Groaning, I rub my temple, flinching when my palm hits the swollen lump. As my eyes flutter open, my heart stutters.
Clear walls, a toilet, and a stranger perched on a cot watching me curiously.
I scuttle away until my back hits the wall, heart picking up in double time. Haggard and rocking a wild, unkempt beard, the man still has enough lean muscle that I know he could do some serious damage if he wanted to. A shade of brown so deep it has a red sheen, his hair nearly hits his shoulders, but it’s the keen glint in his amber eyes that makes me uneasy.
That’s the look of a man that sees everything happening around him, and sits on the information until he can use it to his advantage.
“Easy there, sweetness, I won’t hurt ya,” he rumbles, offering a sympathetic smile and slowly sliding from the cot to the cement floor to appear less threatening.
Taking a deep breath, I try to latch onto his power, only to hit a wall. Eyes flying open, I claw at my throat, fingers hitting metal as I try not to hyperventilate.
Chained.
Powerless.
Trapped.
As if he can see the words running on repeat through my head, he pulls the blanket off his shoulders and tosses it to me without getting any closer, pity etched into his face. “The collars block our powers. It sucks, but you eventually get used to it. One day at a time, yeah?”
Panic licks at my veins, and it takes everything I have not to freak the fuck out. One shuddering breath, then another. By the fifth, I’ve managed to calm my nerves enough to slip into triage mode.
My necklace is gone, likely when Dane fuckingcollaredme, the son of a bitch. I didn’t bother pulling on my boots before I left our room, which I’m woefully regretting right about now. I’d give anything for the knife Arson insists I keep tucked in the right one.
If I make it out of here, I swear, I’ll never go anywhere without at least three weapons. Shivs, boob knives, butthole grenades; I don’t give a fuck so long as I never feel this powerless ever again.
Brow furrowing, the stranger’s nostrils flare and he carefully closes the distance between us and crouches, leaning close to my chest and inhaling deeply as I try to merge with the wall and pretend this is all a bad dream. He backs off without once touching me, but doesn’t retreat to the other side of the cell we’re trapped in this time.
I don’t have a way to sharpen the frame of the cot besides the floor… Maybe I can trap him in his shirt and suffocate him?
“Sorry I didn’t get a chance to shower before that psycho locked me up,” I drawl, buying myself time to think. “Spoiler alert; it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
Ignoring me, he falls back on his ass, looking stunned and whispers, “Myles?”
Confused, I carefully lift my shirt to my nose and sniff. I mean, he’s not wrong. Itdoessmell like Myles, but… “How the heck could you possibly know that?”
“He was my best friend in college, back before I got stuck in here.”
My heart skips a beat.No fucking way.
“Skylar?”
His mouth parts in surprise. “How could you…?”
“You’re alive?”
He frowns. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
An incredulous laugh slips out as I fill him in on how Myles has been wracked with guilt all these years thinking he died saving him. Stunned silent, Skylar slowly breaks into a brilliant smile, grinning wildly. “Well hot damn, way to fucking go Myles. Knew he had it in ‘em. If anyone deserves a mate, it’s him.” As swiftly as his joy came, it fades, his face falling as he remembers the position we’re stuck in.
Gods, I can only imagine how the guys will react when they realize I’ve disappeared on them again.
But… theywon’trealize I’m missing. Because I left them all notes.
Son of a bitch.
Determined to get out, I rise to my feet. Even if I can’t, I’d sooner kill myself out of spite than let Dane win.
“How are you even here?” I demand. “Myles said that you were hit by a fireball and incinerated."
