Page 37

Ever

G roaning, I rub my temple, flinching when my palm hits the swollen lump. As my eyes flutter open, my heart stutters.

Clear walls, a toilet, and a stranger perched on a cot watching me curiously.

I scuttle away until my back hits the wall, heart picking up in double time.

Haggard and rocking a wild, unkempt beard, the man still has enough lean muscle that I know he could do some serious damage if he wanted to.

A shade of brown so deep it has a red sheen, his hair nearly hits his shoulders, but it’s the keen glint in his amber eyes that makes me uneasy.

That’s the look of a man that sees everything happening around him, and sits on the information until he can use it to his advantage.

“Easy there, sweetness, I won’t hurt ya,” he rumbles, offering a sympathetic smile and slowly sliding from the cot to the cement floor to appear less threatening.

Taking a deep breath, I try to latch onto his power, only to hit a wall. Eyes flying open, I claw at my throat, fingers hitting metal as I try not to hyperventilate.

Chained.

Powerless.

Trapped.

As if he can see the words running on repeat through my head, he pulls the blanket off his shoulders and tosses it to me without getting any closer, pity etched into his face. “The collars block our powers. It sucks, but you eventually get used to it. One day at a time, yeah?”

Panic licks at my veins, and it takes everything I have not to freak the fuck out. One shuddering breath, then another. By the fifth, I’ve managed to calm my nerves enough to slip into triage mode.

My necklace is gone, likely when Dane fucking collared me, the son of a bitch. I didn’t bother pulling on my boots before I left our room, which I’m woefully regretting right about now. I’d give anything for the knife Arson insists I keep tucked in the right one.

If I make it out of here, I swear, I’ll never go anywhere without at least three weapons. Shivs, boob knives, butthole grenades; I don’t give a fuck so long as I never feel this powerless ever again.

Brow furrowing, the stranger’s nostrils flare and he carefully closes the distance between us and crouches, leaning close to my chest and inhaling deeply as I try to merge with the wall and pretend this is all a bad dream.

He backs off without once touching me, but doesn’t retreat to the other side of the cell we’re trapped in this time.

I don’t have a way to sharpen the frame of the cot besides the floor… Maybe I can trap him in his shirt and suffocate him?

“Sorry I didn’t get a chance to shower before that psycho locked me up,” I drawl, buying myself time to think. “Spoiler alert; it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Ignoring me, he falls back on his ass, looking stunned and whispers, “Myles?”

Confused, I carefully lift my shirt to my nose and sniff. I mean, he’s not wrong. It does smell like Myles, but… “How the heck could you possibly know that?”

“He was my best friend in college, back before I got stuck in here.”

My heart skips a beat. No fucking way.

“ Skylar ?”

His mouth parts in surprise. “How could you…?”

“You’re alive?”

He frowns. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

An incredulous laugh slips out as I fill him in on how Myles has been wracked with guilt all these years thinking he died saving him.

Stunned silent, Skylar slowly breaks into a brilliant smile, grinning wildly.

“Well hot damn, way to fucking go Myles. Knew he had it in ‘em. If anyone deserves a mate, it’s him.” As swiftly as his joy came, it fades, his face falling as he remembers the position we’re stuck in.

Gods, I can only imagine how the guys will react when they realize I’ve disappeared on them again.

But… they won’t realize I’m missing. Because I left them all notes.

Son of a bitch.

Determined to get out, I rise to my feet. Even if I can’t, I’d sooner kill myself out of spite than let Dane win.

“How are you even here?” I demand. “Myles said that you were hit by a fireball and incinerated."

A dark chuckle has him slumping against the wall beside me, rubbing his hands together briskly and over the goosebumps on his arms. “Phoenix shifter. Unfortunately, I’m not that easy to kill.”

Grimacing, he explains how Dane came across him in the middle of his rebirth after that day he jumped into the fight at school and kidnapped him while he was still weak and unable to shift back.

How he’s been imprisoned here ever since, killed like clockwork every three months so his ashes could be used to prolong Sophia’s life.

But it's been less effective the past year, and Dane’s been growing increasingly unhinged in his search for a more powerful myst to replace him.

“I take it that’s you?” he asks with a sympathetic grimace.

Is it? Because I’m sure as hell not feeling very powerful right now.

A shiver races down my spine and I tug the blanket tighter around myself, feeling a little guilty for hogging it, but not desperate enough to cuddle up to a stranger yet. I swear, the temperature’s dropped at least ten degrees since I woke up.

“I don’t get what angle Dane’s playing. He paid me a shit ton of money, put me and my mates up in a luxurious room in his mansion, and then just… threw me on the floor of a prison cell with you when there are at least four more open cells that I can see?”

“My ashes help strengthen his mate’s fire elemental side and subdue the ice half, which is why it helps as a temporary cure.

You said you’re a mimic?” At my nod, Skylar squirms uncomfortably.

“Between the air being blasted and one cot, if I had to guess, he’s hoping to push the two of us together so we’ll bond. ”

I grimace. “Because you’d get a power boost and your ashes would be more effective. Shit.”

Thumping my head against the wall, I try to figure out how the hell to get out of here. No necklace, no weapon. Can’t use my powers. But he has to take our collars off sometimes, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to use Skylar.

“How does he collect your ashes? Couldn’t you just burn his face off when he removes your collar?”

Skylar clenches his fist, shoving to his feet and pacing the confines of our cell like a caged animal. “He has a man watching my sister. Dane has him on a call during, so if anything happens to him, his man will kill her.”

I nod slowly. “So he’ll likely use the guys to keep me in line, too.”

“Fucking hell.” As he paces, each pass looking more agitated as he mumbles to himself under his breath, I try to tune him out and come up with a plan.

Running a hand through my hair, it snags on my pin, yanking out a few of my hairs with it. Grumbling, I free it and get ready to slide it back in place when I pause. “Any chance you know how to pick a lock?”

“Haven’t since I was like fifteen, but with enough time, sure.” I perk up until Skylar gestures to the door. “You know, if there was a keyhole. Automatic locks that bolt the door. Even then, there’s a ward on the cells that can only be deactivated from the outside.”

I sigh heavily. “Knew it was a long shot. Maybe I can use it to stab him in the eye or something.”

No, Seraphina, don’t bother explaining your cryptic gift or anything. People love presents that drive them insane trying to figure them out.

I’m just about to slide it back in place when something about seeing the way my hair wrapped around the flaming teardrop makes me pause. It nags at a faint memory, and I grow more frustrated by the moment trying to remember why it feels familiar.

I suck in a sharp breath as it finally clicks, whipping my gaze to Skylar. “Now, when you say you’re pretty hard to kill...”