Dark Curse

by Kim Richardson

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I looked over his shoulder to Layla who looked like she was about to throw up, and to Tyrius and Kora, their ears flat on their heads and their fur bristling. I swallowed hard. “Look after Layla and the baals for me, okay? Promise me.”

  The vampire squeezed my shoulder. “I will. I promise.”

  “Okay, enough chitchat. Let’s go.” Beard-guy grabbed my arm. The last thing I saw was the vampire’s black eyes narrowed in anger as the guy hauled me through the crowd. The remaining GHOSTS formed two lines on either side of me as we marched towards the doors, my own giant escort army.

  Tyrius’s loud and grief-stricken meowl had my eyes burning, and hot tears spilled down my cheeks. I didn’t care that the GHOSTS saw. I didn’t care that the Gray Council saw either.

  The Gray Council, members of my community, my own people were sending me to prison, to hell on earth, a place where I might not even make it back alive. But the emotion festering in the pit of my belly wasn’t fear. It was glorious anger.

  My world had turned their back on me, and I was going to turn my back on them.

  I halted and turned, my eyes finding Lisbeth still on the dais looking down at me.

  “You think you’ve won, but that’s only an illusion,” I shouted over the cacophony of voices, bile rising in the back of my throat at her smug smile. “You think this council will protect you from me? It won’t. I’m coming for you,” I vowed. “I kill evil for a living. And one day I will kill you, you evil bitch. That’s a promise.”

  And that was a promise I would keep.

  6

  I knew one day my lawless attitude and my wild and boisterous ways would come to bite me in the ass. I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. Or that it involved a trip to the Silent Gallows. Nice going, Rowyn.

  Strangely enough, I was both excited and nervous about seeing this supernatural prison with my own eyes. Tyrius had compared it to the Netherworld on this side of the planes, and that had only increased my curiosity tenfold. Hell, the Netherworld, I was always led to believe, was a place of endless torment and pain. But after seeing Lucian, I didn’t buy it. I was sure there was more to the Netherworld than we knew. A lot more. Perhaps this prison was just the same, a whole lot of nothing.

  Granted, you didn’t get to see the high-security prison unless you were, one—a prison guard or two—a convict. Lucky me, I was the latter. Hurray.

  I was wound up, and I added the Silent Gallows to my list of things I’d achieved before my untimely death.

  Maybe I was crazy. Maybe this dark gift had rendered me insane. But I was jumpy with excitement as sweet adrenaline flowed through my body. I felt pretty good all things considered.

  But what had me wired into a tight ball of anticipation was the thrill of escaping. I would be the first to escape the Silent Gallows.

  And then I was going to kill Lisbeth.

  I was nervous, sweaty, shaky, and I wanted to throw up. Preferably on one of the GHOSTS.

  I sat sandwiched between two of them, the bearded one whose name turned out to be Dan, and another larger one who went by the name Tiny. Both werewolves. Swell. Opposite me and my dates, were two others, one female who wore her pointy ears outside her cap, her gaunt features screaming faerie, and the other a male who stunk of old blood, vampire boy. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and I thought that was even more bizarre than being escorted to jail in a sophisticated helicopter.

  After spending five hours being processed and recorded into the Gray Council records—now that I officially had a record—I’d been surprised to find a black and white commercial chopper waiting for me on the top of the high rise. Yup. I was that special. Yay me.

  Of course, Silent Gallows was even more appealing now that you needed to take a freaking chopper to get there. Yes, that was another added problem to my breaking out. If I needed to fly in... how the hell was I going to fly out?

  A quiver went through me. The world seemed so small from way up here. The sky was so blue and bright. I might never see it again, but I had it here for now. It was a world of blue. Everywhere I looked, we were surrounded by different hues of blue, the bright blue sky and the surrounding aqua colored ocean that went on forever.

  We’d been flying for at least two hours, straight above the Atlantic Ocean. I knew nothing was there but water. No islands that I knew of, and I couldn’t see any signs of the mainland either. Where the hell were we going?

  It wasn’t the smooth ride I’d first thought it would be. After only a few minutes inside, the ride got jerky. The helicopter started jolting, lurching several feet in the air and then back down again. If I hadn’t been strapped in, I probably would have slammed my head against one of the GHOSTS. I couldn’t help but wonder if the pilot was doing that on purpose.

  I wasn’t depressed. I was pissed that I was wrongly accused, but more pissed that I would miss my date with Gareth. All that time spent waxing for nothing.

  I rolled my shoulders, stiff and now throbbing from my arms being cuffed behind my back.

  “Well, this is nice,” I yelled to Dan over the noise of the chopper. My wrists and ankles started a nagging ache from the iron cuffs. “As long as I’m going, I might as well go out in style, right?”

  When he didn’t answer I said, “So, how much longer till we reach my new palace? I hear the food’s to die for. Five stars, right?”

  “You think you’re tough. Don’t you?” shouted the bearded man over the loud bata-bata-bata of the helicopter’s propeller.

  I cocked my brow. “Tougher than you. Take these cuffs off and I’ll show you just how tough I am, Danny boy.”

  Dan and Tiny shared a look and then both laughed. “That don’ mean shit. You won’t last a day,” said Dan, showing me more of his yellow teeth, and again they started to laugh.

  “We’ve got you down for ten hours tops,” said Tiny, his voice loud over the chopper.

  My mouth dropped open. “You’ve got a bet going on me?” I guessed he meant Dan and him.

  Tiny shrugged, pulling my shoulder up with his. “Nothing new. We do it all the time.” He smirked at me. “All the GHOSTS are betting on you back in the city. You should take that as a compliment. Most prisoners last about four hours. But seeing as you’re a Hunter and all, I’m betting you could last a little longer. I’ve got two thousand on you. Don’t disappoint me, Hunter.”

  “Two thousand? That’s it? You should have put down more money,” I argued as I shifted my weight to try and get the blood flowing back into my arms. “I’m going to last more than a day.” And then I’m breaking out, you gray douches.

  “I say she gets it in only four hours,” said the fae female, her pointed teeth showing through her smile. “She’ll crack. And when she does, she’s just another meal for them.”

  My stomach churned. I didn’t like where this conversation was going. “For whom? Who are you talking about?”

  A pang of fear slipped into me and then vanished to be replaced with annoyance. Maybe they were just messing with me. This was a game to them.

  Dan frowned at me. “Just try to stay alive for ten hours. There’s lot of money at stake here. I’ve already put a deposit on a motorcycle.”

  I pursed my lips. “I don’t think they make them big enough for you.”

  “Ten hours. Got it?”

  I glowered at him. “How about you go screw yourself.” Like hell I was going to die in less than ten hours. What kind of prison was this? I was supposed to serve out a life sentence. This wasn’t supposed to be an execution. Or was it?

  The faerie laughed. “The weak ones always go first,” she said, her eyes rolling over me in a way that had the hairs on the back of my neck rising. “It’s the supernatural way of removing the weak. Survival of the fittest or some crap like that.”

  “I’m not weak,” I protested, wishing I could pull out her canines with my bare hands. “Quite the opposite. All you have to do is remove these cuffs and we can have a really nice cat fight.”
I gave her a smile that matched her own. “I’ll purr and you’ll hiss. It’ll be a blast. I’ll even let you scratch my belly if you want.”

  I was going to fry her ass with my gift, but I didn’t know how to control it, and the last thing I needed was to hit the pilot by mistake. I couldn’t fly. My archdemon dad never gave me any wings.

  The faerie gave a small laugh and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “You’re weak and stupid because you got caught.”

  “Only because there was a misunderstanding,” I answered. “If I’d known it was an ambush, I would never have gone to the goddamn council.”

  “But you did.” She gave me a smile reminiscent of the dark fae queen. “And you got caught. Just like you’re going to get caught now. And this time, you’re not going to like it.”

  “Right,” I laughed, “because this has been a joy ride.”

  The fae leaned back into her seat, never losing her smile. “Go ahead, laugh. Because it might be the last time you’ll ever hear that sound coming from your mouth. Once we land... it’s all screams.” Her tone was slightly mocking.

  I gave her a sidelong glance. “Why? What happens when we land?” My instincts clamored in alarm. My mouth felt dry and I realized I hadn’t had anything to drink or eat since I’d left my apartment. Not good. Whatever I’d be facing, I’d be facing it dehydrated and with an empty stomach.

  “It starts,” said Dan, his voice barely audible over the chopper.

  I sat straighter. “What does?”

  “The money machine,” said the man, a smug smile on his face. “As soon as we land, you’re going to make us a lot of money.”

  “Sick bastards,” I grumbled, wanting to gouge out his eyeballs with my fingers. Still, they were giving me useful information without really realizing they were doing it.

  If they were betting on how long I’d last in prison, that meant as soon as we landed, something or someone was coming after me. But who? Or what? Other inmates? Or did the prison guards take turns torturing me?

  Either way, it was bad, and I had to prepare myself. I had no weapons, which was bad. But these four clowns all had guns in holsters around their chests. If only I could get my hands on one of them.

  But maybe I could get them to tell me more.

  I my gaze fell on the vampire. He was lean, with that chiseled vampire bone structure similar to Danto’s, but much younger and not as strikingly handsome. He’d kept quiet this whole time, not even talking to the other guards or joining in the conversations. Maybe he was loyal to Danto.

  The vampire guard caught my eye and I gave it a shot. “What happens at the prison?” His lips parted as if he was about to answer me, but then he looked at Dan and moved his gaze out the window.

  “You’ll figure it out soon enough,” said Dan, grinning with just his lips.

  I turned my head towards the werewolf. “You want me to live. Don’t you? At least ten hours right? So how about you give me a few pointers? Like, what I’m a looking for? Who’s coming to get me?”

  The werewolf looked at me, his brows lowered in thought. And for a moment I thought I had him. “Just keep your ass alive for ten hours. Got it?”

  I clamped my jaw. “I’ll need a weapon. How about you give me a gun?”

  Dan chuckled. “Forget it. No weapons allowed.”

  “You suck as a business partner.” I sighed heavily, wishing Tyrius were here.

  My pulse hammered and I felt hot. How bad could this stupid prison be?

  The chopper jerked and my stomach ended up in my throat. I felt us descending and when I looked over Dan’s shoulder, I could see land. No. Not land, but an island.

  The Silent Gallows was on an island?

  Tiny caught me looking and smiled at the shock on my face. “Not what you expected? It never is.”

  I stared at the island and the greenery that stretched at least five miles. It was draped in emerald valleys, sharp mountain spires and jagged cliffs aged by time and the elements. It was quite beautiful, that is if I was on my way to a five-star hotel resort and not some paranormal prison.

  “I didn’t expect it to be an on an island,” I said. A second after that, an odd frisson crawled across my nerves, and I felt my heart pound a little more quickly. The earlier demands my body had been making returned in a rush. “But now that I think about it... it makes sense. Kind of like a larger, beautified version of Alcatraz.”

  Of course it had to be. How else could they secure hundreds or maybe even thousands of half-breeds and angel-borns with supernatural strengths? It came as no surprise that no one ever broke out. The Silent Gallows prison was on an island in the middle of nowhere. How the hell was I going to get off that island? I was a good swimmer, but I wasn’t a fish. I couldn’t swim my way home, but I swore to the souls I’d find a way to get back to my friends.

  The chopper descended into a large meadow and I was surprised at how soft the landing was.

  I glanced through the window around the meadow. All I could see were trees, and then some more trees, giant pine trees and other conifers. “Where’s the prison?” I couldn’t see any buildings through the trees or any paths leading to it. It looked...wild. Uninhabited.

  “You better find shelter before dark,” said Dan as he uncuffed my legs, the iron cuffs falling next to my boots. The faerie across from me had her gun pointed at my chest, grinning like she wanted me to make a move so she could shoot me. The vampire boy stared out the window, pretending like I didn’t exist. Lovely.

  Dan yanked me around to work the cuffs around my arms, and I nearly moaned as they fell from my wrists. I brought my arms around, rubbing my shoulders and arm muscles, trying to get the blood circulating properly.

  I caught Dan watching me. I smiled at him, scooting closer and batting my eyelashes. “Do I get a good-luck kiss?” I leaned over, nearly sitting on him.

  The man narrowed his eyes at me, but I saw him flush as he turned away, clearly not comfortable with me so close.

  Tiny reached over and opened the chopper’s door. “Get out. Now.”

  I got to my feet, hunched over and still rubbing my wrists. “Why do I need to find shelter? Where’s the prison? Where’s the Silent Gallows? Is someone going to pick me up? How—”

  Something hard hit me in the back and I pitched forward, flying out of the helicopter. My breath left me as I landed hard on my stomach, and my hip bone flared up in pain. Damn. Not the elegant exit I was going for.

  My eyes watered as I got to my feet. The downdraft from the chopper all but blinded me, and I squinted as the gusts of wind sent debris into my face. Tiny and the fae female were smiling down at me as though they thought I was bait—defenseless and weaponless. Then the helicopter arched up, banking to the left as it made its way back towards the open sea.

  I smiled back at them and waved. “Thanks for your gun, asshole!” I shouted and dropped Dan’s gun against the small of my back.

  7

  It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brilliant sun, and I stayed in the same spot to assess my new surroundings, my new pied-à-terre for the time being.

  I stood in the meadow facing the mountains with the ocean behind me. Tall grasses swayed in the breeze, bringing forth the smell of the ocean, wet earth and wildflowers. The plush, knee-deep grass was damp from rain a few hours prior. After staring long enough, I could make out a trail of hard-packed dirt cutting through the grass and leading out of the meadow into the forest at the root of the mountains. I scowled. No matter what forest I entered, I was always struck with a familiar foreboding and spooky feeling, like I was trespassing and the trees didn’t want me in there.

  Turning on the spot, I glanced around. “Hello?” I called. “Anyone here? New prisoner just arrived?” I waited, listening, but all I heard were the rustling leaves from the trees and the distant rolls of waves hitting the beaches below.

  Where were the prison guards to escort me to my new home? Was the prison at the end of this path? Even so, I needed to get out of
the hot sun and find some water and wild berries to eat, if there were any. I didn’t want to face what was coming dehydrated and on an empty stomach.

  But the lack of food and the idea of going through a creepy forest weren’t what had my skin suddenly erupting in goosebumps.

  There was something unnatural, maybe supernatural, about this island. Something didn’t belong, like some kind of horrible strain was upon the island.

  I knew that much, but I could also sense a deep unease in this place. Something was definitely wrong. The wind shifted and I felt a change in pressure so pervasive that the trees themselves had begun to sway frantically, like giant arms waving me off and telling me to stay away from this island.

  Too late for that. I was stuck here. And if I couldn’t build a raft and row myself back to New York, I was staying a while.

  Whatever it was, it was real. Thanks to my angel and demon-born senses.

  At times like these I wished I had my death blade or soul blade with me. I hated guns. They were loud and unpredictable. My aim also sucked, but it’s all I had.

  I sighed long and loud. “Rowyn, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

  Resolute, I trudged up the path, listening for any sudden movements and registering the natural noises of the island.

  The sun was right above me, so I guessed it was around one in the afternoon or close to it. Ample time to find shelter before dark, whatever that meant.

  This whole idea of putting bets on my life pissed me off. And I used that anger to walk faster up the path towards the forest.

  That’s when I spotted the first camera.

  At first I thought it was a black squirrel ready to chew my head off for walking in its territory, but squirrels weren’t boxy and made of metal.

  The camera was mounted about forty feet high on a giant white pine tree between two massive branches. It was in plain sight. Whoever was watching wanted me to see it. Creepy.