She didn’t tell me where I was, but I was certain I was still at the prison. The village’s only hospital was across town, and it was even dimmer and uglier than these walls.
I turned my head to the other side again and tried to get a glimpse out the window, but the frost on the glass made seeing anything impossible.
What now?
The woman finished inspecting the line in my arm and moved on to my back. She pulled back the blanket and prodded my skin. I could feel the pressure of her fingers, but nothing else. I was blissfully numb.
“Your stitches look good,” she reported. “It shouldn’t scar too terribly.”
I didn’t respond.
She covered me back up and stepped back. “How do you feel?”
“Tired,” I said.
“Try to sleep.” She headed for the door, and I watched. When she opened it, I caught a glimpse of a hallway beyond, and another door at the end of it.
We must be close to the exit.
If I could get on my feet and out that door, I might be able to escape before they realized I was well enough to need restraints again.
But standing proved harder than I anticipated. My legs immediately betrayed me by nearly collapsing. I grabbed the edge of the cot to steady myself and clutched the blanket against my naked chest. I looked around for something to cover myself with, and I spotted a stack of clean linens on the other side of the room, sitting atop a chair.
First, the line. I pulled it from my arm, wincing, and a spurt of blood sprayed across the cot in a bright red splatter before I pressed the gauze firmly against the place where the line had been. No more morphine meant I would soon be feeling the agony again.
But I was strong enough to take the pain if only I could escape and find my grandmother.
The linens were soft against my hands. I bound them around my chest like armor and then pulled the blanket over my shoulders like a cloak.
My head spun with dizziness as I stepped toward the door. I leaned against it, gathering my courage and letting my senses settle before I turned the handle to peek outside.
An empty hall.
And at the end of it, another door.
My breath caught in my lungs.
Freedom was only a few strides away.
I slipped from the room and stole down the hall. My feet were bare, and the stones were cold against my toes, making me shiver as I crept along the wall. The door loomed in my vision. Beyond it would be one of the many yards around the prison. If I could find my way past the walls, past the guards, I’d be free. My skin tingled with eagerness and fear. I was so close I could almost taste it. My fingers reached for the door.
Once I was outside, I’d run through the forest for my grandmother’s house. We’d decide what to do after that. I could hide in the woods until they forgot about me. I could—
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The voice behind me was velvet-soft and dark as midnight.
I stopped. Without turning to look, I knew who it was.
CHAPTER SIX
VIXOR RAE stood at the end of the hall, still wearing his silver mask and armor, gleaming like the edge of a sword in the harsh lights of the prison. I turned with reluctance, my heart slamming in the chest.
“I was looking for the doctor,” I lied.
My gaze fell on the two curved swords he wore, one on either hip. My mouth felt like cotton.
Vixor radiated arrogant confidence as he strode toward me. It was clear he wasn’t falling for my story. The coldness in his tone cut through me like a knife. “Go put on some clothes, and then we’re going to talk.”
He snapped his fingers, and a guard appeared from just behind him. A human guard.
“Get her something to wear,” Vixor ordered. He watched as I returned to the room. Part of me wanted to run through the door, but I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere. If they thought I was complying with them, I was more likely to be able to successfully escape later.
The door closed behind me, and this time, I heard it lock.
~
The guard returned with clothing for me. A plain black shirt and a pair of black pants. I slipped into the pants while he faced the door. I was trembling, my whole body weak now that the adrenaline had worn off from my attempted escape. My legs turned weak, and I sat heavily on the edge of the cot as my vision swam. My body felt as weak as a newborn kitten.
The woman from before came too. She checked my arm where I’d yanked out the line, and her mouth thinned, but she didn’t say anything in the presence of the guard. She replaced the gauze with a clean square and checked my back again before I pull on the provided shirt.
“My clothes?” I asked, wanting my father’s cloak. “Will I get them back?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said.
It was probably torn to pieces by now. I was numb at the thought.
That cloak was my most precious possession.
When I’d finished dressing, the guard came and took me by the arm. He led me out of the room with the cot, down the hall, and up a flight of stone steps. I recognized the door we stopped in front of.
Gil Resset’s office.
But when we stepped inside, it was Vixor Rae who sat behind the desk, flanked by the other two Sworn companions I’d seen with him the day before.
The warden was nowhere in sight.
Vixor made a gesture with one gloved hand, and the guard released my arm and stepped outside. The door shut behind him with a click, and I was alone with the arrogant, terrifying Silver Wolf and his two silent companions.
He’d removed most of his silver armor, but he was still wearing his mask. The teeth glinted as he tipped his head, studying me. I could see the muscles of his arms and chest beneath the fitted black cloth of his under-armor. He was leaner than I might have imagined him to be, but he still looked strong enough to rip me in half if he wanted to.
Behind him, the other two Sworn were still wearing their masks and armor. Their eyes gleamed pale blue through the holes in the masks. The smaller one, whom I’d been certain was female, stood closer to Vixor Rae, her hands resting on the back of his chair. She looked me over and then said, in a cruel voice, “She’s such a fragile-looking, pitiful thing. How are girls like this supposed to give birth to healthy babies, Vix? Perhaps you should have let the warden finish her off after all. It would be a shame to waste resources only to have her die in childbirth.”
He didn’t answer. I wondered if she was his mate. Two cruel Sworn in love with each other. Perhaps looking for a Chosen to bear their child, since female werewolves were barren.
The thought made me ill.
“I think she looks healthy enough,” the other Sworn, the male, countered.
They were trying to frighten me. I wouldn’t let them.
But despite my resolve, I wavered on my feet, dizzy again from my injuries, and the Silver Wolf noticed and pointed to a chair. “Sit.”
His command was low and curt, and just short of vicious. The kind of command one gives to a person far beneath them.
I sat, bristling. He might have stopped my execution, but he hadn’t done it out of compassion. I knew who this dangerous creature was, and what he was capable of. If he thought I would tell him everything I knew in gratefulness, he was wrong.
Silence enveloped us. The room was warm, but still, I shivered. After his command for me to sit, the Silver Wolf sorted through a stack of papers, ignoring me completely. It was a power move, designed to make me wriggle in fear with each passing moment.