Darkblood Prison - G.K. DeRosa Page 0,1
comfy cell was starting to look pretty good right now. At least I could sleep.
A radio crackled and guard number two tapped the transponder hidden behind his shaggy hair. “Skarson here, go ahead.” The man’s sharp features twisted into a frown as whoever was on the other line spoke into his ear.
“What happened?” the other guard asked once his buddy terminated the communication.
Skarson speared me with a piercing glare, and ice froze my veins. “Vander’s dead.”
The other dragon muttered a curse, and his claws dug into my skin.
“Ow!” I squeaked. “Watch it.”
He spun me out of his partner’s grasp, and the hard rock wall slammed into my back. I sucked in a breath when all the air forced out of my lungs on impact. The massive dragon loomed over me as his lip curled into a snarl. “You just killed one of our own, little girl. You’re the one that needs to watch it.”
My throat tightened, a massive knot of emotion clogging my airway. “I couldn’t have,” I choked out.
“You killed an entire—”
“Marauder, enough!” Skarson’s hand wrapped around his partner’s arm, cutting the dragon off as he dragged him away. He whispered something to his buddy I couldn’t make out as I leaned against the cold wall and tried to slow the erratic thunder of my heart.
An icy sneer curled Marauder’s lips as he turned away from his friend and jerked me off the wall. “Let’s go, fresh meat. Your VIP cell awaits.”
We resumed the trudge down the narrow corridor as fear compounded in my belly. I was sure this was a mistake. Maybe I’d gotten drunk off the faery wine and made a scene or pissed off the wrong noble Fae… but this?
This was all Ryx’s fault. If my ex-boyfriend-slash-sometimes-current-hookup hadn’t shown up at my house and ticked me off, I never would’ve gone off on a bender.
Had I really killed someone?
In my eighteen years, I’d only gotten close once. When my powers spontaneously emerged at sixteen, and I nearly sucked out the soul of Becky Freeman, Westman High’s queen B. I’d blacked out a second after and had no real memories of the entire horrifying event. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for the rest of my Calculus class. It was times like those when having a super powerful supe as a mom came in handy. Sometimes I wished I’d been born a witch like her, instead of inheriting my dad’s demon side. She and Dad did some damage control at my school, and no one was the wiser. It was shortly after that episode that I was shipped off to live with my grandma Emi in the Nether Lands—not the country, the realm just above the Underworld. I guess I was lucky I didn’t get sent off to live with my grandfather, Lucifer, in the actual Underworld. Not that I’d spent much time with the Prince of Hell, but he was my dad’s father.
By the time we reached the spiral stone staircase, I’d shuffled through at least a dozen worst case scenarios. Guilt ate at my insides. Was I actually capable of murder? If I’d really killed that guy like the guard said, I was totally screwed. My parents would never let me go back to the human world. Ever. Everything I’d worked so hard for over the past two years had been for nothing if I’d lost control in one night out.
Emi would be so disappointed, and my parents would murder me.
After climbing up two more levels, we reached another metal door and the guard, Skarson, repeated the entrance procedure. When the door slid open, the narrow passage gave way to a larger hallway, complete with modern neon lighting as opposed to the archaic torches from below.
Two more guards appeared, one holding an armful of manacles, iron chains trailing down to the floor. No. No. No! Panic surged through my insides, and I bucked and kicked as the guards tried to restrain me. “Please, no! I didn’t do this, I swear!”
The four dragons surrounded me, my screams and protests falling on deaf ears. As they dragged me further down the corridor, a shadow caught my attention from the corner of my eye. A man was running toward me, and I could have sworn he called out my name.
Before I could turn my head or respond, a sharp prick dug into my neck and darkness invaded my vision. I fought for another second or two before my mind drifted away to peaceful oblivion.
Chapter Two
Two Days Ago
“Again,