by Dannika Dark
“I’ve never kissed you in my dream.”
He didn’t move, so I stretched until my lips pressed to his. They were soft, but unresponsive.
Logan turned up his chin. “Not like this.”
“I know you want to kiss me,” I said, stroking my mouth softly over his cheek. That’s when he pushed me off and stood up.
“It’s not real, Silver. I don’t want anything with you if it’s not real.”
***
The next morning, the guards allowed me to bathe in a narrow stream just a short walk from the building. Finn was my handler, so they linked us together with neck shackles and a long chain.
“Make it easy or make it hard. I could give a fuck,” one of the guards huffed.
I decided to make it easy and let them switch out the chains.
The guards didn’t follow us, and there was no need to. I wouldn’t get far trying to drag Finn through the woods against his will. The neck shackles contained the same magic suppressant. I guess it just made things easier for Nero if we couldn’t put up much of a fight.
The water was chilly and clear. Finn sat on the shore and never spoke a word. He looked a little embarrassed, but went through the motions as if he’d done it a million times. I wondered why Finn never escaped. Perhaps he did and learned a hard lesson, but most likely, he didn’t know how to live outside of captivity. When you belong to someone for that many years, you forget how to belong to yourself. While my chains were physical, Finn’s were psychological, and this was something I knew a little about.
When we returned to my cell, the guards locked me inside.
“Diego visited last night,” I said.
Finn’s knuckles whitened, squeezing the bars.
“I couldn’t see much,” I continued, “but I had a protector watching over me.”
You would have thought I presented him with a medal. Finn puffed out his chest proudly. How much did a Shifter remember in their animal form? I guessed very little, but not wanting to ask another inappropriate question, I left it alone.
“Why does Diego obey you the way he does?”
“He’s a human. I’ve already established that I’m the alpha and he’s the beta.”
Shifters were interesting creatures, indeed.
I spent the rest of the day alone and hungry. I had visions of Justus sitting at a table brushing barbeque sauce over a rack of ribs. While the hunger was uncomfortable, I had a few laughs remembering the quirky things about how he liked to eat his food.
By evening, the temperature dropped. It was unusual that Finn hadn’t stopped in. I wanted to know more about the others Nero was keeping.
When the hall door clicked open, I was relieved. “Finn,” I sighed. “I was beginning to worry. Where have you been all day?”
“Misbehaving,” a voice replied. “Sorry to disappoint. Were you expecting someone else?”
Nero walked by the bars without making eye contact. He pulled the corners away from a white napkin, holding the dirty remains of apple cores. I felt sickened at the sight of them. Finn brought them to me, and they must have searched the room while I bathed.
“Where’s Finn?”
“I’m making sure that he stays an obedient dog.”
“Don’t you hurt him!”
“I’ll send him your regards. My, don’t we look all fresh and clean today?”
A smile polluted his face as he slid the key into the lock. The door opened and my pulse quickened. I picked up the chain, rehearsing a scene I’d imagined in my head a hundred times. I ran the slack through my hands expectantly. He wanted to taste my light, and I would die before I gave it to him willingly.
“What you’re doing with these humans is reprehensible. They’re people, not possessions. Without Samil, you can’t even make whatever it is you were making.”
“What I already have will suffice. In time, you will see that what I’m doing is for the greater good.”
I laughed. “The greater good of what?”
“Someone as young as you will never understand the thumb that has been pressed over our lives for so long by the higher order of law. Not just the Mageri, but all law,” he emphasized. “It goes against nature to live in peace with our enemies. It weakens us. Through the centuries, the Mageri has recorded the gifts of every Mage.”
“So?”
“Did you ever consider how valuable that information might be to our enemies? Give them a list of the few Creator’s we have, and we offer up our extinction.”
“Your logic is to kill everyone else in order to preserve our race?”
He shrugged. “Better them than me.”
“You’re delusional,” I said. “Building an army this way would take forever. Not all of us are going to see things your way, no matter how long you keep us here. I’ll never fight for your cause, Nero.”
He rubbed the side of his nose with a long, skinny finger. “I never thought Samil had it in him to create a Unique; it’s a shame it has to be wasted on someone as repugnant as you.”
“The others aren’t Uniques?”
“They’re special, but they’re not like you. Samil had a gift at multiplying the power of his progeny, and some have extraordinary gifts. A stronger Mage makes a stronger army.”
“Or a dangerous enemy. I’ll never go your way.”
He grinned with small teeth and thin lips. Nero slipped out of his jacket and neatly folded it on the floor before rolling his sleeves up. “I have more houses than this. You’re just a drop in the bucket. The beautiful thing about immortality… is that I have all the time in the world to change your mind.”
My grip tightened around the metal, but it was in vain.
Chapter 29
Lying in the dark shadows, I thought about home. I wanted Justus to comfort me in a way that I couldn’t articulate. I wanted someone to tell me it would be okay, that someday I would be a woman who could stand on her own two feet and protect her light.
For the last several minutes, I secretly watched Finn washing my feet. While touched by his compassion, I was different now—hardened. Once you get over the fact that you won’t die from your injuries, your mind learns how to absorb the pain. For Nero, his objective wasn’t physically beating me down, because that would diminish the quality of my light. His methods were about subordination. Once he juiced my light, I fell to the ground like gravity’s child.
Nero carried a simple wooden stick. I could have done it the easy way and let him take my light, but I never believed in the easy way. I would never let someone take from me what I wasn’t willing to give.
He struck the soles of my feet repeatedly until they blistered. I gave him a pretty good fight—all things considered.
“I can’t believe he did this,” Finn murmured with his back to me. “This is worse than the first Mage he brought in.”
“Finn, did he hurt you at all? Turn around and look at me.”
He tilted his neck, but looked all right.
“What happened last night?”
Finn squeezed the wet rag and pressed it on the bottom of my swollen foot. I winced.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“I don’t want you in here. Get out.”
Ignoring me, he let water spill through his cupped fingers over my feet. I shuddered as my nerve endings were like a raw string on a guitar, strumming a horrible melody. It was then that something else occurred to me. I flipped the tail end of his green shirt up, staring at red marks all over his back.
“Finn!”
I pulled it a little higher, revealing how much punishment this kid took. There were several lashes across the skin. When he stood up, I cursed myself. I cursed Nero. He ruined too many lives and now it felt personal. “Oh Finn, I’m so sorry he hurt you. If I had known Nero would do this because you brought me apples, I would have stayed hungry. It wasn’t worth it.”
“It’s no big deal,” he said, straightening the shirt. “It’ll heal up when I shift a couple more times, and the magic works
its way through. I closed the wounds with the last shift so it didn’t scar. I’m used to it.”
“Yeah, no big deal,” I muttered, repeating the same sentiment Logan did with me. Now I understood how he felt. Finn could heal, but it still marked my conscience knowing he took a beating because of me.
“Don’t ever think that we’re all like this, because we’re not. I’m not that kind of a Mage, and I don’t know how many you have been around, but Nero is the exception, not the rule. I don’t want you helping me anymore, just tell me where we are.”
Finn shook is head. “I don’t know where we are. Been living here since I was a teen. There’s no street sign, no address, and we don’t get mail. I can roam the area a little, but I can’t leave the property line. He fixed up one of the rooms down the hall for me, and that’s where I live.”
“Are you the one scratching around at night in the attic?”
“Yeah, sometimes my animal likes to sit on the roof. Sorry,” he said, tugging at his hair. “There’s something else going on. Two of the women weren’t in their rooms this morning.”
I eased up, alarmed. “Which ones? The humans?”
“All of Lucy’s things were cleared out. She could have pissed someone off, but then Rena’s room was also empty. That’s when I got rattled.”
“What’s so special about her?”
“He spends time with her. She actually looked forward to his visits. What’s that called… Munchausen’s syndrome?”
“I think you mean Stockholm; maybe she was faking. He didn’t take the other two?”
“He left Cheri behind. She’s been here less than a year and doesn’t talk much anymore. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because of Diego. Some of the humans say that he takes her from the room during his shift. I don’t have access to that part of the building at night. Ray is still here, too.”
“Why would he leave them?”
He lifted his shoulders in a light shrug and winced, remembering his back.
“What about the humans? Has he done anything with them?”
“Not yet, but one of them had a visitor last night that I’d never seen.”
“What’s he up to?” I muttered. “You said their things were gone. What things?”
“He let them have personal belongings such as books and a bed; I guess he made it like a reward or some shit. Rena kept animal carvings I made for her.” His voice filled with pain as if he were speaking of a friend. If we were just possessions to Nero, why would he care to pack their stuff? It’s as if they had a choice. Perhaps they were the strongest, and he was moving them to another area to make room for newcomers. The thought was chilling.
“Finn, where do they keep the keys to my shackles?”
“Only the guard on duty is allowed to carry the key. The chains all have the same lock, so it makes it easy not to lose track of keys.”
“You mean the guys who came in my cell?”
“Yeah, one of them. There’s another who does the morning shift, and of course, you know Diego. I don’t let him in here since I run this end of the building,” he said, scrunching his nose.
“He’s a guard?”
“If you want to call it that. He’s not really guard material, so they gave him the evening shift. He does all the manual stuff around the property.”
The wheels in my head started to—like the bus—go round and round. “Finn, if you’re not in the building, then that would eliminate any suspicion that you were involved. Is there a way you can leave for the night, maybe go to the main house?”
Finn tossed the rag in the pail he brought in. “Why the hell would I leave?”
I covered my face. “I care about you Finn, and I don’t want you to get in trouble. If Diego has the key—”
“You can’t fight off Diego! My wolf had to come in here to save your butt… Do you hear what I’m saying?”
“No,” I argued.
“I’m not going to let you do this.”
“Let me? You just said that to the wrong person. Do you think I’m just going to lie down like a—” I bit my tongue before I said something insulting. “Scratch that. He’s going to do this to me every night until I have no more fight left. Do you want me to end up like your friend, Cheri? Where does Diego keep the key?”
Finn spun away. “You’re the only friend I’ve got. I don’t want you to leave—I’ll be stuck alone here with no one to talk to.”
His voice broke, and I felt for him. I really did.
“Then come with me.”
He dropped his head. “I can’t.”
I sighed thoughtfully. “Then I’ll come back for you. We’ll force him to release you, Finn. That’s my promise. Do you hear me?”
He sniffed and wiped his nose with a quick swipe. “He keeps it in his back pocket. Left side.”
Finn stood up and gripped the bars, looking away. “If it helps any, deep down he wants you to like him. He’s insecure. Don’t hit him because that’ll just piss him off and you don’t have enough strength to fight. You’re not going to get far, not with your feet like that.”
“Finn?”
“Yeah?” He peered over his shoulder, but a mop of hair covered his expressive eyes.
“I need to do this while I have the energy. The more he takes, the harder it will become. I can’t sit around waiting for opportunity; I have to make it myself. Can you be gone tonight?”
“I guess. Once or twice I’ve played cards in the main house with the guards.” Finn sighed reluctantly. “You sure you want to do this? If something goes wrong, I won’t be here.” He scraped his tennis shoe across the floor.
Which is exactly what I wanted. It mattered to me that Nero might punish him for something he had no part in planning. Finn didn’t deserve to be Nero’s pet, and as much as I wanted to drag him along, Finn would never come of his own free will.
“My plan is to chain Diego and release the others. Do you think they’ll hear him shouting from the house?”
Finn sniffed. “He won’t call out. Diego is mute; Nero cut out his tongue a long time ago. Someone slammed his fingers in a truck door once and he didn’t make a peep. Even if he can, he probably won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Pride.”
“Make sure Diego knows you won’t be here. I promise I’ll come back for you. You’re a good friend, and you deserve a better life than this.”
Before he turned away, a tear spilled down his cheek and he wiped it with the heel of his hand. If fate brought me here—I knew that above all, it was to free Finn.
Chapter 30
Logan appeared in a cloud of dust. Only, he wasn’t an apparition, he was dreamwalking.
“I’m escaping tonight.”
“Tell me how,” he said, eyes brimming with concern.
“Nero’s unpredictability is scaring me. Two of the women are missing, but he left the others behind. I want you to make me a promise.”
“A promise to do what? That’s a serious thing to ask a Chitah, Silver.”
“The Shifter I told you about—Finn—swear to me that if I don’t make it out, you’ll free him. I’m in his debt, and if I can’t keep good on my word, I want you to do it for me.”
The muscles in his face tensed. “What are you planning that would make me keep such a promise? One that I could only make if you were cut from this earth?”
“These people deserve their freedom, and this has gone on long enough. My plan is to release them all, including the humans. Once I’m out of these shackles, I’ll be in touch.”
A deep growl rose in the back of his throat. “Shackles? He put you in shackles?”
“Promise me, Logan.”
I didn’t think he would agree, but his shoulders relaxed and he bowed his head. “You have my word.”
“Tell Simon and Justus that once I have an idea where I am, I’ll reach out to them.”
He smoothed a hand over my cheek and looked at me gravely. “You’re as crafty as you are stubborn. Be caref
ul, and keep your wits about you.”
“Wish me luck. I have to go.”
My primary focus that evening was pushing back the pain. I had no intention to stay close to Diego for long, and his healing light was not sufficient as a human. Plus, I could inadvertently kill him. Killing someone in self-defense was one thing, but just to heal a few cuts on my feet? A murderer I was not.
Diego appeared in the doorway, sliding the key into the metal lock. I lay motionless in the center of the room, erasing my fears.
I never talked about it later. What happened with Diego was a necessity, and while I didn’t do anything beyond kissing that troll, it violated my conscience. I lifted the key from his pocket and reclaimed my freedom.
Diego wasn’t just submissive to Finn. I ordered him to turn around and strip off his clothes near the door. He was surprisingly obedient and willing to play. It bought me time to unlock my chains in the darkness and prepare to fight. When I looked up, he was waiting for instructions.
“Walk this way, and turn around.”
I shuddered when he bumped into me. As he stood there with his ass in my face, I put weight on my feet, leaned forward, and locked the shackle around his ankle.
I flashed to the door and slammed it shut, blowing out a heavy breath. He tested the chain with his strength and anger seeped across his expression—betrayal.
“Sorry Diego, no nookie for you tonight.”
Two parts of the building connected through a central room by the front door. I stared at an empty desk, and smelled the heavy, wet stench of cigars. It was Diego, because the taste still lingered on my lips. Soda cans and empty potato chip bags filled a small wastebasket. Guard duty seemed like a boring job. I opened the far door.
“Is anyone in here?” I whispered loudly.
“Down here!”
I cautiously looked through the bars into the shadows. “Who’s in there? I can’t turn on the lights.”
“My name is Ray.”
“Ray, I’m going to come in, so stay where you are and don’t try anything. I’ve got the key to your shackle.”
