9
Jase
The day after Lord Willow the Jackass left me, Lurch came back to my cell. Not with food this time, though. This time, he had two guys with him that I’d never seen before. They carried in two pieces of metal, which they began riveting over the window, plunging me into darkness.
“That’s spelled iron, same as the bars,” Lurch told me, sounding gleeful. “So, if you had any thoughts of someone coming to help you with magic, you can forget it. Nothing’s getting past that, not even a whisper.”
Well, shit. That sounded like they’d discovered someone had been by to talk to me. I didn’t ask how they knew about it. I hadn’t solicited that guy’s help, and I was already in enough of a bother without getting drawn into any more drama than I already was.
The thing with the dark, though, was it made it that much chillier in the room, which in turn made it even danker. After Lurch and his buddies left me, extinguishing the light in the corridor along their way out, I was in complete darkness, alone, and getting more miserable every second. My stomach was also gnawing on my spine now and my throat felt dry and swollen. My nose had stopped running from being exposed to the damp and cold, but I suspected that was due to the fact that I was becoming severely dehydrated. I’d last had a drink that night at the club, nearly three full days ago, and those had been alcoholic.
My head was pounding, my ankle chafed, and my shoulders and back still ached. I could put up with the discomfort, but my body was going to shut down if I didn’t get some liquid in me. I knew this was their plan. Drive me to the brink, until I caved. It wasn’t going to happen. I hunkered down and closed my eyes. I would doze until I passed out if I had to. Time stretched on and on, my world becoming nothing but the sensation of cold, damp, and the other physical discomforts. I felt them as if disembodied. They were there, but I drifted as if not quite present to experience them.
A cold tidal wave broke over me, and I came to with a splutter, my traitorous face turning to the water and catching droplets on my lips and tongue, swallowing. Oh, fuck.
“Three days as promised. Not bad, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.” Lord Shithead the High Fae was back, and he’d tricked me again. I felt it as soon as I’d swallowed the first droplet, though I’d been too desperate to care. Until he opened his mouth and the full weight of what had just happened slammed into me. Or had it? No, surely, not. I didn’t feel any different. I would, wouldn’t I?
“You’ll feel the tug the next time you leave the realm,” he said.
Shit. I’d said all that aloud, hadn’t I?
“And that,” he replied, looking amused.
I wanted to punch that smirk right off his beautiful face. The pain in my skull went from a low, persistent throb that had been a steady seven or eight to the blinding whiteout of times a million. My back arched, my head thrown back as the sudden onslaught caught me off guard. Fuck me, what did that bit of water do to me.
“Oh, sorry if I forgot to mention it, but when you tied yourself to the Realm, it solidified my claim on you. You can’t even think about hurting me or being disloyal in any way without that happening. That’s the warning shot. It only gets worse from there if you continue on.”
I heard his words and they pissed me off even worse. A stabbing pain knifed through my chest as I imagined throttling him. Shit, I need to calm down. Think happy thoughts, dude, I told myself. I forced my self to imagine the pleased look on his face as I made the shot he initially hired me for. The pain dialed down. I panted, trying to keep that tenuous hold on my emotions.
“If you’re quite done, I’ll have them fetch you a proper meal. They were going to bring you one in a bit, anyway.” He sniffed. “I had a reward for you, but I’ll keep that for when you better deserve it.”
I wanted to refuse but there was no longer any point. I’d tasted fairy sustenance, no matter how microscopic it had been. I was stuck here, doomed to return to this crazy-ass place after only very short visits to Earth, and any other realm my new boss sent me on jobs to. Boss, hell. I saw the writing on the damned wall. He owned my ass, and given what he was capable of with all that magic he possessed, I was better off going along for the ride.
He was going to pay anyway. I’d just have to find out how long I could stay on Earth each time and get him to pay me in human money I could actually spend. I wasn’t about to abandon my kid sister, leave her to think her big brother no longer cared. She’d not only be hurt thinking that, but once the sharks hanging about the kiddie pageants realized she only had my dork assed stepfather and our living in the past mama looking out for her, she’d be chum.
Nope, not happening.
“Water,” I rasped. I didn’t want wine. I needed to be clear-headed while I talked to my new employer.
“Sure, sure,” he said, waving a hand. A glass of water appeared in his hand.” Not the tastiest, I’m sure. It’s collected from what was already here. It’s clean and drinkable, of course.”
It’d do. I reached a hand out for it, and he surprised me by moving to kneel next to me. He cupped my chin with one hand while he held the glass and tipped it for me to drink from with the other. “Slowly, now. You don’t want to make yourself sick.”
Damn it, I hated it when he was right.
