The fae cellblock was fucking loud. There were a bunch of shifters wrestling in the hallways, and balls bouncing off the walls from sorceresses playing sports. Everyone down here was absolutely obnoxious. Psh. Faeries.
Kallie opened her cell door, and Marcus walked in. Immediately after, he let out a high-pitched, awful wail that immediately made me petrified with fear. The entire fae cellblock went quiet, and everyone looked our way.
“What? What did you find?” Charlie shouted.
Marcus covered his eyes as he walked out, completely red in the face. “Kallie, can youpleaseclean up your…lady garments?”
I peeked inside, and saw that Kallie’s lace bras and dainty thongs were scattered everywhere. I let out a snicker.
“I was organizing my drawer and didn’t have enough time to finish before I had to go to class! Sor-ree!” Kallie whined.
Everyone in the fae cellblock laughed. Kallie gathered her panties in her arms and tossed them into a drawer. It took a lot of prodding before we were able to drag Marcus back in. He was in there longer than he was in my room, as if he was doing a double sweep.
“There were bad spirits in Kallie’s cell, too.” Marcus looked very worried as he subconjured the ashen remains of the cedar he was carrying. “They didn’t want to leave. I had to force them.”
“What about your cell?” Kallie asked. She pulled Charlie and me inside her room and shut the door behind us, so no one could listen in on our conversation.
“My room is clear. I cleanse it every Sunday,” Marcus said.
“Maybe you should skip it this week, and see if any baddies show up,” Kallie suggested.
“Might not be a bad idea…” Marcus mused. “We could figure out if these spirits are appearing by coincidence, or on purpose.”
“What’s the benefit of clearing spirits?” Charlie asked. “I mean, I can tell the difference in how I feel, but what do they show up to do?”
“They can make you sick, but mostly, they’re around to make you depressed. They feed off energy, especially positive vibes. They literally suck the life out of you,” Marcus explained. “If these spirits were sent here by a big, bad spiritual force, it’s to weaken us.”
“I’m sure the Warden sent them,” I spat, and Oberi gave a growl.
Marcus gave a skeptical sound. “He doesn’t have control over spirits or demons. He’s just an angel.”
“Is he, though?” Kallie asked. “What if he made a deal with the… you know…other side?”
“This isn’t a movie, Kallie,” Marcus said, rolling his eyes.
“But this is the supernatural world, and we know contracts with bad forces can be done! The fae create binding magical contracts every day,” Kallie said.
“But what does the Wardenreallywant? And why would dark forces want to help him to achieve it?” I asked.
“I’m willing to bet my wings these bad spirits aren’t just showing up in our rooms for no reason,” Kallie insisted.
“The Warden, though? That’s a stretch, even for him,” Charlie argued. “I don’t think this is his doing. These spirits are being sent by someone in the spiritual realm, and whoever they are, they have a lot of power.”
“You’re talking about a god, like Coyote Spirit, or Whale Spirit,” I offered.
“Yes, but we know those gods are on our side,” Charlie said. “Which means there have to be some gods that aren’t.”
Well, that was a fucking scary ass statement. I knew there were dark gods out there, trying to manipulate my life and make it so I didn’t accomplish my destiny— Coyote had told me so. Yet to see the evidence right in front of me made me unable to deny his words.
“We should cleanse the Lair. There might be spirits in there, too,” Charlie suggested.
“Good idea,” Kallie said.
We started heading that way, before we were interrupted. A guard cried out, “Wahkin!” He jogged toward us, clutching his noxite gun.
I could physicallyfeelCharlie’s teeth grinding through our bond as he whirled around and growled,“What?”
“Captain wants you down for training. You haven’t been filling your hours, and he knows you ain’t got no class right now,” the guard said.
