“This is disgusting.”
I huff out a laugh, picking up my own meal. “You get used to it. Mostly.”
“I need to get out of here,” she says after a moment. “My Alpha needs me. My pack needs me.”
I need you.
I push my food around, watching the muck congeal into a weird grey lump. “If we’re going to escape we need to do it together. Better odds than going solo.”
She’s quiet. “That makes sense. How do you think we should do it?”
“I’m not sure yet. But between the two of us, we’ll work out something.”
“We better.” I hear her place her tray on the ground. “’Cause I think the meals might be what breaks me.”
Chapter
Six
“Time for another chat,” Jim announces as the door swings open.
My wolf surges forward beneath my skin, hackles rising despite the silver’s suppression. She may be weakened, but she’s far from beaten. A low snarl rumbles through our bond as she recognizes the threat, her instincts screaming at me to fight, to run, to do anything but submit to these predators.
Danger,she warns, pressing against my consciousness with renewed strength.
I don’t respond to Jim as Bob and Prudence shuffle in behind him. My wolf’s agitation grows as she scents their intentions—violence, manipulation, pain. She paces restlessly beneath my skin, frustrated by the silver that keeps her caged.
I ignore the men and look at Prudence, watching as she moves to cower in the corner of my cell. She’s pale and trembling, her eyes darting between me and the guards.
My wolf’s snarl shifts to something almost protective as she senses the smaller woman’s terror.
Scared,my wolf observes, her fury momentarily tempered by recognition of another victim.Terror.
I should hate her and what she does, but I can’t. She’s a mouse of a woman, small and petite. She barely looks old enough to be dating, let alone have her own pup.
I inhale, catching her scent. This time, I pay attention to it–or rather, what it’s missing.
She carries the myrrh-like scent of a seer, dry and sharp at the edges. But there’s no animal under it. No wolf, no lynx, no bear. Nothing.
She’s human.
My gaze sharpens, raking over her again. Small. Fragile-looking. Skin so pale it seems like she’d bruise if you breathed on her wrong. Humans and weres didn’t mix. Not really. Not in blood, not in magic, not in anything that mattered.
Sure, there were always whispers—witches and warlocks claiming seer blood, little hedge magics bubbling at the edges of the real world. But a true seer? One who could survive the weight of Sight without breaking?
They were rare in the were world, and even rarer still in humans.
I don’t hate her—how could I? She’s as much a victim as I am, trapped in this nightmare through no choice of her own. But I absolutely fucking loathe what she’s being forced to do, the agony she’s capable of inflicting. The world she’s been dragged into is destroying her, piece by piece, and I can see it in every trembling line of her body. The guards haul me to a chair they place in the center of the room and chain my existing restraints to it. The additional silver burns fresh welts over yesterday’s wounds.
I could fight. Should fight. But the silver already around my wrists, ankles, and throat has sapped my strength. Fighting will only make what comes next worse.
“Same questions as yesterday,” Jim says, settling into his chair across from me. “Shadowmist’s safe houses. Where are they?”
“And I’ll give you the same answer,” I reply. “Go fuck yourself.”
Bob’s fist catches my ribs before I finish speaking. The air rushes out of my lungs in a pained wheeze, but I don’t cry out.
I’ll never give them the satisfaction.
