banging. I could taste the foul air on my tongue, feel the shrill noise piercing my nerves.
“The commissary is down there.” Jade pointed to a passageway located on the bottom floor. “And the pit—”
“Please.” Zion cut her off. “We’re not going to play tour guide. She will have the rest of her short life to get acquainted with this place.” Zion clutched the cuffs behind my back, yanking me to another corridor on this level. “Now it’s time for your welcome party.”
“You really are an asshole.” Jade sighed, moving to the opposite side of me.
“Stop being an uptight bitch,” he barked back. “You demons act like you’re above everyone now.”
“Not everyone. Just above douchebags.”
He snarled, baring his sharp teeth at her, his eyes narrowing.
“Oh, so scary.” She laughed. “Do you forget every time you can’t shift in here? Remember, it’s a magicless space, moron.”
His lip rose again, but he shook his head.
Magicless space? It made sense to control the fae prisoners in here from using their gifts. A siren or incubus could seduce their way out of here in a moment. At least it put everyone on a more even playing field, though not much of one. No matter what level the fae were on, even the least powerful or half-breeds, they were tougher than humans—faster, immortal, and much harder to kill. All things humans would love to change.
My brain was a blur, not taking in much as Zion and Jade transferred me down a dank hallway, the screams and shrieks following me, sputtering panic into my system, my legs dipping as they shoved me to move faster. As they heaved me through a door, my lids tapered at the assault of sudden cool light. My gaze darted around, taking in the sterile room, noting the three marked rows where observation tables stood marked with: fae, human, half-breed. Fae dressed in similar outfits as the healer earlier milled around the room, their attention snapping to me the moment we stepped in.
“What the hell did you bring me?” A tall handsome-faced fae with honey-colored eyes snarled down at my bloody gown, an electronic pad in his hand.
“Human. Thief,” Jade responded.
“And no longer our problem. All yours!” Zion saluted the man, already retreating from the room. “I’m off the clock.”
Jade and the man watched him leave the room.
“What an asshole.”
“Tell me about it.” Jade handed over the keys to my cuffs. “Be lucky you aren’t partnered with him.” Jade didn’t even look at me before she left as well.
The moment she did, the guy’s demeanor shifted.
“Full human?” His lip curled, typing into his device.
I stared at him, my mind slow to understand.
“I asked you a question, 85221,” he barked, driving up the anxiety swaying me on my feet.
His jaw locked down, his buttery eyes blazing. “Oh, you’re one of those who think being silent shows you’re strong? Resilient.” He chuckled, getting into my face. “Just wait. This place will break you. Not a scrap of you will be left. You will die here, whether it’s in a week or a month. I guarantee you won’t make it very long.” A cruel grin broke over his beautiful face as he muttered to himself. “Full human.” His fingers typed in what he said, but his gaze peered into mine with speculation. I held his scrutiny.
“Age.”
“Nineteen,” I whispered.
“Date of birth.”
“November first.”
His chin clicked up, his lids narrowing. “You were born on Samhain? The day the barrier fell?”
“Yeah, lucky me.” I was anything but—a bad omen. The wall between worlds had crumbled as my mother delivered me—then she died.
His brows furrowed as he typed in the info, his shoulders rolling back like my birth personally pissed him off.
“Diseases?” He snorted, a dimple showing up in his left cheek. “What am I saying, you humans come filled with sickness and germs. Thankfully we don’t catch things easily from your kind.”
He tossed the computer pad onto a desk, fury bristling off him as he unlatched my cuffs. Blood rushed through my pinched veins, my muscles screaming with relief as prickles moved over my joints. Seizing my bicep, he yanked me into a back room that smelled of stale water and cheap disinfectant. My bare toes slid over the damp cement floors, my stomach dropping, terrified of what was next.
It wasn’t until now I realized how lacking our training really was. They never trained us how to handle getting caught or what it might really be like on the inside, and if we did get captured, they wiped their