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

by Margo Bond Collins

  “Why isn’t Saul helping you save me?” I asked when the twins had stopped walking right on the edge of a dirt… was the word ‘road?’

  “Saul believes you to be dead, as does your mom. Well. Our mom.”

  “Our mom?” I shrieked with disbelief. Why would they have kissed me if they were my brothers?

  Olivander rubbed his neck and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Yeeah. It’s a little complicated. We’re not technically related. Our mom married yours before she died, and your mom took us in. She’s pretty great. Like you.”

  “Could’ve mentioned we were kind-of-siblings earlier,” I grumbled. Would’ve been better to know that before they said we’d kissed, among other things.

  Guy snorted a laugh and I shot him a glare for listening in on my thoughts. “What, are you mad that Olivander has had sex with you? I’m mad I haven’t. We can’t both be mad. Would make it hard to even the score.”

  God, these two. Every sentence from their lips made it really seem like they were desperate to get into my pants. I wasn’t sure I wanted them to. But I also wasn’t sure I didn’t want them to.

  The soft grass was gone, and I didn’t have shoes on. Guy knelt for me to mount his back, and he carried me across the road, his fingers tight on my thighs.

  “Where are we going exactly?” I asked after a few minutes when it was starting to feel really hot all of the sudden. Why was I so warm? Was it because of that bright thing in the sky? The sun?

  “We’re going to your mom’s house,” Guy answered. “I made sure the portal took us close, but not too close. We’ll have to walk the rest of the way; we should get there in the morning.”

  Olivander chuckled to himself as he walked beside us. “Too bad your mom isn’t here, she could take some of this grass and make it into shoes for you.” I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to work out how that was possible, and he grinned at me. “Magic, remember?”

  Right, that.

  We switched to a contemplative silence until the sun was almost down and they found a small cave by a river for us to sleep in. I didn’t know what they were thinking about during that walk, but I was still trying to wrap my head around all of the day’s events. Also trying to wrap everything around the fact that I wasn’t crazy. Plenty of things to absorb.

  Guy waited for Olivander to lay out his jacket for me to sit on before gently setting me down.

  “You have magic too,” Olivander continued as if we hadn’t stopped talking hours before. “It’s why you hear the walls hum like that.”

  “Let her breathe, man,” Guy chastised, sitting down and clapping his hands together to form a fire in front of us. “She’s been processing as best she can, but it’ll be awhile before she can accept the magic thing.”

  Studying Guy with increasing irritation, I took in his black hair, slightly shorter than Olivander’s, not long enough for a ponytail but enough where it fell into his eyes. He definitely had an air about him that said he knew how hot he was. “I’m really going to have to insist that you stop reading my mind, please. We might be kind-of-siblings, but I don’t know you. Not really. And I’m still not sure how I feel about this whole siblings relationship thing. We might’ve been sheltered in the Asylum, but they taught us enough to know that siblings don’t date each other.”

  “We’re not siblings,” Guy said, meeting my eyes over the hair covering his face. God, the look he was giving me made me feel tight all over. Shit, did he hear that? “Olivander and I fell in love with you long before our moms were married. There’s nothing wrong about the way we feel about you. And I can’t not read your mind. It’s part of my magic, part of my very self. Not doing it is like not hearing. Not seeing. You’ll be able to put wards up against it if you feel like you need to, once you’ve regained your powers, of course.”

  That was comforting. I certainly didn’t want him to know all of the thoughts that kept running through my head every time either of them looked at me. Staring into their blue eyes only made me wonder what it had been like between us, in the memories I’d lost. Kissing them, touching them, them touching me. Lots to imagine. I cleared my throat and looked away, hoping the fire would remove some of the tension inside me as it warmed me up.

  When would I meet Saul? Platonic or no, I was eager to meet my soulmate.

  “Here,” Guy said, handing me a phone with almost no pause from my thoughts ending. That was definitely going to become annoying. “This is Saul. You’ll probably know it’s him when you see him, with the whole soulmate thing, but I figured you’d want to see.”

  The picture on the phone screen showed a tall man, thick with muscles, a square chin, long white hair, and red eyes. He was even more handsome than the twins, and some part of me lamented that our connection was merely platonic.

  “It’s a good thing it is,” Guy responded, taking his phone back and staring at the fire. “If there was romance there, you’d never look at me or Olivander ever again. He makes us look like frogs standing next to a stag. We can’t compete with that.”

  They most certainly could. It definitely wasn’t Saul that was making my stomach flutter, my cheeks flush. That was the twins.

  Guy stiffened, his eyes traveling up me until he met my eyes, making a shiver run over my body. “Not fair, Letty. You can’t think things like that when we still need to get to know each other again.”

  “Damn it,” Olivander swore. “You really need to stop doing that, Guy. I can’t hear half of your conversation.” Guy’s intense focus on me had my skin heated, but I still felt cold without a blanket on me. They both automatically stood when I shivered again, this time from the chill.

  “I forgot to bring a blanket, I’m sorry, Letty.” Guy took his coat off and knelt beside me to lay it across my chest. Every touch of his fingers on my shoulder burned my skin.

  “We can huddle for warmth, if you’re okay with that?” Olivander asked on my other side, and once I’d nodded, they laid down beside me and waited for me to lower myself to the rocky cave floor. Guy had already put his arm out for me to rest my head on, and I felt my stomach flutter when I laid out between them, moving to my side so I was facing Guy. Olivander huddled against my backside, making sure he wasn’t touching anything, but still keeping me warm.

  It felt nice, being in the middle of them. I had a feeling we’d done this before, but I’d forgotten, just like everything else. Every kiss, every touch. Some part of me wanted to get my fill of everything Guy and Olivander had to offer, just in case I forgot them again. But could I, was the better question. Maybe it was too much for one day.

  Guy’s soft chuckle made me look up at him, my current thoughts making our closeness much more intimate. “You never could shut your brain off. Always pondering this and that, unsure how you should react.”

  “Still can’t hear her thoughts,” Olivander grumbled behind me.

  I looked down at Guy’s shirt collar, and back up to his eyes. “I was contemplating letting both of you kiss me, just in case.”

  “Funny, this morning you were eager to make me go away, yet again,” Olivander pointed out, something just barely brushing my hip, his hand I hoped. Or maybe I didn’t.

  My breath caught in my throat as Guy reached a hand out to brush some of my hair off my cheek. “I’m definitely not thinking that now.”

  Guy folded into me, whatever was holding him back now gone, and he lifted my chin up before pressing our lips together, slowly capturing them over and over until a whimper came from my throat. He broke off, stroking my hair, resting our foreheads together. “God, I missed you so much, Letty.”

  Olivander pulled me onto my back, hovering over me and kissing my lips, forcefully staking his claim to them, to me. He nibbled at my bottom lip and slowly released it from his teeth. “It’s been so long since you let me do that. I could kiss you all day and it would never be enough.” He dove for my lips again as Guy started kissing down my neck, and someone’s fingers traced around the top of my Asylum issued pants. I almost pulled away, but I w
anted this. I wanted them. I grabbed Olivander closer to me, sinking my fingers into his long hair, and that hand at my waist slowly started to reach inside…

  A loud crash interrupted us, Olivander’s hands frozen on my breasts and Guy’s more than halfway inside my underwear. They scrambled up, helping me stand, and down the path outside our cave was a group from the Asylum. They hadn’t seen us yet, but I’d know those uniforms anywhere.

  “How did they find us?” Olivander hissed, grabbing his jacket up from the floor and putting it on my shoulders.

  Guy was concentrating on the group and I slipped my hand into his, tightening our fingers together. “It’s the meds in Letty’s system. They’re magical, so they can be tracked. Damn it. We had no idea they could do that. We’d have taken precautions.”

  “Too late now,” Olivander said under his breath. He leaned over to peer out of the cave. “Think we can make a run for it?”

  Guy shook his head and squeezed my fingers. “Not with Letty being barefoot. I can’t run fast enough with her on my back.” He let my hand go, and my stomach fell from the look on his face. There were too many of them, they were too close. “Oli. If they catch us, they’ll wipe us too. I don’t have enough magic left to re-up our protection against it. We’ll forget the Asylum, we’ll forget how to find it. We won’t be able to get her back again. She’ll be gone, forever this time.”

  “I should beat you to a pulp right now, Guy,” Olivander said with a glare directed at his brother, his hands clenching into fists. “I didn’t spend an entire year in that place to lose her after a few hours.”

  It was up to me, then.

  Guy held out a hand to hold Olivander off, turning and reaching for me with his other hand. “No, Letty, stop thinking that. You can’t do it. We’ll find a way to escape.”

  Even without the ability to hear my thoughts, Olivander guessed them, and he looked like I’d slapped him. “Letty,” he whispered, and that one word tore at me.

  I didn’t remember my life with them. There was nothing in my head. But even so, I knew them. I trusted them. And I had to believe this would all end up okay.

  I lifted my hand, running it up Guy’s smooth cheek, and I eagerly stepped into his embrace, with Olivander holding me from the other side. “Promise me you’ll find me again.”

  They pulled at me when I stepped back, but I pushed their hands away, running out of the cave and turning back to them for one last look I knew I wouldn’t remember.

  Run, I sent to Guy, and he nodded, giving me the courage to leave, running back to the people who had held me captive, but I knew the twins would keep their word.

  Guy and Olivander would find me again.

  I don’t tell them when the walls are humming. They stopped caring a long time ago.

  “The walls aren’t humming,” the doctors would say.

  “But they are,” I would insist. “Can’t you hear them?”

  Except no one else could. Only me, the freak.

  How long had I been here? Who knew? Not me.

  Perhaps forever.

  Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! And keep your eyes on the sky for the preorder of Weird: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Highborn Asylum Book 1) for more of this epic tale!

  About the Author

  Elizabeth Dunlap is an award-winning author of several fantasy books, including the Born Vampire series. She's never wanted to be anything else in her life, except maybe a vampire. She lives in Texas with her boyfriend, their daughter, and a very sleepy chihuahua named Deyna.

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  Read More of Elizabeth’s Books

  The Born Vampire Series, a reverse harem paranormal romance

  The Neck-Romancer Series, a reverse harem paranormal romance

  The Ecrivain Academy Series

  The Grumpy Fairy Series

  Vampire Uncaged

  A Faeted Vampire Story

  A Paranormal Prison Romance

  Cyndi Faria

  About Vampire Uncaged

  Vampire Uncaged, A Faeted Vampire Story

  A Paranormal Prison Romance

  As a Marine, I don’t want my wife to think I’ve died in battle. And I sure as hell don’t want her to know I’m now a bloody vampire. If she discovers me hiding at a U.S. defense unit for paranormal vets, I could lose all control. Her very scent will make me want to pounce out of this new, hard skin at her in lust.

  As Ben’s wife, I’ve longed for the day he finally comes home from battle. Now I see for myself that he’s a vampire devouring the blood of another woman, his donor, and I fall to pieces. But my husband is intent on showing me in every breathtaking way he still wants me. Because of his pledge of devotion, I’ll do something neither he nor the facility imprisoning him will see coming. Just wait.

  Chapter One

  Camille

  The existence of vampires plasters every news avenue, from the Diamond Springs Gazette to CNN. With the initial reveal, I’d caught a glimpse of my husband on the five o’clock news. The Marine who I’d supposedly buried five years ago is very much alive, but no longer human. Answers? Yes, I demand them, which is why I’m glaring up into the pseudo sunny face of Paranormal Defense Officer, Corporal Anderson. I kick out my hip, adding a bit of attitude. “Take me to Ben Santos. I’m his wife. He’ll want to see me.”

  Corporal Anderson steps away as he lifts his cell to his ear, speaking in hushed tones, but he appears unfazed as if he’s been expecting me. I suppose nothing is a secret when I’ve learned vampires use a form of telepathy to communicate. I’d learned this information after I’d spoken to Tricia, my good friend since high school. She, strangely, turned out to be Queen of the Fae and mated to Master Vampire Sergeant Riley Sweetwater, who once-upon-a-time happened to be my husband’s best friend.

  While Anderson continues his tense discussion, I watch out the blackened window, spotting a line of construction trucks cutting a swath through PDU lands and leaving a trail of dust in their wake. What are they building?

  “Okay. Sorry about the interruption.” Anderson deposits his phone into his breast pocket as he gives me a once-over, adding a heavy sigh.

  I’m not sure who he’s just spoken to, but I sense his supervisor has overridden Anderson’s instincts. “Something wrong?”

  “I advise you to come back tomorrow after I clear an issue.”

  I jab my finger in the air, and I’m sure smoke’s rising from my ears. “I’ve waited five excruciatingly long years to see my husband. I’m not waiting. One. Minute. Longer. Take me to him. Now. We’ll work out issues as they spring at us.”

  My insistence seems to bother the corporal, as he resets his hat no less than a dozen times. After a final breathy beat, he leads me down a narrow corridor and stops at a code-locked door.

  He leans in, putting his eye close to an electronic pad. The scanner streams a green line across his retina. “The Master has debriefed you, but I want to caution you. Let the vampire come to you. Ben hasn’t seen you for five years. Like any POW, he’s dealing with extreme emotions. Your very presence could trigger his primal instincts.”

  I shudder and wrap my arms around me. Riley explained vampire politics and biology. But I believe he withheld a few critical details as he spoon-fed me, the delicate human. “Is there anything else?”

  “Be prepared. Ben may reject you. He may not remember you’re his wife. He may not believe you’re real…”

  Has Ben forgotten me? If he rejects me, I’ll die inside all over again. On the tail end of that thought, I can’t wrap my brain around all he’s endured after being turned and assumed dead. What has such loss done
to him? The memory of our last time together reminds me I, too, have suffered without him.

  “I want nothing more than to have Ben back in the same condition as when he left. Five years ago, he was my love, my new husband, but right now, I’d take him in any condition.”

  “Be careful what you wish for…”

  I raise my chin at Anderson’s comment as we enter another dimly-lit corridor, willing myself to be brave. “My husband needs me. So if you don’t mind losing the chitchat.”

  Anderson harrumphs.

  His full stride propels me to catch up. The hallway extends past a set of double doors we squeeze through. I assume the empty chair flanking the entrance belongs to the missing guard. Who’s running this place?

  “Ben’s in here, at the end of the passage, but stick close to me.”

  We enter the chilled room that’s so cold it feels like a morgue. A black canvas curtain, giving the illusion of flimsy privacy, separates each cell. I suppose the men know each other intimately, as they’ve shared everything, even death, and rebirth.

  I shiver. A mixture of sorrow and a drafty chill grips me, but I force myself to face my two biggest fears: Ben’s rejection and his hunger for my blood. “It’s freezing in here.”

  “Vampires don’t need heat, air, water...”

  “Only blood,” I murmur under my breath.

  Anderson pauses between two empty cells. He stares down at me with big blue eyes and a warm smile, which seems sincere or expertly practiced. I can’t tell the difference, and, frankly, I’m getting antsy at all his stopping and starting.