Page 39 of Love & Power

“Yes, I will agree to that, but he can’t enter the prison,” the head guard countered.

“Deal,” I agreed, holding out a hand to shake on it.

Thad leaned in to whisper, “Your men and Boykov have been informed of your location, and all hell will break loose if you don’t come out of there in fifteen minutes.”

“Thad,” I chided. “I thought we were working together to build a trusting relationship? Why would you go and tattle on me like that?”

“Because my job is to care about your life more than you do,” Thad countered.

My mouth popped open at his bluntness. “Wooow.”

“You must go now or lose your chance,” the guard yelled.

I gave Thad a look to let him know we’d discuss this later. Ralph and I had an understanding that allowed him to talk like that to me—Thad did not. Spinning on my heel, I followed Ivy through the gate, trying not to flinch when I heard it clang shut. This tunnel had me thinking of all the horror movies I’d seen and yelling at people for being such idiots. Now, here I was willingly heading into the bowels of hell at the request of my best friend.

God, why do I have a death wish?

At the end of the hall was a large steel door that took two men to open, revealing stairs heading down into the mountain. “Oh goodie, not only are we in a prison filled with all kinds of criminals, we get to be trapped underground.”

“Darling, you and I are going to be the scariest people down there,” Ivy reasoned. “Most of these people were tossed in here because of minor infractions like stealing, not paying taxes, or smoking pot. Trian views all crime equally, which is absurd, but the number of people who’ve committed a major crime is small.”

“I suppose that’s reassuring,” I muttered as we descended.

Surprisingly, we only went down one short flight of steps before heading down another hallway. One guard stood at the gate separating us from the main prison common area. He didn’t say anything, unlocked the gate, and held it open for us to pass through before locking it up tight. I half expected the prison to be a cave and the prisoners to live like mole people, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

The place felt as sterile as a hospital with white walls, cold fluorescent lighting, and gray laminate flooring. Guards patrolled the area, but there were no prisoners to be seen. A buzzer sounded, followed by metal doors opening, revealing the cells and prisoners starting to exit, forming a single file line.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

“Lunch,” Ivy explained. “I figured it would be easier to collect her in the dining hall instead of figuring out what cell she was camping out in.”

“They don’t have that information in the database?” I questioned, watching the prisoners make their way through the food line before sitting at the tables provided.

Ivy tugged me to the right, hugging the outside wall as she scanned the crowd. “They would if she was supposed to fucking be here.”

“That makes no sense.” I hissed.

She just patted my hand and kept us moving. I could feel the eyes of the prisoners seated at the tables watching us, but no one moved or tried to approach us. A scream sliced through the silence, and a large man dropped to the floor, clutching where his hand should have been attached to his arm.

“I fucking told you not to put your grubby fingers near my shit,” a woman snapped, hurling the man’s hand so it smacked him in the face. “You had to go and ruin biscuit day, didn’t you? Goddamn thief. I warned you what would happen if you had the balls to double-cross me, Agron.”

Ivy leaned in and whispered, “That’s her.”

Of course it was.

Our attention was pulled from her as a team of medics rushed in to collect the man and his hand. I wondered if they would be able to save it or if it was not important to them since he was a criminal. None of the guards seemed inclined to do anything about the incident, but I was beginning to understand the warden wouldn’t have a problem with us breaking her out of here.

All the inmates wore gray jumpsuits, but she had the top half off and tied around her waist, leaving her in a cropped white tank top. Just about every inch of skin I could see was covered in tattoos. Her face was hidden by her thick indigo and violet-colored hair until she raked her bloody hand through it to get it out of her way. I could only see her profile, but it was one that the queens of old would be envious of, with a regal nose and strong jaw clenched in irritation.

Ivy waited for our hot-tempered con to get her food and sit alone at a table before approaching. It took true talent to look as elegant as Ivy did sitting at a metal picnic table wearing a pencil skirt.

“Hello, sweets,” Ivy greeted, beaming at the woman. “It’s been a while.”

It wasn’t until I joined them that the wild woman paused to meet my gaze. I was trapped in her honey-brown gaze that had flecks of a deeper bronze color mixed in. Every person has the innate ability to sense when there’s danger lurking around them, but this was the first time a person had ever brought that feeling out in me. I swear the hair on the back of my neck stood on end as if I were staring down a feral wolf out in the wilderness.

Darkness surged within me, furious that we would ever allow ourselves to fear anyone. Curious what would happen, I closed my eyes, allowing the two parts of myself to become one before opening them again. This time, when our gazes locked, I felt my shoulders square up as my chin rose just slightly higher so I looked down my nose at her. A smile tugged at her lips. It wasn’t the reaction I’d been expecting, but somehow, it relaxed me into smiling back at her.

“You’re a Raffa, all right. No one else has that kind of crazy hiding inside them,” she said, shoving her tray to the side. “If you’re here with Poison Ivy, my money’s on you being the secret heir Frediano talks about. Sorry I missed the meeting the other day, but I have a rat to deal with before I can leave here.”