Dragon Marked: Supernatural Prison #1 (13 page)

I watched him closely but didn’t speak. Anything I could say would only
make it worse. I’d tried over the years to fix the problem, to no avail.

“And now there’s a younger, more pathetic wolf princess.” He moved on to
Mischa, who was finally starting to pay attention to the bear shifter. Maybe he
hadn’t noticed her new bodyguard. He was going to get Maximus all riled up.
Should be fun. “Maybe one day I’ll get the privilege of destroying the entire
Lebron line. Bears are not led by wolves.”

Curious.

That was the most information he’d revealed in a long time. Maybe this
hatred wasn’t personal toward me, just that he was ruled by wolf shifters who
happened to be my bloodline. I could see Maximus starting to move closer to me.
He’d been fighting a male fey. His shirt was smoking a little from a few
fireball accidents.

I shouldn’t have shifted my focus. As I turned back, Melly had moved and
a fist was coming straight at my face. I threw my head back, twisting to the
side, hoping to avoid his massive knuckles. No such luck. The meaty fist
clipped me on the side of my chin and cheek bone. I heard the crunch; my
screams echoed around the cavernous training room. As I hit the padded mat, I
clamped my mouth shut, cutting off the sound of my agony, since opening my
mouth seemed to be increasing the intense stabbing heat. Chaos descended as everyone
ran to see what had happened. I was pretty dazed, I wasn’t sure exactly how
much I missed in the next few moments. The throbbing hum of agony that was
pulsing in the side of my face was distracting me from everything else in the
room.

“Jessa!” Soft hands gently touched the uninjured side of my face. “Are
you okay? Open your eyes.” Mischa sounded a tad frantic, and I did not want to
know what my face looked like. 

I opened my mouth, but the agony that stabbed into me again had me
clamping my lips shut. Shit. I was going to kill Melly the second my face
healed. I was going to cut his arms and legs off and then slice them into
little pieces, and after that his eyes – yep, one by one I’d pluck them out and
feed them to the closest shifted animal …

Maximus interrupted my thoughts. “Jessa, open your eyes, babe.” Just when
I was getting to the good part. Typical.

I slowly opened the eye on my uninjured side; the other was already
sealed shut and wouldn’t open. The light was so bright it took me a moment to
fight through the blindness and try to see. I knew my cheek was broken, and I
was pretty sure I had a concussion. Everything was blurry and out of focus. Not
to mention I had the mother-of-all-headaches and was about ten seconds from
barfing everywhere. I was forced to shut that eye again.

“We need a healer in here. Now!” I could hear Braxton’s order from close
by. His words were so clipped and icy I was pretty sure a layer of chill had
settled over the room.

I lost track of time again. My concentration was firmly on keeping the
contents of my stomach where they were, and then I felt hands on me. Warmth
spread through my body and I knew either a witch or a wizard was using healing
energy to repair my broken face. All magic users had some healing abilities,
but there were a few who were extra gifted in that department. If they showed
this aptitude, they had an additional year after college learning this art, and
then they became healers. I sighed as the warmth turned into an intense heat
and I could feel the actual bone starting to knit together. I’d have healed
eventually, this was just ten times quicker.

“She had a fractured jaw and cheekbone, and her skull was cracked in two
places,” said a soft female voice – my healer was a witch. “I’ve mostly fixed her
up, but she needs bed rest for a few hours or so. Just to give her body time
for any additional healing she needs.”

My eyes flew open and I pulled myself up. Maximus was on one side of me
and Braxton on the other. They each placed a hand under my arm and lifted me to
my feet. I was facing a tall, slender red-haired woman. She had dark eyes that
were scanning my face. She looked familiar but I couldn’t remember her name.

“Thank you…”

“Grace,” she mumbled. “My name is Grace.”

Ahhh, right, now I remembered. When I’d been about fourteen, Grace had
declared her everlasting love for Tyson, despite the fact she was a few years
older. He’d been a typical immature boy and sent me over to let her down
gently. Of course I’d had about as much tact as a troll or a tree, and after my
brief stumbling explanation she’d fled in tears.

“Thank you, Grace,” I tried again. “I really appreciate you healing me.”

She smiled. It was genuine and her entire face turned from gamine
sweetness to ethereal beauty. She had grown into her lanky looks. “You’re
welcome. If you ever need any help, Jessa, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

As she stood, her eyes flicked across to Tyson in a movement almost too
fast for me to track. I couldn’t read her expression, but she didn’t seem to be
viewing him in the same romantic light of long ago. She looked a little pissed
actually.

As Grace marched away, Tyson’s eyes followed her. The wizard looked a
little shell-shocked; some gold was bleeding into his eyes. How strange was it
that we hadn’t seen Grace for almost ten years? I wondered if she’d left
Stratford. I was distracted from my thoughts as the rest of the class moved
back into position.

Lincoln was talking to the Compasses. “Take Jessa home and put her to bed
and make sure she stays there.” Everyone knew they were my pack. “I’ll see you
all in the next class. I’ll inform her father of what happened and he can
decide on the punishment for Melly. He’s suffering right now, but I doubt that
will be enough for Jonathon.” 

I’d forgotten about that coward-ass piece of shit – punching me while my
back was turned. Scumbag. I pushed through the crowd to find he’d been strung
up from one of the huge rafters by thick, heavy cord. His head was about two
feet off the ground as he struggled upside down. Judging from the bruises
already forming on his face, and the cut dripping blood onto the floor, he’d
been ‘knocked’ a few times during detainment. I pushed a few more supernaturals
aside, and bending over I got reasonably close to his face. Despite his predicament,
he still sneered at me.

“Always so brave when you’ve got the quads watching your back.” His teeth
were a little bloodstained. He spat onto the floor. “You disgust me.”

Reaching out, I grabbed his chin, hard, squeezing it slowly between my
fingers and palm, letting my shifter strength flow along my arm. His eyes
widened, but he didn’t make another sound. “You come near me again, Melly, and
I will fucking take you apart piece by piece.” I’d already started planning it.
“I don’t need the Compasses to destroy you, I have every weapon already at my
fingertips. You live now only on my generosity. An attack like that, on a
council leader’s daughter … Jonathon is going to want your head.” I shoved him
hard, he swung out away from me. “And I might just let him have it.”

As he swung back, I spun and kicked out. My shin cracked him in the
temple, knocking him out cold. “Tell my father to let him go with a warning
this time,” I said to Lincoln, knowing he’d chat with Jonathon first. If Melly
came at me again I’d be the one to kill him.

Braxton stopped me with a hand on my right biceps. “Jessa, he needs to
die.” I shook him off. “He fucking hit you while your back was turned. He’s a
coward, and his weakness is only going to hurt Stratford in the long run.”

I could see by the tight jaw, clenched fists, and raging fury in his eyes
that Braxton cared nothing for the town. He was pissed that I’d gotten hurt. He
was always my sweet protector. But I was a big girl and could look after
myself.

“I have a feeling he won’t come after me again.” I shrugged. “Lesson
learned.” Okay, I might have been overly optimistic, but I owed the guy one
last chance.

 Melly groaned as he woke from his little nap.

“If he steps within ten feet of you again, he’s dead.” Braxton’s voice
had no inflection at all. He was serious. And scary. “No more chances.”

Mischa followed us as we left the room. The six of us were the sole focus
of attention from the others, but as the doors slammed shut behind us I could
hear the noise inside start up again. Gossip was already flying around.

Braxton was staring at the ground as we walked, his fists still clenched,
and I swear small rumbles were shaking his chest, although I couldn’t really
hear anything.

Jacob distracted me from his brother. “Don’t find yourself alone with
that guy, Jess. He has the strength to kill you. If you hadn’t pulled your face
in the last second, he probably would have.”

I shook out my hair, wincing as the slightest tenderness still plagued my
head. “I can handle him.” I was great at false bravado. “But I don’t understand
why he would try and kill me.”

That would have ended in his death or imprisonment in Vanguard, for a
very long time. But my money was on dead … by one of the Compasses.

Braxton lifted his face then and I ground to a halt. His blue eyes were a
blazing inferno of fury. He was literally vibrating, he was so wound up. “I saw
it happening and couldn’t get to you fast enough.”

“You strung him up?” I asked. Braxton must have been like a step behind
Maximus despite the fact he’d been across the room.

“I would have killed him, but I needed to make sure you were okay first.
I was heading back to break his neck when Max convinced me that wasn’t the best
option.”

Maximus groaned, rubbing his hand down his left side. “And I’m pretty
sure you cracked my rib, asshole. I owe you for that, and despite the fact
killing him was a great option, I figured that wasn’t the way you wanted to end
up back in the prison.”

I noticed then how teary and scared Mischa looked. She had her arms
wrapped around herself tightly. “You okay?” I moved closer, standing right in
front of her. God, how anyone couldn’t tell we were twins I had no idea. We
were identical, everything except for the eyes and a few freckles.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for this life of violence. How do you live
with it all the time? Watching your backs? I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I’m
having a breakdown and I haven’t even been here for a month.”

She couldn’t sleep? It was more serious than I’d thought. I tried to hold
back my smile but couldn’t. “You’re just not used to it. Supernaturals are
violent bastards; it’s a wolf eat wolf world here.” I was talking
metaphorically since there were so many different races. “And you have us to
watch your back also. Trust me, you couldn’t have better supes in your corner.”

Tyson patted Mischa on the shoulder. “She’s not kidding.”

Despite the fight between Maximus and Tyson on the day of Markus’ staged
murder, there had been no more drama in the group. Mischa had been mostly
accepted into our inner circle, although I sensed a small sliver of distrust still,
mainly from Tyson.

The wizard continued with his wisdom. “It will drive you crazy if you
worry too much. Today’s worry does not prevent tomorrow’s woes. We just have to
accept what will come and do our best to protect each other.”

Smart, smug bastard. He made good points though. He still seemed a little
out of it as he gazed across the town. I was starting to think that seeing
Grace had really knocked him around.

“Come on, Jessa needs to get to bed.” Braxton started hurrying us along
the path again.

“Jake,” I called to the blond fey.

He bounded over to my side. “You called for me, Jessa babe?” He wrapped
one of his long arms tightly around my shoulder.

“Can you sing for me?” My head was starting to throb again and his voice
was the most soothing thing in the world.

His voice was uncharacteristically low. “I’d do anything for you.” And
then he started to sing.

It was my favorite faerie ballad, haunting, hypnotic, soothing. It was
the song of birth or
de la entréed
. The fey sing it when one of their
babies are born, to welcome them into the world. I yawned loudly.

My feet were swept out from under me as Jacob scooped me into his arms.

“You guys are my best friends … and I love you,” I said sleepily, as I
closed my eyes. “I don’t tell you that enough.” I could have died today. The
thought that I should tell my friends and family how much they meant to me had
flashed through my mind when that punch landed.

Jacob chuckled again, his chest moving under me. “We love you too. You’re
our pack, our family. Don’t go almost dying on us again.”

I felt hands brush along my face and knew the others were using their
warmth to comfort me. With that warmth, and the final humming remnants of Jacob’s
song, I drifted off to sleep.

It was
time for my date. I’d spent most of the afternoon in bed, but despite Braxton’s
constant arguing against me leaving, I couldn’t lie around any longer. Besides,
I’d made a deal and I was not backing out of it. To be fair, I was a little
intrigued to see what this Louis was all about. To see if maybe it was he who
had set up the Compasses – to reveal the secrets of the marked in the prison.

An hour before Louis was due to arrive, I kicked the boys out and got
ready. Then once I was ready, Mischa came in and redid absolutely everything.
Sisters are annoying.

Mischa was sprawled across my bed. “You look amazing. I’m glad I talked
you out of shorts and found a dress you’d accept.”

Okay, so she had a pretty great eye for fashion. Since I’d never actually
been on a date, I did appreciate her input. The casual relationships I usually
pursued did not leave much need for dating or fancy clothes. Or clothes of any
description really. 

I flittered off the bed, the dress swishing around my thigh as I ducked
over and gave her a hug.

“Thanks for lending me the clothes.” I’d have been hard pressed to find a
dress of any description in my closet. I’d never felt limited having mainly
male friends but, well … I was starting to see that girls had a pretty
important place too, and my sister kind of rocked.

 The dress was a dark blue and I was surprised by the difference it
brought to the color of my eyes and the highlights in my very dark hair. It had
thin straps and was fitted across the breasts before falling in silky lengths
to mid-thigh. I teamed it with my black converses because I’d probably kill
myself in heels. Mischa had approved, saying it was modern tomboy girlie.
Whatever that meant. She’d tackled me into the chair and had applied the
lightest layer of makeup and lined my eyes with kohl and lengthened my lashes
with mascara. Standing before the full length mirror in the upstairs bathroom,
I was surprised by how I looked. Like myself, only … sort of more.

Moving back into my room I shoved Mischa across the bed to sit next to
her. We sat in silence for a few minutes. It was nice, though, we’d almost
reached the point where we didn’t have to fill our moments with chatter. 

Finally I straightened. “I should go downstairs, Louis will be here
soon.” I ran my hands over my silky hair. “I have no idea why, but I’m a little
bit nervous.” I never had nerves about crap like this.

“You’ll be fine,” Mischa said, patting me on the shoulder as we descended
the stairs. Okay, the girl wasn’t the best with reassurances. Another thing we
had in common. 

Downstairs was empty. Jonathon and Lienda had gone for a run in the
forest. My father hadn’t said anything about my date, except advising me to
proceed with caution. Like I needed the warning. I knew Louis was mega
powerful. Anyone with that much oomph was to be treated with wariness. We all
knew that power can corrupt.

“What did Jonathon do about Melly?” Mischa asked as we made our way into
the living room. I wanted to sprawl out like I usually did, but stupid dresses
are not designed for true sprawling.

“He wanted to trial him and have a prison term allotted. We might be a
little wild here in Stratford, but unprovoked attacks are not allowed.
Especially when it could have killed me.” I shrugged. “But in the end it was an
A and D class and Melly would simply argue he was attacking within his rights.
I told Dad to forget about it.”

Which had not gone down well, hence his need to run off some anger. 

“I’m quitting that class,” Mischa muttered, her eyebrows drawing together
as she picked at her right thumbnail. “I’m not cut out for fighting.”

I inhaled deeply, sucking in a lungful of air. “I suggest you think
seriously about that decision. You might not feel like it, but you’re part of
the supernatural world now and you’ll want to be able to defend yourself. Like
shifting, sometimes the only way to learn is the hard way.” I had no doubt that
she was fighting an uphill battle – it would be difficult starting as an adult
when we’d been training since kids. But giving up wasn’t a great personality
trait, I wouldn’t encourage that.

“Yeah, we know how awesome I’ve been at shifting.” She moved on to the
other thumbnail.

“You’ll get it soon, and when it clicks your wolf side will just fall
into place.” I was no longer considering that she might be a dragon shifter. It
was definitely wolf.

She rested her chin on her shoulder as she stared at me. “Max helped me
see some of what I was doing wrong. Because I’m afraid of the unknown and the
pain, I’m internally fighting back. It’s all in my head; the fears are
preventing my shift.”

I focused on her. “What’s going on with you and Max? You’re spending a
lot of time with the vampire.”
My vampire
, I silently added. Man, I was
possessive. I should work on that, right after I dealt with ‘selfish,’ ‘paranoid,’
and ‘bitchy’.

Mischa didn’t answer straight away, and I wondered if she was trying to
hold out long enough for my date to arrive. But then as she raised her face and
met my pointed stare, her confusion was oh so apparent.

“I felt something for him the moment I first saw him.” Her smile was
wobbly. “And he’s just … perfect – gorgeous, charming, and so sweet.”

Well shit, was she talking about my Maximus? He was a man-whore of the
worst kind.

“Can a shifter and vampire be true mates?” she asked me.

I scratched the side of my ear in a kind of nervous twitch. I had to
remind myself not to continue the twitching. I never wore makeup, and no doubt
before this date was over I’d forget about the eye stuff and smudge it all over
my face.

She was still staring at me. I took a deep breath. Why was I always the
one to deliver bad news?

“No, your true mate will be within the same race.” I hurried on as her
face fell. “But that’s rare – you can have a mated relationship without being
true mates. You can choose who to love.” While I adored the thought that
somewhere out there fates had chosen the perfect match for me, I also liked
thinking I could choose my other half, that my heart could decide.

“I never said anything about love.” The slightest pink tinged her cheeks.
Her hands trembled a little as she shoved her hair behind her ears. “I barely
know him.”

“You wouldn’t have asked about mates if it wasn’t a little more than
I
barely know him
,”
I
mimicked her. I wondered then if maybe Mischa
was the reason Maximus had had no alibi at the trial.

She gritted her teeth and was just opening her mouth to speak – or yell
at me – when there was a knock on the door. I stood in one fluid movement, my
questions forgotten as I ran my damp palms along the swishy skirt of my dress.
I resisted the urge to check my appearance one more time. Nothing would have
changed, I was simply searching for a distraction or something to alleviate my
nerves.

“Why am I nervous?” I murmured. “It’s a date and I don’t even
particularly like this magic user.”

His voice echoed through the wooden door. “I can hear you, Jessa. You
might as well let me in before you convince yourself out of tonight.”

Mischa laughed then. “I’ll never get used to these extra strong senses.”

“Yeah, well magic users don’t generally have super hearing. Clearly Louis
is an overachiever,” I said as I stomped across to the door. My cheeks wanted
to blush, but I refused to let the blood pool there.

I slammed the wooden barrier open to find his big body crowding the
doorway and his handsome face staring down at me. The slightest grin tipped up
the corner of his lips. Frigid air wafted in around the sorcerer. It was cold
tonight.

“Hey,” he said, all casual-like, his eyes sparkling at me. He was like a
brilliant sunset, spectacular to look at but kind of blinding at the same time.

A smile crossed my own lips, and then the laughter followed. I felt
ridiculous all dressed up, but I was looking forward to this date, weirdly
enough.

“Are you ready?” he asked, when I didn’t say anything.

I nodded and pulled on my long coat, zipping it up. I waved to my sister,
stepped out onto the deck, and kicked shut the door behind me. I didn’t have a
bag or anything, there was no need. Stratford had a few restaurants and the
dining hall, but there was no money exchanged. People were expected to
contribute to our community, so we had various businesses but money was only
involved for exchange with humans. 

Louis was relaxed as we strolled away from my house. He dipped that smile
in my direction again. “I’m surprised one of the quads aren’t here giving me a
lecture and questioning my intentions.”

The sun was just setting and there were still plenty of young
supernaturals playing in the street. They paid us no attention, enjoying their
variety of games.

I wrinkled my nose at him. “I forced them to leave. As much as I love
that they care, it can be awfully awkward having so many protective men in my
life. You’d be amazed at how many of my male
friends
have been scared
off.” In reality, I couldn’t think of one sexual partner I’d had who wasn’t
wary or outright petrified of the Compasses. No wonder I didn’t date.

Louis chuckled. “I wouldn’t be amazed at all. They have spread the word
far and wide that you’re off limits.”

Those bastards were going down.

Louis reached out and took my hand. I tensed and almost yanked it free;
his power licked along my arm and the sensation was uncomfortable. Gritting my
teeth, I stuck it out and soon the sensation subsided. Which was a relief.

Louis didn’t comment on my reaction, he was still focused on the
Compasses. “I’m not sure you realize how far the quads’ reach actually is. I
would say the only reason you’ve had any options of sexual relationships is due
to the fact that you’re … utterly desirable.” I must have made a choking sound,
because he pulled me to a halt. “I know you can’t see how magnetic and
fascinating you are. It’s not just that you’re gorgeous … it’s something from
inside.”

I examined him closely, wondering if he was talking about my dragon mark.

“Men have told me I’m beautiful before,” I said, shrugging, “but at the
end of the day I’d rather be thought of as more than looks.”

Louis’ eyes roamed across my face and I could see thoughts churning in
their unusual purple depths. “Yes, people have told you, but you don’t really
believe them. Or maybe it’s that you don’t really seem interested when they say
it.” He pulled on my hand and we started walking again. “Why is that do you
think?”

I knew I wasn’t ugly, and I had some striking features like my hair and
eyes, but I thought I was much more beautiful in wolf form than in human.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So my only hope is that when I
fall in love, find my one, that he finds me beautiful.”

“And there we have a perfect demonstration of the very reason you’re
desirable,” I heard him murmur under his breath.

I changed the subject.

“So where are we eating tonight?” I wasn’t sure if Louis was aware but I
judged harshly on food quality, so it better not be Murphy’s. Their restaurant
was for the demi-fey and catered to a select clientele. Which unfortunately did
not include me.

“I thought maybe I’d cook for you.” His relaxed demeanor did not change,
but I sensed a slight tension filtering into his stance.

I curved my lips upwards. “Wow, are you actually taking me to the mystery
home of Louis the great sorcerer?” I didn’t really know what to think about
that.

He shrugged. “I like my privacy, but there’s no mystery. The longer I
live, the less I feel the need to socialize with others.”

Which felt strange to me. I was a shifter, and a wolf to boot. We loved
our packs, and in fact could get very sick if we were isolated for too long. We
needed the touch, the energy of others.

“Probably why shifters and sorcerers don’t generally go on dates,” I
offered, keeping my voice even.

“Probably,” he agreed.

Damn, this man was unfazed by my lack of tact. First test passed.

His power whistled over me again. “Besides, I heard there was an incident
in class today. I figured you needed quiet and relaxing.”

Of course he’d heard about that.

“I can have a word with Melly if you like?” His calm tone wasn’t fooling
me, I had too much experience with that false calm men got in their voices
right before they killed someone.

I shook my head. “Thanks, but it has been handled already.”

“As you wish.” And he left it at that, which was a welcomed relief.

We crossed the town, moving away from the houses and into the industrial
area where most of our manufacturing took place. Anything we couldn’t produce
was delivered through our networks in the human world. Scattered worldwide were
human liaisons who knew about these prison towns. They were pivotal to our being
able to exist within a society but not be discovered. We called them the Guild
Guides or ‘Guilds’ and it was a family business. They served us for their
entire lives and passed the information down to their children; for most it was
considered an honor to work for us. Plus we paid them a crap-ton and mostly
they did very little. But it was through them we cleaned our money to be used
in the human world, procured identification if we had to venture out, and safe
housing. Not to mention their valuable knowledge of how to blend. They were
becoming more and more important in the age of computers. Humans had a sneaky
way of keeping track of everything nowadays.