Page 161 of Poet & Protector

We all hesitated.

“Now!”

Fey started to growl and I put my hand on her shoulder. She was the most likely to start a fight and we couldn’t afford that.

“Bryn, Ansel, you go together.”

They both shot me grateful looks and I nodded.

The Bane who’d been ordering us around climbed in after them. The other Bane ushered Fey and me into the second SUV.

“Look,” Fey said to our captor as the car began to move. “This is a mistake. I don’t know what the hell Calla has done, but it’s not our fault.”

The Bane didn’t reply.

“Whatever.” Fey huffed and slumped into her seat.

I stared out the window as we drove, wondering where Calla was. Where Shay was. Most of all, where Nev was. If he was okay. We’d been taken, but we were Calla’s packmates. It made sense we’d be under suspicion. Efron and Lumine had no reason to believe we were as clueless as we claimed to be. I couldn’t decide if it was good that we knew nothing, because it might convince them of our innocence, or if the fact that we couldn’t tell them anything useful would make our situation even worse.

They drove us into Vail. Downtown. When we pulled up in front of Eden, I was utterly confused. Why would they take us to Efron Bane’s club of all places?

The door opened. Two of the bouncers from Eden waited on the curb.

“Hand over your phones,” the Bane with us ordered.

I reluctantly obeyed.

Fey swept a hand along her body, indicating her dress. “Where would I keep a phone? I don’t have a purse and if you put your hands on me, I will fight you.”

The Bane grunted as he assessed the close fit of her gown, took in her defiant expression, and decided it wasn’t worth patting her down.

“Get out of the car,” he ordered.

Fey shimmied out and I followed. Glancing around, I spotted Ansel and Bryn exiting their SUV. Two more Banes who worked Eden security were with them.

This time we weren’t told where to go. One of the bouncers grabbed my arm and steered me away from the front of the building toward an alley.

Sharp spikes of ice began to form in my gut.

“Hey!” I heard Fey object. “I’m walking. You don’t need to push.”

“Shut up, Nightshade,” her guard growled back.

We were led to a side entrance where three more Banes waited.

For fuck’s sake. There were only four of us. How many guards did they think they needed? I got that Calla going missing was a big deal, but this felt like serious overkill.

The cold dread in my stomach worsened when we passed through the entrance and were immediately taken down a narrow iron spiral staircase. Down. Down. Down. It seemed to go on forever, and I couldn’t imagine it led anywhere I wanted to be.

An unpleasant greenish-gray fluorescent light greeted us when we finally reached the bottom of the stairs. In front of us was a single door. One of the Banes opened it and led us into a narrow hallway. There were two doors on each side of the hall and another door at the opposite end.

There was no mistaking where we were. Efron had a prison beneath Eden.

An elder Bane unlocked the first door on my right. I was shoved unceremoniously inside a room with steel walls washed in the same soul-sucking fluorescent light. The room’s only features were a single stainless steel basin and a seatless stainless steel toilet.

Then I noticed the rings bolted to the walls at regular intervals. Rings that would be used to shackle prisoners inside the cell.

Fey stumbled in behind me and a moment later Ansel and Bryn were with us, too. The door slammed and locked.