“What’s going on?” I wondered if Braxton had a better view.
He shook his head, using a towel to mop up sweat. “No idea, but something is definitely up. Let’s move closer.” He was all business as he dropped the white cloth and gripped my hand, pulling me through the masses.
As we moved through the crowd I recognized one of the guards dashing past us. I reached out and grabbed his arm. He glared down at me, before shaking himself free.
“You might be my council leader’s daughter,” the wolf shifter growled at me. “But in here you’re a prisoner, and you don’t get to touch me.”
I ignored his words. “What’s going on? What’s the alarm for?”
The siren was loud enough to make talking difficult, but I knew he heard my questions. He hesitated. I didn’t think he would answer, but then with a sigh he said, “I’m not totally sure, we haven’t been briefed yet, but that alarm generally means there’s been a breakout.”
He took off then, leaving Braxton and I staring around the room.
“I heard it was more dragon marked,” a female said from close by.
My head spun to find a witch, with very short pixie hair, watching the room. She continued to speak. “It was from a secret room. Two women, alone, staged the breakout.”
Braxton and I exchanged a glance. Could they have freed them from that room we got Nash from? How the hell were these women doing this? Just two of them, it would be impossible if they didn’t have inside information. I tried to contain my excitement that those poor imprisoned supernaturals might be freed now, especially the children. They had not been far from my mind, even with all the prison drama.
The chaos continued for hours, only quieting down when we were finally back in our cells. The information spreading around was exactly what the witch had said. Prisoners freed from a separate section of the prison. What the hell was going on?
The day before we were due to stand trial, I’d just finished in the shower and was stepping out to get dressed. For the first time, all week, Braxton wasn’t waiting there with clothes. That was odd. He was so diligent in his protection of me that even in our cell he seemed to always be on my ass. And not in a good way. I scrunched my towel a little tighter, tucking in the lip to stop it from falling down. Looking left and right there were lots of shifters around, but no massive dragon man to be seen.
I was worried, but knew I needed to get dressed before I started searching. With my eyes darting around, paying attention to my surroundings, I crossed the freezing tiled floor in the direction of the shelves. I reached the women’s section and moved down to find something in my size. I’d just turned my face to see what was in the next row when something hit me hard in the side of the head.
I know I let out a strangled yelp, but darkness descended across my mind before I even had a chance to see my attackers. I fought the pull. If I let the fuzziness win I was as good as dead. If I knew anything, it was that an unconscious person can’t fight back. And I wasn’t going down without a fight. I dropped to my knees; my head wanted to pitch forward but I held on to consciousness. As my attacker wedged their hands under my armpits, I swung out with all my strength. A male curse sounded as I hit something solid, and I took the opportunity to struggle as hard as I could, yelling and hollering. Of course, all of that came to a stunning conclusion with a second blow to the temple.
Chapter 15
Consciousness returned slowly, the ache in my head almost as bad as the fey wine hangover. Except this time I didn’t have that moment of disorientation where I couldn’t remember what had happened. I recalled the events perfectly. I’d been attacked in the showers.
I didn’t open my eyes straight away, I tried to get my bearings. I was flat on my back, hard cold stone beneath me. Judging by the chill, I was naked still and my hands were tied above my head. Icy metal was biting into my wrists; my feet felt the same.
Great! Could I be in a more vulnerable position? Naked and chained spread-eagled across the floor.
I had to know what I was up against, so I opened my eyes. The room was dark, stone walls embedded with earth elements and magic. Still inside the prison. From the small area I could see, there was no one close by. Although I sensed them there, just out of my line of sight. I fought against the bindings on my wrists. The metal cuffs held no silver, which was a bonus, but I wasn’t strong enough to break them, especially without full connection to my wolf. I could feel her howling, but couldn’t reach out and touch her.
Where was Braxton? What had they done to him? Icy tendrils of fear were churning in my gut. I was afraid for myself, but more importantly I needed to know my friend was okay. It had to be something big for them to be able to take him out.