The guard’s lips curled up at one corner, but he nodded and inclined his head, motioning for us to follow.
He pressed his thumb to a nondescript pad outside an iron door, then twisted the knob after a series of beeps sounded, and led us into a stone corridor.
My feathers bristled, the kiss of cool, murky air unwelcome. The sensation worsened as we reached a stairwell at the end, the rocky steps leading downward into the bowels of the prison.
Flickers of flames illuminated our way, turning the walls and floor a sickly green in the dim lighting.
At the bottom, we emerged into another corridor, this one highlighted by the low din of voices that echoed off the ceilings.
Doors dotted the interior, each laced with heavy iron with little square windows at the top.
Definitely a prison. Not that I’d expected otherwise.
All the entryways were open, allowing me to see and hear the occupants inside.
In one cell, two inmates grappled in the low light, throwing punches and dodging each other’s blows. I couldn’t tell if they were out to kill each other or just passing the time. In another room, two men screamed at each other, obviously in the midst of an argument. We passed several men lounging in their beds and several more sitting on visible metal toilets.
Ugh. Yuck. I would never be able to unsee any of that.
But more importantly, I really hoped my cell had a solid door. Because I would not be doing that in the open.
At the shuffle of our feet on the dusty stone floor, most of the occupants darted forward to see who had arrived. All male, I realized. I didn’t see a single female.
“Aren’t you pretty,” a gruff voice said, drawing my attention to a rough, crazy-eyed male who stood with his pants open and his hand wrapped around his shaft, pumping slowly as his gaze danced over me.
Oh gods...
I averted my eyes, bile rising in my throat. I skipped out of his reach, then froze as another hand stroked my feathers from the cell across the hall. I spun in a circle, then pressed my back to a solid piece of rock and wrapped my wings protectively around myself.
How could my parents have sent me here? To this prison? To this hell? I don’t belong here. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong here! I kept repeating the phrase in my head, my eyes squeezing shut as I tried futilely to wake myself up. To abolish this insane nightmare. To be anywhere other than here.
But their voices continued around me.
Purrs that left me weak in the knees.
Grunts that had me longing for the ocean, wishing Auric had just let me fall.
No. I can’t think like that. I have to fight this. I have—
“Princess!” the guard yelled. “Keep moving.”
I shook my head, unable to breathe properly. “No,” I forced out, my voice choking. “I don’t belong here.”
Auric shoved against my side, his presence providing the oxygen I needed to inhale. “Not now,” he bit out warningly. “Let’s get out of sight.”
Oh, but that voice wasn’t right at all.
Filled with hatred and condescending bitterness.
“I don’t belong here,” I repeated, my eyes opening to reveal the hell around me once more. Very real. Too real.
The guard growled irritably and stalked forward to grab my arm and yank me forward. I fell, my feet dragging on the stone and my weight dangling from his hand. His manhandling ignited a spark inside me.
No one treated me this way.
Not ever.
Because I was a royal. Even with my black wings, I was still a royal.
“Let go of me!” I demanded, planting my feet against the floor to right myself. “I swear I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not supposed to be here!”
“Your wings say otherwise, Princess,” the guard snapped. He dragged me forward again, this time veering off toward an open door in the wall. “Get the fuck in that cage, or I’ll toss you inside.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Auric cut in before I could argue. He took hold of my other elbow and glared pointedly at the guard’s grip on my arm. The man let go quickly, and then Auric guided me toward the cell.
I trembled, but I didn’t fight his touch. I just let his evergreen scent surround me and gulped deep breaths of him as I walked into the cell—anything to mask the lingering vile scents in this place.
Then I froze again, staring at the small, hard bed. The exposed toilet. Four stone walls. One door at my back.
“I’ll handle her from here,” Auric said in a low growl behind me. “Touch her again and I’ll kill you myself.”
“Yes, sir,” the Nora Guard replied through his teeth.
The door clanked shut.
Welcome to your new life, Princess.
3
Auric
Fucking cherry blossoms.
I needed a break from that intoxicating scent. From her. From the way she made me feel. The way she made me need.
Layla was a weakness, a fucking chink in the armor I’d worked so hard to build up. And now I was stuck with her in my own personal hell.
She still stood stunned inside the cell, her expression one of a weeping flower. So delicate and broken. And so not my fucking problem.
“Stay here,” I demanded, opening the door less than a minute after that idiot guard had shut it.
“What? Where are you—”
I stepped outside and slammed it shut before she could voice another word. My nose twitched at the putrid stench cluttering the hallway. It was a welcome reprieve from Layla’s natural perfume.
I folded my arms and leaned against the stone wall, then studied the prison corridor.
Noir Reformatory was supposed to be new.
Yet this place reeked of rot and age.
Something wasn’t right here. It ruffled all my plumes and left a sour taste in my mouth. I also didn’t care for the Nora Guards. They weren’t respectful of my far superior position, likely because they were bitter about their lowly station here. Not my problem. They would either learn their place or die by my blade.
I didn’t fuck around on a good day.
And today had been the opposite of good.
A hiccup sounded through the door, making me grunt.
“Your tears won’t fix this, Princess,” I muttered, aware that she could likely hear me just as well as I could hear her.
“I hate you,” she retorted, sounding furious, not sad.
So maybe they were angry tears. That I could work with.
“You only have yourself to blame,” I drawled, glancing up and down the corridor once more, searching for a guard. I needed a phone or some sort of device that would connect me to the king. He’d want a report on our flight, which would likely end in a few guard executions.
Those idiots had nearly killed King Sefid’s precious daughter. She might have black wings, but she was still heir to the throne.
Unfortunately, all I found lurking in the hallway were black-winged Noir.
Disgusting peasants. They reeked of sewage.
I rubbed my jaw and shook my head. No way could I leave Layla unguarded at any point, not with the way the Noir kept poking their heads out to sniff the air.
Layla was fresh meat, and all these animals wanted a taste.
Including the icy-eyed Noir standing sentry at his door a few paces down.
Novak.
I met and held his gaze, the former Nora Warrior one I knew very well. He used to be mine. A lethal soldier with razor-sharp feathers—at least when he allowed that part of himself to be displayed. He’d been the elite of the elite.