I leant back against the rail, hiding from the guard before speaking again. “Have you got something in the cell?”
Ever-so-slightly, Cass nodded.
My mouth dried out as two guards barged into our cell, turning stuff over with very little care for our things. My heart did little backflips as I waited for them to finish the search.
“What is it?” I pressed, but Cass shook her head, her lips clamped together.
My veins rushed with heat as I considered the consequences of them finding something incriminating. If she was taken away to isolation, would that mean I'd get a new cellmate? And what if that cellmate happened to be one of Kite's lapdogs?
My breathing grew ragged as a guard reappeared, his hand clamped around something. “Which one of you owns this?” He unfurled his fist, revealing a sharpened flint.
My heart sank as I glanced at Cass. Her expression grew distant as she released a small sigh, preparing to own up.
“It's mine,” I blurted, making a snap decision.
Cass's eyes grew to saucers as she turned to me.
“Yours, Grey?” the guard confirmed, looking doubtful then lowered his voice, “Causing trouble already?”
I nodded, my hands beginning to tremble. “I picked it up in the yard. I didn't know a rock was banned?” I tried out an innocent expression. The same one I'd used on the stand when being tried for my stepfather's murder. My lawyer had told me to act remorseful, but it was near impossible. That was the single time I'd tried to shirk the blame from myself. But truth be told, I wanted the blame. I was proud of it. I'd defeated the monster who had hurt me and my mother.
“Come with me.” The guard took my arm, leading me away from the shell-shocked Cass who seemed desperate to say something.
I thrust up my chin as I passed by Kite and her cellmate. At least this would win me some 'don't mess with her' points.
The guard pulled me closer as we stepped through a security door. “Sorry, Grey. But rules are rules. You'll only be in isolation for a couple of days.”
I glanced up at him, eyeing his youthful face and soft hazel eyes. “Why are you being nice to me?”
He stole a glance at a camera as we passed through another door. “Because I believe what you said in court.”
My heart lifted as I looked at him. “You do?”
We turned into a corridor of thick metal doors; the air was stifling and oppressive. My heart rate immediately increased.
“Pretty girl like you wouldn't harm someone intentionally.”
My heart sunk a little at his words. I thought he'd been on my side for some deeper reason, but my trust in men failed once again.
He unlocked one of the cells, swinging it open and gesturing for me to enter. I took a hasty glance inside the coffin-like room and resigned myself to its grimy walls and grey-green tones, stepping inside.
“I'll be right here,” he said with a wink, pushing the door shut with a loud thunk.
I sunk down onto the bed, glaring at the door, my fingers growing itchy. The cell was colder than the one I shared with Cass. I could see why people might go mad in a place like this. Four walls and your thoughts. For a criminal, that had to be hell.
My mother's voice sailed into my mind, something she'd said to me a few days ago, that was now making a strange sort of sense, “Never stop relying on your gut feelings. They'll always get you right where you're supposed to be.”
An ache sat in my chest as I thought about leaving her behind, all alone in our little town house in Kent. Would she sell the place now?
I tried not to dwell on it. That part of my life had crumbled into dust before my eyes. This was my life now. I had to move forward. But how could I, when time seemed to be frozen? Five years, ten, twenty, in this place. No matter how much time passed, I was always going to walk out of here as a killer. Nothing would ever change that.
◐☼◐
It was three days before I was allowed to return to the main prison. My act of loyalty to Cass had earned me some respect, at least. A girl who hid contraband just two days after being sent to prison wasn't someone to be messed with. And Cass was now a fully fledged ally. So, despite the icy cell and dreary endless days I'd spent alone, it was probably worth it.
The second I walked back into my cell, Cass hugged me. It was the first hug I'd received since my mother's goodbye, and that did strange things to my head. I wasn't a 'touchy-feely' type of person, but I embraced her briefly, wanting to solidify this bond between us.
I knew for sure she had my back when, several days later, she caught one of Kite's lackies slipping a razor blade into my mashed potato.
“You wanna keep it?” Cass passed the blade to me under the table.
“I'd rather not go back to isolation, thanks.” I gently wrapped the blade into a tissue, eyeing Kite and her sour-faced group across the room. “Which one of them was it?”
“That one.” She gestured with her chin to the largest woman amongst Kite's gang. Someone who must have weighed three times as much as me and looked like she could crush me like a grape.
“I think I'll let this one slide.” I picked at my mash potato, pulling it apart with my fork in case it was hiding any other sharp objects. I couldn't fight the fear at knowing I'd been targeted like that. And for what purpose?
“They like to test the newbies,” Cass said, reading my thoughts. “When I came here last year, they replaced my coffee with vinegar every day for a week.”
“What did you do?”
“Drank it with a smile on my face.” She laughed and there was that crazed look in her eye again. I wondered if there was anything about my appearance that labelled me as a killer.
The weeks became monotonous, slipping by, day and night merging into one. How did anyone find anything to live for in this place?
I lay one night, gazing up at the grey ceiling, wondering what kind of person I would be when I left prison in twenty five years. I'd be forty three, I realised. Which made me silently sob into my pillow for about an hour before I managed to calm down.
Just as I was drifting off at last, resigned to the empty future that awaited me, a harsh buzzing filled my ears. I sprang to my feet in alarm.
Cass rolled out of bed in a daze as the door clunked open.
“I think we have to get out,” I said as she rubbed her eyes, yawning broadly.
We headed out of our cell where the lights blinded me, blazing against my retinas. The other prisoners were lining up around the railing as if waiting for an inspection. We joined them, blinking heavily to try and gain our senses.
“Cass, what's going on?” I breathed.
She shook her head, clearly as confused as I was.
“Inspection! Arms behind your backs!” the warden barked, her sharp voice ringing off the metal doors. She was tall with scraped-back, red hair and a pointed nose; something about her always made my spine tingle.
My thoughts were muddled. Why were they doing an inspection in the middle of the night?
My heart beat harder as I came to my senses, my gut telling me something was wrong.
The thrum of heavy footfalls approached down the walkway.
I leant forward a fraction, gazing past the row of girls toward the single man who seemed to be inspecting us – not our cells.
My stomach constricted. He was breathtaking, his skin golden and perfect, his eyes two endless mossy pits. His hair was overly long and twisted at the nape of his neck, a thin, black bandanna holding it in place. His broad shoulders tapered down to a firm stomach that met with slim hips; the press of cotton against his body hinted at the muscle that lay beneath.
His heavy leather coat flapped open as he walked with swift grace in my direction. Whoever the man was, he didn't belong here.
He eyed the girls, seemingly searching for something. Breathing in deeply through his nose, his nostrils flared as he reached me. He halted, turning on his heel, his eyes snapping to mine.
I froze in place, taking in his sharp cheek bo
nes, the stubble on his jaw, tracing every line of his chiselled perfection. He was unlike any man I'd ever seen, near-ethereal, almost inhuman.
His eyes were trained on me like I was the only girl in the room and, for a heartbeat, I felt that I was.
I could barely hold his burning gaze, my heart thumping hard against my ribcage. My instincts told me to run. This man was dangerous, I knew that from the rattling in my bones.
He finally drew his eyes from mine and I released a shaky breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding.
“Name?” he asked the guard who was standing nearby.
“Selena Grey,” I answered for him, my voice ringing out in the quiet space.
The inspector's eyes snapped back to mine and my throat tightened. His gaze trailed over me like he was weighing up a cut of meat at the butcher.
“What are you in for, Selena?” he asked in a low purr.
I sensed Cass stiffen beside me, her hand slipping behind my back. I clutched her fingers as they reached mine. She could sense it too. Whoever this guy was, he wanted to hurt us.
I nearly couldn't find my voice, but when I did, it was strangled, “Murder.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “You don't look like a killer.”
In that moment, he reminded me of my stepfather: sneering, belittling me. It made me stronger. “Looks can be deceptive,” I retorted, louder than I'd intended.
His eyes flashed, full of something like lust. But it wasn't that, it wasn't desire. Not in the way I knew it anyway.
He licked his lips, stepping closer, breathing in again. “That they can, Selena.” There was a hint in his words of something I already suspected: he was no inspector. This guy had some other agenda. But what?
“She kills the men that hurt her,” Cass spat and I glanced at her in horror. What was she doing?
Cass had that wild look in her eyes again, playing with fire even now.
The inspector's lake-green gaze slid onto her, roaming over her form as if seeing her for the first time. “Does she now? And what do you do to the men that hurt you?”
Cass jutted out her chin. “Burn them,” she breathed.
He chuckled darkly and I seized the moment of distraction to glance over his shoulder, looking for the warden. I filled my gaze with a silent plea but the woman's eyes were glazed, seeming almost bored. Didn't she care what was happening here? Why were we being inspected by this strange man in the middle of the night?
A sinister smile remained on the inspector's lips. “I'll be seeing you two again.” His eyes flitted to me, darting to my neck then up to my lips. “Very soon.”
He continued walking and my shoulders dropped in relief as the weight of his oppressive presence lifted.
“Who is he?” I muttered to Cass, releasing her hand, finding mine slick with sweat.
“Trouble,” she whispered.
I tried to see who else he spoke with, but he was too far down the line to tell.
After the inspection was over, I was wide awake, lying in bed with fear trickling through my blood.
It made me want to call my mother, pathetic as that was. I just wanted to lose myself in the comfort of her voice, the way I used to when I was a child. When Elijah would come home drunk and shout at us, tell us to get out of his sight. Mum would lie next to me in my bed, cradling me until he came and took her away.
Cass and I lay in our cell in silence, the only sound the thrumming of my heartbeat like the wings of a hummingbird in my ears. But I was sure she was as wide awake as I was.
◐☼◐
I woke to the sound of sloshing water, my body rocking back and forth. I thought I must be sick, my head spinning. Was I swaying, or was it in my mind?
A briny scent filled my nostrils, sharp and fresh like seawater.
Something wasn't right.
I jolted awake, icy air enveloping my body in a wave. My hands were bound before me. I lay on my back, the cold press of floorboards flush against my spine as I rocked from side to side. It was endlessly dark.
“Hello?” I shouted, panic sweeping through me.
I struggled to my knees, the floor swaying and making me stumble sideways. What was going on? Where the hell was I?
“Cass?!” I tried, desperate.
I lay my bound wrists on the wooden floor beneath me, feeling my way as I moved.
As my eyes adjusted, I spotted a faint light above, perhaps ten feet ahead. Moving towards it, I squinted, trying to work out what it was.
My knees knocked into something soft and I reached down, pressing my knuckles into it. A body. Someone was there.
I shook them as best I could. “Hello?” I whispered, prodding them harder.
Cold washed over me as a thought entered my mind. Perhaps whoever it was, was dead.
I slid my hands over them, searching for skin. My hand met a warm cheek and I relaxed in a wave.
“Wake up.” I prodded them again, but got no response.
Moving awkwardly over them, I scrambled to my feet, still crouching low . I felt almost drunk as I walked, the floor beneath me rocking precariously. A light swept over me and I found myself gazing up a staircase toward the sky, the glow of a crescent moon shimmering on my skin.
I clambered up the steps, peering out of the hatch, my breath stolen by the view beyond it.
I must have been dreaming.
I was on a boat, a yacht I guessed. Its sails were stark white above me, the wind pushing hard against them, making them fan out in an arc.
I searched for whoever was steering the vessel and my eyes fell on him. The inspector.
My breath snagged in my throat. Before I could recover, the yacht tipped at the bow and I nearly tumbled down the steep stairs. Crashing to my knees, I dug my nails into the wooden steps and splinters buried beneath them. I hissed in pain and the man's eyes snapped to mine, the whites of them near-luminescent in the darkness. My body was heavy, not responding fast enough as I tried to crawl away, my blood spiking with adrenaline.
He moved with impossible speed and, in my haste to escape, I slipped backwards. My stomach swooped as I dropped nearly eight feet. With a loud crack, my back impacted hard with the floor, knocking the wind from my lungs. A cough ripped through my chest and my vision momentarily flashed with bright sparks.
Blinking heavily, I gazed up at the man above me, his ragged hair falling forward, his large form framed by the square hole in the deck. The moonlight illuminated his outline as he gazed down at me, predator-like.
He stepped forward, bypassing the stairs and dropping toward me. I winced as his boots slammed into the boards either side of my head, vibrations thundering through my skull.
He tilted his head to one side, amusement dancing in his metallic green eyes. “I knew you were special, Selena.”
He dipped down, dragging me to my feet, his hands like ice on my wrists. I flinched away but he held me in place, his grip vice-like.
I gazed up at him, struggling to loosen my tongue. “Where am I?”
“The more pressing question is: what am I going to do with you?” He grinned but there was no kindness in it. Moving suddenly, he whipped me into his arms like I weighed no more than a feather. A scream tore from my throat as I kicked wildly, panic overwhelming me. I wouldn't go out without a fight. I'd survived too much for my life to end at the hands of some stranger.
He laid me over his shoulder like I was no more cumbersome than a bale of hay. Turning, he sprang onto the deck with inhuman agility, holding my legs tight to his chest.
“Put me down!” I screeched, terror juddering through my body.
He ignored me, carrying me to the helm.
Laying me on the deck, he grinned with delight as he knelt over me.
My instincts kicked in at last and I punched him hard in the chest. My knuckles crunched and I gasped in pain. His eyes flared with that lustful look again. But this time I recognised it for what it was: hunger.
“I've never smelt anything so good,” he muttered to himself, le
aning down.
With one hand, he took hold of my jaw, turning my head to the side with surprisingly gentle fingers. His cool mouth traced my neck.
I struggled as hard as I could, clawing at his arms, pushing, flailing madly, but he barely seemed to notice.
“No!” I gasped in horror, trying to escape. What was he going to do?
“Varick!” a man shouted from nearby. “Let her go this instant.”
Varick paused, leaning back a fraction. There was murder in his eyes as he surveyed me like a ravenous wolf.
I trembled beneath him, my frozen hands curling into fists once more.
“Off. Now. You know the rules.” The voice was authoritative and calm. Perhaps I had someone on my side after all.
Varick made a low, animal-like growl, standing so I was left as a quivering mess on the floor. I wasn't sure if it was the arctic wind that was making me shiver, or the hungry-looking man who had been about to assault me.
My saviour came into sight: a boy around my age with a shock of blonde hair - near white beneath the silvery moon. He stepped warily around Varick, approaching me with his brows drawn low.
“Jesus,” he muttered, taking in my form with cool blue eyes.
He bent down, helping me to my feet and I clung to him, eyeing Varick over his shoulder. Perhaps this guy would help me, or at the very least keep that freak away from me.
“You haven't fed me since we left the island,” Varick snarled, his broad shoulders squaring. “Do you have any idea how close I am to ripping your head off Ignus?” He had at least a foot on the blonde boy, and he wasn't short by any standards.
“And how do you think my father would repay you for that?” Ignus snorted, folding his arms over his narrow chest. “You'll be fed when we return. A girl like this will make us good money.”
They were talking like I wasn't there, like I was some sort of chattel. I stepped away from the boy supporting me. He wasn't protecting me for any other reason than me holding some monetary value to him. But that was better than being left to the mercy of the other man.
I glanced toward the dark water a few feet away, my gut prickling. They say you do drastic things to survive life-threatening situations. And I'd been here before. It was life or death again. And I chose life.
V Games (The Vampire Games Trilogy Book 1) Page 3
