guard slung one of us over their shoulder and started marching us down the hall.
“Let Silverhold deal with these two,” a guard growled.
How was I supposed to keep my head down and not get my sentence extended if fucking Venus was going to be there with me? She was going to try to make me pay for getting caught.
And honestly? She needed to pay for me getting caught too.
Chapter 5
Rei
S
eeing as how I’d just spent nine months in solitary and was going to another jail for seven years, I wanted to enjoy as much of the trip as possible. The guards had other ideas. I guess they didn’t trust Venus and me together in the back of a transport van. I could behave myself, but I knew Venus couldn’t. They ended up drugging both of us, so I couldn’t enjoy the fresh air while I could.
When I finally woke up, they strapped me to a table with a woman glaring down at me.
“Good. You’re finally awake, and we can get started.”
“They didn’t have to drug me,” I groaned, trying to sit up.
“You broke into a heavily guarded coven compound and stole and highly valuable Grimoire. The witch being transported with you was tied to at least ten high profile thefts at her trial. Like anyone was going to leave the two of you conscious in a transport van and let you escape.”
Well, that was just music to my ears. I was still mad about being drugged and having to go to prison, but Venus wasn’t as good a thief as she always bragged about if they tied her to ten other thefts. I was stuck here for seven years, but Venus was going to be here much longer. She deserved it for what she did to Hauser. She begged for his help on that job, then betrayed him. He was the one that was nearly caught when her plan went ass up, and she told him a Vampire clan wanted the loot. Hauser was the one they kept coming after and beating when she stole it for a secondary buyer no one knew about.
“This is the part where I take your blood to key your cuffs, but you’re probably the most famous fox shifter here. I just processed another fox for arson, so I’ll spare you the needle prick. I can key your cuffs like I did his.”
I hid my smile and just nodded. I did not want any of these people in Silverhold to know the truth about what I was. Hauser said to keep it a secret, and this would die with me. As much as I wanted to find out more about my heritage, the only people I felt safe asking were Hauser and other demons. I loved it when laziness and loopholes benefited me. If I had to leave something behind, I was glad it was a fox hair because I didn’t want anyone in this prison knowing the truth.
The doctor was hunched over a table for a while. She wasn’t chatty either. Was there something so wrong about showing criminals a little kindness and talking to them? She turned back to me with two glowing bracelets.
“Silverhold 101. These cuffs are going to suppress your magic. You won’t be able to shift. It’s the same for everyone in prison. Remotes control the cuffs. If you act out, all they have to do is press a button, and you’ll get a shock that disables you. Mouth off, and you’ll probably get a jolt. Once a week, you will be allowed yard time where the cuffs are disabled. You can shift and run. You’ll only be allowed in the yard with other shifters. Each group gets their own yard time cuff free to do their magic.
“No one wanted this, but some prison rights activists fought for it, so we allow it. If any group fucks this up, we can easily take it away again and say it wasn’t working. We can also track you by these cuffs, so don’t even think about trying to escape. Our guards have their own supernatural means of tracking besides the cuffs, but if they lose track of you, the cuffs will locate you in an instant. Understand?”
“That’s a shitty pep talk, doc.”
“No one cares about your feelings here, inmate. Get used to it. I’m going to put the cuffs on. You’ll feel them drain your magic as soon as they are closed. Get used to it. You’ll only get it back during