by River Starr
Cheering erupted from the window where Zavian stood. Several sea fae were there, clapping each other on their shoulders as they watched us fight for our lives.
“Frost!” I cried as another arc of lightning danced across the room.
The water rose to my waist. If my magic were working properly, if it weren’t muted by the second rune on my neck, I’d be able to command the water to surge up in a mighty wave into that window box where Zavian and the other prison guards sat watching us die helplessly. Helplessly like those sea fae nobles Eos had killed. Armed with iron and pinned to a wall, I had no choice but to assume there hadn’t been much of a fight.
“Breathe without lungs,” Frost said as she dove into the water to escape a new stream of fire that had gotten too close to her and Dax.
Dax’s eyes widened in fear. Fire, like starvation, could easily kill a vampire. But in dodging the fire, Dax crashed into Titus, throwing him directly into a large shard of ice that cut straight through his shoulder at his collarbone.
Titus roared, reeling back his arm, and punching Dax so hard, he went flying directly into a wave of fire before immediately being dunked beneath the water, putting him out. When Dax surfaced again, I saw a burn mark framing his hard eyes where Titus had punched him. Titus’s scales now shone brighter, as if he’d somehow managed to break through the magic rune muting his power and summoned more magic.
My brow furrowed. How was that possible? Dragon shifters were known to be incredibly powerful, since their magic came from one of the most powerful beings to ever exist. But…
I dipped my fingers into the water around me and instantly felt the connection I’d been missing. No longer was I simply a being in water, but so too was I a being made of water. Part of it, and it part of me. My magic flowed the tiniest bit and pulled on the source of all life.
I flung it up and over my unit, freezing the water in a dome for cover. Well, cover from everything but the lightning. Doing this put us at greater risk of being struck, but at least we could think clearly for a few seconds.
“Breathe without lungs?” I prompted Frost as her wide eyes took in the sight of the dome.
“Growth without life,” she continued, still in awe. Then she smirked and touched the iced-over ceiling, making it thicker with her own magic. “Why’d they give us our magic back?”
“Probably to see what we’d do with it,” I answered.
“If we’d kill each other, maybe,” Dax said.
Titus growled at him. “Don’t give me ideas.”
“Hey,” Frost said as she clapped Titus on the back. “Then at least you’d be here for a murder you did commit.”
He seethed and charged toward her, stomping through the water. I pulled up and tightened ropes made from water to hold him in place. Titus set his fiery gaze on me, but I didn’t flinch.
“We have to work together,” I said. “Calm the fuck down.”
“The last bit is ‘Eat without a mouth.’” Frost’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “I don’t get it. This is the weirdest shit—”
“Fire,” Dax said. “The answer is fire.”
“What?” I asked as ice shards pinged against the dome above us.
“It breathes air without lungs,” Dax said quickly. “Grows from air without being alive.”
Frost scowled. “This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.”
“Agreed,” Titus said.
Dax swam down and out of the dome. When he was outside of it, he surfaced and shouted, “Fire! That’s the answer to the riddle. Now stop this!” A crack of lightning sounded outside the dome. Dax ducked back into the water and came up inside the dome once more. “Well, that didn’t work.”
In addition to being pale and branded by Titus’s fist, he was now as soaking wet as me. I ignored the way the water made his uniform cling to his muscular chest and abs. The water mixing with these tight-fitting uniforms left nothing to the imagination on anyone.
I bit my lip, thinking fast. The longer we took to solve this thing increased the odds that eventually one of those lightning arcs would strike the dome or water, and we’d all fry to death. At least it’d be a quick end to this nonsense.
Nonsense. The runes!
I tugged on Frost’s sleeve. “Write fire in runes on the wall.”
“What?”
I let go and gestured between us. “The runes were part of the riddle. For whatever reason, that’s how they want the answer. I’m sure of it. Now write it on the wall.”
“The lightning,” Dax warned as Titus continued to eye him ferociously.
Frost tilted her head at me, searching for something and apparently not finding it because she shook her head.
“Trust me,” I said to my fellow inmate who in no way had any reason to trust me at all.
Frost pressed her lips into a thin line, considering something. Then she nodded and swam beneath the edge of the dome and rose out of the water on the other side with so much grace, she might as well have been a sea fae. She pointed her hand toward one wall and wrote out the rune for fire with ice.
The second she finished, the elemental attacks ceased and water began rapidly draining from the room. I struggled to keep my footing with the rush of the quickly draining water and brought down the dome to melt and drain as well.
When the water was gone and silence took over, a slow clapping began from the window above us. It wasn’t Zavian, but another prison guard. He, too, was a sea fae, and had tanned skin and tattoos around his jovial eyes. Zavian stood next to him looking as unamused as we all felt.
“That was most entertaining!” the tattooed fae said as he clapped. “Feed the others to the Deep One.”
10
Nyx
We were made to watch the other unit be bound and collected. Only then were we walked out of the room. The magic-muting runes on our necks lit up, followed by the tracking rune, which gently led us to where were supposed to go. It was like a constant warm sun shining on my neck in shades of teal and cobalt blue.
It wasn’t enough to distract me from the reality of what had just occurred, or the pain splicing through my arm from the ice shard. “Reform” was a joke to the sea court. By forcing us into these trials, we weren’t proving our ability to be civil and functioning members of society again. No, instead they were designed to show us that if we acted out, if we didn’t actively participate in the sea court’s games, we’d die. And even if we did behave and follow along, we’d only be awaiting further twisted games in Alexandria.
As much as I hated this, I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t at least try, my sister would die. Then housing Eos inside my mind and body would literally be for nothing except the occasional rides she took us on.
One by one, the prison guards led us into the runic teleportation circle that would bring us back to the floor of the prison with the cell blocks. We’d only been here a few days, and already I was starting to get a real lay of the land.
The topmost level to the prison probably held the control areas since it was far from the cell blocks. Which also meant it was likely where the prison guards took residence. That was where the transport had docked as well, which meant any escape via transport would probably not work. Below that was where we’d teleported into to get our tracker and magic-muting runes. Then there were several layers, which in some order housed the cell blocks, mess hall and showers, as well as the rooms we’d just been in for our first trial.
This prison had been built to limit movement. Which was about the only reason we were able to move around unbound. I knew I couldn’t be the only one of our unit thinking about the chances of escaping. But I doubted, now that I knew the rough layout of the prison, that escape would even be possible.
“Step into the circle.” Zavian’s harsh tone made me jump. Of course he’d chosen to escort me, his mate and also apparently the biggest thorn in his side to ever exist.
I stepped into the circle and he joined me. His presence was all-encompassing. It was like I was light
ning and he a lightning rod, our magic bouncing between us with all the comfort of a rainstorm but the tension of a building hurricane. Because of the intertwining of our magic and my realization that he was my mate, I was now acutely aware of where his hands were, his mouth, his gaze.
Zavian’s fingers shed cold sea magic that called to mine. His very power beat in time with his heart, which was slowly changing speed to match my own. As he stepped behind me to join me in the teleportation circle, I could feel his warm breath once more on the back of my neck.
My toes curled and I inhaled his scent—saltwater, mint, and sun. I’d wondered what he smelled like and now I was sure I would never get enough of his scent. My heart pounded in my ears, blocking out most sound except where Zavian shifted behind me. Every movement, every squeak of his armor against his muscular form, seemed louder than normal.
Tell me you feel this too. I willed my thoughts toward him, knowing he wouldn’t hear them. All he had to do was reach out and touch me, just his fingertips, and I’d know for sure. I’d be satisfied. But Zavian wasn’t moving, or using the teleportation circles. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing regularly anymore.
My fingers twitched in front of me, longing to tangle in his white-blond hair as we stood there. He was frozen behind me, unmoving and unspeaking. My heart beat so heavily, I thought it might hop right out of my chest with anticipation.
“Are you seriously injured?” A harshness coated Zavian’s words.
His sudden question, spoken in his deep, honey-like voice, made me shudder. If I was hurt, his voice might have just soothed it over.
Zavian’s fingers closed around my arm then, just beneath the wound from the ice shard that’d sliced me open. I bit back a yelp and froze under his touch. His words had soothed my frayed nerves, but his touch hummed with magic that smoothed across my wounds like a healing balm. Warm energy coated the wound even as his grip tightened.
“Answer me now.”
“You’re not used to be told no, are you?”
What possessed me to ask such a thing? Still, a part of me so desperately wanted to know.
He roughly spun me around so our eyes met and our mouths were only inches apart. Holding his gaze was nearly impossible. It was as if the magic zipping between us built there in our eyes. My lips parted as I waited for him to say or do something. To break this moment of quiet save for my thundering heart. I wanted to kiss him. It would be so easy to do so. If I lifted on to my tiptoes, I’d close the distance between our lips. I wanted to taste the salt and sun and mint, not just smell it on him.
Without looking away or releasing his firm grip on me, he asked again, “Are you seriously injured?”
“No.” My breathy words were almost a whisper. I wasn’t injured, but I was seriously desperate to feel his body on mine, to crash my lips against his and kiss him until our breaths ran ragged.
Gods. I shouldn’t be thinking these things. I shouldn’t be considering making out with Zavian at all. Not only was he a prison guard here, Eos had broken his heart by killing his family. And still fate had decided he was my mate, and this dance between us quickened like two magnets spiraling close together.
Zavian roughly shifted my arm so he could get a better look at the injury. “Hmm,” he commented before letting go.
A small amount of his magic retreated when he no longer touched me. It felt like cold winter sweeping in over a recently put out campfire—chilly and hallow.
“Satisfied?” I asked. I always seemed to be asking Zavian this. Before when he’d forced me naked in front of him, and again now when it felt as though even with clothes on, I was laid bare for him. And yet he still somehow remained a mystery to me. I couldn’t read a single thought behind those cerulean and silver eyes.
His lips parted as though he were going to speak. For a moment that felt like an eternity, I waited for his answer. He inclined his head, closing the distance between our lips. I closed my eyes as my heart-rate soared, lifting my lips to meet his. It was happening. I could finally taste him, finally know him—my mate.
But his lips passed by my cheek and rested next to my ear. “Turn around. Do not say another word. You are nothing but a murderer.”
I opened my eyes as he pulled back and forced me to turn around. His grip held firm on my shoulders. Even after I faced away from him, he didn’t let go. His magic washed over my body like waves on a shore, calling to mine like a siren seeking a victim.
Like two mates searching for each other.
Finding each other.
I inhaled shakily and opened my mouth to speak, but he let go of my shoulders.
“I said don’t speak.” A hardness pressed against my side. One of those lightning stick tasers. “Understood?”
I sucked my tongue against my front teeth and nodded.
“Good.” Zavian then sheathed the lightning stick and stepped closer to me again as he activated the runic teleportation circle. As he pressed himself close against me, I felt a different sort of hardness against my backside. My cheeks flushed with warmth and my core clenched.
But before I could question it or what he was thinking, the runic teleportation circle whisked us away from this level and back to the cell blocks.
Zavian pulled me away from the circle immediately. “Let’s go.” He lifted a hand before him and clamped his fingers together in the air.
My tracking rune mark seared fresh pain and my knees buckled. “I’m coming, you asshole.” A flash of the wall fantasy, aided by what had just occurred, skipped through my mind. If only.
The thought took me by total surprise. My mouth fell open in shock at what my own mind was up to.
Zavian stayed behind me the entire march back to our cells. For the record, I didn’t so much mind having him behind me, even if it drove the fantasy-loving parts of my brain wild.
As we walked, shouting and loud slams split the air.
“Get off of me, you bastard!”
That was Dax. Another hard slam sounded a little too much like a head hitting cell bars for my tastes.
“What now?” Zavian asked as he pushed me aside and ran ahead. When his fingers touched my shoulder, it was like a lightning strike of connection and pleasure so bright, I nearly moaned, even as my other shoulder slammed into nearby cell bars.
“Come over here, little lady,” a slimy-looking swamp fae said from inside his cell.
“As if.” Frost kicked the cell bars and walked right up next to me, throwing an arm around my shoulder. “She’s mine, buddy.”
I pulled on her arm. “Titus and Dax are fighting.”
Frost’s guard ran on ahead to assist Zavian.
Frost rolled her head back onto her shoulders. “For the love of all the gods, why now?”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her down the corridor of cells. All the inmates—from witches to fae to vampires and more—were hooting and hollering, banging on their cell bars like a fight was a momentous occasion. Maybe it was. There was still so much about this place that I didn’t know.
We hurried down the corridor, finally coming within sight of our cell. Dax hit Titus in the face with a kick. In turn, Titus roared and his scales flashed with fire-hot magic before he tackled Dax to the floor of their cell. Red blood dripped along not only the hallway, but also their cell walls.
“Stop it, guys!” I shouted as the guards wrestled to pull them off of one another.
“We’re supposed to be a team,” Frost added.
We stood on the side of the action, not wanting to get into it. Besides, our uniforms were still soaking wet. The chill of the sea stone and the outside ocean was starting to set in. The sooner this fight was over, the sooner we could all dry off and—hopefully—get warm.
“Enough!” Zavian bellowed as he lifted his hands. Shimmering cerulean water appeared from each palm and his eyes lit up with magic. Zavian commanded the water to form ropes around both men’s arms and legs, and then finally, their torsos as they were pulled back. Titus was then roped to the b
unk in their cell, and Dax dragged across the corridor into mine and Frost’s.
Frost watched this happen. “Um, excuse me?”
“This is how you get fed to the Deep One and die. This is your only warning. The next stop for all of you is solitary confinement.”
Both guys had sustained numerous injuries in their fights, not to mention the burns and wounds sustained during our trial. “They need medical attention. We all do.”
Zavian snapped his fingers and a pair of guards each brought with them a small bag. He tossed one bag each to both Frost and me. “You,” he said, indicating Frost, “will spend the night with the dragon shifter. And you with the vampire. Inside each bag are medical supplies. Heal yourselves and your unit members. Remember: If one of you dies or acts out, you all do. This is your one and only chance. You’ve all already caused me enough trouble.”
Caused him trouble. Not the prison. Him.
My tracking rune began burning again, so I hurried into my cell and stood by Dax’s side. Frost entered the guys’ cell. Zavian and the other prison guards slid the doors shut and disappeared.
I looked down at Dax. Titus had cracked him over his forehead a few times, splitting his eyebrow and breaking his nose. Then there was the burned imprint of Titus’s knuckles on Dax’s cheek. Blood dripped from Dax’s nose, over his lips, and down his chin. His wet uniform clung to his body. That was when I noticed him clutching his middle.
I knelt down beside Dax. “Did he break anything?”
“My pride,” Dax muttered, his words filled with pain. He winced. “And my ribs.”
“Don’t vampires heal quickly, at least?” I couldn’t be sure, as a vampire was not a creature I ran into often.
Dax nodded, laughing like it was the stupidest thing I’d ever said in my life. “Yes, we do. You know that.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Everyone does, besides—” Dax tried to sit up but winced and gave up, instead sliding down the rest of the way from the bunk to the cool sea stone floor. “You know more than most.”