Power Up: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Supernatural Prison Trilogy Book 2)

by Aella Black

  “People weren’t taking me seriously when I said this was a fight to the death. We hadn’t actually seen you come back to life yet, and now, thanks to her, we can study your power. Get to know it better.”

  Did she just admit she’d meant for Lucy to overhear our conversation? Was there any bottom to how low this woman would go?

  “Phoebe, when all is said and done, you are the most powerful person in this place. If we can recreate—”

  “No. You know what? I don’t care what evil genius plan you have that’s so life-changing it’s worth watching me suffer and die.” I really and truly didn’t. All I cared about was the last bomb she’d dropped that night. “I want to know is where Dad is.”

  She didn’t respond. Didn’t even blink. She just stared at me like a snake eyeing a mouse.

  “Where. Is. My. Father?” I asked, each word louder than the next.

  “Did you speak to Warden Will this way?” She sounded angry. Good. That made two of us. “He shouldn’t have allowed it. Such a weakling,” she muttered.

  “Warden Will is a saint compared to you,” I hissed.

  “He was a liar and a cheat. Always fudging the numbers, giving us false information so we wouldn’t take Leavenworth inmates. He put you all in danger. Some of you should have been here, not dawdling around at summer camp.”

  Fudging numbers? False information? Warden Will was trying to protect us.

  He knew how bad it was here and did everything in his power to keep us from being sent to Lansing. I hadn’t trusted him while at Leavenworth, but apparently, I should have.

  I shook my head. I was losing focus. And time.

  “Please. If you’ve ever cared about me, even a tiny bit, tell me where Dad is.”

  A few moments of silence passed, and I thought she would ignore my question again. “He’s safe, that’s all you need to know,” she finally said. “The safest place in the city.”

  Safe? Safe, how? Safe in the same way I was safe? That wasn’t comforting. “What have you done with him? Did you force him to leave me?”

  She patted my cheek. The gesture should have been motherly, but instead it was condescending. “Don’t trouble yourself. Your father is fine.” I didn’t know her well—how could I?—but her voice wavered on the word ‘fine’ in a way that made me think he wasn’t fine at all.

  “I will have the guards release you momentarily. You did well today.”

  “I died.”

  “Yes.” She smiled. “As I said… you handle death well.”

  I shuddered. She said that as if she witnessed death regularly.

  Likely, she did.

  After the door slammed shut behind her, I bit my lip so I wouldn’t scream.

  My mother was a monster and a murderer.

  And yet I was the one who, at this very moment, wanted to wrap my hands around her throat and force her to take me to my father.

  13

  Xander

  It had been nearly a month since we arrived.

  Cathy kept us updated on all things Phoebe. But even if she hadn’t, everyone else at Lansing would have.

  Phoebe and her many matches were the talk of the prison. She was now being pulled into sparring matches nearly every other day, and most of them resulted in her death.

  And guards weren’t the only one placing bets. You wouldn’t think a bunch of inmates would have anything to wager, but apparently cafeteria meals were acceptable forms of payment. Idiots.

  While others found it entertaining to hear about the various ways in which Phoebe had been killed, I felt sick about it. It was unconscionable.

  In one fight, the guy snapped her neck. I couldn’t believe anyone could do that.

  No, scratch that. I couldn’t believe anyone would do that.

  It seemed so…so personal.

  I wanted so badly to be there for her. But according to Cathy, Phoebe was being well cared for.

  “Dane is seriously the nicest guy,” Cathy said to me and the others. “Always knows the right things to say. The matches have been tough on Phoenix, but he’s always there to cheer her up.” Without pausing—though I supposed she didn’t exactly need to take a breath mentally—Cathy continued. “And no one tries to mess with her anymore because they’re scared of what he’ll do to them. So don’t be too worried about her. Except, you know… during the fights. But we’re hanging in there, and I hope you guys are too.”

  We were hanging in there, all right, but only because we didn’t have any other choice.

  As much as I hated not being there for Phoebe, I was glad someone was there to protect her. Even if that someone was Dane.

  Still, I wanted it to be me.

  I only caught glimpses of Phoebe a few times during the crossover between rotations, and each time was marred by his presence. Once, I’d even spotted them laughing together. Laughing! Like there was anything funny about this place.

  Meanwhile, I had sparring sessions about twice a week. That was double most kids’ schedule, but I knew it was because I was still being difficult.

  As in, I refused to fight. It was my personal little rebellion against the sickos hiding behind that stupid mirror.

  What were they going to do… kill me?

  I had a gut feeling my parents were the only reason I was still alive. The fact that they’d been allowed to enter Lansing at all said that they held some amount of sway. I didn’t know how much or how long it would last though.

  And I certainly got punished. Warrick was always on hand during my “fights” now, but he wasn’t called in until after my opponent roughed me up first. After a while, they quit trying to get me to engage and just skipped straight to the torture.

  An unexpected result of this was that I seemed to have earned the respect of the other inmates. They knew how strong I was. That I could take people down if I wanted to. By refusing to play the warden’s game, I’d apparently made a name for myself.

  Today I was scheduled for another match. When I walked into the sparring room, I sighed heavily. I was in for a world of hurt.

  I hadn’t had any interaction with them, but everyone knew about the twins. Titus, who was Cal’s cellmate, looked exactly like his twin brother, minus the colorful body ink. Fang had a snake tattoo winding up the length of his arm and actual fangs protruding from the sides of his mouth. Both were big and bulky and intimidating. And I wasn’t exactly small.

  While the warden rattled off her usual nonsense, I tried to remember this twin’s superpower. Moments later, I found myself upside down and a few feet off the ground. I had my answer.

  Telekinesis. Great.

  As all the blood in my body rushed to my head, I tried being grateful that it wasn’t pouring out of my body instead. But I was completely helpless and exposed.

  I closed my eyes and braced myself for whatever was coming next. When I didn’t feel a punch to the face or gut or anywhere else on my body, I opened my eyes.

  Titus now sat cross-legged just a few feet in front of me, our eyes practically eye level. And he was smiling.

  “Just wave the white flag when you’re ready. I’ll drop you, and we’ll call it a day.”

  I squinted at him. “You’re not going to fight?”

  His expression turned serious. “I’m not fightin’ somebody who won’t fight back. They can monitor my powers all they want with you hanging like this. Nothing they can do.”

  Obviously they hadn’t sicced Warrick on him yet.

  “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to have any white flags on you?”

  Titus grinned again. “Good point.” A pause. “I like you, Chief. You should play football with me and the boys at rec. You play?”

  “A time or two,” I said with a small smirk.

  “You played in high school, didn’t you?”

  I couldn’t believe I was grinning during the middle of a match—while hanging upside down, no less—but here I was. Strange times.

  The warden’s voice sounded over the speaker. “You may begin.”
>
  Titus gestured to my floating form. “I’m working my magic here. Chief, with all his strength, can’t get down. We’re at an impasse. Either call it, or we stay like this until you get bored looking at us.” He raised his brows at the mirror in a clear challenge.

  This guy had guts. I liked him.

  Only I hoped they made a decision soon. I could feel the extra weight on my lungs, and it was getting harder to breathe.

  The warden didn’t respond. Titus turned back to me. “So, football?”

  I pulled in a breath. “Sure, sounds great.”

  The intercom crackled. “That’s enough. Titus McDonnell, you have won this match. Thank you, and have a good day.”

  Titus’s smile widened, but I frowned. It was too easy. No way were they going to let us get away with that.

  Suddenly, I was flipped back around and dropped unceremoniously back on the floor. Dizzy, I stumbled and fell.

  “Sorry, bro.” Titus extended a hand, and I took it.

  “Thanks,” I said as he helped me back up. “For everything.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  The door opened and I turned just as Warrick walked in the room. My stomach took another tumble. Would they torture us both for insubordination?

  I eyed the guard warily, but to my surprise, he stepped out of the doorway and waved his hand with a flourish. ““Y’all are lucky the boss lady is feeling generous today,” he sneered. “Don’t count on it happening again.”

  We were free to go? Why? What was different about this time?

  Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I headed for the door. Titus followed.

  Still not believing we were getting off that easily, I held my breath all the way back to my cell.

  Venom was pacing when I arrived. He didn’t bother hiding his surprise. “I thought you were sparring today?”

  “I did.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “You’re back too soon. And without a scratch on you. Did you finally win?”

  “No,” I said as I sat on my bed. “Actually, I got invited to play football with the twins.”

  Venom visibly cringed. “Last time I got invited to play with them, I was the ball.”

  A laugh burst from my mouth, making Venom scowl. I could imagine Titus using his telekinesis to hoist hundred-pound Venom in the air and tossing him around. But I quickly bit back my smile. I might have made it through another match, but if I wasn’t careful, I might not survive the night.

  At rec, I met up with Rocky, Birdie, Tex, and Cal and told them about today’s match. “Titus invited me to play football.”

  Rocky cocked a brow. “Oh yeah?”

  “He’s never invited me,” Cal grumbled.

  “You should do it,” Birdie said. “It’ll be fun to watch!”

  I lowered my voice. “I was thinking it’d be a good opportunity to make some allies.”

  Cal propped his feet up on the table. “Allies for what, dude? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about trying to make another run for it.”

  I frowned. “I mean… we all want to get out of here, right?”

  Tex looked down at his hands. Even Rocky seemed interested in fixing her ponytail, the first time I’d ever seen her do that. “Come on,” I said. “You’ve all given up?”

  Rocky bristled. “Did you happen to notice the insane amount of security in this place?” she bit out. “The most powerful supernaturals have lived at this place since well before we got here. Have you heard of anyone escaping? Because I sure haven’t.”

  “No, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, it can’t. Maybe you’ve been hit in the head a few too many times now. You should get that checked out.” A pause, and then, “Oh wait, you can’t, because we’re in prison.”

  “Maybe we could get a message out,” Birdie suggested quietly.

  I pointed at her. “See, Birdie hasn’t given up.”

  Tex settled back in his chair. “I don’t know how we’d do that. Cathy can’t reach that far with her abilities. We’d have to brainstorm with the other supers in here—”

  “Exactly,” I said. “Which is why we need allies.”

  “And you really think they’d help us try to get out of here?” Rocky nodded toward the twins, who’d already started tossing around a football. “They’re popular. Why would they want to leave?”

  “Look at them.” Everyone at the table turned their head in the twins’ direction. I hadn’t meant everyone at the same time. “They’ve got to be getting close to eighteen.”

  “Yeah, but what if they let the cat out of the bag?” Cal asked. “I don’t want another Woody repeat.”

  “Neither do I.” That was the last thing I wanted. “I’m just going to play a little ball. Feel things out. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.”

  I stood, gave the group what I hoped was a reassuring thumbs up, and headed in the direction of the twins. “Yo, Chief!”

  Fang tossed the football to me, and I snatched it easily out of the air. Even though it had been months since I touched a pigskin, holding it felt as natural as breathing. I threw it to Titus, who grinned. “Glad you decided to join us,” he said.

  “Thanks for the invite.”

  The twins introduced me to the other players, all pretty powerful from the sound of it. I filed away their abilities in my mind for future reference.

  Then I lost myself in the game. I wouldn’t call any of my experiences here at Lansing “fun,” but this was the closest to fun I’d had. And the guys seemed impressed with my skills.

  “You’ve got a good arm,” Fang observed.

  I flexed. “Yeah, well… super strength.”

  He laughed and chucked the ball at me. “Titus said you used to play.”

  “I did. My power was a blessing and a curse. I was good but couldn’t be too good, you know?”

  “That was Titus with basketball,” Fang said, passing the ball to him. “Doesn’t look like he could play the sport, but man, he could get that ball in the hoop.”

  “Cheater,” I teased, grinning at Titus.

  “You’re one to talk,” he shot back with a laugh.

  By the time rec was over, I’d gotten my sweat on and felt better than I had in ages. I hadn’t realized how much I missed football until now.

  The twins walked on either side of me, clapping me on the back. “You gotta hang with us more often,” Fang said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Definitely. Whenever you want to play, just jump in,” Titus said.

  “Thanks. And good game.”

  We disbanded to head back to our cells. Most of the kids had already left, but I stopped near the doorway to tie my shoe. I hoped the delay might give me a chance to see Phoebe.

  I didn’t see her, but what I did notice was a conspicuous dip in guard presence at this time. I filed that away for future reference too.

  Without meaning to, I also eavesdropped on a conversation between two guards standing on the other side of the door, just out of sight.

  “Which room? The one in the south wing?” one asked.

  “Yeah.” Pause. “You ever wonder why we can’t go in?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. It’s The Witch’s secret lair.” The guy over-exaggerated an evil laugh.

  Huh. I figured the guards all worshipped the ground the warden walked on.

  “She won’t let anyone in? What do you think she’s keeping in there?”

  “Dunno, but it’s always locked. Whatever it is…” The guard trailed off and then— “Hey, get moving!”

  I looked up and realized I’d been caught. Pulling my laces tight, I stood and did as they said.

  All the way back to my cell, I thought about the mysterious room the guards were talking about. Trying to figure out what she kept in there was pointless though. There were a million different things that woman could be hiding.

  Despite not seeing Phoebe, it was a good day. Only one among many, but I’d take w
hat I could get.

  I’d gotten an ‘in’ with some powerful guys, who were surprisingly cool to hang around with too. And I’d learned a few new things about the prison that could be useful if we decided to try to escape.

  It was a start.

  If we did attempt to leave, I wasn’t about to leave a single stone unturned this time. It had to be done right—or not at all.

  14

  Phoebe

  “Have you seen that kid before?”

  I looked to Cathy, who nodded in the direction of a boy about Birdie’s age. He stood in the lunch line, twisting his hands together and looking around like he was lost.

  “No, but that doesn’t mean much.”

  The days all bled together, but I guessed we’d been here at least a month. I still didn’t know who everyone was yet.

  “Are you two talking without me again?” Dane asked playfully.

  “Busted,” I said, nudging Cathy in the shoulder. “Dane would know better than me anyway.”

  He looked to Cathy. “Know what?”

  “I wondered if that kid over there was new,” she said.

  Dane followed our gazes. “Definitely new. We should say ‘hi.’” Without another thought, he abandoned his spot in line and sidled up to the new kid.

  Cathy and I exchanged looks. “Looks like we’re going to meet the new kid,” she said, and we moved to join the two boys.

  “Hey, I’m Dane,” he said, extending a hand.

  The boy didn’t take it, still twisting his fingers together nervously. Dane dropped his, not looking offended in the least. “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Cooper.” The answer was so quiet I had to lean in to catch it, but it sounded like he said it with a southern accent.

  “That’s a good name, Cooper. Where’re you from?”

  “Oklahoma City.”

  A wide grin spread across Dane’s face. “Well, isn’t that cool? I’m from Oklahoma, too.”

  Cooper stopped twisting his hands. “You are?”

  “Yup. Born and raised. You ever been to the zoo?”

  Cooper nodded.