~PHOENIX~
* * *
My arms tightened around the waist of our butterfly, keeping her up and against my broad frame after she lost consciousness. A common side effect of my hypnotic eyes, but it was better this way.
"You realize she hates when you do that, right?"
I already sensed Lyla's presence from the hall, but her arrival only aided my brewing plans.
"She doesn't remember."
"I'm aware," Lyla revealed.
"I wasn't told because?"
"You'd go on a killing spree of innocent lives or potentially bring this whole place down by accident."
Her response was enough for me to lift my head and glare her way, not like it intimidated her in the slightest. She and Alisha were the only ones seemingly immune to my wrath.
"That's what you did when you found out Alisha was on the bidding block and look what happened? Now there's actually one thousand prisoners left dead because of your undying love for her."
"They deserved to die."
"You don't know that," she dismissed my comment. "Though they were all on the execution block. You did them a favor."
Biting my bottom lip, I hooked an arm under Alisha's knees and lifted her up with ease. Her head hung back, her body limp while her breathing was slow. Our poor beauty had gone through the most torturous two weeks before that waste of a trial to conceal the truth they were desperate to hide behind the pile of rubbish.
"You used too much of that hypnotic stuff," Lyla muttered, her eyes quickly scanning Alisha's body. I knew her owl sight was in full force, ensuring Alisha wasn't in worse condition than we'd originally perceived when I arrived here.
"We all know what happens when she gets mentally frustrated like that. If I don't provide her answers, that other part would be knocking on our door."
"Knocking?" She arched an eyebrow while her blue eyes twinkled with mischief. "Burning this entire place down, you mean," Lyla stated. "That's what happened way back when she couldn't control Saphire and Freya.
"Ugh. Don't say her name," I huffed, smoke leaving my nostrils at the mere thought. "I can handle Saphire. Freya is on another level of destruction and her temper tantrums are like summoning the devil."
"Aww. You just don't like her because she pushes all your buttons for fun while Alisha gives you a hint of sympathy."
"Regardless, Alisha won't be able to handle her destructive power right now."
Lyla nodded, walking to stand in front of me. She reached out to press her hand against Alisha's forehead, her brows furrowing together as she went into deep concentration.
I knew what she was assessing, but I waited patiently for her results. We needed to confirm our suspicions on this sudden turn of events, and once that was sorted, I'd get to do my job of finding who the fuck pulled this shit.
Alisha Butterfly was my marked butterfly. We'd been together since our childhood and grew up together. She was the one girl in my life that I couldn't get rid of.
No matter how much I teased, bullied, or brought her down, all it did was make her rise back up, even stronger than before, and in return, I'd have to deal with that burning force of multi-dimensional personality.
I came to love every aspect of her. How she could portray herself as shy and innocent one minute and an extrovert on steroids the next minute. It was hard for Alisha to finally embrace that side of her that normal society deemed as odd, but it was a trait she took from her mother.
She always complained about it but loved that she took her father's fast metabolism. That was why she was still skinny but could eat all day long and never be too full for a slice of tiramisu.
She was obsessed with getting her nails done - a really bad obsession. Saphire was addicted to anything that twinkles.
A pain in my bank account when she enters a jewel shop.
As for that third part, Freya? She had an addiction to destroying things. Another reason why she didn't show up to the heat of battle unless the main purpose was to burn the world down.
What made Alisha valuable was her psychic abilities. They weren't the common kind. Her abilities had levels. At the most basic level she could listen to others’ thoughts. At the most dangerous, she could control an entire room, make everyone do her bidding.
Her abilities were strong enough that she didn't even break a sweat while doing it. And that particular skill was exactly what she'd used on our last investigation meeting before the most wanted supernatural in NYC was arrested by our organization.
Alisha had the guts to shatter his mental protective walls that we'd been trying to break for years in a matter of seconds and retrieved enough evidence of the man's crimes by encouraging him to tell the world during his national speech that broadcasted everywhere.
We knew the consequences of our capture could get Alisha killed, but we hadn’t expected him to frame her for killing a bunch of prisoners, making it almost impossible for any of us to reach her until her name went on the board of this underground bidding bullshit.
If it wasn't for the sworn magical agreement I'd signed to even get within their hidden facility and my love for Alisha, I would have brought the entire thing down.
Never would I have known that such a thing existed, but if it wasn't for Lyla's swiftness, Alisha would have been bought before we got a chance to get into this place.
"The amnesia is a block," Lyla confirmed our suspicions, and it only put me in a scowling mood to kill.
"No traces of who?"
"They cloaked their magic with a glamor of sorts. They must have had a fae help them out because there's no way they could have put such strong block on Alisha."
"Meaning two people in total?"
"No." She was quiet as her eyes began to flow a lull silver. "Twenty-four."
What the fuck?!
"You're telling me it took twenty-four supernaturals to put a mental erasing block on Alisha?"
"No." Lyla shook her head. "It took twenty-four supernaturals at full strength to finalize the spell."
"Meaning?"
"There were approximately one-hundred-and-twenty-five supernaturals that banded together to take Alisha's mental shields down and only twenty-four survived long enough to be successful."
Fuck...
One problem of mine was that I loved to underestimate the power of my comrades until they shoved it in my face. I had known for a long time that Alisha would be one of the strongest monarchs of our generation, especially with her twin soul hybrid counterparts, but the idea of her taking down one hundred supernaturals while enduring the pain that comes with mental attacks left me a little speechless.
My eyes lowered back to my queen, the woman of my dreams who drove me into madness when she'd gone missing.
It was killing me to not tell her who I was, but with the circumstances we were in, I was worried about sharing. This was all new territory, and though I'd won this bidding war, I'd only done so with assistance.
Now that same assistance wanted their share of what I loved dearly.
"If you didn't get those three guys’ assistance, she would have been the perfect prize possession for the people who want our entire organization dead," Lyla explained.
"They only helped me on two conditions," I grumbled, and began to walk over to my left. Lyla followed and snapped her fingers before we reached the door. The next step we took surged us into the designated room we'd set up for Alisha.
It wasn't at the level of protection my butterfly deserved, but by the time she woke up, Lyla would be able to finish the added touches, so Alisha would be comfortable.
This prison was one of the top two prisons for supernaturals, but if you had money and connections, it was the best place to bend the rules and hide while working on plans towards revenge.
That was the exact predicament we were in with Alisha, but I wasn't sure how this would go down now that we had to add those three guys to the picture.
"Define those two conditions," Lyla encouraged, the apprehension in her
voice only adding to the dread of the approaching conversation.
Reaching the bed, I lowered Alisha's body onto the soft surface of the magenta silk sheets. Her royal attire made her appear like Sleeping Beauty, and I was trying to ignore the thundering urge to remove every piece of fabric off of her and hold her in my tight embrace.
Two weeks of hell. Two weeks of sleeping in an empty bed without her rushing warmth.
Two weeks without my sweet butterfly, all because of a villainous group of supernaturals and their desire to get rid of anyone that gives them exactly what they deserve.
They all committed hideous crimes, punishable by death, and all they were trying to do was prolong the hammer of justice from hitting their path.
"Atticus."
Her use of my real name made my eyes lift from idolizing Alisha to stare at her questioningly.
"She's unconscious. No point using your dragon's name."
"Tell her I don't agree with her oblivious viewpoint." The mystifying tone of my dragon almost startled me. His appearance after a week and a half of silence gave me a sense of relief and anger.
Now you're back.
"My queen is in our possession once more. Did you think I'd continue my silence streak?"
You're something else.
"Be grateful for my return." That's all that left him as his presence returned to the dark shadows of my being. I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to Lyla, who was patiently waiting for my response.
"Phoenix doesn't agree with your viewpoint."
"He never does until I'm right and it hits his stubborn ass." Lyla casually shrugged.
"You're lucky he's asleep," I noted.
"What is he going to do? Extinguish me with his flames? He's a softy," she countered. "Alisha told me."
"Alisha can't keep shit from you," I grumbled in annoyance. I kept wishing she’d remember who she was.
"I know, and she has my loyalty in return," Lyla replied and returned her gaze to the woman in question. "What were the two conditions?"
My prolonged silence made her sigh. "Stop being a stubborn ass and tell me."
"Alisha has to remain here until we can build up some allies," I explained the first condition.
"Why would she remain here? It's obvious she was set up," Lyla argued. "We can make allies outside these walls just fine."
"If they believe Alisha's stuck down here and carries the title of marked, they'll assume the worse and consider her a weak asset by the time she can try and get a re-trial."
"Are you trying to say their marked monarchy has a different definition within these walls than what we know?"
"Marked individuals within these walls are bought as slaves who have to follow every task of the bidder. You can guess most of those involve sexual acts of pleasure and pain, with few exceptions," I explained.
"Why do I have a feeling I won't like the second condition?" Lyla was always a smart cookie, a quality of owl shifters.
Now to see if she could get me out of my desperate mistake.
"I absolutely hate it so I'm sure you will too." I sighed while crossing my arms. "The three men want to share Alisha."
Lyla didn't last five seconds before she was laughing hysterically. I knew this was going to happen, and I gave her the solid five minutes she needed to laugh her head off.
"Are you fucking mad?!" she finally shrieked while wiping away her tears. "Regardless of whatever amnesia bullshit is running through Alisha's brain, you really believe she's suddenly going to be down with dating not one but four men?”
"Why do I feel as though you're not worried about Alisha in this matter?" I inquired, my expression as calm as ever.
"I'm not." Lyla giggled. "Those three don't have a fucking chance. Alisha is the definition of Queen of Shades. Every damn shade of emotion can flicker in a conversation with her. You two barely survived dating and you've been all lovey-dovey with one another since you were six!"
"It wasn't when she was six."
"Oh right." She cleared her throat. "You were six and she was what? One year old?"
"You make it sound like a disgusting thing," I grumbled. "Dragon mates can't stop the bond from initiating due to age. It just happens."
"I know, silly goose," she teased. "Doesn't make it any less weird."
"I stayed clear of her for years," I argued.
"Ya, ya, until she was like six and wouldn't stop stalking your eleven-year-old ass," she reminded. "And I mean literally stalking your ass."
"Don't remind me."
Alisha had a thing for good butts. If your butt got her attention, good luck getting googly eye stickers off your butt cheeks for years to come.
That's something I hope she forgot.
"Well, you better tell those three men good-fucking-luck!"
"You're not worried in the slightest?" I questioned. "Alisha doesn't remember who she is. What if she likes the idea of being with three other guys or thinks she's indebted for their assistance?"
"If Alisha remembers googly eyes by the time you even introduce these three men to her, I can guarantee she'll give them a run for their money. You're not worried about Alisha falling for them. You don't like the idea of sharing your mate with three random supernaturals."
"Affirmative." Not like I was trying to hide my obvious dissatisfaction with the idea.
I had no choice but to team up with them when the bid started out straight into the millions when her name came up in massive purple letters on the digital board.
This mysterious, hidden bidding ground was like cage fighting, only you got to keep the individual as a pet or whatever fit your liking. How such an organization grew to this magnitude with being exposed only proved how dangerous it was.
We realized after we’d won that some of these prisoners could wake up one morning, owned by a person of power they'd never met. And with the millions spent on claiming ownership of them, it would be impossible for the prisoner to fight or buy back their freedom.
Essentially, they were screwed and there was nothing anyone could do about it unless those they loved had double the money to get their freedom back.
"Want me to do background checks?"
"Was going to ask." I knew nothing about these guys, but their group, myself, and another team were the final sets trying to bid for Alisha's custody in these prison walls, and when the third set was out-bidding both of us, we suddenly decided to join forces.
It was stupid, but I'd do anything to ensure Alisha remained in my grasp. Killing would have been far easier, but these supernaturals were surely close to god level, and I wasn’t up for going against their magical NDAs.
I wanted us to come out of this alive. I didn’t want all of us dying due to an even stupider mistake.
"I'll have it ready in an hour for you to review." She headed towards the door.
"Don't you need their names?"
"No need," she answered while reaching for the knob of the door. "I can figure those out in no time. What I can't figure out is why you think keeping your identity a secret is going to help Alisha in any way."
She had a point and I knew it, but after the initial hit of that life-changing phone call that Alisha could have potentially been dead, I was struggling to make the right decision about her new circumstances.
"If I tell her, would she even believe me?" I offered. "Plus, I'm an asshole with a temper who kills people that look at her the wrong way, and now have to deal with three fuckers joining in our relationship. She doesn't deserve to deal with my bouts of jealousy while she's figuring shit out with this hate crime against her."
"As considerate as your theory is, there are far too many flaws in it." Lyla turned around to give me her full attention. "She doesn't need to believe you. She feels your connection. It's exactly why she was calm, collected, and then right in your face upset. You had to knock her out because her jump in emotions and personalities would be detrimental to her, but what if you keep ignoring the truth between you two?"
She crossed her arms and shook her head. "You have to tread carefully, Atticus, and my best advice for you is that you tell her before these men tell another story that makes you into a villain versus an ally. Alisha's loved you for a massive chunk of her life. Even if she was a baby who couldn't speak her love to you, that doesn't mean it wasn't there. When your bond ignited with hers, she felt your existence. She's going to feel that now every single day and doesn't deserve to endure a hollow heart because you're afraid of her getting hurt again."
She gave me a long up-and-down look before continuing, "Your temper is something you should start going to your shrink to fix. And maybe these three male add-ons will be beneficial for your relationship with one another?"
"In what way?" I inquired.
"You'll start cherishing time with her a lot more than before. You can now spend more time with one another while potentially making new friends once I've confirmed my suspicions about these three individuals. If you fucked up in the past, this is your time to make up for it and help Alisha fall in love with you all over again," she explained. "Finally, you may be a dick to be around, but remember we all ended up enjoying that side of you and it's nothing you should be ashamed about. If Alisha had her memories, she would tell you the same thing."
"You think she'll love me again?"
"Definitely," Lyla confidently declared. "But if anything, I’ve got those favorite fuzzy black handcuffs and whip she loves. I can assure you she'll lose her shit when she sees you with those, and hopefully rush home to fuck you and not the doctor in question.”
"I'm not going to ask you how you found that out."
"Good." She shrugged and looked away. "It would be a waste of time that I could spend on ensuring Alisha's safety in this makeshift fortress. Now excuse me while I get those background checks sorted. I'll also give an update to the head. He called earlier to inform us of an increase in supernatural kidnappings."
"Kidnappings of supernaturals?" That was questionable. The supernatural kidnapping rate had been low for a very long time until recently when it began to spike. "How bad is it?"
"Bad enough that rumors have been going on that the government is waiting for a signal before telling the general public. Celebrities are going to be informed first, based on the hierarchy formation. We have a few weeks before they initiate that early plan, but if it skyrockets even more, we're going to have to tread carefully."
Psychic Prison Page 8
