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I hold out my hands, and the guard slaps two wrist cuffs on me. They’re made of metal and connected with a chain between them. Embedded, one in each cuff, is a small glowing crystal.
They’re magic-dampening cuffs, to keep me from performing any magic like phasing out. Damn it. I expected this, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
“Aww, we didn’t even talk about safe words,” I tease.
The guard glares at me. No sense of humor, typical.
The other guards close the doors on the men’s cells, and my heart drops with fear. Are they not taking all of us?
“All right,” one of them says. I’m guessing he’s the leader, even though his outfit is similar to what the others are wearing, with no outward designation of his status. “Let’s go.”
“Hey!” North starts throwing himself at his door again. Raven does the same, although I don’t hear him yelling. “Get back here!”
There’s an odd scraping sound from Cain’s door, and it takes me a moment to realize that he’s trying to somehow pick the lock. My cell door was smooth on the inside, but Cain’s not letting that deter him from trying.
“Eight guys for little ol’ me?” I ask. I’m not going to let them see the fear that’s churning in my gut. “Aww. I feel so special.”
Two guards grab me, one for each arm, and start marching me down the hall, even as the men continue to furiously bang against the doors. I’m going in to see Donovan alone. Away from the men for the first time.
My stomach twists in fear, and I swallow hard. It’s okay, I tell myself. I can do this. I can be brave. I’m not going to let Donovan or anyone else see me scared. I’ve been alone my whole life. I can be alone for a little while longer.
I can do this.
CHAPTER2
We reach the door at the end of the hall, and I feel like my heart is beating so loudly everyone can hear it. I keep my chin up high. I’m not going to let anyone know that I’m nervous.
One of the guards reaches for the door, but it opens before he can grab the handle. Another guard steps in. All of these guys are dressed in regular gear—dark clothes that look like they would be easy to fight in. There’s no outward sign that they’re guards. No uniform, no visible tattoos that mark them as a part of Donovan O’Shae’s gang. I guess that there’s some marker somewhere so they can identify each other if they need to, but part of what’s so frightening is how ordinary they look.
Well, they do look like total assholes. But regular assholes. Not necessarily assholes that work for a powerful vampire mob boss. Andthat’swhat’s concerning. That I could pass them in the street and not know. That they look just like anyone else I could run into.
The guard who’s stepped through the door nods at the guard who’s got a hold of my right arm. “We need the others, too.”
“You sure? They aren’t pure blood.”
“Pure or not, they’re still fae. Who knows, maybe Roanac will have use for them. They’re strong, sure enough.”
The guard holding my right arm shrugs, then turns to the others. “All right, pair up, grab the others. Cuffs for all of them, you know the drill.”
My mind races. Roanac? Who’s Roanac? Is it some kind of title that they’ve given Donovan? It’s not a word I’ve ever heard before, and I don’t think vampires have their own language.
The three men are brought up. Raven seems unusually subdued, while Cain seems to be taking the same route that I am by keeping an amused smile on his face.Never let them see your weaknessis a philosophy we clearly both share.
North glares at everyone. He’s not happy, and he’s making it known, damn it. I admire his tenacity and strength. He’s pissed, and he’s going to make that everyone else’s problem.
My chest loosens a bit now that I’ve got the men with me. I know that, logically, this doesn’t really make me any safer. There’s nothing that they can do with their magical-dampening cuffs on, if Donovan decides to hurt me. But just having them with me soothes me a little. They care about me and they don’t want me to get hurt, and just having people there who feel that way makes all the difference.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Cain whispers to me, leaning in and winking.
“What a coincidence,” I agree. I smile at him. Cain knows how to keep things lighthearted.
He presses his side against mine before the guards tug us apart so that none of us are touching. It’s not fun, but it’s better than being alone. All three men seem to be a bit calmer now that they’re next to me.
Well, North and Cain are. I look to my right, to where Raven stands. He seems to be a little off. I can’t tell what’s off, exactly, but something is. I look him up and down. No injuries that I can see. Is he okay? Did Donovan do something to him?
“All right,” the guard that was giving orders says, “let’s step lively, come on.”
We’re marched out of the prison area and down the hall, back through the massive receiving hall that Donovan has—seriously, is he compensating for something?—and through another doorway, down yet another hall, into a still pretty large but smaller room.
