A foursome is where I draw the line.
Too many limbs, easy to lose track.
Somebody shoves me from behind, and before I can steady myself, the new friend punches me in the gut. I don’t get a moment to recover before a knee flies to the side of my head.
I hit the hard, cold ground with a grunt. I don’t even know who kicks me in the gut, making me want to puke my lunch out.
Spirits of the gods might be watching over me, because after the second kick, a whistle pierces the sweat- and blood-drenched air. Shouts come from the distance, bouncing off the cave-like walls.
“Move out! Stand down! NOW!”
I cough, every inch of my body aching. Someone fists the back of my hair and pulls my head up.
“The only way out of your contract is death,” Scar Face sneers at me and then spits in my face.Mmmm.Thick, smoke-infused saliva mixed with blood. My favorite. “Talbots send their best regards.”
Well, shit.
Even in prison, I won’t find reprieve from mistakes I made in the past. Not until I draw my last breath.
Maybe Father was right, after all.
CHAPTER NINE
JAX
Iknow it’s her before I see her.
By now, I can recognize her steps. She strides with confidence, as if she’s always in a rush to get places. As if she’s running out of time, yet she’s desperate to make it to her destination.
The hinges of my cell door creak in the eerie silence of the night, only disturbed by random shouts coming once in a while from other inmates in their cells. I sit at the very rear of the cell with my back pressed to the hard wall.
She gently closes the cell door and turns to me. The moment the rays of light from the oil lamp she holds in her hand illuminate me, she gasps.
“Jax! Your face. What the fuck happened?”
Phoenix rushes through the cell and kneels in front of me. I try to flash her a smile, but a weak half smile is all I can manage.
My face hurts like abitch, for lack of a better word.
“Don’t worry your pretty head about it, Phoenix darling,” I say. My voice comes out scratchy, and hoarse. I clear my throat. “You should see the other guys.”
She blinks at me, eyes wide. “Guys?Plural? There was more than one?”
I shrug and regret it immediately. But I try not to show just how much each movement hurts my ribs.
“What can I say, this handsome face is popular here.”
With a sigh, Phoenix sits down on the backs of her heels. She has the most beautiful hazel-color eyes that I have ever seen, in all three continents.
Probably even beyond.
“Jax, I requested you be put in a solitary cell so you would be safe,” she says. “How did this happen? And who did it? Two Ezkai are always supposed to be escorting you at all times when you leave your cell.”
Resting the back of my head on the cold wall, I flash her my most dazzling smile, pain be damned. “A royal prison treatment for me? Oh, darling, I’m honored.”
She rolls her pretty eyes at me. I love it when she does that. She’s so much fun to play with.
“For fuck’s sake, can you take this seriously, please?” Phoenix whisper-screams at me. “I have so much on my plate right now with Vera gone and handling House Dzuni while I try to pass this damn law. I can’t be worried about you dying here, too!”
