I stared at him blankly.
“Azara has amnesia,” said Talon when I couldn’t seem to get a single word out. “She’s been at a specialist.”
“No!” The Fae male slapped the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically. “So, you don’t remember your old bestie, Flix?”
I shook my head as I watched the animated faerie.
“Oh, dear.” He turned to Talon and pouted. “Why didn’t you tell me that months ago?”
He shrugged. “You didn’t need to know. Now you do.”
Flix gave him a hard eye roll and spun back to me. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll tell you everything you need to know. I am the official tour guide at Darkblood Prison after all.”
“Great.” Maybe this guy would give me answers since my new dragon friend wasn’t apparently speaking to me.
Vander whispered something to Talon, and they both looked our way and nodded.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t forget about what we talked about earlier.” He pressed his finger to his scowling lips.
I nodded at the surly dragon.
“We’ll talk later.” Vander shot me a wink, and Talon stood without sparing me a second glance. Geez, what the hell crawled up his butt?
As soon as the guys stomped away, a cute blonde faery bounded toward our table. “Azara! You’re back!”
Flix leaned in and whispered, “That’s Valeria. She’s your friend too and pretty awesome, but not quite as awesome as me.”
“Got it.”
She sat down and folded her long legs under the table, her pale-yellow jumpsuit almost the shade of her light hair. “Did you escape, were the rumors true? Did the SIA haul you back in?”
“She’s got amnesia, Val,” Flix supplied. “She doesn’t remember anything.”
Her eyes widened as her mouth formed a capital O. “You’re kidding!”
“I wish I was.” I didn’t really understand why I had to lie about where I’d been. It was just another of the many questions I had for Talon.
“Don’t worry, girl, we’ll fill you in.”
“Thanks, I’d really appreciate that.” I sat back in my chair and scanned the rec room. A few of the inmates watched us, identical expressions of curiosity on their faces.
“Don’t mind them,” said Flix, waving a nonchalant hand. “They all just want the dirt on where you’ve been these past three months. We’ll let them think you escaped for now. It sounds much more badass than being stuck in Psych with amnesia.”
A faint laugh slipped through my clenched lips. “That is true.” I could see why I was friends with this guy. I lowered my head and whispered, “So how did I end up in prison in the first place?”
Flix and Valeria shared a look. “Oh girl, you really don’t remember a thing, do you?”
“Nope.”
“Well, sit back and relax because we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
When recreation time was up, I followed the rest of the inmates toward the exit. My head was buzzing with all the information Flix and Valeria had filled me in on. I was so consumed with my thoughts, I almost missed the massive dragon waiting in the shadows.
“This way,” he muttered when I emerged from the crowd and scanned both sides of the hall. I was kind of glad Talon was there because I was sure I wouldn’t be able to find my way back to our cell. The prison was a huge freakin’ maze.
“Thanks for coming back,” I mumbled as I hurried to catch up with his long strides.
“I never left.”
I lifted my gaze to his and invisible steel bands squeezed my lungs. I opened my mouth to ask one of the millions of questions floating around in my mind, but nothing came out.
“Just spit it out, Azara.” He averted his gaze, keeping it trained straight ahead.
I swallowed down the mad flutter of butterflies tearing apart my insides. “What were we?”
A rueful chuckle tumbled from his tense jaw. “There’s no easy answer for that one.”
“Flix and Valeria seem scared of you—as does most of the inmate population. I may not remember much, but you don’t scare me.”
“Too bad. Guess I’ll have to work on that.” He didn’t crack a smile, but a hint of humor laced his tone.
We walked in silence for a few more steps and I waited for him to say more, but he remained mute. “So you’re not going to tell me?”
He shook his head slowly. “I can’t. Not yet anyway.”
“Why? I came here because of you. You triggered something inside my broken brain. Before I saw you that day in the city, I was perfectly happy in my empty, blissful bubble. Then you appeared and everything just felt wrong. I want to know why.”
“I want a lot of things, Azara, but I don’t think I’ll be getting any of them.” Talon picked up his pace. I watched his broad shoulders move further away and considered catching up to him, but I had a feeling it would be pointless.
I’d have to get my answers from someone else for now.
And that someone else was waiting for me, leaning against an unmarked door with shaggy blonde hair and warm hazel eyes.
Chapter Ten
“I can’t fill you in on your story with Talon.” Vander took another long gulp of water and set the bottle back down. “That’s up to him, but I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s had some time to process everything that’s happened.”
I swept the sweat off my brow and huffed. “It’s not fair. Why won’t he tell me?”
“It’s a complicated story without a happy ending—for now anyway.” He jumped up and held out his hand. “Ready to go again?”
I threw my empty bottle of water into the garbage and took his hand. “I guess, if we have to.” Again, I regretted my hasty move to abandon the easy life at Thax’s castle. I wondered what my cousin thought of my disappearance.
“Talon’s orders.” He grinned. “And if you put some effort into it, I’ll reward you with our story.”
My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. “We have a story?”
“Of course we do. Everyone has a story.” He checked my power sucking cuff and slid a boxing glove over it.
“You know, I’d be a much more skilled fighter without this damned thing on.”
“I know. But I rather like my soul, and I’d just as soon keep it if it’s all the same to you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think I’m that bad.”
“That’s not what T said.” Vander pressed his lips together the moment the words were out.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Not at all.” He beckoned me forward and bounced from foot to foot. “Now, let’s go.”
I threw a sucker punch and nailed him in the gut. He doubled over with a satisfying oomph.
He glanced up with a big grin twitching the corners of his lips. “You’re not going easy on me, are you?”
I was going to wipe that silly smile right off his face. Unlike the memories in my head, my muscle memory hadn’t forgotten a thing. I threw an upper cut then followed it up with a roundhouse, both direct hits. “Woohoo!” I smacked my gloves together as I pranced around triumphantly.