Puzzled, I stepped into my new cell and jumped into the top bunk. It was comfortable up here, and somehow roomier, despite being a little too close to the ceiling for comfort. Still, if I was going to have to sleep here for a few more nights, at least, better to do it on the top bunk. No more bottom bunk for me.
Once I felt like I had well and truly claimed the top bunk, I rolled onto my side to slide out of the bed and found Azlu staring at me from the ground.
“Fuck!” I yelped, “You scared the hell out of me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, staring at me with those wide set eyes of hers. “I didn’t mean to.”
I watched her from where I sat, wondering if she really was Azlu or someone else. Every time before this, I’d seen Azlu through my night vision, and night vision is mostly monochrome. Everything is either dark or bright, but rarely colored.
Azlu’s skin was as pale as milk, her eyes were bright violet, and her hair was deep purple, with lashes of a much brighter purple running through it—like the red in my own hair. She was beautiful, and vibrant, with the kind of sharp angled, elfin face that could make the cover of any magazine, storefront, or billboard. Just like the spider queens in all the books I’d ever read.
“Something wrong?” she asked.
“No,” I said, “I guess I’ve just never really seen you before.”
Azlu smiled and cocked her head to the side. “I’m still the same me.”
“I know… I’m glad you’re in my block.”
“Me too. My cellmate isn’t too happy to see me, but I can handle him.”
“Him?”
“Please, don’t worry about me, Six. You forget, I’ve been here for a few years already.”
I nodded. “Sorry. It’s an instinct.”
“And it’s a good one. I only came because mother reminded me it was polite to welcome a person to their new home.”
“Thank you. Both of you, I guess. I’m not sure what would’ve happened to me if I had been thrown into a different hole.”
“You would’ve survived… because that is what you are. A survivor. Don’t forget who you are.”
I nodded. “I won’t.” I glanced at the door to the cellblock. “I think I need to go and do something, but I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“Of course. We’re friends.”
“Friends…” I remembered making that same statement to Odessa the day I moved into her cell. The only difference was, Azlu hadn’t demanded anything from me. She had, in fact, not exactly saved my life, but sped up what would’ve been a long and painful healing process, and she hadn’t asked for anything in return.
This time, it felt like the sentiment was going to stick.
Azlu left the cell, and I slid out of my bunk and followed her out. Odessa and Knives were no longer leaning against the barrier on the upper level, but I knew where her cell was, so I headed for it. The door was open, the floor was wet, and Odessa was inside, staring at the far wall.
“Hello,” I said from the doorway.
Odessa spun around. She had one of her hands to her mouth, but she pulled it away as she turned. I also noticed her spit a broken fingernail out. “You’re back,” she said. That was also something she’d said to me before, only she didn’t sound happy to say it this time.
“What were you expecting?” I asked.
She took a step forward. “Look, about what happened—”
I stuck a hand toward her. “—I don’t want to hear it. I know what that was.”
“You do?”
“Yes. You made a choice.”
“You gave me no choice.”
“That’s not true. You decided you didn’t want to respect my secret, so you went around my back and tried to get someone to extract it from me.”
“Six, I didn’t mean—”
“—for me to get hurt?” I asked through my teeth, “What did you think was going to happen? Did you think Knives was going to throw me a fucking party?”
“It got out of hand.”
I advanced a step, knowing full well the door could close behind me at any second. “I know. I was there.”
“I told her not to hurt you. I told her I only wanted to know what the Horseman wanted with you. We all wanted to know the same thing. He likes to keep pets, and I thought—”
“—shut up. I don’t want to hear your excuses or your half-assed apologies. You knew exactly what was going to happen to me in that room and you not only stood by and let it happen, you participated.”
“I didn’t!”
“Don’t lie to me, Odessa,” I growled, advancing another step. “I saw the water pool underneath me. I know it was you. Maybe I’d have still gotten my ass handed to me in that fight even if you hadn’t intervened, but I lost the fight when you did that. It was you.”
Odessa’s face was whiter now than it had been when I saw her out on the banister. “I’m sorry…” she said, pleading. “I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.”
“I’m sure you didn’t. You’re not strong enough to handle a werewolf like Knives. She’s always going to do whatever she wants and leave you to watch, because you’re just an Outsider to her. I hope you enjoy being fed scraps while it lasts.”
“While it lasts? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you could be dead tonight. You, Knives, her girls—even Brickmore. I was supposed to be taken to my cell, but instead I got jumped by a bunch of cowards and almost beaten to death. If I really am the Horseman’s new pet, then he should’ve already come riding out to cut you down, don’t you think?”
Odessa’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”
I took another step toward her. “I’m saying I didn’t rat you out. I didn’t say a word about what happened to me tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because my word means something to me. Because my code means something to me. You may have been willing to sell out your own integrity to figure out what I was hiding, but I’m not willing to sell mine out for petty revenge.”
She swallowed, her neck muscles working. “So… you don’t want revenge?”
I grinned. “Oh, I’m getting revenge. You, Knives, and anyone else who crossed me tonight—I’m coming for all of you.”
“I thought you said—”
I jabbed a finger at her, and she flinched as if I could hurt her by pointing. “—didn’t I make myself clear?” I asked, interrupting. “I didn’t tell the Horseman what had happened to me because I don’t get other people to fight my battles for me. And I’m definitely not about to let someone else dish out my vengeance.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Her lips curled into a sneer. “You know that by telling me this, you’re forcing me to act first.”
“I’m not forcing you to do anything. You have choices, and you’re free to make them. But I want you to know to watch your back. That’s the difference between fighting honorably and fighting like a coward.”
“I’m not gonna sit here and let you threaten me. I’m definitely not going to let you murder me in my cell.”
I waggled my eyes at the collar around her neck. “And what are you going to do about any of that? Where is your precious bodyguard to protect you? Not that she could, anyway. Not with her collar on.”
“She’s…” Odessa peered around my shoulder, as if hoping Knives and her friends were there to jump me at a moment’s notice. But she wasn’t there.
“Surprised?” I asked. “She knew I was coming here, she saw me enter your cell, and she left you to deal with me on your own. What does that tell you about your new friend?”
Odessa paused, her hands trembling. “Get out,” she hissed, her voice shaky. “Get out of my cell right now.”
I lowered my eyes and grinned. “Gladly.” I said, stepping backwards, away from her. “Watch your back, Odessa.”
I left her cell, catching a glimpse of Knives sitting in hers as I walked past. I didn’t make a pit stop. I’d made my point. They didn’t need t
o know that I was getting out of here as soon as my mission was complete, but the psychological damage I’d just inflicted on them all was enough to calm the fires of my own rage.
At least for now.
We’d see what tomorrow was going to bring.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The next couple of days went by slowly, but without drama. That was a good thing. It felt like, barring a few brief periods of rest, life in Harrowgate had been chaotic, at best, and dizzying at worst. The chance to recover, to regain some of my energy, to let my body heal some of those deep, penetrating wounds even magic couldn’t reach, was nothing short of a godsend.
As the days went past, I got a chance to observe the prison I was being kept in. To truly get a feel for the lay of the land with my own eyes, rather than being told what the world looked like through the eyes of another. What I found was… interesting, at least.
For the most part, the inmates at Harrowgate weren’t interested in breaking out, or causing trouble, or even starting fights. Many of them had resigned to the idea that they were stuck here, possibly forever, and were doing their best to make something of the life they had been forced into.
To those people, Harrowgate was a force of nature, or fate. Out in the world, some people would get hit by cars. Some were unfortunate enough to get mugged on the street and horribly maimed. For others, it was a freak illness, or a disease that changed their lives forever. None of these people blamed the disease or the injury.
They accepted it as something that just happened to some, and not to others.
The luck of the draw.
The twisting of fate.
I didn’t understand how anyone could live like that. How a person could simply shrug their shoulders and resign themselves to live half a life. I had spent my entire existence fighting for my right to not just survive, but to be free, even if the concept of freedom terrified me sometimes.
Sometimes, at night, when my mind couldn’t find rest, I’d remember the day when Seline first found me. I didn’t trust her. I had just broken out of my cage and had been in the process of trying to escape the labyrinthine neighborhood my people had claimed as their own when I saw her. My first instinct had been to go back to the cage.
To go back to what was safe.
Even when she liberated me and brought me to her Black Fortress, I would think about going back to my people. The pull of the familiar was so strong, I didn’t think I’d beat it. But I resisted the temptation. I fought against it with every fiber of myself. Sometimes the fight was hard. More than once I had wanted to quit. But I persisted, I was free, and now I had the power to liberate others.
Well, not entirely free.
A guard tapped his baton against the wall of my cell. “Time to go,” he said from the open doorway.
I leaned on my elbows and lowered my eyes at him. “Has it really been a week?”
He rolled his eyes. “Just get out of the bed and move.”
I slid out of bed and followed the guard out of the cellblock. This time, at least, I wasn’t being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. I had to admit, I did think about the Horseman a lot more than I wanted to. I wondered what was happening outside of D-block, how the investigation into the Crimson Hunters was going, if there had been more attacks.
The last few days had been too quiet on that front. I hadn’t seen him since the night I bathed in his room. The night he pampered me with bath bombs, pizza, and cheesecake. It was laughable that a man with a reputation like his would’ve even entertained that idea. Maybe Odessa was right. Maybe I really was nothing more than a pet to him.
That was why, today, I was going to ask Calder to erase some of the memories I had of him.
Yes, that meant opening my mind to Calder, laying myself bare for him to see my shame. But what choice did I have? I was here to perform a task—to kill the Horseman. When I’d first arrived, that task was as clear in my mind as the pain from all the scars I carried with me. But now?
Everything was murky. Upside down. The Horseman and I shared some kind of connection. I knew that. I was willing to bet he did too. But I hadn’t been aware of that connection when I first came in here, and that meant Calder would have the power to if not tear it from me, then suppress it long enough for me to complete my mission.
I was risking everything on this. If Calder decided I had been compromised, he was apt to take me off the mission. But I was close. I could feel it. The Horseman was the kind of man who never let his guard down, but I could see the cracks in the armor. If the hate I felt for him was the only emotion that bubbled up inside of me when we were close to each other, I would have the strength to pounce on that weakness and end his life once and for all.
Calder was going to see what I did. He’s going to get a front row seat to my moment of weakness. But every mistake carries consequences, doesn’t it? And what had happened between the Horseman and I had been a mistake. One that couldn’t be repeated. Ever.
Ever.
The guard bound my hands behind my back as we left the cellblock, then escorted me through checkpoint after checkpoint until we reached the door to Calder’s office. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Brickmore, wearing his uniform, talking to another guard in the hallway. He shut up when he saw me and stared from where he stood.
I cocked a playful eyebrow.
He tossed me a threatening grin.
There was another man I wanted to kill. Was going to kill. I wasn’t just going to kill him, either. I was going to release my innermost savagery on him and show him the true face of the thing he called fiend. He’s going to wish he’d never been born.
But first, Calder.
I took a deep breath as the guard opened the door for me to step through, not releasing Brickmore’s stare until the wall kept me from holding it. I turned my eyes on Calder, opened my mouth to speak, but the breath fell out of my lungs.
The man standing in the room wasn’t Calder.
He was wearing a long, black peacoat, a black suit, and black driving gloves. Before I walked in, he had been looking over Calder’s desk, his hand brushing the empty surface. But now that I was here, I had his attention. He turned his clear, blue eyes at me and ran a gloved finger through his carefully styled, short, blond hair.
“Hello, Six,” he said.
I frowned at him. “Who are you?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know who I am.” He walked around the desk, coming a little closer. “My name is Alistair Wright, but you may call me Warden Wright. Pleasure to meet you.”
Warden.
Shit.
He was handsome. Classically good looking, with a chiseled jawline, strong blue eyes, and firm, broad shoulders. I had no doubt he was hiding an impressive body underneath that coat, even if he was half the man the Horseman was. Despite the twitch in his left eye, he was handsome. Too handsome.
Why were the assholes always good looking?
Warden Wright extended his gloved hand. I didn’t take it. “Where’s Calder?” I asked.
“You won’t be meeting Mister Graves today. Or again.”
“What? Why not? I still need to get more of my memories drawn out of me.”
He glanced at the desk, then back at me. “Yes, I’m afraid that part of your journey is now complete. You will no longer be requiring Mister Graves’ services.”
“But I’m not done. I still don’t know why I killed your man.”
He waved a hand and smiled brightly, his blue eyes flashing with mirth—and cunning. “Don’t worry about that,” he said, “We have all the information we need about you.”
“That’s bullshit. What if he attacked first? You can’t keep me here if I was acting in self defense. I need to speak to Calder.”
Careful, Six. Don’t overplay your eagerness.
The Warden walked over to me, the power of his expensive, musky cologne increasing as he approached, tickling my nostrils. “I would like to think by now you understand how things work i
n here?”
“I have an idea.”
“Then you know what you did was reprehensible, even if you were acting in self defense. You understand that, right? Your kind must have some idea of what constitutes right and wrong?”
My kind.
“More than you do,” I said through my teeth.
The Warden’s smile brightened. “Come, now. There’s no need for insults. Who is to say your time at Harrowgate must be difficult? I have heard you have been assisting our organization in hunting down more of your rabid people. Surely, such behavior should be commended.”
“I’m not doing it to help you.”
“No, you’re doing it because you are being told to. Because you have no choice. I suggest you get used to the idea. It will help you to adjust to your newly found… permanent position within our magnificent facility.”
Newly found.
Permanent.
Shit, shit, shit.
You can’t keep me here,” I said.
“Oh?” Warden Wright asked, his eye twitching, his eyebrow cocked. “I think you’ll find we can do whatever we want with you… now.” He closed the distance between us, the smell of his cologne enveloping me now, his closeness making my heart race. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear… you’re mine. Understood?”
“Get away from my face.”
“Or what? You’ll hit me? I think you’ll find I’m not nearly as easy to subdue as some of my guards. And I promise you, if you so much as lay a finger on me, no one will come to save you from the hell I will put you in. Not even the Horseman.”
The Horseman.
His face burned itself into my mind. The shape of his jaw, the fullness of his lips, the shine of the gold in his eyes. I hadn’t seen him in days. Has something happened to him? “Take me back to my cell,” I snarled.
It was all I could do. I had to try and regroup. To figure out my next move. I wasn’t going to do that with the Warden in my face.
“We intend to,” the Warden said, “Only… don’t make yourself comfortable. I understand you have enjoyed the pleasure of your own company for a few days. Space at Harrowgate, however, is at a premium… and we are expecting more guests today.”
Night Hunter (The Devil of Harrowgate Book 1) Page 16
