Hexes and Handcuffs: A Limited Edition Collection of Supernatural Prison Stories

by Margo Bond Collins

Glancing around the room at the rest of the delinquents slurping their blood, it looked like any other vampire school, except for the unhinged look in everyone’s eyes. Each of them was guilty of violence or murder. One mistake could send the entire room into a frenzy of claws and fangs ripping apart anyone standing too close. No one was safe. Even though there were professors—aka disciplinarians, posted at every entrance and exit, they didn’t care what we did, as long as we didn’t escape.

  Escape had always been in the back of my mind, but I had stupidly assumed that forgiveness for my false crime was an achievable goal. Now, I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t escape, I would rot here forever.

  Fists slammed down on the end of my metal lunch table. “Pixie, you got lucky. Silas would have toyed with you as if you were his human prey. You should be grateful that I saved you. In fact, I think a little gratitude is in order.” Landon’s eyes drifted down my body. His arrogant smirk made my skin crawl until I cringed.

  “I’m not sleeping with you, Landon.” Though I had been known to give a blowjob or two in exchange for something I really wanted, I refused to be like Lydia and whore myself out to anyone.

  He leaned down and ran his hand through my short hair. “I usually don’t like blondes, but you’re feisty, so I can overlook it.”

  I slapped his hand away. “I’d rather take my chances with Silas. I don’t need your help.”

  I looked over at Silas to find him punching one of the new vamps in the throat. He grabbed the new guys’ hand and attempted to bite off his finger.

  Gulping, I glanced up at Landon, who was well aware that I wouldn’t survive if Silas really wanted to hurt me.

  Landon chuckled. “Come on, I promise it’ll be quick.”

  “Just what every girl wants to hear.” I gave him a pleasant smile and leaned forward intending to crush his balls.

  Quickly realizing that I was up to something, he jumped back. “You can’t hold out forever, Ceyla. Without me, you’ll never make it another year.”

  He gave me a sarcastic smile before crossing the room to sit with the table of vamps who pretended to be his friends in exchange for protection.

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. He was right about one thing. I needed help and I needed allies to escape. Unfortunately, I had never put friendship high on my priorities list so I had to start from scratch.

  My eyes flew open when the smell of fresh blood hit my nose, making my mouth water even though I was full. The rest of the room stilled as the scent wafted through the room.

  “Bow to me, Night Slave, or I’ll kill you!”

  Searching the room, I found Isabella throwing Kayden against the wall and grabbing his throat. She couldn’t strangle him to death because he didn’t need to breathe, so there was little point in the theatrics.

  “I won’t bow to a Covenless.” Kayden hissed and stared defiantly at her with those seductive blue eyes.

  Damn it! Why did I care about his eyes? Isabella could easily kill Kayden, yet I was still turned on by his disinterest in her threat. Part of me wanted to see what Kayden would do if she tried to remove his head.

  Loud footsteps had everyone turning back to their blood bags, pretending as if nothing interesting was going on. Three professors rushed towards Isabella with their stun batons and pulled her off Kayden.

  Isabella went down swinging and slashed the face of Professor Sera, my least favorite teacher. The other two professors tried to hit her with batons, but Isabella was fast and skilled in combat. Popping to her feet, she ducked under one baton and slammed her fist into the ribs of Vamos, while simultaneously throwing her foot into Torma’s stomach.

  Sneering, Isabella picked up Sera and extended her fangs to bite him, but Vamos grabbed her and pulled her into a headlock.

  My eyes drifted towards Kayden, who was still standing against the wall, watching the fight. I wasn’t sure what had set Isabella off, but I was more curious to know why Kayden hadn’t run back to his room. He still appeared disinterested, but there was definitely something else going on inside his head.

  When Adriel and his goon squad marched into the blood room, my heart skipped a beat. Isabella was already on the ground being hit with the stun batons and wasn’t conscious enough to keep fighting. There was no reason to bring Adriel into a fight that was over.

  “Everyone out!” Adriel shouted and waved his hands to clear out the remaining students.

  Walking around the edge of the room, I watched as Adriel and the others continued to hit Isabella.

  My eyes went to Kayden, who glanced up at me. I mouthed the words, “Night Slave,” and left the room. Kayden was so deep inside the folds of the Headmistress’ skirt that no less than seven punishers had come to his rescue. What the fuck had the Night Slave done to deserve such a gift? I needed to know his secret so that I could exploit it.

  Chapter Two

  Walking to Ethics, I scanned the hallways for vamps to recruit to my cause. I needed people who would benefit from busting out of this hellhole. They needed to possess a usable skill but they also needed people skills, unlike Silas and Landon. I didn’t want to be saddled with lunatics, unless they proved necessary.

  I dropped down into my metal desk chair and I looked over to Declan, the one guy who was even worse at making friends than me. I didn’t know much about him, but he wasn’t attacked often despite his standoffish nature. He avoided fights and had no known allegiances. He did have strong arms and legs, which implied that he could fight. If I could figure out his motivations, he might be useful.

  “Hey.” I smiled the first real smile in two years and dusted off my manners. “How’s it going?”

  Declan’s chocolate brown eyes slowly glanced up at me as if he had just woken up. He was definitely surprised that I was speaking to him.

  When he didn’t reply, I continued on. “What are you drawing?” I pointed at the etching he was carving into the desk with his claw.

  He raised his eyebrow and stared at me. “This. This represents how much I hate this place.”

  Looking down again, I realized that he was drawing a noose. I wasn’t sure who it was for, him or the Headmistress, but I liked his way of thinking.

  “Have you ever considered getting out of this place?” Again, I tried sounding casual since everyone who had ever been trapped here had thought of escaping, though not many had tried.

  Once more, he looked at me as if I was a foreign object.

  I sat back in my chair and sighed. I needed a better plan and a better list of people. Maybe I needed a speech or mantra, something to inspire people to join me. If necessary, I could offer sexual favors to gain loyalty, but only if I hit bottom.

  “We need to set boundaries for ourselves; otherwise, we end up committing immoral acts. Without boundaries, each of us would fall into moral ambiguity. That’s why each of you is here. You crossed a line and committed an act that is unacceptable by our governing bodies. You went too far and are now paying the price. Let’s discuss some of the reasons why you crossed the line.” Professor Behlen tapped his chalk against the board, waiting to write down our list.

  “We hate the Mielcarek Coven.” Jorgen laughed while the rest of the class clapped and cheered.

  Behlen shook his head. “No, that’s not why you ended up here. That was a motivating factor in your decision to commit the act, but not the actual reason. Give me another example.”

  “Someone disrespected us.” Myerson blurted out his justification, which I personally hated. It bothered me that the students here thought that a lack of respect was a good reason to attack someone. No one respected me, yet I’d never ripped off someone’s arm.

  I shook my head. No one respected me, which was the problem. It was one thing to be a woman ignored by stupid men because we couldn’t rip things apart with our bare hands, but it was another to be disrespected because the governing body told everyone we were worthless. It burned me that I couldn’t earn respect simply because my family had lost their lives to the Mi
elcareks.

  Being nice or charming wouldn’t get me anywhere. To earn respect in this place, I would need to prove that I was willing to do whatever it took to break out. That meant I would have to be the craziest bitch anyone here had ever seen.

  Behlen wrote something on the board and turned to look at us. “What are other reasons for being here?”

  Without raising my hand, I laughed. “Some of us are here because the Mielcarek’s crushed our coven and declared us enemies even though we had done nothing wrong.” I stood up and looked around at everyone. “We were born enemies and we continue to be enemies because we are too afraid to fight back. Well, I’m done with being afraid. I’m reinstating the Sabourin Coven for anyone who is tired of being labeled a criminal. If the Mielcareks think we’re enemies, then we will act like enemies.”

  Stunned silence met my declaration, but I didn’t let it bother me. I understood the punishment for reviving a coven, so the others might not publically jump at the chance to switch loyalties, but I could see that I had their interest.

  “That’s against the law, Ceyla. I will give you one chance to retract your statement and sit down.” Behlen had his stun baton in his hand to prove that he wasn’t joking. He was more sympathetic than the other professors, but he would drag my unconscious body to the Headmistress’ office if I didn’t comply.

  I hopped on top of my desk and smiled at him. “Come and get me.” I blew him a kiss as I jumped over to Declan’s desk, unconcerned about Declan looking up my skirt.

  “Don’t do this, Ceyla.” Behlen cautiously walked closer.

  “I’ve always wondered why someone like you would teach Ethics in this dump, Behlen. I thought it was because you were crazy or needed the money, but the more I understand this place, I realize that no one is here of their own free will. You’re working off a debt to the Mielcareks. You’re trying to prove your loyalty and absolve yourself, just like everyone else. I wonder. What did you do to get thrown in here with us?” I was taking a wild guess, but it made sense. Most of the teachers had less morals than the students and many of them had the cold, detached personality of an assassin.

  “Get down, Ceyla.” Behlen’s voice dropped an octave, as if his sudden alpha male voice would make me comply.

  With everyone raptly staring at me, I leapt into the air and kicked Behlen in the face. I landed next to him and sprinted to the front of the room. I jumped on his desk and threw my hands out. “We will no longer be the forgotten vampires forced into subjugation by a coven who doesn’t give a shit about us. Join me, and we will forge our own place in history!”

  All eyes were on me, though there was a mix of bemusement, confusion or just plain boredom on the faces of the students. Declan, however, no longer looked at me like a foreign object. His raised eyebrows and his cheery smile let me know that he thought I was a lunatic.

  Behlen rushed to the front of the room, blowing his whistle that would summon the goon squad. I had one chance to prove that I was willing to see through my spur of the moment declaration.

  Hearing the boots of the punishers heading towards the room, I tackled Behlen to the ground and drove my teeth into his arm until he released the baton. I quickly got to my feet and zapped the living hell out of him until he stopped moving. With the first goon entering the room to figure out what was happening, I caught him off guard and threw the baton at his head.

  The baton hit him, causing his body to spasm and writhe. It dazed him long enough for me to kick him into the other two guards who were trying to rush through the doorway. All three of them fell into the hallway in a pile of black leather and wriggling arms. I grabbed my baton and shocked all three of them before they could roll off each other. Stomping on the flailing arms, I managed to secure all four batons.

  Behind me, the sound of hissing and flesh on flesh punching made me duck my head back into the classroom. More than half of the class was biting and throwing each other into any available hard surface. Simon ripped one of the bolted desks out of the floor and slammed it down on Behlen’s body. I cringed slightly, feeling a tiny bit bad for Behlen, though that sentiment quickly faded when I heard one of the goon squad call for reinforcements.

  “Who wants to start some mayhem?” I showed everyone the batons.

  Four vamps rushed to the front of the room and nodded to me. I tossed them three of the batons and watched them pounce on the guards in the hallway.

  Once more, I looked to Declan, who was leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head as if he was enjoying the show. I smiled and pointed to the baton to assess his interest.

  He slowly shook his head. It irked me that he was letting all that muscled goodness go to waste.

  Shrugging, I threw my arms into the air. “We’ve had enough infighting. It’s time to stop biting each other, and focus our efforts on those who truly deserve it. Put aside your petty hatred and unleash your rage on those who work for or support the Mielcareks!”

  I was surprised to see how many vamps stopped pummeling each other to look at me. I could see their brains working as they looked to their fighting partner, then to the new goons coming into the room. The light flicked on inside their heads and suddenly everything made sense. They hated the Mielcareks more than they hated the guy they were punching, with the exception of the Mielcarek loyalists in the room.

  Six more vamps rushed to confront the goons attempting to get order in the room, while three vamps cornered two loyalists.

  A smile spread across my face. Maybe there were people willing to follow me straight out the door to freedom.

  “Everyone down on the ground, hands on the back of your head!” Adriel’s voice cut my gleeful vision short. His fist landed against my chin, but I recovered and kicked the side of his knee. He snarled and punched the side of my head. “Get her!”

  The fresh supply of goons jumped me and took me to the ground. I struggled, but there were too many of them. My head hit the floor and the last thing I remembered was 100 milliamps coursing through my body.

  Chapter Three

  I woke up in solitary with the hangover to end all hangovers. I hated stun batons. It took forever for the feeling to return to my fingers and the ringing in my ears to stop.

  Having no idea how long I had been out, I closed my eyes and fought against my exhaustion and dizziness, which was nearly impossible. After a few tries, my senses stretched beyond my cell walls, and I heard the blood of the purebreds racing and stomachs of the Bitten clench. It was sunset, which meant I was out for a little less than a day, or more than two days.

  I gingerly touched my face and found exactly what I expected…dried blood. It made it harder to wake up after a beating if we were injured too greatly. Last year there was a vamp who was out cold for a week because Adriel had pummeled him into a bloody mess.

  Leaning against the cold metal wall, I sighed. My mini rebellion had gone reasonably well, but it wasn’t enough to get my hopes up. It was easy to get people to brawl and take their anger out on Adriel’s men; it was another to convince everyone to work towards the shared goal of escape. While the vamps loved to cause trouble, most of them feared the very real consequence of dying for breaking multiple rules. I needed to keep everyone motivated so that I didn’t lose momentum.

  Though some of the guys had shown potential, they were more interested in the violence of it all. They were nothing more than goons themselves, which wasn’t a bad thing, but first, I had to recruit my upper echelon. I needed people who would help me carry out my plans.

  The next hurdle would be Wesling’s wrath. She was within her right to kill me for attempting to revive a fallen coven, but my punishment depended on whether she believed I could actually do it. Wesling could deal with me herself or send me before the Mielcareks for judgement. Either way, I had to prepare for a fight.

  I unconsciously rubbed the Sabourin insignia branded into my upper arm and traced the slash through it indicating that I was Covenless. It was a mark of shame, but I felt no shame. I
used it as a reminder of who I was and who I was meant to be.

  Hearing the metal door creak open, I shook myself from my thoughts and saw the perfect eyes of the man I hated.

  “I wanted to see if you were awake yet.” Kayden slipped into the room as it shut behind him. He clicked on a small light and placed it on the ground between us.

  “What do you want?” I wasn’t interested in what he had to say, but it would pass the time.

  He leaned forward and cleared his throat. “I want in.”

  “Are you that inept at asking for sex? You really don’t know how to seduce a woman. I hope the bribe to get you in here wasn’t expensive, because you just wasted your time.”

  He shook his head and lowered his eyes. “No, Ceyla. I want to join your new coven.”

  Perplexed, I stared at him, waiting for him to laugh. When he didn’t crack a smile, I leaned forward. “Are you serious? Let’s ignore the obvious problem of you being a Night Slave and focus on the reality of your life. The second someone threatened you, seven guards came to rescue you. You don’t have to fight your own battles because you’re the Headmistress’ earned boy. Why would you want to leave that life? You’re constantly given rewards. Why would you want to join my coven?”

  He wet his lips and looked away from me. “Why do you think I get special treatment?”

  “I’m going with the obvious answer that you’re screwing Wesling. You’re hot enough to seduce anyone, even if you have no experience.” I crossed my arms, waiting for him to admit that he was an ass kisser.

  He closed his eyes and swallowed harshly before looking up at me. Tears formed in the corner of his wide eyes and his lower lip trembled. I had never seen a more despondent man.

  My breath caught in my throat when I finally comprehended the fear on his face. “You didn’t seduce anyone. You’re her unwilling plaything.”

  He slowly nodded. “I will do anything to escape with you. Please. You have to help me.”