At least, last time, I wasn’t alone in here.
I wasted at least an hour when they first tossed me in, feeling my way around for weaknesses, cracks in the tiling. Like I might be able to dig my way out with my bare fingers.
No such luck.
If Rook couldn’t find a way out when he was trapped in one of these cells for who knows how long, there’s no chance I’ll be able to.
There’s not even an air vent. No loose ceiling tiles either. The place is solid.
Which means the only way out is through the door.
If I look up, the fluorescent lights make my eyes sting and the walls close in on me. So I count the floor tiles. I work my way through my magic, cataloging what I can and can’t use. Seems like telepathy is out, so is coercion or I could have persuaded theguards to let me go free, or for them to go jump out a window or something.
Too bad.
I’ve tried talking to the guys to tell them exactly where I am, but it was like trying to communicate with a bunch of brick walls. The only person I got through to was Dante, and that was for the briefest of moments before they locked me up.
After I’ve finish counting, I close my eyes and focus on how I got here. So long as I don’t think too hard about wherehereis, I’m okay.
I wonder how long the judiciary has been in the vamps’ pockets. And how long the vamps and Archarcans have been working together. That has to be what’s happening here, or there’s no way I would have wound up in an official city cell. Surely Simpson would have just dragged me off to the basement in his gaudy mansion instead.
And this entire thing reeks of a trap. They lured me down to the riverside by trapping Ember, and then whisked me away to a cell so that I’m at their mercy whenever they need me. I’m betting Simpson’s been pulling more strings than we realized. Since the Solstice, at least. It would certainly explain why my mother acted like an alien the last time I saw her.
After a few hours, my ass goes numb. A few hours more and I try my best to bury my face in the thin pillow and block out the world. Time stretches endlessly, and I have to focus on keeping my breathing steady.
“You think she’ll be gagging for one last lay before they take her downstairs?” a guard says, loud enough for me to hear.
“Might wind up with your cock chopped to pieces. She looks like a biter.”
That causes me to snort. Too damn right I would be.
“Fuck, don’t say that. You just made my balls shrivel into my asshole.”
“I’m not sure they should be able to do that, you might want to get that looked at.”
I roll my eyes. They’re idiots, the lot of them.
Blocking them out, I focus on happier things. My thoughts instantly drift to Roscoe, and how I want to waste entire days tracing his tattoos. First, I’ll do it with my fingers, and then I’ll go over them once again with my tongue. My lips quirk up in a smile as I picture his expression as I spend hours teasing him.
Aaand now I’m getting wet. Fuck. Not something that’s ideal right now.
Think about something else, something less sexy.
Amber eyes flash in my mind’s eye. Which isnotunsexy. Dante’s gaze is arresting, intriguing. It drew me to him, even when we first met and he was trying to kick me out of his office. Although... thinking back to our first encounters, he didn’t try all that hard to get rid of me, even though I’ve come to learn he’s the opposite of a people person. He helped me when he didn’t stand to gain anything.
My chest goes warm as I think about his and Z’s growing broship. Even though Zeph would never admit it, I’m pretty sure the two of them are more similar than they ever would have realized before I started forcing them to spend time together.
That sounds bad, like they’re my little lap dogs or something, which is not how things are at all.
The past month has been surprisingly nice. After spending years on my own, heading out to whatever shitty job I was hired for, it’s been good to have company. Especially when it’s the two of them, scowling at the books in front of them like they’re frustrated they won’t give up their secrets.
My two quiet softies.
My mind drifts to Rook and Hanna, and the way he’s grown increasingly protective over her recently. He’s always been ourgrowly protector, carved from stone and unerringly loyal. But with Hanna, he takes it to a whole new level.
Although Luna will be pissed if the two of them get together, since she’s convinced Hanna’s going to end up marrying a prince or something. I don’t even think we have princes around here, so who the hell knows where she thinks Hanna’s going to find one from.
And Fabian. The way he looked so uncertain and... almost shy when he turned up at the riverside, like he wasn’t sure I’d want him there. He still doesn’t understand. I fell hard for him a while back and that hasn’t changed, even when he couldn’t return my feelings, or even remember who I am.
