Dragon Marked: Supernatural Prison #1 (18 page)

“I don’t want to run or fight. Not yet at least. If I’m found guilty at
trial … well, that’s a different story.”

Mischa nodded, scooting closer to me. “Yes, we’ll face the punishment.”

Power was scooting through the forest now. I could feel the five races
mingling, which was the mark of the leaders. The group stepped into view. There
was at least ten of them now, with the council and the guards who had detained
us. The Compasses moved in front of us, leaving only small gaps between each of
them, effectively blocking us from the group.

“How did you all know we were back so fast?” I asked their broad backs.

Maximus swung his head and found my gaze. “Ty had an alert set up for
you.”

“The council did the same, but mine’s bigger … I mean faster.” Tyson
definitely had a grin on his face, I could hear it in his voice. Cocky mage.

“Why did you come in dragon mode?” I asked Braxton’s broad, bare back.
“And what was with the flame?”

He didn’t answer me, his gaze firmly locked on the council. I peered
around his side and was relieved to see Jonathon front and center, Lienda at
his side.

Tyson distracted me. “Braxton’s been in his flaming dragon form since the
doorway shut without you and Mischa.”

The last part was muttered, his voice low and strained. I had caused them
a lot of stress with my little stunt. No doubts they’d try to exact some form
of punishment at a later date.

Kristoff edged his way forward to speak. “Jessa and Mischa of the Lebron
wolf shifters.”

My mom and my twin had dropped Jackson and went by Lebron now. They were
officially part of the family.

“You are charged with infiltrating Vanguard, the American supernatural prison.
You will be escorted to the prison now and there will be a trial in seven
days.”

I stepped forward, nudging my way through the Compasses. Braxton reached
out and captured my arm, preventing me moving further forward than that.
Actually, he was trying to shift me behind his back, but I wasn’t budging.

“Mischa only came in to stop me,” I said. No reason we both had to go
down. “She is innocent of this charge.”

“Jessa!” my father’s bellow was loud and filled with power. “Do not say
one more thing.”

I shut my mouth because I knew when he meant business.

Jonathon faced his fellow council members. “Lienda and I need a minute
with our daughters before anything is decided. You’ve outvoted me on their
imprisonment, but I would like to ask a few questions before they’re taken.”

No one but Kristoff objected to this, so our parents crossed the space
between us. When he reached my side Jonathon enclosed me in a hug. We stepped
back behind the Compass line of men. He then pulled Lienda and Mischa in with
his other arm. We were a Lebron puppy pile.

“What happened?” Jonathon’s voice was so low I could barely hear him.

I swallowed my angry tears. “There’s a secret room in Vanguard filled
with … babies … kids, every age and race. It was disgusting.” I spat the last
part. “We were going back in to save them.”

“Are they dragon marked?” he asked, close to my face.

I shook out my hair. “I don’t know, I didn’t see any marks, but we were
only in there for a moment.”

Lienda had her face clenched so hard, her nails were cutting into her
cheeks. “We can’t let them go into the prison, Jon. They will be targeted.”

Mischa paled. “Kristoff said the same thing … why are we going to be
targeted?”

Our parents seemed to be doing some loud, rapid breathing exercise, so I
answered for her. “Dad was the wolf-pack alpha long before he became council
leader. He’s been instrumental in imprisoning a lot of criminals that are in
Vanguard. It won’t take long before the shifters scent us and know we are
Lebrons. Then they’re going to find us and exact their revenge.”

I’d already resigned myself to this fate, but poor Mischa looked as if I’d
punched her in the face.

“We’re dead,” she murmured.

“I won’t let that happen,” Jonathon said. “I have some pull with the
guards, I’ll make sure they look after you.”

We all knew they couldn’t stay on our asses all day and night. Eventually
they’d have to step away, or lose concentration for a few minutes, and that’s
when we’d be hit. We might only be in there for seven days – I had no doubts
they’d make the charges disappear at the trial – but seven full days could be
an awful long time.

Braxton got right into my personal space then. “I won’t let this happen.
I will be dead and buried before you end up in that prison.”

I reached out and rested my head against his right biceps. I could feel
the strength beneath my cheek, and the vibration of his anger as it trilled
through him.

“I have no choice, Brax. I don’t want to run like a criminal for the rest
of my life. I need you all to focus on the trial, and bring Louis in to help. Make
sure these charges disappear, figure out a way so the book can’t convict us.
Pretend like we accidentally stumbled into Vanguard and got lost or something.”

That’s if we were alive long enough to make it to trial.

Braxton’s blue eyes were like a blaze of light, a beam that would cut
through anything that ended up in his path. I could sense his struggle to hold
his form, to not let the dragon free, to not plunder and pillage as the old
cliché goes. But his strength as a man was unsurpassed. No one controlled
Braxton, not even his dragon.

“A compromise then,” he finally said, his words hard through his locked
jaw. “I’ll take Mischa’s place in the prison, a life for a life. The old rules
still exist, even though most don’t remember them.”

I furrowed my brow as I attempted to recollect this information from our
supernatural history class. I couldn’t remember hearing of such a law.

“Yes,” Maximus said. “You step in for Mischa and I will for Jessa. Neither
of the girls will have to go in there.”

Jonathon shook his head. “I wish I could take you up on this, but
Kristoff wants Lebron blood and you know the council has right of refusal.” He
tented his hands on either side of his face, as if massaging a migraine. “But I
could possibly swing it for Mischa alone. They mostly associate Jessa with me,
and I would be a little less homicidal to know that you were in there watching
her back,” he said to Braxton.

Lienda stepped in then. “I don’t want either of my girls in there, Jon.
There must be something else we can do?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, my sweet, but Braxton’s idea is better
than anything I can think of. Jessa is trained to fight, unlike Mischa. It is
the best option.”

There were nods all around. No one looked happy, but they were a little more
resigned.

“We will make sure the trial never has a chance for success.” Tyson
kissed me on the cheek. “You just have to make sure you survive.” His voice got
a little louder. “Do you hear me, Jessa babe, your only job in there is to
survive.”

Jacob dropped a kiss onto my other cheek. “Forget about the prisoners in
that room, now you have to be selfish and only think of Jessa.”

A blast of energy had all of us turning back to the large group waiting
across the clearing. Their patience had ended, it was time to go quietly.

Jonathon’s face went dark and stormy. “Give me a moment.” The fact that
his voice was low and growly was a pretty big indicator that he wasn’t calm. 

Lienda reached out and looped one arm around Mischa’s shoulders. The
other went around me. My arms were starting to ache from being held in their
position at my back and I was missing my wolf like crazy. But I knew this
sensation was something I was going to have to get used to, at least for the
next week. We watched as Jonathon started to argue with the council, putting
forth the proposal for the Braxton and Mischa switch. He only needed a majority
vote, and I knew Torag would be on his side.

Three hands went into the air, which left Kristoff and Galiani, the fey,
on the opposing side. That was victory enough for us.

Mischa was breathing rather rapidly for someone who’d just been given a
reprieve.

“What?” I said.

She swallowed audibly. “I’m not okay with you going back in there without
me. I don’t think I will survive the worry.”

I left our mother’s side and nudged into her. “Don’t be afraid for me,
Braxton will never let anything happen to me, and more importantly … I can take
care of myself.” I let the smallest of smiles grace my lips.

“We will make sure you don’t go back after the trial,” Lienda said. They
all seemed to feel the need to repeat this. “Your father and Louis will figure
out how to make whatever evidence disappear, including the guards’ memories.”
Her voice dropped even further. “But if you’re convicted, we will run. I have
done it once, I sure as hell will do it again to keep you safe.”

It wasn’t hard to see where she’d gotten the strength to run with Mischa,
to leave behind her mate and other child, to keep her family safe. She might be
a wolf, but the mama bear was there in spades. 

Jonathon turned to us and with a wave of a hand indicated it was safe to
walk across. I knew, as the quads closed ranks around us, that it went against
their instincts to let this happen. They wanted to fight. The set of their
jaws, the fire in their eyes, the power which rode all of them, they wanted to
fight so badly. But there was a time for fighting and a time to wait, and now
was the waiting part.

The trip
to Vanguard was pretty uneventful. Braxton had been cuffed and we were both
blindfolded. The leather necklace had been removed from my neck so I knew I was
going to feel every single one of the security measures. But there was comfort
in the warmth of Braxton close by. I was attempting not to think of the hard
faces and tight hugs of my friends and family as they were forced to watch us
leave. I hadn’t said goodbye. I refused to acknowledge that I might not see
them again. Despite the odds against us, I was determined to survive and I was
hardening myself to the experiences on the inside.

By the time the mask and cuffs were removed, we were in some sort of
front entrance waiting room. I rubbed at my aching wrists and swung my arms a
few times to move the blood through them again. The scent of this part of
Vanguard was very different to that of the sewer area I’d been in, clean and
sterile. 

The first thing they did was separate me and Braxton. His expression and
low growls indicated he wasn’t very happy about this move, but he didn’t say
anything. He knew when to fight his battles. I assumed he’d already been
through this and knew what was about to happen. I took comfort from that.

The next part wasn’t too bad, just goddamned degrading. I was stripped,
searched, and clothed in a simple tank and shorts. All cotton, gray and drab. Nothing
on any garment could be used as a weapon; there wasn’t even a button or stud. I
was allowed a hair tie for my hair, but that was all the accessories. Even my
bra was minus underwire. I guess I needed to wrap my head around the fact that
most of the supernaturals in this prison were hardcore criminals. Murderers,
drug runners, human and supernatural smugglers, black market magic users,
terrorists … we had them all.

The woman, who’d just had her hands all over my body, led me out of the
small room and into a hallway.

“When did they change the policy of placing those awaiting trial into the
main prison?” I knew she probably wouldn’t answer me, but it never hurts to
try. Something told me the change had simply been for the Compass’ benefit or
detriment. But it looked like I was going to get the same
special
treatment.

The woman glared at me, tugging me along roughly. I clenched my fists
tighter but forced myself to calm. It was going to get much worse than this.
The hardest part of being an alpha was the way my wolf needed to be the
strongest, always in control. It made situations like this near impossible to
stay calm in. The restrictions, lack of freedom, fear, control … all antithesis
to my wolf.

Plus I was freaking hungry. No doubt the food was going to suck ass in
here. No chocolate cake, no pie … they might as well have signed me up for
torture.

I was led back into the original room, and relief flooded me to find
Braxton seated, his extra-long legs spread out in front of him. He looked
relaxed. And the boy could fill out some prison cottons. Who knew gray could
actually look sexy on a person.
Go figure.
His eyes landed on my face
well after they took a long leisurely look starting from my bare feet and
moving over my own gray ensemble.

“You okay?” he rumbled.

I nodded, falling down into the seat next to him.

There was one man in the room with us now, although I could hear heartbeats
of the others stationed outside the door. This robust man, who was not tall,
but had thick, strong muscles, dropped down in a chair across from us. There
was a desk between us, which he leaned forward and rested his elbows on. His
eyes were dark brown, his hair starting to pepper a little around the temples,
so he was pretty old for a supernatural. I was getting a magic vibe from him,
thinking he was a wizard or sorcerer.