these walls. And you’re much too cute for that, little girl.”
I stared at the gray slop on my plate, and my stomach churned. “It’s Azara,” I hissed.
Hayden loaded up a spoonful of brown cereal that Talon had brought back for him and shoved it into his mouth. As he chewed, he pointed the plastic spoon at me. “Dallas is right. Eat up, pumpkin.”
I dipped my spoon into the murky oatmeal and glanced up in time to catch Talon’s gaze. His eyes darted away as if he’d been burned. What the hell? Shoving the nasty gruel in my mouth, I swallowed thickly. Dallas and Hayden were right. If I wanted to survive, I needed to find my place behind these walls.
Chapter Seven
The sharp blast of a siren had me shooting up in bed so fast I gave myself whiplash. “What the hell?” I croaked. I forced my heavy lids open as I scanned my dark, unfamiliar surroundings. Stark black walls and two bulky figures climbing out of a bunkbed.
Craptabulous. I was still in prison. It hadn’t all been a horrible nightmare.
“That’s our wake-up call,” Hayden muttered.
I searched my wrist for my watch but only found my new fashionable prison accessory that sucked up my powers. My internal clock told me it was way too early to be awake.
“Rise and shine, pumpkin.” Hayden sauntered over and dropped trou before I could pull the thin, crappy blanket over my head.
“Hayden!” I growled. “Can’t you use the toilet?” A metal water closet stood in the corner behind a flimsy partition. I’d used it in the middle of the night after the brothers went to sleep. I crossed my legs, the sound of pee trickling on the urinal reminding me of my own full bladder.
Finally, he tugged his khaki pants up and smirked over his shoulder. “And miss out on the chance to make you squirm? Never.”
I chucked my lousy excuse for a pillow at him, but the darned angel was fast. The thin cushion hit the wall and slid over the urinal, landing in a heap. Eew. I hoped I’d get that survival kit Hayden had told me about today. I needed a new pillow STAT.
Talon slid off the top bunk and stretched, then leisurely unzipped his gray jumpsuit. Saliva filled my mouth as his perfectly tanned chest was revealed, then his flawlessly carved abs and the sharp V that disappeared into his tight boxer briefs. Holy, dragon babies! How could that jerk be so hot?
I hid behind a curtain of dark hair as I continued to blatantly ogle him. Once I got past the sculpted perfection of his body, my gaze landed on the gigantic dragon tattoo that covered his thick chest. Its dazzling silver scales twisted and shimmered beneath the halogen light with each of Talon’s breaths as if it were alive.
“Um, pumpkin?” Hayden was suddenly in my face. His finger swept across my chin as he grinned. “You got a little drool right here…”
I jerked my chin from his grasp and shot out of bed as Hayden laughed. “I was not—that’s not… ugh!” From the corner of my eye, I caught the ghost of a smile tugging up Talon’s lips, but it was gone a second later so I could’ve imagined the whole thing.
Hayden dropped to the floor and began banging out push-ups as I waited for the heat rising up my neck to simmer. Turning my body to face the glass wall of our enclosure, I stared at the empty cell across from us. I wished I had neighbors to watch, at least. It had only been a day since I woke up in this cell, and I was already losing my mind with boredom.
My orange jumpsuit stuck to my skin, chafing my flesh. I casually sniffed the air and frowned. I hadn’t showered in days. I needed that and a change of clothes badly. “So now what? Why do they wake us up so freakin’ early if there’s nothing to do?”
“Oh, there’s plenty for us to do, one thirty-eight.” Talon stalked by and I was shocked he’d actually spoken to me, even though he never quite looked me in the eye. And what was with my new nickname?
A minute later, a guard showed up on the other side of the glass. He flashed his palm across the biometric scanner I’d seen all around the property and the invisible door slid open. “Let’s go inmates.”
Talon barreled by me, practically knocking me on my butt. My hand shot out just in