I chew on my bottom lip. “Well can you come out of the shadow, so I can at least see you better?”
“No.”
I slide down the cell door until my ass hits the cold ground. “Are you a prisoner?”
“Yes.” There’s a roughness to the way he talks.
I’m intrigued. Aside from the robotic tone.
“God I fucking hate that bitch.” I decide to change the subject, massaging my temples. “I’m going to kill her.”
“Yeah?” the voice says, and I don’t miss the bite in his tone. “Make sure you save me her tits so I can tear them off and feed them to my dog.”
I don’t bother to look toward him. I know I can’t see. “Your dog likes silicon?”
He doesn’t answer.
“What’s your name?”
I turn my head to look over my shoulder, my eyes going back to the baby rattle that’s sitting in the middle of the cell. It’s a haunting reminder of what I’ve lost and what I also need to find.
“Don’t have a name.”
I turn back to face the shadow. “Well, that’s just sad…”
That was a dumb thing to say. I blame it on stress and confusion.
Silence. Nothing more than silence fills the cold space between us.
This is getting weird, talking to someone who I can’t see and who has a strange voice. “This is ridiculous. I can’t believe I’m locked in this shit cell.” Shut up, Tillie. Stop talking. Find a way to get out. My head hurts. I slam my eyes closed and pull my legs up to rest my face on my knees.
“Do you know why you’re here?” the voice asks. I should call him Shadow. Since he is nothing but one.
I turn to face the shadow. “Yes and no. Do you?” Where the fuck is Gabriel?
“…Yes.” His voice. There’s something about it that sparks something inside of me.
The sound of a door opening and heavy heels click across the concrete hallway. I stand, stepping backward until I bump into shadow man. I didn’t realize I had ventured into his space. “Sorry.”
His chest is to my back. I can feel every intake of breath that he takes. I can also feel how rock hard his chest is pressing against my back. He’s tall, and…built.
His lips come to my ear. “Are you the mea principessa?”
My body stills. I step away, but the man’s hand presses against my flat tummy, holding me against his chest. “You wanna kill her, principessa? Then do it.” His voice falls over us like a cage of darkness. I feel safe within his grip. “Show me what you’ve got…” I feel cold metal slide over my lower belly and tuck into the front of my panties, gliding over my flesh. I know instantly that it’s a knife.
Shit.
His smirk presses against the back of my neck, right as the cell unlocks and Khales comes into view. Dressed in a short crop top and a leather miniskirt, her black hair is tied in a high ponytail. She’s looking right at the shadow.
She smirks. “Ready to see your mother, Tills?”
I straighten my shoulders.
Shadow man chuckles. “Sic ‘em, girl.”
I don’t know what it is or why. I do not even know the shadow, but he gives me a direct line of confidence. One that I need right at this very moment.
I tilt my head, my eyes running over her body. “You know, you could have had something good with Hector.” I glance at the guards who stand behind her, two of them. Standing staunch with their legs spread apart slightly. They waver every now and then, a little unsteady on their loyalty maybe?
Khales chuckles. “Oh, I can’t even begin to tell you how wrong you are.” She lunges toward me, her hand coming to my throat. Before I can register what is happening, I’m being smashed against a cold wall. “I saw you found Daemon’s book.” She tilts her head, looking me up and down.
“What of it?”
A small smile comes onto her mouth. “Oh nothing, just that Daemon is… complicated.”
Slowly inching my hand toward the front of my jeans, I squeeze around the handle, keeping my eyes on hers. I don’t care about what she’s saying, just keep her occupied and her eyes away from what I’m doing.
“Oh? And why is that?” I know why and how he is complicated, but the fact that she thinks she knows what she is saying is almost comical. I say almost, but I mean all the way there.
She exhales, her fingers flexing on my neck. “Aw, because he’s sick, dear.”
I yank the knife out and in one movement, launch the tip of the blade into the side of her neck. I watch her eyes pop in shock as her warm blood spills over my hand. Finally, her grip lets up around my throat, going to her own in search of the stab wound.
“You don’t know shit.” I sink the blade in farther and she lets out a small gurgling cry. “About Daemon. And no one fucking likes you—” I shove her body away from me until it falls to the ground in a lifeless heap “—bitch.” Wiping the blood off the blade and onto my shirt, I look up at the two guards who are standing at the door of my cell. “Do you know who I am?”
They both look between each other and then look back at me. “Yes.”
I tilt my head. “And?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
There’s a stretch of silence that seems to vibrate around us at a resonance that’s silent on ears. I wait for them to say something, anything. Maybe grab me and try to drag me out of here to kill me. Or worse, just kill me on the spot. What I was not expecting, was for them both to drop to one knee, their heads bowed.
“No…” I shake my head, panic gripping at my heart.
A familiar body presses against my back. The shadow.
“Just go with it, mea principessa. Do you feel it?” his voice whispers against me and my eyes close. His fingertips run up
