Darkblood Prison - G.K. DeRosa Page 0,62
infirmary, and he looked half dead when I first woke up—me too. Now the natural rosy tone of his skin had returned, and a slight scruff darkened his jaw line. He was definitely attractive, and I could see why all the inmates were in such a fluster.
Talon cleared his throat, and I lowered my gaze as heat blossomed across my cheeks. Crap, he’d totally caught me checking out his brother. So embarrassing. “The director wants us to start training at headquarters tomorrow, Azara. Ella will meet us, and you’ll spend an hour with her honing your magical abilities and the other hour with me. It’ll be similar to what we’ve been doing here, plus some more tactical training.”
“Got it.”
Vander leaned forward to see Talon on the other side of me. I scooted back, suddenly feeling awkward. “I take it I’m stuck here, T?”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, but hopefully it’ll only be temporary. They’ve got to work their magic and get your credentials back in order. In the meantime, you can keep an eye on Delacroix for us.”
“Right…”
Talon reached around me and squeezed Vander’s shoulder. His arm brushed my back, and I couldn’t help leaning into him just a little. My body might not have reacted to his in the same way anymore, but after only one day, I already missed what we had.
“It’ll all work out, brother, you’ll see.”
Again, I felt like I should be anywhere but here. But knowing my dragon bodyguard, he still wouldn’t let me out of his sight, regardless of our status change. Especially now after we botched Delacroix’s mission to dethrone Thax.
The door to the mess hall swung open and smacked against the wall. A sharp keening sound reverberated across the dull chatter. Actaeon, the one supervisor I’d met awhile back appeared in the doorway. He ticked his head toward us and beckoned with a long finger. “You three, the Warden wants to see you now.”
I exchanged a glance with Talon. It wasn’t often Logan called us out in front of the other inmates. He seemed as surprised as I was as he got to his feet.
“Let’s go, inmates!”
I jumped up and followed behind the brothers as dozens of eyes drilled into the side of my head. Again, the whispers and lude comments. Dallas was joking, but he wasn’t wrong. I could barely handle one guy, how would I handle four?
I chased the weirdly exciting visual from my mind and focused on the two large forms in front of me. If I’d met these two at a club, I never would’ve guessed they were brothers. Besides being big, they didn’t share any physical characteristics. Talon was dark, with olive skin, jet black hair and built like a truck, whereas Vander had lighter skin tones and dirty blonde hair with long, lean muscles. Their differences made sense since one was a dragon and the other a wolf with no blood ties. And yet, I already knew Talon would do anything for his adoptive brother, blood or not.
We walked the halls in silence, Actaeon leading the way and the guys a few steps behind. Despite knowing what Vander meant to Talon, I’d been getting a weird vibe from the two of them since I woke up. I wasn’t sure if it was because Vander hadn’t been honest with Talon about his assignment or if there was more to it. And I couldn’t shake that conversation I’d overheard the other day. What the heck had that meant?
When we finally reached Logan’s door, a swell of relief coated my insides. He was the closest thing to family I had within these obsidian walls.
“Go on in.” Actaeon held the door open but didn’t follow us in.
As soon as I crossed the threshold, my eyes landed on the back of a blonde head seated in front of Logan’s desk. He stood as we approached and gave me a warm smile. The girl turned, and her face lit up as it landed on Vander and then moved to Talon. She jumped up and raced toward Vander, her arms wide open.
“You’ve got a visitor,” said Logan with a grin as she wrapped her arms around the wolf.
“Oh, thank the gods, Vander.” She buried her face into his chest and faint sobs reached my ears. “When Talon told me you were gone, I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t. And now here you are standing in front of me.” She hugged him tighter as tears streaked down her cheeks, leaving a trail of mascara.
“I’m okay,