A dark chuckle has him slumping against the wall beside me, rubbing his hands together briskly and over the goosebumps on his arms. “Phoenix shifter. Unfortunately, I’m not that easy to kill.”
Grimacing, he explains how Dane came across him in the middle of his rebirth after that day he jumped into the fight at school and kidnapped him while he was still weak and unable to shift back. How he’s been imprisoned here ever since, killed like clockwork every three months so his ashes could be used to prolong Sophia’s life. But it's been less effective the past year, and Dane’s been growing increasingly unhinged in his search for a more powerful myst to replace him.
“I take it that’s you?” he asks with a sympathetic grimace.
Is it? Because I’m sure as hell not feeling very powerful right now.
A shiver races down my spine and I tug the blanket tighter around myself, feeling a little guilty for hogging it, but not desperate enough to cuddle up to a stranger yet. I swear, the temperature’s dropped at least ten degrees since I woke up.
“I don’t get what angle Dane’s playing. He paid me a shit ton of money, put me and my mates up in a luxurious room in his mansion, and then just… threw me on the floor of a prison cell with you when there are at least four more open cells that I can see?”
“My ashes help strengthen his mate’s fire elemental side and subdue the ice half, which is why it helps as a temporary cure. You said you’re a mimic?” At my nod, Skylar squirms uncomfortably. “Between the air being blasted and one cot, if I had to guess, he’s hoping to push the two of us together so we’ll bond.”
I grimace. “Because you’d get a power boost and your ashes would be more effective. Shit.”
Thumping my head against the wall, I try to figure out how the hell to get out of here. No necklace, no weapon. Can’t use my powers. But he has to take our collars off sometimes, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to use Skylar.
“How does he collect your ashes? Couldn’t you just burn his face off when he removes your collar?”
Skylar clenches his fist, shoving to his feet and pacing the confines of our cell like a caged animal. “He has a man watching my sister. Dane has him on a call during, so if anything happens to him, his man will kill her.”
I nod slowly. “So he’ll likely use the guys to keep me in line, too.”
“Fucking hell.” As he paces, each pass looking more agitated as he mumbles to himself under his breath, I try to tune him out and come up with a plan.
Running a hand through my hair, it snags on my pin, yanking out a few of my hairs with it. Grumbling, I free it and get ready to slide it back in place when I pause. “Any chance you know how to pick a lock?”
“Haven’t since I was like fifteen, but with enough time, sure.” I perk up until Skylar gestures to the door. “You know, if there was a keyhole. Automatic locks that bolt the door. Even then, there’s a ward on the cells that can only be deactivated from the outside.”
I sigh heavily. “Knew it was a long shot. Maybe I can use it to stab him in the eye or something.”
No, Seraphina, don’t bother explaining your cryptic gift or anything. People love presents that drive them insane trying to figure them out.
I’m just about to slide it back in place when something about seeing the way my hair wrapped around the flaming teardrop makes me pause. It nags at a faint memory, and I grow more frustrated by the moment trying to remember why it feels familiar.
I suck in a sharp breath as it finally clicks, whipping my gaze to Skylar. “Now, when you say you’re pretty hard to kill...”
Chapter 29
Bellamy
Istab at my breakfast harder than necessary. I’m not sure if it’s because the bond is so fresh or what, but waking up to Ever’s note that she went down to work has me agitated and on edge more than normal when she’s out of my sight. If it wasn’t for Myles confirming her location on the trackers in her necklace and phone, I think all of us would have lost our shit.
She’s safe. The wards around this house are solid enough that a bomb could go off and we’d be fine. She left notes instead of waking one of us up, which means she wants to work without us distracting her. And even after this side quest is finally done, we have a safe place to regroup while figuring out what the hell we’re going to do about going home.
Ledger’s worse than me; he already broke a plate stabbing his eggs, and snapped the handle off his coffee mug. When a member of the kitchen returns to place a tray of muffins on the table, he asks, “Did one of you bring breakfast down to the workshop for Ever already?”
The man blinks slowly, remains as eerily silent as the rest of the staff, and continues unloading the cart before leaving.
“Well that was… weird.”
Out of habit, I do a quick check to see what sort of myst the guy is, but there’s nothing there to latch onto. So either a human that knows about mysts, or a powerless one born into our world. Shame.
Myles’s nose scrunches up in distaste. “Dane clearly likes his staff to be as invisible as possible. Money really goes to some people’s heads..”
We return to eating, all lost in our own thoughts, but Ledger only makes it five more minutes before he breaks. “Nope, I can’t do it. My wolf won’t shut up until I’m sure our mate ate before us. Gimme your bacon.” Snatching it out of my hand, he loads a bit of everything onto one of the serving dishes, stealing something from each of the guys’ plates.
Arson pushes around what’s left of his food with a fork, sulking. “She made itveryclear; no barging in when she’s working. That it’s hard to get back in the right mindset when we keep interrupting her.”
