brought this on herself. She’d given herself in to the authorities; had she not known what awaited her inside the preternatural prison system?
“What happened to your face?” I asked, quickly taking in the other bruises that decorated every inch of exposed flesh that peeked out beneath the white jumpsuit.
“Things happen in prison and I’m not allowed the use of my magic in here, not even to protect myself. Sometimes the other prisoners get a little over zealous,” she said, tilting her head to the side to reveal several bite marks down one side of her neck. “And sometimes it’s the guards,” she whispered, running her fingers down the side of her face. “They don’t like it when we scream,” she said almost imperceptibly, “and they don’t like the word ‘no’; it makes them mean.” My stomach clenched in discomfort.
We’d had our problems. Lily had killed innocent people; she’d had her vampire allies kill an innocent child and she’d wanted me to take the life of another. She’d caused immeasurable pain to those she’d come into contact with; she was one of the bad guys and we were supposed to be the good guys.
She should have been safe in here, from the other prisoners but most particularly from the guards…. How were we supposed to protect the innocent if the line between good and evil was so irreparably blurred and damaged?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I said.
Glaring up at me, her eyes sparked with suppressed rage and power. “Don’t give me that shit. You don’t care about me. You don’t care about anyone but yourself and we both know it.”
“You asked me to come here. If it was just so you could take your frustrations out on me, then I’m leaving.” I moved as though I really planned on leaving and Lily lifted her hands in panic.
“No, not yet, I’m not done yet….” She paused and I watched as she tried to cram her rage back down inside her, forcing it down until she was little more than a blank shell once more. “I’m sorry, it’s just stressful in here…. I’m not used to being so confined. I was taught to abhor weakness and, well…” She shrugged. “they keep me weak, keep pushing in the hopes that they will break me soon,” she finished.
“I’ll talk to them, talk to Jason—none of this is right….” I felt ashamed of the words as they spilled from my lips. I wasn’t lying; none of it was right, but I was pretty certain my talking to any of the guards or Jason would make absolutely no difference.
I cast my mind back to when I’d visited Graham’s daughter Jessica. She’d had her fair share of marks, but I hadn’t even thought to ask…. Guilt swarmed in my guts. I hadn’t wanted to ask, subconsciously afraid of the answer because, yet again, I was far more of a coward than anything else.
“Jason is nice, isn’t he?” she said, her voice drifting a little, and I watched as her eyes grew more unfocussed. “The power he has, it’s extraordinary. I really want to see him really lose it; I can imagine it would be a sight to behold.” Her eyes snapped open once more and fell on my face. “What happened to you?”
“What?”
“You’re hurt; I can feel it, I can feel it in your blood….” She trailed off and leaned toward me. “They think my magic is void in here but I still have a few tricks up my sleeves,” she whispered and winked theatrically at me.
The more time I spent in her company, the more I was beginning to believe she’d lost her mind. That they weren’t trying to break her anymore because she was already broken.
“They have a white witch working for them, and they used her to build the wards on this place. They are nothing but hypocrites, Amber, you cannot forget that.”
I took the information on board and filed it away for later. I’d always known their methods were hypocritical but to keep a white witch on board just so they could better control their prisoners, who in some cases were also witches, well, it
“What happened to your face?” I asked, quickly taking in the other bruises that decorated every inch of exposed flesh that peeked out beneath the white jumpsuit.
“Things happen in prison and I’m not allowed the use of my magic in here, not even to protect myself. Sometimes the other prisoners get a little over zealous,” she said, tilting her head to the side to reveal several bite marks down one side of her neck. “And sometimes it’s the guards,” she whispered, running her fingers down the side of her face. “They don’t like it when we scream,” she said almost imperceptibly, “and they don’t like the word ‘no’; it makes them mean.” My stomach clenched in discomfort.
We’d had our problems. Lily had killed innocent people; she’d had her vampire allies kill an innocent child and she’d wanted me to take the life of another. She’d caused immeasurable pain to those she’d come into contact with; she was one of the bad guys and we were supposed to be the good guys.
She should have been safe in here, from the other prisoners but most particularly from the guards…. How were we supposed to protect the innocent if the line between good and evil was so irreparably blurred and damaged?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I said.
Glaring up at me, her eyes sparked with suppressed rage and power. “Don’t give me that shit. You don’t care about me. You don’t care about anyone but yourself and we both know it.”
“You asked me to come here. If it was just so you could take your frustrations out on me, then I’m leaving.” I moved as though I really planned on leaving and Lily lifted her hands in panic.
“No, not yet, I’m not done yet….” She paused and I watched as she tried to cram her rage back down inside her, forcing it down until she was little more than a blank shell once more. “I’m sorry, it’s just stressful in here…. I’m not used to being so confined. I was taught to abhor weakness and, well…” She shrugged. “they keep me weak, keep pushing in the hopes that they will break me soon,” she finished.
“I’ll talk to them, talk to Jason—none of this is right….” I felt ashamed of the words as they spilled from my lips. I wasn’t lying; none of it was right, but I was pretty certain my talking to any of the guards or Jason would make absolutely no difference.
I cast my mind back to when I’d visited Graham’s daughter Jessica. She’d had her fair share of marks, but I hadn’t even thought to ask…. Guilt swarmed in my guts. I hadn’t wanted to ask, subconsciously afraid of the answer because, yet again, I was far more of a coward than anything else.
“Jason is nice, isn’t he?” she said, her voice drifting a little, and I watched as her eyes grew more unfocussed. “The power he has, it’s extraordinary. I really want to see him really lose it; I can imagine it would be a sight to behold.” Her eyes snapped open once more and fell on my face. “What happened to you?”
“What?”
“You’re hurt; I can feel it, I can feel it in your blood….” She trailed off and leaned toward me. “They think my magic is void in here but I still have a few tricks up my sleeves,” she whispered and winked theatrically at me.
The more time I spent in her company, the more I was beginning to believe she’d lost her mind. That they weren’t trying to break her anymore because she was already broken.
“They have a white witch working for them, and they used her to build the wards on this place. They are nothing but hypocrites, Amber, you cannot forget that.”
I took the information on board and filed it away for later. I’d always known their methods were hypocritical but to keep a white witch on board just so they could better control their prisoners, who in some cases were also witches, well, it
Similar Books
