The guards didn’t even acknowledge me. Instead, one of them growled at Uriel, “You want a trip to Cellblock 9? How about death row?”
“I saidget off!” I demanded. “I’ll vouch for him.”
The guards must’ve noticed me, because they just started laughing. “You?” one of them chuckled. “You think you fight well enough to let off a murderer? How would you like to head down to Cellblock 9 with this low life?”
Hell, it was true I’d lost my last few fights at the club— I couldn’t bring myself to care anymore— but I thought I still carried some weight around here.
Then again, thiswasa murder. I could be undefeated, and I wouldn’t be able to save anyone from this.
“Tranquilize him,” one of them said simply. I heard aclick, and Uriel’s cries died down. With vampire ancestry, he was mildly affected by noxite, at minimum. The whispers around the room grew.
“He didn’t do it,” I insisted. “The least you can do is investigate before arresting him.”
One of the guards laughed. “Kid, he’s already in prison. Get your head out of your ass and look around. Oh, that’sright. You can’t.”
The guard shoved me aside so hard that I stumbled sideways. I lost my balance and crashed into the pool. Cold water surrounded me, and shock riveted through my body. My head surfaced, and I gasped for air. I flailed my arms. They smacked straight into something solid. I found my footing, then felt for what I’d hit. My fingers touched something smooth, and I realized with horror it was the scales of the merman who’d died.
A pair of hands landed on me and yanked me out of the pool. “You okay?” Marcus asked.
“Fine,” I said, wiping the water from my eyes.
Very graceful,Oberi deadpanned.
“Not now, Oberi,” I growled.
“Move aside,” a guard snapped.
Marcus grabbed my shirt and yanked me to the edge of the room. “They’re fishing the merman from the pool,” he said lowly. “I can’t believe someone would do this. Those fang marks are just…”
He didn’t finish, and I really didn’t want to know. I could only imagine what a vampire in this prison might do. And if they’d gone underwater, where no one else could see them, they could easily get away with it.
“That filthy hybrid got what he deserved, if you ask me,” a deep voice boomed from nearby.
“Absolutely,” his friend agreed.
I recognized the deep voice. It was hard to miss.
Mad Dog.
Wind swirled around me, and I started toward him. Marcus tried to hold me back, but I shook him off.
“It wasyou, wasn’t it?” I demanded, shoving Mad Dog. “What, you get your kicks out of drinking Atlantean blood and blaming it on someone else? You set Uriel up.”
“What are you gonna do about it?” Mad Dog snarled.
Marcus grabbed my shoulder and whispered in my ear. “You’re outnumbered… bya lot. Back down, or you’ll be killed next.”
I didn’t care. Uriel was innocent— of that, I was certain. I couldn’t stand by and let the real murderer get away with this.
“Uriel wasn’t in here long enough to do anything!” I screamed. “I just saw him in the hall.”
Mad Dog laughed. “With what eyes, dickhead?”
Thatreallypissed me off. I reacted without thinking about it. Magic swelled within me. I didn’t know how I did it, but I siphoned Mad Dog’s super strength from him and swung my fist. The impact was satisfying as hell. I’d hit him so hard that he stumbled into his friends. Several of them grunted as they caught him. He scrambled back to his feet, and several pairs of footsteps closed in on me.
“No!” Mad Dog boomed, stopping his cronies. “He’s mine!”
I heard the snapping of knuckles, then before I knew it, something hard cracked against the side of my face. I stumbled to the ground, my ears ringing. Beside me, Marcus gasped, and Oberi barked loudly.
