the hell is a pacification cell?”
“Cold,” Jaelle ground out, figuring that Creed was going to waste
more time with his act. “And wolfsbane.”
“Wolfsbane!” the doctor snapped. If Jaelle wasn’t drowning in utter agony, she would have been amused by the woman’s candor. “You left a Shifter exposed to extreme temperatures while suppressing their ability to actually be a Shifter?”
“They’re pacification chambers! They’re meant to hold prisoners. How was I supposed to know that they’re dangerous!”
“First of all, they’re meant to hold fully grown men with almost a hundred pounds on her. Secondly, I doubt they’re meant to hold people more than a few hours. How long was she in there?”
Creed said nothing. Jaelle wondered if he wanted to kill the doctor but was withholding himself for her sake. “T-three days,” she answered with a croak.
“T-three, three days!? Are you kidding me?” She let out a long string of curses again but it was suddenly cut off. Jaelle wondered what by until she heard Creed speaking less than a breath away from the doctor.
“Enough talking. Treat her.”
There was the sound of coughing and Jaelle put together that he had been choking the medic. That was less than awesome.
It was as if a switch had been turned on and suddenly the woman was all business. “All right, so I’m going to need to flush her system with an aggressive IV treatment to get that wolfsbane out and kickstart her body’s natural healing. We’ll need to give her some pain medication, as the thawing and healing process is incredibly painful. After that, we’ll see if we need to continue with some sort of hydrotherapy or debridement of any necrotic skin. I can give you a report hourly if you’d like.”
“No need.” Creed said. “I’m going to stay right here.”
Jaelle could hear the sputtering gasp from the woman. “A-are you sure? It will most likely take days.”
“That’s fine,” he said, his voice moving away from her. “I have no intention of leaving her side.”
The Aberrants Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 41