important you are," he whispered, pressing his forehead against mine.
"I love you," I whispered, wanting to ensure he knew.
"I know, Princess. As I love you."
My eyes closed as we shared that moment, and I knew he felt the energy coursing around my body like a hiker reaching the top of their destined mountain and finally enjoying the rewarding view.
We shared the moment, our intimacy of touch more than enough for me before he pulled back and gestured for Adonis to make his move.
He walked over me casually and swooped right in to kiss my forehead gently.
"Nothing could stop my mind from wondering if you were alive, well, fed, and being pampered like the goddess you are."
"They don't do much pampering in prison." I giggled and hugged him. "However, Omarion did try to organize my food to be better than the usual menu, and I actually made two friends. They got connections and somehow get served steak and other food you'd get at a five-star restaurant."
"Sounds like a powerful duo," Adonis noted. "Which also means our Princess kicked some ass."
"Sure did." I pulled back to give him a proud grin, hoping it would cheer him up. "I love you as well."
"Good." He smiled and nudged his nose against mine. "I love a woman who loves me for me and not my looks."
We shared a look before he moved from my hold and walked to stand among the others, forming a line.
When the silence lingered, I knew something was up. This should have been a time of celebration, but there was a looming sadness in the air and I had a growing suspicion as to why.
"I'm happy to see all of you."
I'd envisioned our reunion as a tearful celebration of food, snuggles in front of the fire, and some much-needed sleep, but my gut told my little dream was on hold.
"I also have a feeling you're not all here to bail me out, are you?"
They frowned in unison, and I sighed. "What's the plan? And the reason why you guys can't get me out so easily?"
Dominick sighed. "We're technically not supposed to be here. Omarion made us a deal with some crazy scientist guy to get us the proper uniforms to sneak in."
Tristana nodded. "I'm only here because I'm Omarion's partner and can shapeshift. I basically nagged him to let us do this plan, and that's how we landed here."
"That reminds me," I noted, looking at Tristana. "You shouldn't be able to shapeshift."
"You're right." She winked and lifted her right hand. With a blink, her bare wrist now had a solid gold bracelet. I arched an eyebrow at her, taking a few steps to stand before her and inspect the piece of jewelry.
"Have you been wearing that the whole time?"
"Yup." She nodded. "It's the reason why I've been able to shift. Doc gave it to me after the security check so I'm good if I want to linger down here for a few days to keep you company. Omarion planted a story that I'm a temporary prisoner waiting to be transported to another location. One of the other prisons apparently exploded due to a crazy hellhound, so it was perfect timing."
"Interesting," I muttered and took a few steps back to look at all of them again. "How much do you guys know and how long are you allowed to remain down here for?"
Adonis took the opportunity to answer, growing serious enough that it was almost hard to tell him and Otis apart.
"We know the ones that kidnapped you are dead, but the one who brought you to this place is still on the run. The secret ops are on it because that individual is one of many kidnapping supernaturals across NYC, if not globally."
"We've been doing some digging of our own," Otis began. "And it looks like this kidnapping thing is far deeper than any of us realized. There are at least fifty hidden prisons in NYC alone."
"What?" I quietly gasped in shock. "Fifty?!"
Dominick nodded, crossing his arms as he tried to remain calm. "It's frustrating. What's more frustrating is the lack of help. The council in question wants to let the authorities look into it first, especially with your obvious kidnapping, but they don't want to call it that and scare the public even more."
Otis huffed. "As if the news outlets aren't catching on. It's common knowledge not to mess with us, just like many highly ranked supernaturals. Instead, someone hires humans to kidnap our Cassandra, and it's been a month