hard packed dirt beneath me. The sight and smell of it remind me of the room in the barn that I discovered Siah in, and I internally curse at the fucked up full circle moment.
I wipe at the blood slowly dripping from my face and wince at the pain that throbs in my cheek and jaw. I put up a decent fight against the beating Adriel sanctioned. I got in several good hits those fuckers didn’t see coming, but in the end, there was only so much I could do with no magic against the speed and strength of a group of lamia. Lucky for me and my bones, Adriel called it after one of them tried to bite me, and my shields popped up to stop it. The instinctual trigger of my magic sent me to the ground, writhing in pain, and when it happened again, Adriel decided the punishment wasn’t worth the risk of losing me.
I grab for my collar and methodically inspect it, looking for any indication of how it’s held together around my neck. The metal is cold against my heated skin, but no matter how slowly I search, I can’t find a seam or anything else that indicates any kind of release. The metal collar is smooth against my neck and somewhat rough and porous on the other side. I sit up slowly and press a palm against my right side.
My ribs are tender as fuck, and they’re either bruised to hell or they’re broken. I debate ripping my sweater up and trying to bind my injured side, but the idea of only being in a bra the next time Adriel pulls me out to play feels like a bad fucking idea.
I look around the barely lit cell I’ve been abandoned in for the moment to see if there might be something else in here I could use. I’m not sure what I’m expecting to find. I’m pretty sure they didn’t throw a first aid kit in here with me, but my eyes roam around, delusionally hopeful all the same. I freeze when I spot a pair of thin legs sticking out from the furthest dark corner. I’m shocked to realize that I’m not in here alone, and I instantly debate whether I’m in here with someone who could possibly help me or hurt me even more.
I haven’t been this bad off since I left Beth’s house, and as curious as I am about whoever is in the corner, I should maybe give myself as much time as I can to recover before I face the owner of the emaciated legs. I’ve no sooner decided that when the door to the cell slams open again. A canteen is thrown into the room, and it bounces against the wall, making a deafening racket. The cell door quickly closes again, but the skinny legs have been pulled into the darkness of the corner, and it’s clear whoever is over there is now awake.
Neither of us move to retrieve the canteen, even though I’m dying of thirst. We both sit in our unlit corners, waiting and watching.
“Pretty sure that’s for you,” a dry and obviously unused voice rumbles out from the darkness.
“How do you know?” I question after a couple minutes of awkward silence. I wince as I speak the words, the cut in my lip painfully protesting the movement.
“They’ve never thrown shit like that in here for me,” the disembodied voice offers, and I stare at the canteen like somehow the mystery of its appearance will reveal itself if I can just not blink long enough.
“Well, you probably need whatever’s in there more than I do,” I tell him, and the cell grows silent again.
I get itchy from the feel of this person’s eyes on the dark corner I’m shrouded by. I’m pretty sure I’m as hidden from him as he is from me, but this back and forth is weird. He’s obviously in this cell for a reason, and I think it’s safe to say it’s not because he’s a friend of Adriel or his nest. What’s that saying…the enemy of my enemy is my friend? I crawl out of my dark corner and over to the metal canteen. I pick it up and slowly shuffle toward the stranger.
“No harm in sharing,” I announce when I get within reaching distance of him, and I stretch my arm out, offering the canteen, and push my hair out of my face.
The stranger gasps and leans forward, and the