by Jaymin Eve
I took an extra second to hug myself very tightly to Braxton. This might be the last moment of happiness I had for a while and I was going to milk the hell out of it.
He lifted me closer to his face and said, “It will be okay, I will keep you safe.”
Snow coated our faces and I raised mine to meet him in another kiss. Now might not be the best time for a make out session, but really … who gives a shit.
Eventually, though, we had no choice but to rejoin reality. I was back on my feet, and with our hands tightly linked Braxton and I made our way to the rest of the group, standing in front of Louis’ doorway. I met the sorcerer’s purple eyes and knowledge of what the next few hours was all about flooded back in. It was time. We were going to Krakov.
Chapter 17
The step-through took us from a snowstormed mountain range down into a valley of sorts. Concealed within this valley was a medium sized town. I was going to guess this was the gateway community which protected Krakov. Which thankfully meant that there’d only be supernaturals here. We wouldn’t have to hide our otherness.
It appeared to be laid out similarly to Stratford, but with the more snow friendly style of chalet dwellings. These homes surrounded a few large square “meeting hall” structures.
It was still freezing, but the area was protected from the worst of the storm. The scenery looked familiar, so I assumed we were still in the same region of Romania – in the Carpathian Mountains. From what I could see from our higher vantage point, the area was probably around ten miles in diameter, nestled down in what looked like the crater of a volcano. Mountain ranges encased the quaint little town.
“This is Bruvnest,” said Louis. “Their securities are breachable because I’ve been here before, but there is no easy way into Krakov.” His regal features shifted to the bitch twins … yeah, I’d upgraded them from fruit. “It’s your party now, ladies. Whatever plan you have set in motion, you’d better move your asses. The townsfolk are starting to catch on that we are here.”
He wasn’t even kidding. Members of the community were emerging from wherever they had been. Rugged, they had the distinct size and appearance of our familiar supernatural races. I wasn’t surprised to see they had a lot of trolls here. They were always around mountains and rocky areas.
I heard the townsfolk murmuring amongst themselves. No one spoke English. It sounded Eastern European … Romanian. Which would make sense, you know, since that’s where we were. As they closed in, I could hear them more clearly.
“Ce naiba?” was a popular phrase.
Louis was keeping an eye on them, his gaze unwavering, streams of power emanating from him.
“Do you know what they are saying?” I asked him, since he looked to be following their conversations.
He chuckled. “Something along the lines of ‘what the hell?’ I don’t think they’re impressed to see us appear inside their securities.”
Couldn’t blame them for that. Their one job was to protect the barriers and the prison, and we’d just strolled right in. The twins were acting pretty indifferent toward the townsfolk drawing closer to us. They joined hands, and while there was nothing obvious about what they were doing, I could see the energy bleeding off them. Then they started to sing. It was a low, haunting melody, which seeped through my skin and settled into my blood. I could feel the notes wanting to twirl their way into my mind, but I was strong enough to hold them at bay.
The conversations from the townsfolk trickled off and silence descended over the snowcapped community. Then they started to retreat back into their hut-style homes and other buildings – seemingly without thought – away from where they had clearly been coming to confront the intruders.
As their song died off I narrowed my eyes on the twins. “What did you do to them? What the hell are your powers?”
Louis was the one to answer. “I’m surprised you’ve managed to keep this little secret to yourselves,” he said. “I recognize that song. You’re sirens, and you also have persuasion.”
Finally we knew the race of the twins. Sirens. The elusive female fey. Generally they only had power over males, but I didn’t have any idea what “persuasion” was. Obviously something which could influence an entire town.
Louis must have noticed my confused expression. “The twins are very old, and the older fey can sometimes harness a type of influencing energy. We call it persuasion. Sirens are already blessed with persuasive power. Seems these two have tapped into it further.”
I leaned forward, hands on my hips. “Are you saying you can control people? Make them bend to your will?”
Orange laughed in a derisive manner. “If that was the case, we wouldn’t have needed to use Mischa to force your hand. We can send suggestions, but there is no force. Most supernaturals simply do not have the strength of will to even realize their thoughts are not their own. With suspicious supes, such as prison community members, we don’t hide our presence, we influence them to believe we are one of them, not a threat. They ignore us after that.”
Lemon piped up. “It is especially strong with males.”
Braxton crossed his arms over his chest. “Only some males.”
They both nodded, and I realized they must have at some point tried to control my dragon shifter. Stupid bitches.
At least much of the mystery around the fruit twins made sense now. “Since you’re sirens, and the prisons are filled with an overabundance of males in charge … they pretty much escort you right in, don’t they?”
Supernaturals were not generally sexist – aside from the male-oriented mystics – females were equal in all manner, and in many instances superior. But for some reason males were more interested in working in the prison system. The councils were always trying to tempt females into prison jobs, but we seemed to favor the running of the gateway communities.
Orange’s face was hard, her dark eyes flashing at me. “It is not common knowledge that we’re fey, we work very hard to conceal it. We would appreciate it if you didn’t spread this information around.”
I flipped them off. “Appreciate this, bitch. I owe you nothing. Let’s get this freaking show on the road. I have no interest in any sort of girl bonding.”
Yeah, I was pissed. But they had pushed some sensitive nerves, threatening Mischa. I was not playing nice.
Orange hissed, lurching forward as if to attack. Her sister halted her with a little shake of her yellow hair and the fight died out of Orange’s eyes. They seemed to be communicating silently again. I knew they could do that mind speak like Mischa and I, and since they were old and powerful, probably didn’t even have to touch.
Speaking of, my zombie-like sister continued to just stand there observing and not reacting to anything. Despite my worry, there was also a portion of my anger reserved for her. Dad seemed to have the same thoughts, his icy eyes locked on her as well.
I knew one thing from growing up with him – he was pretty lenient in lots of ways, but the few rules he had, he expected them to be carried out without question. And one of them was to have your pack members’ back, no matter what. Mischa was majorly failing at that one today. There was no time to deal with her right now, we just had to hope we lasted long enough to have the family fight I was seeing in our future.
The twins led us along the edge of town. A couple of faces turned in our direction, but no one approached us. We ended up at the base of a massive cliff face. There were a few craggy overhanging crevices scattered over the surface, but mostly it looked like a single sheet of bumpy rock.
Orange turned just enough for me to see her beaky nose and squinty eyes. “Follow our footsteps exactly.”
Ominous words. No doubt there would be plenty of security measures we had to circumvent to make it into Krakov. Prison securities were not to be taken lightly.
The twins approached the wall and I sighed as they placed their hands onto the rock. Fan-freaking-tastic. We were climbing. I was a wolf, we didn’t climb. Mischa moved in right behind them and I wa
tched as she positioned her hands exactly where Lemon’s feet had just been. The divots they were using to climb seemed to be invisible, so unless you knew where they were, you were not getting up the rock. Jonathon pushed me forward, nodding to indicate I should follow them.
“Are you not coming up this way?” I blinked stiffly, the icy air freezing my eyelashes.
He shook his head. “Sorry, Jessa, this is not the main entrance.”
Louis tilted his head to capture my gaze. “Don’t forget about…” He trailed off, pointing toward my stomach. He lowered his voice further. “We can be there within minutes, but for our plan to work we must check in to our official appointment.”
Jonathon brushed a hand over my cheek. “The twins explained earlier that if we all followed, there was more chance of us getting caught. Their powers only extend so far.” His blue eyes softened. “We will be close by though, so call if you need us.”
He stepped aside and let Braxton crowd into me. The dragon didn’t look happy. “This goes against my better judgment, Jess, but promise me that you will not let your guard down for a second. Not even with Mischa.”
I bobbed my head a few times. He didn’t have to worry about that. A part of my sister had gone to the dark side and she wasn’t to be trusted.
“I choose you.” I leaned in closer. “I love you.” I’d said it a million times before, but now it meant something more. And I was running out of chances to tell him.
He growled. “Don’t do that. I will see you again very soon.”
“Just in case,” I murmured.
His lips hit mine then, and the kiss held a taste of fear, before it softened up and I could feel his true emotions. That kiss told me he loved me. Desperately. Passionately. Forever.
Somehow I pulled myself from him, turning to face the cliff. Shit, the girls were already halfway up. So much for me following their exact path.
“I can help with that,” Louis said.
My feet were suddenly off the ground. Looked like this wolf was both climbing and flying today. Lucky I was part dragon too.
Despite the strange sensation of floating into the sky, I didn’t flinch. I was hardening myself, to prepare for what was coming. The bad feeling I’d had for days was increasing, my instincts were screaming at me to bail, but unlike my sister I was loyal and wouldn’t throw her off the cliff. Not yet anyway. But she’d better start proving she was worthy of all of us.
My eyes stayed locked on the three men for as long as possible, especially Braxton, who had both hands pressed into the rock as if he was a heartbeat from following me. I had to look away when I reached Mischa; Louis deposited me against the cliff. The magic held long enough for me to find the divots. My gloved fingers slotted into the deep spots, and it was actually pretty easy to scale up. I glanced back down again, but there was no one at the bottom anymore. The ache in my heart deepened.
I again pushed down my sorrow, focusing my thoughts on what the hell the weapon might be; if the twins wanted it, it had to be important.
About halfway up the massive cliff Orange disappeared. Hanging out as far as I could, I tried to see what was happening above, but she had definitely vanished. Then, as soon as the next twin poofed into nothingness, I knew we had reached Krakov’s entry point. I hurried up after Mischa, making sure to stay in her foot grooves.
Five more feet and Mischa was gone, her boots almost kicking me in the head as she shimmied her way into the secret doorway. As I reached for the next handhold, I had to scramble higher to find the opening. I knew it was stupid, but I closed my eyes for the split second it took me to pass through the fake rock wall. I opened them to find my head and upper body in a small cave alcove. I pulled the rest of myself over the edge and stood. The other three waited briefly before they started to move again.
Orange said: “We just came through the back entrance to Krakov. Stay close.”
I didn’t reply, my dirty looks were speaking volumes. Mischa was a little slower to follow. She blinked a few times at me. Either her eyeballs were freezing from the icy cold or she was trying not to cry. I held her gaze until she shook off the emotions and turned away again.
The cave started to narrow into a tunnel of sorts, growing darker the further we got from the secret cliff doorway. Enough light for my wolf eyes, but I think a human would have struggled. This area seemed like every other cave I’d ever been in, but if that was really the case, why was every single hair on my body standing on end? Why were my wolf senses on high alert? – not to mention my dragon, prowling the walls of her cage, almost as if she was on patrol.
I had a sudden thought. And with a burst of speed I grabbed my sister’s hand. The connection between us flared to life, but with no visible energy for the other twins to pick up on.
Did you tell them about my ability to shift to dragon?
I needed to know. I was most probably walking right into a trap, and my dragon felt like a secret weapon of sorts, which it wouldn’t be if they already knew about her.
Mischa’s wide green eyes met mine, she withdrew her hand, and for a moment I thought she was going to ignore my question. Thankfully, before I had to beat it out of her, she gave her head a shake. She followed that up with a sad little smile, and I knew that for now my secret was safe with her. There was some loyalty there deep down.
I wish I knew the real reason she continued to run back to these manipulators. Their siren persuasion was only supposed to work on males and those unaware or easily susceptible. Had Mischa’s heartache and misplaced trust weakened her mind that much? It felt like there was something else. In order to save Mischa, I had to know what continued to pull her back. I would bide my time. One of them would slip up sooner or later.
The tunnel was long, winding, and freezing, but I left my arms loose at my sides. I didn’t want to waste a second if I needed to fight.
“Where did this entrance come from?” I found myself asking.
Neither of the twins turned back, but one of them still answered. “This was where they took the prisoners to dispose of them. They would be magically bound and tossed off the cliff. Falling to their death.” There was a brief pause. “It was easy enough for the townspeople to accept that they’d died trying to escape.”
Especially since their magical binds would have disappeared upon their demise. Very harsh. We didn’t have the death penalty in the prison system, so I assumed it was for those who they wanted to secretly dispose of. Corruption was rife in all organizations, and ours was no different. Cover stories were easy. It was simple work to spin a story when you had all the power and the other was dead.
We continued in silence, the path unchanging. I was about to ask how much further when unnatural illumination started to filter along the corridor and I knew we were closing in on something. Rounding a corner, I saw the bars first, threading across the path, blocking us from moving forward. No worries though, for Siren One and Siren Two. The twins approached the male guard and he didn’t even hesitate to hit a button. The bars slid across, and as I passed through I noticed how vapid his expression was, pupils fully dilated. His loss of control was obvious.
Yeah, it was a wicked power. Shame it had to be in the hands of these fucktards. A clank signaled that the door had closed behind us, and just like that I found myself in a row of cells.
We were in Krakov.
The cells ran along our left side – the right was the roughened stone – extending as far as I could see. The atmosphere was tense, this place had a very bad vibe to it. The cells I could see were occupied by a variety of supernaturals, from all of the races. A lot were demi-fey. These inmates seemed harder than the criminals in Vanguard, eyes dead, brows furrowed, lines of stress across their features. They looked old, and supes didn’t look old until the last few years of their lives.
I found it strange that none of them glanced up as we moved past. We weren’t quiet. Our footsteps scraped the stone and our scents should have tipped them off to our presence.
Orange mu
st have noticed my confusion. “This prison is harsher than Vanguard. The worst of the worst are sent here. There are spells on their cells, like a one way glass. We can see in but they can’t see or hear out.”
Well, that would explain it. And harsh was an understatement. These prisoners were basically in solitary confinement, cut off from all contact with others. For shifters, and many of the other races, it was a torture worse than death.
Lemon picked up the conversation. “They don’t separate the races in here. These cells simply wind their way through and around this mountain.”
“So basically this entire mountain is Krakov?” I tried to wrap my head around the logistics of this. Cells just winding themselves deeper and deeper into the rock.
The twins nodded. “Yes, they allow them out of their cells for a few hours a week, but nothing like the free mingling time you have at Vanguard. It’s not in your best interest to find yourself jailed in here.”
No wonder the faces in the cells were so desperate and desolate, crushed down to shells of supernaturals. I hoped every single one of them deserved to be in this sort of situation, because otherwise … I couldn’t even think about it.
“The dragon marked that were in here … was it this bad for them?” Mischa asked. For the first time in ages, real emotion creased her face.
A dark fury swooped across the twin’s features, an identically swift and brutal expression. “Yes,” was all Lemon said, but the tone of the word said so much more than that.
My own anger was ignited – babies and children in this environment. The Four and any other members of the supernatural community who took part in this needed to spend a few years in a prison. Or dead. Yeah, they needed to spend a few years dead, because there was no redemption for what they had done to hundreds of innocents.
