Wild Lands (Savage Lands #2) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,9

body still while blood oozed from her mouth and nose.

Dead.

Gasping for air, I slumped into the wall, my body trembling. What the fuck? I knew near death your muscles and nerves could pulse out one last surge, but it didn’t make it any less frightening to experience.

“Ms. Kovacs?” At the sound of a male voice, I looked to the left. Iain, the young guard, stood there. “Time to return to your cell.” He held up a pair of cuffs.

I nodded, shakily standing up, numbly watching him restrain me and walk us back to my cell.

Just because the pills had not affected me yet didn’t mean they wouldn’t. I could have been down here, taking the place of the woman, muttering to myself, waiting for my brain to become liquid.

I had to get out of here. My gaze drifted to the Iain, his eyes trained ahead, but I saw his cheeks blush under my scrutiny.

He liked me.

And I was going to use that to get free.

“Damn it, get your finger out of her nose.” A voice hummed through my dreams, walking the line of semiconsciousness. The familiar tenor dredged up the only happiness and safety I had felt at Halálház, making me cling to the dream.

Chirp.

“No, I don’t think she secretly likes it.”

Chirp.

“That’s a lie! I do not.”

Chirp.

“You promised to never speak of that incident again. I did not enjoy it there either,” the voice hissed, sounding very real, rousing me from sleep. My lashes blinked away something gummy as I skimmed up to consciousness. My blurry eyes opened on two faces only a breath away from me, and I realized one had a long finger up my nose.

“What the hell?” I mumbled, jolting back, my head ramming into the stone wall as my brain tried to take in the bright colors exploding against the dull gray.

“Ah, little Fishy is awake.”

Chirp.

“You’re the one who woke her up. Don’t blame me.”

My mind scrambled to make sense of what I saw. Was I still dreaming? Was I still in Halálház and everything after had been a nightmare?

No… my gaze drifted around. I was still in the palace’s cell where I had been living for weeks. The cot and lumpy pillow were the same, but the figures in front of me did not fit in this new terrain.

“Opie?” I gaped at the familiar figure holding a broom. The brownie with his heart-shaped face, large nose, slightly pointed ears, brown eyes, brown hair, and beard stood before me. On his back, a tiny, large-eared creature flipped me off.

Bitzy.

“Hey, Fishy.” He grinned, brushing back the gold tassel on his head.

“Opie…” I repeated, my brain not wrapping around what my eyes were telling me.

Chirp.

“No. I’m sure she’s not brain dead.”

Chirp.

“Hey. I am quite rememberable, thank you very much.” He huffed, putting his hands on his hips, glaring back at the imp. His outfit almost blinded me. His bottom half was wrapped in bright teal handkerchief-like booty shorts. His top half was red and yellow buttons strung together with pink laces, like a bra, and a gold curtain tassel for a hat. His beard was braided with purple ribbon.

“Oh. My. Gods.” I sat up, my head shaking in happy puzzlement. “Wha-what are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” He folded his arms, quirking up a bushy eyebrow. Bitzy rocked her head in an accusatory expression. “You escaped Halálház, without a goodbye, let me add.”

Chirp. A finger flew up, telling me off in multiple ways. “To end up here?”

“Wasn’t my choice.” I frowned briefly, thinking about Warwick’s deceit, but seeing Opie and even Bitzy again had me bubbling with glee, unable to hold on to my anger. “But seriously, what are you doing here?”

“Master Finn is beholden to Lord Killian.” He swung his head, pushing the tassel to the other side. “And since the prison is in temporary shutdown, we’ve moved here. Which is a million times better. He has much nicer stuff. At first, we were in his upper chambers, but…” He fixed the knot of his shorts. “Once again, I drew the short straw, cleaning the prisoners’ cells down here.”

My lids narrowed. “Just curious. How many times do you draw the short straw?”

“Every time! Crazy, huh?” He tossed up his arms dramatically. “Master Finn says I have awful luck for a brownie.”

Chirp.

Opie’s smile fell, but he didn’t respond to Bitzy, brushing his broom back and forth on my gray blanket. It had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with Opie not following the