When they left, Officer Barnes reappeared and smoothed out his black mustache with two fingers. He tossed my oversized backpack toward the bars. “I believe that’s yours. Don’t get your hopes up; I already searched it and removed the weapons. Good thing you packed a lot of panties. We ran out of toilet paper two years ago.”
I mashed my lips together as he shut the door, leaving me in the dark with only a sliver of light shining from the outside room.
I reached through the bars and searched my gear to see what he’d confiscated. My jacket and clothes were stuffed in a wrinkly wad, so I carefully folded each item as a means to pass the time. At least he hadn’t taken away my peanuts or toothbrush.
Once I’d put on my leather coat and fingerless gloves, I stood up and looked around. Officer Barnes had done his best to make this place so uncomfortable that a person would never commit a crime in his town again. No vents meant no heater. The cell didn’t have a bed, only a toilet and sink. Luckily both worked. I sat on top of my backpack and wondered if I could have done anything differently. I replayed the scene in my head, trying to spot mistakes. Carol and her boyfriend would have gotten away had I’d gone back to the RV or called Viktor. I’d thought her life was in danger, and my only goal was to kill the asshole who’d taken her.
After thirty minutes of sitting in near darkness, someone entered the building.
“Get inside!” Barnes growled.
Oh shit. That better not be Christian.
When the door opened, a cuffed man staggered in naked. He lifted his chin defiantly, and when he charged backward, Barnes threw his hands out and blasted him. The man crumpled to the floor, moaning like a wounded moose.
“I’m a Mage, dumbass. Don’t try that again.”
The prisoner passed out.
As Barnes grabbed his feet to drag him into a cell, the man’s head rolled to the side and I got a good look at his face and buzz cut.
Holy crap.That was one of General’s brothers.
I’d know their faces anywhere. General was the loan shark who had attacked my father and swindled me out of a million dollars. What the hell was his brother doing out here?
“Major, huh? Is that the only name you’re gonna give me?” Barnes locked chains in place and then slammed the door. “Major pain in the ass.”
I rushed to the bars and pressed my face between them. “What did he do?”
Barnes dusted off his uniform. “Shifted in the middle of the damn street. Good thing I carry a tranquilizer gun.” He gave me a cross look. “Two incidents in one day. That’s a record. They say trouble always comes in threes.” Then he pointed at me. “You better behave.”
As he locked up, my blood chilled. This wasn’t a coincidence. I thought General would back off after what we’d done to his family, but he must have had other ideas in mind.
I searched my bag for my phone, but it wasn’t there. Barnes or Viktor must have confiscated it.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I hissed. How was I going to warn Viktor that General was gunning for revenge?
Or maybe he just wanted me dead, and Major was here to take me out.
Uncertain, I sank back into the shadows and waited.
Chapter 16
“What time is it?” Gem asked.
She didn’t really want to know. It was the only way she could indirectly protest Cyrus blocking her gifts with the ankle cuff.
Cyrus continued playing a game of Go with one of his brothers at a short table in the corner across the room. He set a black stone on the board next to a white one before sitting back on a floor pillow. “Foolish girl. Do you think you can annoy me and I’ll remove the link? If a fly pesters me, I swat it. Do you want me to swat you?”
Gem remained in her wooden chair and pressed her lips tightly together.
What a barbarian.
She’d been eying the unlocked door for hours but didn’t dare walk out. Not if it meant Cyrus and his men putting Hunter on their hit list. How could she possibly protect him against these men when she couldn’t use her Mage gifts? She wasn’t even sure how many men there were in this outfit. Cyrus had made two calls. The first one, he spoke using a dialect similar to Moghol, which to her knowledge was now an extinct language. There were variations she couldn’t quite pick up on, and when he noticed her listening in, he finished the call in another room.
The man sitting across from Cyrus wasn’t the same one who had drowned her in the pool. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of seeing Arcadius again.
A large tapestry hung on the wall behind them. It was primarily beige with elaborate images of animals, plants, mountains, and Mongolians on horseback. Some were wielding swords. The room also had a wide Chinese tea table with flat cushions on every side. There were no artificial light or windows, only oil lanterns and candles to illuminate the wood floor and green walls.
