I Regret Nothing - JB Trepagnier Page 0,12

I, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. They totally wanted to nail my ass for everything that’s ever been stolen, but they couldn’t link me to anything except one theft and being at the scene of another. I thought if I kept my head down, I might get off early on exemplary behavior, but Faust has taken an interest in me.”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. I did not need Faust killing my thief. Everyone knew better than to attract his attention.

“Stay away from Faust at all costs. He’s dangerous.”

“What’s the deal with him? I got that vibe off him.”

“No one has any proof because they aren’t wolf kills, but three inmates have mysteriously died since Rajack, and I got transferred. People who have been here a while talk. There’s been a lot of unexplained deaths since Faust got the job. This place isn’t Scorchwood, where there were no guards on the floor, and you had to watch your back because we expected someone would kill you. There’s a lot more security here, so inmates don’t die. It still happens here. Inmates like to brag. If someone here did it, they would have copped to it for cred with the gangs. If one of the gangs were responsible, they would have said so to make a point with the other gangs. It wasn’t anyone here, so it has to be a guard. Faust is the only one who makes people here uncomfortable, and that’s saying a lot considering we are all criminals.”

Faust flat out gave me the creeps. His hair was black as night, and his beard was just too well-groomed. His amber eyes always seemed to hit the light like his wolf was scratching at the surface to come out and rip throats out.

Rei just smiled at me.

“I’ve never met a sphinx before. Or a gargoyle for that matter.”

I shrugged. That wasn’t shocking. She had an American accent.

“We tend to stick to certain countries unless we get arrested and thrown into magical prisons and don’t have a choice. I’d like to see my home again, but I doubt that’s possible.”

Especially if we successfully broke out of Silverhold. I read up on current events in Egypt once I figured out the magic box computer. Things had changed since they arrested me. If I went back, I’d probably end up in jail again, and I never wanted to do that.

Rei looked far away.

“I was adopted. My adoptive parents won’t tell me for sure, but I think my family is from Japan. I got to visit on a job, and it was pretty much amazing. If my mentor weren’t in the States, I’d move there permanently.”

Mentors were never a good thing when you needed a thief to break you out of prison. Especially if they taught you how to commit felonies. There was usually some sort of honor code in there, and I needed Rei to be bad enough to want to break us out. If she was close with her mentor, she might not want to go on the run and actually serve her time here.

The dinner bell started ringing, and she jumped because it startled her. I grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“That bell means food. It’s gourmet compared to Scorchwood food, but it’s still shitty. Eat with me. Until Faust gets your commissary up and assigns you a job, it’s the only food you’ll get.”

She let me lead her out of her cell and to the mess hall—step one, complete. Introduce myself to the Silver Fox. Onto step two. Figuring out if I could trust her.

Chapter 9

Rei

A

s far as prison friends went, I was glad Dakarys introduced himself. I was wary when he said he transferred from Scorchwood, but after everything that recently hit the news, I wasn’t surprised people may have ended up there because money exchanged hands or their government was trying to make an example of them.

It didn’t hurt that Dakarys was massive and bloody gorgeous as well. He was easily as big as Faust with bright green eyes, olive skin, a full, kissable mouth, and blond streaks in his black hair that looked natural instead of out of a box.

He was friendly and could probably help me figure out how to survive here with Faust’s attention on me. It wouldn’t hurt to have a sphinx watching my back with Venus here either. I had a feeling the gangs here went by species, and she was going to rile all