Dragon Marked: Supernatural Prison #1 (16 page)

Braxton started to move then, and I recognized that expression: he was
focused, nothing would blow him off his current path. In so many ways he was as
unmovable as his dragon. The personality of our animal definitely bled into the
human, and in turn we tamed the beast inside. It was a beautiful symbiotic
relationship. I always felt as if one could not survive without the other. I
certainly would not want to exist without my wolf.

We continued through the forest. It was colder today, but no snow. I
would guess we were due for another storm very soon. Even with my shifter
metabolism at peak, I still had chills racking my arms and legs. It was dark
under the canopy. Keen eyesight took care of that; I simply let my wolf out a
little and she leant me her senses. From our many years roaming this massive
landscape I had a pretty good idea where we were heading – toward the back left
pocket, where the very largest of the old redwoods were.

Mischa was close to my right side. I reached out and grabbed her hand,
our frozen fingers tangled together. She looked scared, but managed a smile. No
one spoke, knowing on instinct to stay quiet. The boys surrounded us like the
four points on a compass. Pun intended. I knew when we had reached the spot.
Braxton’s back was one mass of rigid muscle as he held a silent hand aloft to
halt our progress. I flicked my eyes left and right trying to determine what he
had noticed. But nothing looked amiss. We stood at the junction of two large
trees; their trunks had grown into each other, swirling around and around in a
crazy manner. Branches, leaves, and twigs intertwined; there was no order to
their growth and structure, only chaos. There was a small gap at the base of
the trunks. Was that the entrance?

Jacob stepped out of our formation and placed both hands on the closest
and largest tree trunk. His blond hair was barely visible in the low light, but
I could sense his fey energy working. The very forest around us responded, the
fey were earthy like that. Jacob spun his head back and gave us one sharp nod.
Braxton and Tyson strode forward, and before I could order my feet to follow,
the two of them dropped down to their knees, like bookends, heads bowed in
submission.

Okay, so I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit to one or two fantasies of mine
which had started just like this, but come on, guys, it just wasn’t the time
for role play.

Just as I stemmed my inappropriate thoughts, I noticed the swirls of
energy they were releasing between the two of them. Tyson was working some magic
and Braxton was helping. It started to form something dark, a misty hole, and
as they raised their heads and hands upwards I could clearly see a large hole
had shaped between Tyson and Braxton. It was weird, shadowy, shifting as I
tried to focus on it. I heard Mischa’s sharp intake of breath and barely
stifled my own gasp as the two of them plunged forward and entered the misty
door headfirst. They disappeared.

Jacob and Maximus came in behind us, and staying at our backs they
ushered Mischa and I toward the space. I so didn’t want to enter that door, but
I’d die before admitting to being a coward. My wolf rose to the surface,
allowing me to share her courage and strength.

Mischa’s soft voice broke the silence. “I can feel my wolf.” She sounded
strangled. “She wants to be free.”

I reached out and grabbed her hand. “No, she’s reacting to your fear.
Trying to help you. When you are more experienced you’ll be able to bring her
close but not shift, sort of existing in an in-between state. But right now is not
the time.”

Thankfully, she was distracted by Jacob nudging us into the portal. Just
like with the boys, we entered head first. I dropped in a slow motion sort of
twirl. I knew magic was at work here, I could scent a high level magic user all
over this. I landed smoothly, in a crouch position, almost as if I’d been
guided the entire way down. I stood, relieved to see Mischa next to me. Her
wide green eyes were just visible in the very low light. We were underground,
in a dirt-lined cave entrance, small lichen mosses up high on the walls giving
off a soft, ambient glow. Shadows moved toward us, but thankfully it was only
Braxton and Tyson. Jacob and Maximus appeared behind us and we were all ready
to go.

Braxton took the lead and started to step cautiously through the tunnel.
My eyes were darting left and right as I followed along, but so far there was
nothing but dirt and rock surrounding us. We were moving toward a light, or an
area that was brighter; it shone as we stepped closer. Finally, as we moved from
that small, dark tunnel and hovered near the edge of the light, I raised my
hands to cover the series of gasps and curses that wanted to fall from my
mouth.

The space before us was massive. From what I could see the underground
area was almost the size of Stratford. Beyond the cleared space stood an
immense circumference of spotlights, suspended on tall poles. The bulbs shifted
around on a rotation, keeping the area well lit. The prison walls towered into
the sky. I had no idea how high the ceiling was, I couldn’t see any end from
where I stood. The prison looked a little like the human ones I’d seen on
television: solid gray walls, styled like stone, but I could sense the other
elements weaved into the structure. Iron, which was a weakness for many; salt
for its purity; varying bloods which were strong enough to spell for protection
and strength; not to mention the standard silver, copper and gold, elements of
vulnerability for all five of the supernatural groups.

Which made sense considering who they were containing. But how were we
going to traverse this area without being affected by these inbuilt defenses.

Braxton answered me by stepping forward and slipping a leather chain over
my head. It had a turquoise stone, around the size of a quarter, tied on to the
base. As it touched my skin – resting between my breasts – I felt a sort of
buzz.

He leaned down and murmured in my ear. “The stone is spelled to shield us
against the protections of the prison.” I notice Maximus place the same over
Mischa’s head. And all the boys had one too.

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Where did you get these necklaces from?” I
whispered back.

“The guard.”

I silently snorted. I should have figured that.

Jacob was close enough to add to our very low conversation. “We skillfully
persuaded him.”

Most likely scenario: they beat him until he promised the stones. Typical
Compass persuasion. There were lots of different supernaturals milling around
the outer zone of the prison. Some were in a dark gray uniform, carrying what
looked like weapons, so I was going with guards. Others were more official,
their uniform black, with decorative stars and decals lining the shoulders and
lapel area. Management or specialists.

“I don’t suppose you have uniforms for us to blend in,” Mischa asked.

Maximus shook his head. “No, but we know that there’s a guard shift
change very shortly. They all meet around the front for a brief rundown. They
seem to be more relaxed on the outside then the guards inside. Mostly, they
expect prisoners to be breaking out.”

I was reminded of the breakouts that had been happening around the world,
the dragon marked. This was probably the worst time to attempt this. Surely
security was going to be beefed up. Not that I could see anything specific.
Maybe there was stronger magic at work or something, things I could not detect
with the naked eye.

“On my signal,” Braxton breathed. All of us lowered ourselves and
prepared to move.

His flat palm came up, which meant wait. He held it there for about
thirty seconds, and as we watched, the various prison workers started to move
like clockwork, converging on a central point right at the main entrance of the
huge structure. As soon as they were focused on their meeting, Braxton’s hand
straightened and pointed to the right. Time to move. We hugged the rock wall of
the cave surrounding the prison, as we slunk along, low to the ground and still
out of the spotlights. Heading around the left side of the building, there was
no cover anywhere, we would have to expose ourselves long enough to make it to
the prison wall.

My heartbeat was reasonably steady, but I could feel the fine line of
sweat forming on my brow. I was nervous, although hiding it reasonably well, I
thought. I wasn’t sure what would happen if we were caught here. I guessed my
father would be brought in and there would definitely be a punishment. Who
knows, maybe they’d just shoot us on the spot; they were pretty protective of
their secrets. Braxton paused for two heartbeats at the edge of the darkness,
waiting for something I couldn’t see. Then when he moved he was swift, like a
shadow as he dashed across to the side of the wall. We were right behind him.
The entire time, I held my breath waiting for the call of detection, but there
was nothing.

We plastered ourselves to the side of the massive stone wall. The true
size of this prison was becoming apparent. It was freaking huge. And despite
the amulet I wore, I could feel my wolf reacting to the silver, iron and other
elements in the walls. It didn’t burn me, like it normally would, but it was uncomfortable,
like the sensation of my skin cells attacking each other. I shivered. I did not
like it. I heard a stifled sob from Mischa and knew she was struggling worse
than the rest of us, but thankfully after that first hitch of breath there was
no more. She was a Lebron, we were tough and she’d already pulled herself
together.

We moved swiftly along the lines of the wall, but came to a sudden halt
about halfway along. I forced my breathing into a shallower pace, silencing
even the smallest noise, as my eyes flicked left and right. Were we made? I
couldn’t see anything, so what was Brax–

My thoughts were cut off as all four of the Compasses leaned down again,
and just like in the forest were performing an incantation.

“This is the weakness. See how all the lines join and form this gap?”
Braxton’s voice was almost too low to hear, but I was pretty close to them. I
could see what he was talking about. It was as if joins from all the stone
pieces on this side of the wall converged into one central point. 

This point looked a lot like a mini-inlet, and I remembered Braxton
saying it was something to do with the water or sewage release. But it was far
too tiny for any of us to fit through; the Compasses especially did not have a
shot in hell. I had no idea what they thought was going to happen, but I
trusted them enough to wait patiently. I scanned the zone so as not to miss the
guards’ return. For the moment, this side was still minus any uniformed
security.

Maximus reached out a hand and took Mischa’s arm. “The magical
protections are weakened here to allow for the tunnels below. We’re going to
create an entrance. Ty and Jake have been working on this since we got out.”
His tone was soothing, probably to stop Mischa running out in a screaming mess.
She looked like she was about to lose her shit.

“Let’s hope it works,” I heard Tyson mutter.

Braxton was stone-faced. I couldn’t tell if he was worried or not; he was
the master at concealing his emotions. Despite the fact that the women of
Stratford loved Braxton, they also feared him. Men, too. The hardass was the
main side of him that he showed the world, but I knew him well enough to call
him on his bullshit, so he tended to keep it to a minimum around me.

The boys stood, and all I could see was the same stone and small drain
space. Had it not worked?

Jacob grinned. “Time to head inside,” he said as he shoved Tyson straight
in. “Good of you to volunteer, Ty,” he murmured as the wizard disappeared into
the prison wall.

Okay, so there was definitely an entrance. I grinned. Jacob was a dead
man when Tyson got his hands on him. One by one we entered. I was second last,
Braxton coming in behind me. With a deep breath – you have no idea how hard it
was to throw myself into what looked like solid stone – I ducked my head and
closed my eyes … before diving forward.

The smell
was almost unbearable. My nose was twitching as I fought against the urge to
throw up or growl. The six of us stood silent, waiting to see if our entrance
had been detected. It was really dark under here, hard to see our surroundings
even with help from my wolf.  The sewerage area we were in was small and narrow.
The boys had to crouch to not hit their heads. Maximus had said that this was
just an offshoot, not the main thoroughfare.

Before we’d started this mission, the Compasses had explained the general
layout of the prison. There was a large circular room right in the center which
acted as a mingling zone. Every day for a few hours the five different
supernatural races were allowed out for shared lunch, and to interact and have
exercise time. Spanning off this area were five thin tendril-like zones. They
formed the prison cells for each group. There was no mingling between different
races in the cells; this was strictly enforced – vampires were only with vamps
and so on. There were very specific protections on these areas. They catered to
the weaknesses of each supernatural race. If I had to guess, judging by the
wolfsbane, silver and blood-sacrifice power that I could see threaded through
the stone structures above our heads, the spot we had entered seemed to be
underneath the shifter zone.

After a few minutes of silence everyone let out the breath they’d been
holding. We seemed to be in the clear. Well, no one had followed us through the
wall, which indicated we had not been seen.

Braxton started to creep his way along the tunnel, bent almost in half to
fit. “Follow me,” he said.

It took about ten minutes for us to emerge into what I would say looked
like the central sewerage line.

Braxton stayed in the lead, giving us a quick rundown. “Nash told me how
to find the area he slept in. It’s in between the shifter and vampire section
of the prison. These are the sewerage systems he uses to get around.”

“So this area is not really accessible from the main prison?” Mischa
asked.

Braxton nodded. “I don’t think so. I did a reasonable amount of exploring
but never could quite figure out how to get into this eastern section of
Vanguard. Nash sort of clued me in on how to do it.”

We started walking again, sticking close to the wall. On the other side
of us was a semi-circle dip in the stone which contained whatever disgusting
muck ran through a sewerage system, and I was very grateful to not only be
wearing shoes, but to also not have to go into that shit.

After about ten minutes, Braxton stopped. “We’ll go up here.” He reached
out and rested his hand on a metal ladder that hugged the rock walls. I hadn’t
even noticed it until right then. “Let me go first and make sure the area is
clear.”

Just like that he was gone, scaling the heights in seconds. The others
stood around chatting, but I stayed right near the bottom rung, staring up,
waiting for him to return. I was about eight seconds from saying ‘screw-this’
and following his path, when his voice echoed down to us.

“All clear.”

I was four rungs up when Maximus plucked me off the ladder and set me
back on my feet.

“I’ll go first, just in case it’s a trap.”

I managed not to roll my eyes. I knew they protected because they loved,
but still … give the Superman shit a rest, boys. It must be itchy under all of
that spandex.

I ended up following Maximus, Mischa right behind me, and the other two
bringing up the rear. It was a lot higher than it had looked from the ground,
and unlike Braxton it took me quite a few minutes to make it to the ceiling.
There was a small dark opening, I slithered up through the gap into the next
space. The room was narrow with no natural light at all, just a few wizard
stones embedded high in the wall. They cast the blue tones of fake illumination
and I hated trying to see in it. It messed with my eyes.

We had to walk single file. The Compasses were almost brushing the walls
with their broad shoulders. Braxton and Maximus, in front of me, had the tunnel
pretty thoroughly blocked, and I hated that I couldn’t see anything. But I wasn’t
afraid, despite the dark and eeriness of our surroundings. No one spoke and I
took this as a sign to keep my mouth shut. Although, as we continued our trek,
I was starting to wish I’d asked for more information before we got in here.
Like, how big was this freaking prison?

I was just about at the end of my limited patience when Maximus came to a
halt. Of course I ran straight into his back, and Mischa smashed into me. Which
did not move him even one inch.

I heard the grating of what sounded like a rusty door and we were moving
again, pivoting to the left and through a metal opening. The rusty door was
apparent now, shoved back against the wall, showing signs of pockmarking and
corrosion. Finally, we entered a larger room. The quads spread out to the side
and I could finally see around their broad shoulders.

My heart stopped beating. Or the world stood still.

Holy fucking hell!

Instead of the one small boy I’d expected, there were so many faces
turned to toward us … so many faces. Both young and old. My breath caught in my
throat as I frantically scanned from one side of the room to the other.

They were all dirty as they crouched low to the floor. I swallowed
loudly, my hand lifting to press against my rapidly beating heart. I was still
trying desperately to take in the entire room. How was this possible? There
were children of all ages … even a few infants mixed in with the adults. In the
semi-darkness I noticed the large cuffs which secured them to bolts embedded in
the floor.

I was suddenly angry enough to scream. I didn’t care what these supernaturals
had done, this was the cruelest form of punishment I could ever imagine. My
demon snarled at me, along with the wolf, both of them straining to break free
of the restrictions I had placed on them, both of them wanting blood for this.

Maximus sounded as pissed off as I felt. “What the fuck is this, Braxton?
You said there was one boy. There are … at least fifty here.”

Braxton’s already rigid features tightened. “I never came into this room,”
he bit out. “Nash just gave me directions to the place he slept; otherwise we
only interacted when he found me.”

Mischa’s low voice sounded close to my ear. “Do you think they’re dragon
marked?”

I couldn’t answer, I was trying not to cry. There were babies here. I
wasn’t the biggest fan of rug-rats with their whining and sticky fingers, but
this was torture.

“Braxie.” A tiny voice echoed through the room, and a boy moved toward
us. He appeared to be the only one not shackled down. “You came back.”

As he moved closer, I noted the ragged, shoulder-length brown hair, pale,
unhealthy skin which should be olive in tone but was sickly white, and huge
brown eyes that dominated his face.

“Why did he not just escape himself?” I had to ask, unable to tear my
eyes from him. He’d obviously known there was a way out, he’d directed Braxton
on how to get in here.

Braxton had something feral moving behind his eyes. His voice came out
harshly. “Firstly, he couldn’t have fit through the exit point without the help
of magic, and he has none. And he was afraid. This place is all he has ever
known.” He strode forward and swept the boy into his arms. “I promised you I’d
return,” he murmured to Nash.

“We can’t leave the rest here,” I said, managing to keep my voice at a
low shriek. “We have to save them all.”

The Compasses exchanged glances.

Jacob spoke first. “We can’t, Jessa. For more than one reason. Firstly,
their chains look to be carved with runes and I can feel the magic infused. We
can’t bust them out of those without the key or some serious power. And
secondly, I think this many trying to escape would be noticed by the guards.”

Maximus swept his arm around. “And we don’t know what they’re in here
for, we might be freeing very dangerous criminals.”

I exchanged a quick glance with Mischa. We knew what they were, and deep
down the Compasses did too. What Maximus was really saying was they wouldn’t
risk freeing the dragon marked.

Damn them. Babies … fuck that. I would die before I’d leave them here.
But I knew the boys wouldn’t let me stay or put myself in jeopardy. I’d have to
be smart about it. My eyes were locked on two little girls, no more than three
or four, clinging to each other, just managing to stretch their chains far
enough to huddle together. They reeked of fear and desperation. And desolation
… as if there wasn’t one ounce of hope in them.

I suddenly swung my head around to the boy that was close to Braxton’s
side. “How did you get your chains off, Nash?”

He regarded me solemnly, with eyes too large and weary for a little boy.
“I broke my thumb, and now it’s always out of its socket. It fits through the
shackles.”

I flinched at the thought of his pain. Although, depending which
supernatural race he was from, his pain might have been hidden by his other
side. He waved his hand at me and the angle of his thumb was definitely off.

“Do they ever remove everyone else’s shackles?” I managed to ask.

He nodded. “Once a day, guards take us to the bathroom.”

That was my chance.

“Get that look off your face, Jessa.” Maximus was all business and he was
standing too much in my personal space for my liking. “We cannot save them. There
are lots of hard decisions in life. This is one of them. You have to accept
that we have your best interests at heart.”

I widened my eyes and blinked a few times at him, my impression of a
brain-dead bimbo. I don’t take orders from anyone, especially not a man who
thinks he can demand my obedience simply based on the fact he was born with a
penis and I was not. I mean, I’m not a complete moron, I can take advice and
ask for help. But blindly following orders, that isn’t me and is never going to
be.

Braxton’s deep tones jarred me from my crusade. “I will help you, Jess.”
His words eased some of my anger. He had a way about him, that man. “But for
now we’re not prepared to rescue this many people. We’ll find the doorway again
and the next time we
will
save everyone.”

Truth.

I stared up into the stunning blue of his eyes, a color that was one of
my favorites in the world. I trusted his word. He meant what he was saying. But
I could not sleep one more night knowing there were children suffering here. I
could see by the set of Braxton’s jaw that he was struggling with it also; that
was the soft heart which had brought him back into the prison to save a little
boy. But he was also very practical, his logical brain telling him that the
odds of succeeding at this mission was slim. So he was going to find another
way, at a later date.

I understood the logic. I simply chose to ignore it.

“Okay, Brax.” I wasn’t really lying, I did see his point. “Let’s go
then.”

Relief crossed all four of the Compass’ faces. If they weren’t so caught
up in the danger here and the need to get to safety, they would be questioning
my compliance. But, stupid boys, they were happy to take my word at face value.
The only one who even cast a suspicious glance in my direction was Mischa. It
had to be because we were twins, or she was thinking the same thing as me, because
she did not know me well enough to know my ‘tells’ yet.

As we moved back toward the doorway, I forced myself to keep walking,
closing my eyes so I couldn’t see the desperate supernaturals we were leaving
behind in the cells. I mentally promised them that I would be back very soon.

Braxton caught my arm just as I was about to step back into the narrow
tunnel. “Don’t pull any bullshit stunts, Jessa,” he whispered.

Innocence poured off me in droves. I hadn’t lied to him, he wouldn’t have
scented the mistruths I hid in my heart. But clearly he had paid closer
attention to my actions than the others. Damn Braxton, always so observant.

He kept a close eye on me, staying at the rear, although Nash was between
us. The little boy wouldn’t get very far from Braxton’s side. It took us no
time at all to make it down the ladder and through the sewerage system.

“Okay, we’re going to have to wait it out,” Maximus said when we reached
the spot which would expel us back out of the prison. “The next guard change is
not for another ten hours.”

Mischa leaned forward. “Won’t that be cutting it awfully close to the
twelve hour time frame?”

Maximus pushed his hair back. “There’s no timeframe on exiting the
underground area, but if we try to come back in again, the doorway will have
shifted.”

He leveled a gaze on me, warning in his dark eyes. I tried to cover up
the emotions flooding through me. He had no idea the gift he’d just given me.
If I could time it perfectly I’d be able to ‘fall behind’ or something equally
lame, and hopefully by the time they noticed it would be too late for them to
get back through the doorway.

I was kind of nervous about being in here without their support and
protection. But I reminded myself that this prison was legitimately run, the
council was always here, my father would not let me rot if I was captured. I
owed it to those poor people, whether dragon marked or not, to at least attempt
to free them.