Immediately, I want to gag and spit it out. It feels like acid on my tongue, and I rush to swallow it. The acid feeling goes all the way throughout my body, and then blinding pain, terrible, swift pain, overwhelms me. Tears stream down my face, and I want to kick, to writhe around, but I can’t. I can’t do anything with being tied up.
Correction. I can lie down. I discover that by accident.
The guard just laughs as he leaves, and I blink. Tears keep on pouring down me, and I wish I could cuddle into a ball. The pain is agonizing. It feels as if my body is burning from the inside out.
Spring must fucking hate this.
I force my eyes open. She’s sitting there, handling this much better than I am, and I wonder if she dissociates, if that’s how she survived her mom burning her.
She’s experienced torture like this before.
This is torture. It’s terrible, and it’s abusive, and there’s no way this should be allowed. Is this why so few fairies are allowed to leave? Because of the corruption here? How often do they administer this root?
I have to say that I’m not surprised that Cosmo, Drake, or Trevan weren’t the ones to give this to us.
I’m not sure how much time passes, but I do think I hear a few bells for meals for the other prisoners. The pain hasn’t abated any, and if it goes on for too much longer, I don’t know if I can handle it.
Eventually, sleep comes somehow, although I wake up constantly. Finally, after what might have been days, I open my eyes and realize the pain is gone.
Well, not gone entirely. The loss of magic sensation is back full-bore, and I hate that feeling almost as much as the pain from the root.
“Look what you got for us, you little shit,” Spring snaps.
“You’re the one who tried to kill me. Did you expect me to just roll over and die?”
“Yes, honestly. You have nothing to live for,” she says.
“Are you crazy? I don’t want to die!”
"What do you have to look forward to? Yes, you have looks, but you can't tell me that you honestly think the guards will fuck you. Even Cosmo hasn't touched you, has he? No, no, he hasn't. You aren't going to pussy your way out of here. That's not how this place works."
I say nothing. She can go ahead and rant for all I care. If I say anything, it’s only going to make things worse. I’ve tried to reason with her, but there’s just no reasoning with the mad woman.
"You didn't graduate from Light Fae Academy, and they won't take you back. Your parents must be so disappointed in you. I mean, do you think they'll want you in their treehouse ever again? And Rosemary will have moved on. She might even have little babies by the time you get out. Or maybe they'll be fully grown. Who knows?"
I maintain my silence.
"No one will hire you. No one will trust you. You might be able to fuck your way to get yourself food so you don't have to hunt and gather your own meals. You better hope that neither fairy court tries to recruit you because once they find out, you’ll probably be sent right back here.”
“Why would they recruit me?” I can’t help asking with a shudder. I don’t like the fairy courts. Being a free fairy means the world to me, which makes being here that much worse.
“You do have looks, after all, and they like to have the most beautiful fairies at the court, but beautiful, dangerous fairies? Fairies tainted by demons and darkness? No. No, they would rather you be locked up for the rest of your life. And before you think you can just avoid them, if they learn about you, and they will because you love to flaunt your body around and fuck everyone with a dick, they will recruit you. Don’t think you can just pretend to have not been here. They have seers, you know.”
“I really doubt I have to worry about that,” I say firmly. “Because they would’ve recruited me already.”
“No. They wait until a fairy is in her twenties to come. You are already there, aren’t you? If not, you have to be close. Time’s a ticking.”
I swallow hard. I’ve lost track of the days here, but I think my twenty-first birthday might’ve come and gone already.
“So, yeah. They’ll recruit you, and you’ll be dead to them. Maybe dead dead. Wouldn’t that make the world a better place?”
“An uglier place,” I counter.
“You’re so fucking full of yourself!”
“All you do is put down others. Learned that from your mom, did you?”
I shouldn’t have said that, but she’s pissing me off. I can’t stand it, and I can’t stand her.
“You think you’re so high and mighty, don’t you, Bay? You can’t even be true to yourself and know who you are. Don’t give me that—”
“Spring, you need to shut up. You love to talk and hear the sound of your own voice, but no one, and I mean no one, wants to hear what you have to say.”
“You’re a bitch of a fairy! I’m going to rip your wings off and—”
“Do you honestly think I’ll allow you to do that? I don’t think so. You aren’t going to touch me ever again.”
"That's what you think," she hisses. "You and Cosmo and the rest of them, you're all so damn gullible. All I have to do is talk about my mom, and you all think, oh, poor Spring! I’m not poor, and I don’t want your pity. I’m over that crap with my mom, but if you think for one second that I’m going to let you waltz in here and act like you own the place? You better have another thing coming.”
“Think,” I correct.
“What?”
“It’s you better have another think coming. If I think one thing that’s wrong, I better have another think coming. Get it?”
“So what, you’re smarter than I am too? Is that what you’re trying to prove? Because I’ll give you a fucking thing and a fucking think, and I won’t regret it for one second. Not one second! You better believe that I don’t give a rat’s ass about you or anyone else here.”
“Not even Trevan, huh?”
“Don’t act like he wants you, Bay. He doesn’t. It’s Drake I told you who admires your ass, not Trevan. He’s not into you.”
“I don’t—”
“You do care. Don’t try to deny it. You always do that. You did it back at the academy. You’ll have a group of guys flocking to you, and you pick out one to fuck and then another and another. You line ‘em up, screw the ones you want, ignore the ones you don’t. You use and abuse. You and my mom, you’re one and the same.”
“Not true.”
“It is fucking true!” she shrieks. “Don’t you dare try to say you’re different because you aren’t! You—”
“You both need to shut up,” Cosmo says firmly.
Immediately, our cell opens, and he flies in. Swiftly, with a practiced air that makes me think he’s done this plenty of times before, he gags Spring.
And then he flies out.
He only gagged her, and I can’t help it. She looks so utterly pissed as I burst out laughing. This is only going to make her hate me that much more, but at the moment, I don’t really care.
27
Two hours pass, and I can’t stand this anymore. I need to get out of here, but the bell has rung for the inmates to eat. I don’t know what meal. Dinner? I would have to wait for the lights to go out in the stone for me to have an idea of what time of day it is. Yes, the cells have windows, but there’s almost a covering to them so you can’t look out. No sunlight or moonlight or starlight can get through.
They cut us off from nature as much as possible, and I’m so over all of this. This place is bad enough as it is, but having Spring for a roommate makes things even worse.
And then… I have to pee.
Seriously? I really don’t want to piss myself, but there’s not even a toilet in the room. It’s not surprising that my body is already adjusted so I only have to go during mealtimes, but they haven’t let me out during at least three of them. It’s a wonder that I haven’t had to pee before now, but I also am not drinking as much right now either. That drink they give us is disgusting.
I
eye Spring. She’s asleep. I’m not about to risk waking her by yelling for a guard. Besides, depending on the guard, he might just let me piss myself and even stick around to laugh and mock me for it.
I’m tied up, my ankles, arms, and wrists all bound, but I manage to stand and then hop over to the door. The inmates parade on back from their meal. A quick glance over my shoulder reveals Spring to still be asleep. I don’t think it’s an act, and I clear my throat when Trevan walks by.
He glances at me. His expression is pained.
“I really have to pee,” I whisper.
“Are you serious?”
I nod glumly. “I know. Not ideal, but…”
“You better need to,” he grumbles. “Let me get them all to their cells. I’ll be back.”
He returns a few minutes later. His gaze drifts over my shoulder.
“She’s asleep.”
Trevan grunts and opens the door. I quickly rush out, well, as quickly as I can hope. I don’t ask him to untie me, and he doesn’t. Wow.
He does put a hand on my elbow to help my balance as he escorts me to the cafeteria bathroom. Much to my surprise, he follows me into the bathroom, which, ah, is just a room. There’s no stalls or anything.
“You like to watch a girl pee?” I ask.
“Not really, but I have to oversee you. You’re on the Watch List.”
“Aren’t I lucky. Fine. You can stay.”
His lips quirk. “You’ll allow it?”
“I guess so.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“No, but you do.” I stare up at him and hold out my hands as much as my bound arms allow. “Please untie me. If you have to undo my clothes, that would be hella awkward.”
“Would it now?” he asks, his tone changing. He steps right up to me, invading my personal space.
My breathing hitches, and I suck in a breath. If he goes to kiss me, I'll let him. I would kiss the fuck out of him.
And if he wants more?
I don’t know. I can’t get the thought of Spring sucking him out of my mind. It’s not that I care that he had sex with others before me. Trust me. I’m not one to judge, but Spring? His prisoner? It rubs me wrong.
Yet, I want him to fuck me, and that would be the guard-prisoner bit all over again. It shouldn’t bother me if he had sex with a prisoner before if I want him to again.
The issue lies with Spring. She’s insane, and that he would have done it with her makes me question him and his loyalties.
“You’re thinking about Spring, aren’t you?” he asks.
“What makes you think that?”
“You’re scowling.”
“Am I? Maybe that’s because you haven’t undressed me yet,” I coo.
He laughs. “Do you want me to undress you or not? Because I thought you said it would be hella awkward if I undid your clothes.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Maybe I changed my mind.”
“Hmm.”
He undoes my black jumpsuit to reveal the clothes I had been wearing when I was brought in.
A quiet, “Fuck,” passes through his lips, and he unbinds my arms, wrists, and ankles.
“Didn’t know what to expect underneath, huh?” I ask as I step out of the jumpsuit. I jump a bit so my boobs bounce in my killer black bra. The extremely low cut halter top goes almost down to my navel. My super short black skirt flies up as I twirl around to model my outfit. “You like?”
“Just go about your business, Bay.”
I wink. “You are my business.”
“Go ahead and pee already.”
“Pushy, pushy.” I wink again and do my business as requested. I’m glad he turned around, but I wouldn’t have cared much if he watched. So long as I have my hands free. I need a little bit of dignity, thank you very much.
I wash my hands and then turn to him. “Thank you for being my hero.”
“Bringing you to the bathroom makes me a hero? You have low standards, girl.”
“I might. You can raise the bar, though, if you want.”
“I’m sure I could.”
“But that doesn’t mean you want to. Fine. I see how it is.”
He shakes his head, a slow smile spreading. “You are something else.”
“Oh, please. I’m sure the inmates here fawn all over you all the time. I’m not special.”
“There is something about you,” he murmurs.
I wince. Had he said that about Spring?
“Fuck, Bay, Spring sucked my dick before she ever attended Light Fae Academy. I didn’t really even want her to. I was drunk, and what guy is going to say no? I didn’t even realize what she was doing at first. That’s how drunk I was. By the time I tried to get her to stop, I was already past the point of no return.”
“Oh, wow. I’m sorry.”
“So if anyone took advantage of anyone, she did me. But I don’t want to talk about her.”
“Fine. We don’t have to,” I say in a rush, but I can already tell that the time for flirting has come and gone. He’s all stiff, and I don’t mean his cock. With a sigh, I figure I might as well go for it. “But I wouldn’t mind knowing about Spring during her time here.”
“Bay…”
“Please. I feel like there might be something missing, something I don’t know.”
He grimaces and motions for me to come over to him. Trevan places his hands on either side of my head, and I think he might go to kiss me, but then he nods. Slowly, I place my hands on his head, mirroring him.
And that’s when I realize he doesn’t want to verbally tell me about Spring’s past.
He wants to tell me telepathically.
I haven’t been able to get into many heads other than Spring’s that one time, and a thrill races through me at the idea of using magic again.
Bay, can you hear me?
Yes, Trevan. I grin at him, but he’s not smiling, not at all. In fact, he looks downright scared, which frightens me. What is it?
Spring’s been a huge problem for us ever since she first was brought here.
Wow. Color me surprised.
You don’t know the half of it.
Just tell me already, I plead into his mind.
You really don’t want to know.
Trust me. I can handle it, and I have a few guesses. My imagination can be a scary place so just… just go ahead and blurt it on out. I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.
Which is why you have blood all over you from that fight.
I do? I didn’t pay much attention to that. Wow. I must look like a sight.
You're a looker, all right.
Trevan? Stop delaying it.
You want to know? Fine. She’s killed two of her roommates so far.
28
I go to draw my hands away from Trevan, but he shakes his head.
Drake’s been assigned to Spring more than any of us, so he’s taken it hard. He really doesn’t want you to die too.
I nod, not trusting myself to send him any thoughts in particular. My mind is racing, so I might not even be able to block any of my thoughts even though I try to. I am out of practice, after all.
But Drake doesn’t want me. He doesn’t have feelings for me. He just doesn’t want me to die, and while I appreciate that, I also can’t help feeling a little bummed. He just sees me as a piece of ass, which, honestly, I’m used to guys thinking that, but I thought Drake might be different.
As for Trevan, I don’t know if he has any feelings for me, either. Maybe only Cosmo does, and I still have my reservations about him, about whether he can be happy with one girl long-term.
And I don’t know if I can be happy with only one guy long-term, so it’s not far at all for me to ask him to be with only me when I might want to dip with others.
Fuck. None of this is to mention that Spring is a murderer after all!
You don’t have to worry. We’re here for you—Cosmo, Drake, and me.
Yeah. Big help you all are. None of you gave us that root.<
br />
There’s a reason for that. Maybe you should be less judgmental. Rocko gave it out. He owed Drake a favor. Drake didn’t want to give it for multiple reasons, the chief being that he diluted the root.”
Wait. So that wasn’t full potency?
No. Not even half.
Fuck! That had been almost impossible to handle as it was!
I know. We're sorry for that, but it had to be bad, or else someone would've suspected.
Was hers lessened too?
We didn’t have a choice. Otherwise, we would’ve risked you getting the full and her the half.
Wow. Thank you all. I… I don’t know what to say.
You aren’t really saying anything. He winks.
I wish you told me this earlier. It’s important. I thought she hadn’t killed anyone, but to learn that she’s killed roommates before… At first, I glower at him, and then I just shake my head and laugh. You were right. I don’t want someone else with Spring. I appreciate Drake looking out for me, but then someone else would’ve died.
You want to fight her.
I don’t want to, no, but I will.
That’s what I figure. You can handle yourself.
Yes. Of course I can.
Trevan nods and crosses over to the sink. He washes my face and then reaches into the stone. It must be an illusion, and he brings out a new black jumpsuit.
“This one should be washed,” he says. “We know how to get bloodstains out.”
“I’m sure,” I murmur as I get dressed.
When Trevan brings me back to my cell, Spring’s gone, but I’m only alone in my cell for a minute before Drake brings her back.
“Come along, Bay. It’s time for your meal.”
I nod. Guess we’re going to have to take turns eating and at odd times too because the rest of the inmates remain in their cells.
Spring doesn’t even look at me as she goes into her cell. She’s tied up. Trevan tied me back up before we left the bathroom.
I hop alongside Drake. Once we reach the cafeteria, he guides me to a spot that already has a tray, and I go to sit, but he unties me first.
Dark Fae Penitentiary: First Transgression Page 13
