Page 7 of First Offense

“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. Fromher. From the way she made me feel. The way she made meneed.

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 ofgood.

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.