The prison loomed ahead in my mind long before it came into view. The same place I had broken Riley out of once before, believing with naïve certainty that we could build a life together. That we could escape to a place where the darkness of this new, cruel world couldn’t touch us. Where the General couldn’t find us.
Of course, the irony wasn’t lost on me as I drove straight back into the heart of it. Not to save him, this time, but to confront whatever entity still wore his face. All so I could get the information I needed that would aid me in getting back to that very same General. Although he wasn’t the same, was he…? No,now he was so much more.
But that didn’t mean that my love for Riley had simply vanished with a click of Atlas’s fingers. He was my best friend, and we had counted on each other for years. That type of loyalty didn’t just evaporate overnight. So yes, there was another reason I wanted to see him, because after what happened, I needed just the barest thread of hope that he was still in there. That he wasn’t beyond saving, like Aster would have me believe. That there was still a chance to bring him back and at least fight with everything in me to try.
Aster shifted beside me as if reading my thoughts, the leather creaking under his weight. He finally turned to look at me, there was something resigned in his expression, something like grief already taking root.
“If this goes wrong,” he said slowly, “Then you should know, Alex, that I won’t hesitate.”
I swallowed hard, the words settling like a stone in my chest, but I nodded anyway. Because, of course, I knew what he meant. What he was willing to do to keep me safe. That this was the cost of choosing this path, of refusing the safe passage that led away from Atlas and straight toward regret.
“It won’t,” I said firmly, though I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself. “And if it does, then we deal with it together,” I added, hoping that tick in his jawline didn’t mean what I thought it did. That he would do whatever was necessary, regardless of my emotional connection to Riley. It was like, all he could envision was what Riley had done to me down in that basement, and it now haunted him. Haunted him to the point that he no longer recognized Riley as the man I once knew, but as nothing more than a vessel for the enemy.
We reached the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, with its pale grey stone not exactly welcoming me, but reminding me of, yet again, how much things had changed since I had last been here. We parked closer to the female part of the prison and through my memories I saw Riley and me. We were hand in hand as we ran across the concrete trying to escape what we thought was the enemy. The relief and fear mixed into one had made for a heady cocktail.
“You sure about this? There is always time to back out,” Aster asked once I cut the engine, quick to give it one last shot to get me to change my mind. But I knew there was no backing out. I had come too far… we both had. Riley and I.
So, after shaking my head, I opened the door and glanced at the sand-colored mountains in the distance. A landscape that had been fortunate enough to come out of this unscathed and completely unaffected by the Rift. Just like so much of the US. So many states that would never know what it was like to be ravaged by the devastation of being touched by another world. At this point, I honestly caught myself envying those mountains. Their indifference to what was going on. It was ridiculous, being jealous of a rock, but it was hard not to be jealous of anything that hadn’t been affected.
For not the first time, I wondered what my life would have been like had that day never happened. Had I the chance atplaying the safe little life? Working as a veterinarian, perhaps sharing a home with friends or even a boyfriend. Would we have been planning for our future? For a house of our own? Marriage, kids, a white picket fence, the whole shebang and a rescued dog playing in the yard?
I didn’t know, but looking at those mountains made me ask myself questions that I had tried to bury deep in the past. I wondered why now, when I seemed to stand on the edge of another foolish decision that would no doubt come with a threat on my life. Perhaps it was because, for the first time, it made me face the truth.
That the safe and happy life I had designed for myself in the bitter thoughts of endless ‘what if’s’ no longer appealed. It no longer held the fantasy it once had. Now, as for helping a sexy King who ruled a hidden world take back his throne and save his people, as well as my own, from a darkness that ravaged both our lands… well, that didn’t sound boring at all.
I looked at Aster for reassurance, and he nodded. Here I was leading Aster to Riley, when not long ago it had been Aster who had ledmethrough this place to see Riley. Oh, how the tables had turned, and in truth, only part of me wished they would turn back. Because no matter how much I had fallen for Atlas, it didn’t take away the pain of what I was dealing with now. The weight of crushing guilt made every step just that much harder to take.
Walking through the metal door that led into the small courtyard, my stomach churned, but I held my head high, determined to get answers. I had faced and survived monsters before. Chimeras, Harpies, Gryphons, to name a few, all of which had been consumed by the darkness. I would like to have said that my latest situation was no different, but I knew that was a lie. The monsters never had Riley’s face. His voice. Those scars he had received in the process of saving my life.
Now, that same single-story building that Riley had already been held in once before was in front of me yet again. The one I had helped him escape from, the women’s block.
As if reading my mind, Aster asked, “You haven’t got any nasty tricks up your sleeve, have you? No injectable drugs?” There was humor in his voice, and I turned to him with a smile.
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” I stated.
“What can I say, you hurt my feelings,” he teased, and the second I felt some of the tension within me ease, I knew why he had brought it up. He knew what I needed without me having to say it.
“I hurt your ego, you mean,” I countered, before granting him a wink and making him roll his eyes as he pulled the keys from the hook on the wall.
“That reminds me, you will have to tell me, one day, what Atlas thought about you being bested by a girl less than half your size… and a human to boot.”
“Now you’re just getting cocky, little human.”
I took the keys from him and unlocked the door but paused before opening it.
“You never told me, how did you get him locked up anyway?”
“He was out for the count, thanks to Bronte’s lightning. So, we strapped him to a horse and brought him back here. The bastard started to wake up again halfway through the journey, so Bronte had to give him another little zap to keep him under. And there you were, sleeping through the whole thing.” He shook his head with a grin.
“Lazy little human.”
Again, I rolled my eyes. “We’re going to have to find you a new nickname to start calling me because little human is lame, no offence,” I teased, making his eyes crinkle at the sides as he smiled.
“But that is what you are…little,”he mocked, raising his hand a foot above me before lowering it down to the top of my head, which admittedly, only came midway to his wide chest.
“Yeah, yeah, we can’t all be muscle giants,” I grumbled, making him laugh. I then looked toward the door, thankful that our banter had eased the knot in my chest, if only for a moment.
“Is the cell strong enough to hold Riley?” I asked.
