by Katie May
Finally, Bronson releases me with a decidedly pained whimper. He reminds me of a man whose puppy was just kicked. Wanting to comfort him—but not knowing how—I lean into his embrace and place my hands on both his cheeks. Memorizing his features through touch alone, I pull his lips up into a forced smile with the pads of my thumbs.
“Don’t be so grumpy,” I huff. He snorts, muttering something incoherent, before wrapping me in his arms one last time. “Good grief. I’m going to visit my cat, not a funeral.”
“Not a cat,” the wolf snarks.
Kai waits until Bronson releases me before interlocking our fingers and pulling me through the wide doors.
“Ten minutes or I’m coming in,” Bronson snaps just as the door swings shut on silent hinges. I immediately slide into Kai’s mind to get a visual of Rion. Mr. Scruffles. I haven’t seen him since that first time in the bathroom, what feels like months ago.
Instead, I find Kai’s gaze intently on me.
I could be mistaken, but it almost seems intentional. Kai is the only one who knows what, exactly, my power can do. Is there a reason why he isn’t looking at Mr. Scruffles? I feel the beginnings of irritation grip me with cold fingers.
“Buttercup!” an enigmatic voice squeaks from in front of me. I immediately turn a blind gaze in his general direction, but Kai remains focused on me. It’s unnerving—his attention—to say the least.
“Rion?” I ask tentatively, trailing a step closer. Kai immediately tightens his hold on my hand, keeping me in place.
“Rion.” The man snorts dismissively. “Only my mother, family, friends, and strangers call me that. Please, refer to me as Mr. Scruffles.”
“Shifter scum...” I hear Kai mumble beneath his breath.
“That’s Mr. Shifter Scum to you,” Rion retorts.
Tears burn my eyes as I consider the man, the stranger, in front of me. What’s his story? How did he end up here? Why did he save me? Questions begin to build, but I don’t know how to put a voice to them.
I settle on the easiest one. “What have you been doing the last few days?”
“Oh, you know,” he begins flippantly. “Just hanging out with my new buddies. Real sweethearts, those men.”
I nod silently, suddenly unsure of what to say or what to ask. Thousands of questions clamor for attention, and I can’t seem to settle on just one.
“Is it true that you’re part of a...rival gang?” I timidly venture. To be honest, I could care less about his affiliations inside the prison. I don’t know enough about the social structure to care. All I know for certain is that I’m friends with Kai, Bronson, Damien, and Abel, and Mr. Scruffles saved my life. Oh, and Cain’s a butt.
Rion sighs heavily, the forlorn noise causing acid to churn in my stomach like an active volcano. “It’s true we don’t get along. Usually. But we never had a common goal until now. They pissed on me first, Buttercup, and I just lifted my leg to pee back. Wait. Don’t quote me on that. Actually, please do. Maybe I can become Instagram famous.”
Okay, first: what does he mean by that?
And second: what’s Instagram?
Shaking the cobwebs out of my head, I ask, “What do you mean they pissed on you first?”
“We really should get going,” Kai urges, placing his hand on the small of my back. His attentive, unwavering gaze causes heat to bloom across my body and ignite in my chest.
“I want to hear,” I protest, stepping away from him.
“It’s a long and complicated story, Buttercup,” Rion states sadly. “But needless to say, there’s bad blood between us that can’t be solved overnight. They’ve hurt people I cared about, and I’ve hurt people they cared about. But I can promise you: you’re the person I’ll never hurt. Unless you ask for it...in bed. You’re not into that kinky shit, right? I mean, we can probably get handcuffs pretty easily, but nipple clamps are a whole different—”
“We’re leaving,” Kai interrupts, ushering me toward the door. Rion’s manic laughter continues to follow our retreat.
“And let me make one thing clear!” the cat shifter calls just as we reach the door. “I know nothing about Raphael Turner’s death. And when I find the person who framed my Buttercup...” His voice lowers to a seductive purr, his cat personified. “I’ll make them wish they had never been born.”
Chapter 25
Cain
I don’t know what it is about this female that has captured the attention of all of my brothers. They’re positively enthralled by her, those dumb shits, even my asinine brother.
Sure, she’s beautiful, but I’ve seen my fair share of beautiful women.
And she has a smile that can lighten up any day...
And she has this cute dimple on her cheek...
And she has this addictive little giggle...
And she seems to actually care...
Fuck me. No, fuck her.
Scowling, I cross my arms over my chest and watch her from a distance. She’s sitting in the cafeteria beside Tessa, her fellow female inmate. The other girl is showing Nina a few dresses that no longer fit her.
“This will look great with your skin tone,” Tessa says, holding up a little red number. I’m pretty sure Bronson and Kai will blow a nut if she ever wore that. For one, it’s entirely too revealing with a dipping neckline and slit up the side. For two, I’m pretty sure some random fuckboy originally bought it for Tessa. The last thing the shifters want is another guy buying clothes for their girl, even if it is indirectly.
I’ll admit, spiders crawl up my spine at the prospect.
Nina touches the skirt, hands trailing reverently across the silk. A beatific smile erupts on her stupidly pretty face.
I don’t trust Nina. Not completely.
No, I don’t believe she has malevolent intentions. The girl captures flies and sets them free. It’s almost sickening how sweet she is. Vomit-inducing.
What I don’t trust is her apparent “blindness.” I’m not a complete asshole. I know she is, technically, blind, but I also know she can see things an average person cannot. I don’t know exactly what that entails, but I do know it’s not something she’s sharing with the class. Why is she keeping it a secret?
When Tessa whispers something that makes Nina laugh, my chest tightens almost painfully. It shouldn’t bother me as much as it does. It really, really fucking shouldn’t.
I become aware of the female stepping up behind me only a second later. My body freezes as if it has been encased in ice.
“I haven’t seen you and the others around,” Haley purrs in what she probably thinks is a seductive voice. Haley was one of the girls the inner circle used to share, many months ago. I haven’t ever touched the wench, but I know the others had.
“Jealousy isn’t attractive on you,” I say breezily.
“What is so special about her?” Haley continues, ignoring the warning in my tone. “Does she have a magical cunt or something?”
She reaches out and places her fingers on my bicep. It’s an innocent touch, chaste in comparison to what it could be, but it seems to slam into me with the force of a wrecking ball. My vision begins to blur as fire erupts on my palms. Haley gasps, backing away, but I’m too far lost in my own mind to notice.
“Get up.” A kick to the ribs accompanies the order. Abel is already up, knees pulled up to his chest and eyes staring despondently ahead.
“Both of us?” he whispers, and my heart breaks at the pensive expression on his face. The broken spirit. He had once been joyful and lively, but that has long since been sucked out. He’s nothing but a carcass of what he once was.
“Just the sex demon,” Boris sneers. The collar around my throat gives a threatening tingle, warning me of what is to come if I refuse. Abel’s eyes flash to mine, full of fear and pain and loathing. I can’t tell if the loathing is directed at himself, me, or the monster who claimed us.
I’m led down the hall to a chorus of hoots and hollers. It’s as undignified as anything can be. The fishnets I’m
wearing leave very little to the imagination, and my chest is bare.
I know Boris—the sick fuck—has a second female club a few towns over. Exotique or something stupid like that. This one is exclusively for males.
Boris pushes me inside one of the plush red rooms that have starred in more than one of my nightmares. It’s like Valentine’s Day exploded in this room. Heart-shaped bed, velvet red carpeting, and red painted walls. It’s so disgustingly cliché that in any other circumstance, it’d be almost comical.
Lionel Green sits on the bed, already naked. His hairy chest, hardened nipples, and half-erect cock are on display for all to see.
Boris gives my back a shove, and I stumble forward, vomit churning in my stomach. To Lionel, Boris says, “One hour.”
The door closes with a deafening click.
“Get on all fours on the bed for me,” Lionel purrs, cupping my cock. “Be a good doggy.”
I’m shaking, shivering, but I know refusal will hurt not only me, but my brother.
I need to protect him.
I need to.
“Cain, look at me. Look. At. Me.” Gentle hands rest on both of my cheeks, holding my head steady.
I’m trembling as if I’d just been electrocuted numerous times in a row. Lead the size of a watermelon takes residence in my stomach, mingling with the ball of nerves already present.
“I can’t,” I sob. Weak. So weak. Pathetic. “I can’t.”
“You can,” she whispers. “Just follow my voice. Come back to me.”
God, I want to. I want to so fucking bad. She calls to me, her song melodic, and I want nothing more than to answer.
She takes deep, exaggerated breaths, and I work to match my breathing with hers. In and out. In and out. In and out.
I focus on her hands on my face, the only real thing in this world, and her sweet breath fanning across my lips. Slowly, the panic begins to recede like water being tossed into a strainer. I’m left with nothing but sharp, jagged pieces of glass.
That’s all I am. Broken glass.
When I finally have myself under control enough to speak, I open my eyes.
Nina stands directly in front of me, a vision of ethereal beauty. Her black hair cascades around her delicate, heart-shaped face. And her eyes...
Her fucking eyes...
Those glassy orbs peer up at me, seeing me with a clarity that no one else has ever had.
One flick of my eyes in both directions shows the cafeteria to be empty. I don’t know how she was able to manage it, but somehow, she had cleared everyone out. Thank fuck. I don’t know if I would’ve survived if everyone had bared witness to my meltdown.
Seeing that I’m okay, Nina slowly begins to extract her hands from my face, but I capture them before they can leave. Leaning into her palm, I press a kiss against first one wrist and then another. My heart flutters like the damn wings of a bird.
At that moment, I’m entirely under her spell.
Everything around us freezes. All that exists is her. She’s all I see, all I smell, all I hear.
Like a puppet on strings, I lean toward her, my lips hovering over hers. How will she taste? Will she moan my name?
“Cain!” I squeeze my eyelids shut, suddenly hating my brother’s piss poor timing. “Cain!” Abel runs toward us, and Nina immediately steps back, cheeks flaming. My brother grips me in a bone-crushing hug. “Shit, man. I heard the rumors that you completely demoned-out. What happened?”
I hug my brother back just as tightly, remaining silent. The memories are too raw, too brutal, pulling back my skin and revealing the blood and guts underneath.
“Thank you,” Abel whispers hoarsely, but he isn’t talking to me. He’s staring at the slowly retreating girl over my shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of my brother.”
I reluctantly step out of my twin’s embrace to face her fully. For the first time in my life, there isn’t a gaping chasm where my heart once was. That’s not to say that I’m completely or even marginally healed—far from it—but it doesn’t hurt as badly. It’s a survivable pain, a pain that reminds me that I can emerge victorious.
“Thank you,” I choke out, hoping she can hear the sincerity in my words.
She smiles softly.
And I think...
I think that’s the moment I fall for her.
Chapter 26
Nina
It’s two days after Cain’s breakdown when Tessa arrives at my cell. Well, not my cell. Not technically. It’s Kai’s, but he has given me free rein to do whatever I want in it. Already, the stark gray walls have a splatter of coloring from the paint I found inside Abel’s drawer. Kai has also taken it upon himself to get me more clothes. Bras, dresses, skirts, and beautiful blouses are neatly folded in the dressers alongside his own clothes. A jewelry stand sits regally on the wooden surface, though why I would need jewelry in prison remains a mystery.
“Knock! Knock!” Tessa’s chipper voice immediately brings a smile to my face.
“It’s open.”
I quickly slide into her head to see that she isn’t alone. Two unfamiliar females stand beside her, one holding a small bag and the other a silver dress. Maybe not completely unfamiliar. I’m pretty sure I have seen them both before, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out where.
“Are you alone?” I ask Tessa, despite already knowing the answer.
“No. No. Some of my girls are with me. Nina, this is Haley and Rebecca. Rebecca and Haley, this is Nina,” Tessa introduces, and I notice Haley’s lips thin into a solemn line. Rebecca, on the other hand, smiles cheerfully. She’s an older, robust woman with brown hair, teal eyes, and a larger than normal body. Still, her smile is contagious, and her eyes glimmer with an inner mirth.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, and let me just say...you’re even more gorgeous in person,” Rebecca praises. Fire enters my cheeks, and I duck my head.
“Thanks.”
“Bronson sent us to get you ready for tonight,” Tessa proclaims, turning her head to stare at the hulking shadow wolf. He’s asleep in the cell opposite mine, chest rumbling with his snores. He looks tranquil, almost peaceful, with his thick lashes resting delicately against his strong cheekbones. His blond hair is tousled, and he’s wearing only a thin white shirt that leaves very little to the imagination. At first, I had been in the cell with him as he told me stories about his mother and siblings. He told me how he used to be a “little shit” and steal his sisters’ diaries. As revenge, they stole his clothes after a shift, and he had been forced to walk the six-mile trek back to his house naked. In the middle of his story, his eyelids drooped and his breathing became even. Pressing a chaste kiss to his forehead, I pulled the blanket up to his shoulders and tiptoed into the cell opposite.
Kai has a collection of Braille books from the prison librarian. I’m not an expert at reading them yet, but I’m proficient. Kai had started teaching me back in the Compound, before he had left me.
Setting down the book I’m currently reading—a riveting tale about a female vampire and her harem of lovers—I turn in the direction of the females.
Tessa saunters ahead first, immediately capturing me in a tight embrace. I tense instinctively before willing my body to relax and returning her hug.
“What’s going on tonight?” I query, tilting my head to the side.
Haley drops the dress onto Kai’s bed, and Rebecca moves to stand in front of me.
“Why, you have a date!” Tessa squeals, and when I throw her a warning look, she works to lower her volume. “Bronson asked us to come by and help get you ready.”
“A date?” I parrot dumbly. I’ve never been on one before. Heck, I haven’t even been asked to go on one, least of all by Bronson.
“We’re here to make you look beautiful,” Tessa continues.
“We’re not doing it out of the goodness of our hearts,” Haley snaps, flashing a bit of fang. “The guys are offering us...other things. Well, we’re offering them it, though it’s not a difficult feat
.” She smooths a hand down her platinum blond locks before daintily sitting on the edge of Kai’s bed. Her hand hovers above his pillow, and I have the irresistible urge to snap at her. To remove her scent from his belongings.
But the last thing I need is for these females to know the truth about my abilities.
Taking a deep breath, I focus on Tessa and Rebecca, ignoring Haley and her blatant lies completely. I know what she’s trying to imply, but I also know the guys. They wouldn’t touch her.
“Ignore her. She’s just a jealous bitch,” Tessa says with a wave of her hand.
“That’s not what Damien said last night,” Haley counters with a smug smirk.
I know her words are only that—words—but it feels as if I’ve been punched in the gut. I allow anger, rage, and hurt to seep into my bone marrow.
No. No. No. She’s lying.
But the most important question: why do I care so much?
“Do you want to get killed, Haley?” Rebecca chides, unzipping the small bag and holding up a battered black pencil. It’s unnaturally thick, the size of her thumb, and when she takes off the lid, I see a brilliant red color. “Let me put the lipstick on first, yeah?”
“No, the dress and hair first,” Tessa protests. “Makeup after.”
Haley grumbles and moves to stand behind me, her hands expertly pulling and twisting my hair.
“You don’t have to do this...if...if you’re not comfortable,” I stutter out, placing a hand on her wrist to still her. Through Tessa’s eyes, I watch Haley’s face slacken with shock but she quickly schools her expression. With an impassive shrug, she resumes forking her fingers through my hair. “They’re not paying me just to sit around,” she huffs, and though she can’t see it, I offer her a tentative, wobbly smile. Her hands pause once again. “And they’re paying me in cash, by the way,” she finishes at last, and my heart swells in my chest, almost to the point of bursting.