by River Starr
“Nothing,” I said to Frost as I lay back down. Eos?
“Finally, she gets it! Round of applause.” None sounded, obviously, but I felt the weight of her mock-giddiness in my mind. “I wasn’t sure this would work, to be honest with you.”
How are you even talking to me right now? We never have before. But while I have you, why’d you get us stuck here by killing those sea fae nobles?
A tsking sound filled my mind. “Not so fast, Nyx. You’re not ready for the truth. But you can thank the magic-dampening inside the prison for this conversation, I think. It’s loosened the walls separating us.”
I hated this. I hated that, thanks to the magic-muting rune on my neck, Eos could now talk to me when I was in that weird twilight state between consciousness and unconsciousness. And that Eos could steal my body, and now she’d hijacked my mind to talk to me when I least wanted to talk to anyone. That said, this exchange had given me enough information to know that Eos sounded around my age, female, and incredibly confident, given the situation in which we’d found ourselves.
“I’m not particularly fond of the situation, either.”
Good. Then leave.
“As if it were that simple.”
Why can’t it be?
“You need to focus, Nyx, on the fact that we’re locked inside a prison deep within the ocean.”
That you got us stuck in for life.
“I’m curious what that hot-as-hell guard meant by ‘reducing’ our sentence.”
Gods. Is that why I’m so attracted to him? Because you are? Wait. You can see my life as I live it?
“Sometimes. And absolutely not. I prefer my men… feistier, and with sharper teeth.”
A vampire fan. Fantastic. One that’s seen glimpses of my everyday life—apparently—while I was left in total darkness about her escapades inside my body.
“This predicament gives us a chance for power, Nyx,” Eos continued. “Think about it. Even if it means we’re imprisoned here for less time, we’ll be under less scrutiny by the guards because they’ll think we’re reformed.”
“No. Go away. That is a terrible plan.”
The bunk above me shook as Frost stirred. “Hmm? Nyx, are you talking to me or in your sleep, girlie?”
“Myself.” I slid from my bunk so that I could sit straight up, wide awake, and not move for the rest of the night. Eos’s voice didn’t return. Normally, Eos could only take over if I was unconscious or sleeping.
I would not be sleeping tonight. Already once today had Eos taken over when I’d hit my head on the transport. I wouldn’t let it happen again.
For one night, I wanted to just be me. Even if I spent it suffering in this prison for what she’d done.
8
Nyx
I didn’t sleep. I also didn’t stare into the cell across from ours because I was pretty sure that with a vampire’s vision, Dax would see me doing so. He wouldn’t be asleep, either. The last thing I needed was him misinterpreting a gaze or stare.
Instead, I faced the back wall of our cell, leaning on the side of my bunk for support, and pinching myself every time my eyes closed for longer than a few seconds. The cold sea stone floor wasn’t comfortable. At one point, I wrapped the thin blanket from the bunk around myself, but even that didn’t chase away the ocean’s chill at this depth. And although there were no windows, and therefore no sun, to denote the start of a new day, when the cell block lights turned on and flared across our room, I counted the day anyway.
Another day gone, one in which my sister had come closer to death. When I’d gotten intertwined with Eos, I’d thought I had been so close to a cure. Everything since in the past year had been one let down after another. And now, I might be locked in here for life unless being reformed and getting a reduced sentence meant what I hoped it did.
Somehow, I doubted it. Fae didn’t fear Atlantis for fun.
Frost yawned loudly and hopped down from her bunk, nearly landing on me. “Whoa, girlie. What are you doing down there?”
I sighed and pulled myself from the floor. “I must have fallen out of bed.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Damn good thing you don’t have the top bunk then, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I folded the blanket and returned it to the bunk before running my fingers through my long, black hair to straighten it some.
Frost studied me closely. “You didn’t sleep, did you?”
“I’m surprised you could with all the stories about this place.”
Frost laughed. “What? Like the Deep One and them feeding uncooperative inmates to it? I doubt the monster is real. Come on. If something like that really existed, why wouldn’t the sea fae kingdom use it to take over the rest of the courts and kingdoms?”
The answer seemed simple. “Because they’re afraid of it too.”
Over the next few minutes, Frost and I took turns using the open bathroom and splashing water on our faces, doing the best we could to clean up in lieu of real showers. It was awkward. Just all of it. Facing away from Frost while she used the toilet meant facing Dax and Titus’s cell where they were doing the same.
Eventually, a shrill alarm sounded and the iron cell doors slid open. We both glanced at the opening, across the way to Dax and Titus, then back to each other.
“That seems stupid,” Frost said after a few moments.
I nodded slowly. “Why let the inmates roam free?”
That was when of one the rune marks on my neck started searing into my skin with ice-cold fire. My legs buckled, but Frost caught me even as she hissed and clamped a hand to her own tracking rune. Across the way, Titus roared.
“You gotta move, then they’ll stop hurting,” a young, innocent voice said from the center of the hallway. I glanced up and took in the lithe male with red hair, greenish tinted fair skin, and bright verdant eyes. A summer fae, most likely. “It’s how they manage us without having to come into direct contact. It’s time for breakfast. Come on!” He then disappeared down the hall.
“What the…” I started to move. If following orders on where to go was true, I’d do anything to stop this burning. If not, I was sure the guards would end the burning by knocking me out. Either way, it was a win-win scenario.
Frost followed me out into the hallway and waved for Dax and Titus to follow. Dax squinted his eyes as he rubbed his rune mark too.
“I’m surprised to see a summer fae here, honestly,” Frost said. “I’ve heard summer’s prisons are even worse.”
“And the winter court’s aren’t?” I asked.
Frost clicked her tongue. “They are. But I was caught here. He must have been too.”
“He looked like a child.” I didn’t believe the sea fae would imprison a child, no matter the crime. But… they were also generally cold-hearted and not empathetic.
A flash of memory distracted me as we followed the rest of the inmates to the mess hall. Back in that noble’s house where Eos had killed them. Zavian had actually shed a tear. For his brothers. Maybe not all sea fae were cold-hearted.
Gods, no wonder Zavian hated me so much. Disgust sloshed through my gut. The worst part was, I’d spent that entire time in questioning after they’d found me pleading my innocence and trying to explain who Eos was and what she had done. The sea fae had chosen to believe none of it.
Zavian knew I’d claimed innocence and had refused to believe me. And now he’d lord over me forever as a guard in Atlantis.
Frost turned around and studied me again. “Are you going to be all right here? It’s like you’ve never been in prison before.”
“And you have?” I searched ahead of us, ignoring Frost. If Zavian was nearby, I wanted to prepare myself, and my mind, to deal with his presence.
“Once or twice,” Frost said. “Espionage is a dangerous business to be in, even if you’re good at it. Seriously, you’d do well to look less terrified and doe-eyed before someone takes advantage of it.”
At that, I blinked and swallowed hard. “Right. You’re right.�
�
She cracked an amused smile. “You’re a weird one.”
I shook my head. “You have no idea.”
The Atlantis Institute for Dangerous Criminals was not as lavishly run as the name would imply. This was why many simply referred to it as Atlantis or Atlantis Prison. The spartan cells were only the beginning of an even more spartan mess hall filled with stone tables and stone chairs affixed to the ground. Probably so they couldn’t be used as weapons.
Guards served food at the end farthest from the door using a window system that allowed for minimal contact with inmates. A few other prison guards dotted the walls, but otherwise, the area was free rein.
Something about that freedom felt oppressive and worrisome.
I followed Frost to the breakfast line. It wasn’t until the scent of eggs and toast filled my nostrils that my stomach growled loudly, and I realized exactly how hungry I was. The last time I remembered eating something was… the pasta and meatballs I’d been cooking when Dimitri had showed up with the phoenix shifter lead. I’d left that same night, and a few hours later had found myself waking up in the aftermath of Eos’s actions.
It’d been at least two days. The sea fae hadn’t fed me at all, only gave me water so I wouldn’t die.
As I passed through the line, my hunger outweighed my disappointment that the “eggs” served were little more than a yellow-colored soup. Not to mention the toast had been burnt.
Behind me, Dax growled. “You think this is going to keep me alive long enough to serve my sentence?”
I turned back in time to watch him toss the egg slop and burnt toast back at the guard behind the window.
“Just keep it.” Dax scowled and stalked toward an empty table.
I leaned in toward Frost. “Is he going to be okay?”
She shrugged and picked up her tray of less-than-stellar breakfast. “Hell if I know. There aren’t too many vampires in the winter court.”
I grabbed my tray as well. The mess hall was already filled with dozens of inmates who all, as expected, seemed to have their own groups they preferred to be with. A group of fae had one corner, evident by their vibrant-colored eyes and general grace when moving. Thanks to the magic-muting rune tattoo, their fae charms weren’t in effect. Only inside Atlantis, it seemed, did the courts not squabble amongst themselves. Winter, summer, autumn… all the different groups sat together.
Next to them were humans of all sizes. Bulky, hairy brutes of men sitting beside lithe, graceful females, and every combination in between. Humans wouldn’t typically be imprisoned here, so they must have been shifters of some sort or another. Werewolves, werebears, birds of prey.
Oh. I noticed a few people with scales. Dragon shifters, too.
I glanced quickly at Titus, but he either didn’t care or didn’t notice them as he sat at the opposite end of the table Dax had chosen.
Frost cleared her throat and nodded her head toward Dax’s table. I followed Frost, letting her take the lead, and tried not to let my eyes wander too much. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen my fair share of fights, it was just they typically happened inside mansions belonging to the rich, who’d never expect a thief to get through their defenses. Besides, it might be to my benefit to let Eos’s reputation speak for me and only show what I could do if needed.
I guessed on this one aspect of lockup, I could thank Eos for doing the work.
“You know, we don’t have to stick together,” Dax said slowly as he picked apart a napkin.
Frost sat next to him and elbowed his side with a smile. “Admit it, you’re happy we’re with you.”
I smirked and attempted to eat the egg-mush. It was… edible. Marginally. “Are you doing okay?”
Dax chuckled darkly. “I should ask you the same thing. You were up all last night. Can’t sleep, love?”
Titus raised an eyebrow as he ate his toast in one go.
My skin crawled. “Always an issue for me.”
“I can understand. If you ever need company, I’m always around for a chat.”
“Lovely.” I tried the toast next and, although burnt, at least it went down without me wanting to gag. Beggars can’t be choosers.
A loud bang sounded on the door behind us. I jumped nearly out of the chair and spun to find Zavian standing in the doorway with one of those electrical sticks in his hand.
I swallowed hard as Zavian’s magic washed over me. When our magic intertwined, I shuddered and gripped on to the edge of the stone table to keep from swaying. Warm chills spiraled up my spine. I wanted to cross the room to him and be as close to him as possible. It was as if we were two magnets being pulled closer and closer together without saying a single word.
Snap out of it, Nyx.
“Mealtime is over in five minutes,” Zavian bellowed across the room.
My fingers tightened around the edge of the table as I remembered how his breath had felt on the back of my neck. How his fingers had brushed so gently against my skin, only to drive pain into me with these rune tattoos. I licked my lips. I wondered if his skin tasted like the saltwater surrounding the prison.
Frost snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Atlantis to Nyx, are you okay?”
I blinked. “Yeah, I’m fine.” But as I turned from Zavian to finish my breakfast, I caught sight of a shadow behind him in the hallway. It loomed taller than him, though not as wide. I blinked again, sure I must have been seeing something. The shadow remained, tendrils crawling out of the main mass and slithering silently over Zavian’s shoulder.
“Huh…?” As soon as I went to speak, the tendrils snapped back over Zavian’s shoulder and disappeared. My mouth hung open. “What the hell was that?”
“What was what?” Frost asked.
I pointed toward the guard. “Over his shoulder—”
“Nyx, stop.” Frost swatted my hand out of the air as Zavian’s eyes narrowed in on me. “Not only are you calling attention to yourself, you’re also going to get zeroed in on by that guard who clearly has a thing for you, and not in a good way.”
Zavian scowled as if to emphasize Frost’s point.
Titus shoved his tray to the center of the table. “Do the two of you ever shut up?”
Frost was right, though. Because now Zavian stared me down with his rage-filled, beautiful cerulean eyes framed by white-blond hair pulled back into a braid. He really was a striking man. A handsome mate.
Did he feel it too? He must. There was no way only I felt the magnetic pull between us. Only fated mates could feel something this strong.
“Nyx,” Frost hissed as she pulled on my arm once more.
I shook my head and turned completely around. “I literally can’t not look at him.”
Dax rolled his eyes. His hands trembled on the table in front of him. As soon as he caught me looking, he moved them beneath the table.
Titus groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No one said you had to sit with us,” Dax snapped. “Your kind have their own table over there.”
“So do yours,” Titus shot back.
Dax’s mouth formed a thin line, but he swallowed any further retort. Something told me them sharing the same cell would not end well for one or either of them.
“Guys, seriously,” Frost said.
I kept my head down. Getting involved in this shit would not help me at all to get my sentence reduced. Whatever that meant. I also couldn’t help but notice Dax’s mood souring.
What was his damn deal?
A tinge of knowing tickled my mind. As if I was already aware of the answer.
Quiet descended on the table as an overwhelming presence loomed behind me. I refused to turn around.
“Can we help you?” I dared to ask. I understood why Zavian hated me. I’d hate me too. But what he didn’t know—or rather, didn’t accept—was that I was innocent.
Frost lifted an eyebrow at my question and slipped the last piece of her toast into her mouth as though it were popcorn and this were a show.
/> Zavian crossed his arms, making his shoulder muscles bulge. “When breakfast is over, you four will come with me. We have much to discuss and your first test to attend to.” As he finished speaking, another shrill alarm sounded in the prison. “Now.” He gestured for us to stand.
No one at our table stood, even as the rest of the mess hall emptied out. As the standoff continued, the two rune tattoos on both sides of my neck began to burn like hot fire searing right into the core of my being. My mind twisted around this pain, fighting against being immobilized by it.
I glanced up at the prison guard and opened my mouth to speak, but the absolute fury in his bright blue eyes sewed my mouth shut.
“You can stay here all day,” Zavian said, “and deal with the pain and torment from defying my orders. Or you disgusting criminals can come with me and attempt to prove you are redeemable in some way. For your own sakes. Because if you’re not and you continue proving to be pains in our asses, I will not hesitate to feed you to the Deep One myself.” His gaze hardened on me. “Especially you.”
Frost made a show of scooting back her stone bench, letting the scraping sound echo in the now mostly empty room. “Fine, fine. Chill out. We’re all stuck down here together, aren’t we? Bet you didn’t want this post.”
Frost followed the other inmates to the door. Titus rose, seething, and did the same. Dax, however, stayed at the table. Standing, he kept watch over the encounter between Zavian and me, his eyes darting back and forth.
“In fact,” Zavian said as he let his arms fall to his sides only to ball his fists tightly. “I asked for this post for the purposes of watching this one rot in hell for life.” His fiery stare seemed to burn every inch of me alive, melting me down to nothing more than skin and bones.
“Right, well,” I said as I walked past the guard to join Frost. “Better not waste your precious time then. Maybe I can hurry up the end of both our sentences.” I gave him a wink as I passed.
He scowled. “Go! Now. We have much to cover today.”