Page 27 of When Shadows Dream: Shadow Hounds

Her brain felt wired. Like a hamster running flat out on its wheel with no way to stop. Whether to avoid reality, or to analyze every possible scenario and outcome, it just kept whirling. The damn thing was making her head hurt. Then all of a sudden . . . It stopped. Everything stopped. Even the dust motes floating in the sun-filtered air froze on their irrelevant journeys. The same went for her heart, the very breath in her lungs . . . Who needed those anyway, right?

Like a deer noticing the presence of a predator, she tilted her head slowly toward the once again bare windows, revealing the empty hallway beyond.

Except it wasn’t empty for long. First thing she noticed wasn’t Ballzy leading the way, nor was it the intangibly scary dude who came in last. No, it was the one in the middle. He was being forced to move forward by the guy behind him, his feet leaving bloody trails on the marble floor as he shuffled along. The tattered pants barely concealed him from her suddenly ravenous gaze. His bare chest made her mouth water and her mind conjured up all too realistic fantasies.

Suddenly, his head shot up and his eyes pinned her in place, she hadn’t realized she’d started moving toward him, until her feet glued themselves to the ground again. Startling amber eyes, shot through with threads of green fire. So pretty, so sad, so broken, and so fucking sexy. Who was he? Was he N? The pet? If that fucker, Raum, hurt him she’d . . .

Wait, what? Where were those feelings coming from? She had her own ass to save, not his. He looked like he should be able to save his own. So, why hadn’t he?

The cell next to hers opened and the mega asshole pushed the sexy one inside so hard he landed in a heap on the concrete with a barely discernible grunt. Just like that, the mega asshole, who absolutely had to be Raum, jumped to the top of her shit list. More so when he waltzed inside after him and whispered roughly in his ear, exposing the male’s throat threateningly.

“This the little bitch that won’t bark?” Raum smirked at Ballzy as he exited the cell and slammed the door. “Looks like this won’t take me long at all.”

The smarmy fucker. She felt the fire desperately wanting to flash in her eyes, but she reined it in.

She desperately wanted to retort that her bite was a hell of a lot worse than her bark, and she’d break his little bitch, and his two friends off and shove them down his throat, the overcompensating sadist. But she refrained. Partly because Ballzy, sensing her shift in mood, gave a stern and sneaky shake of his head and quickly diverted Raum’s attention. Mostly because for once, her brain was more in charge than her mouth. If it hadn’t been, she’d probably be in deep shit and there would have been nothing Ballzy could do to stop it.

As soon as they left the hallway, most likely heading to the security room to see how she and the newcomer interacted, she rushed to the connecting wall. Thankfully she’d been forewarned about the cameras being reactivated, not that she’d known they’d ever been deactivated, thanks Ballzy. Gosh, she was feeling sarcastic today. They only had a few minutes before they’d have to ignore each other.

“Hi. You okay?” she asked.

He looked at her and nodded.

“They’ll be watching soon, you know. I’m assuming you’re supposed to cozy up to me, right?”

Another nod.

“You know I’m going to have to ignore you. I’m Jezzie. You are?”

“Nithe. I am Nithe. He doesn’t know that. I’m not really sure why I’m telling you that either. And yes, definitely ignore me. Ignore what he does to me. For the love of the Almighty, definitely ignore that.” His voice was husky, rough around the edges, and it sent shivers of excitement through her to the point her breasts tingled, her suddenly hard nipples pressed firmly against the barely-there fabric of her tank top.

“I feel at ease with you too, and I don’t know why, but I trust my instincts right now. Especially since they are screaming at me about that fucker who brought you in. Shit, times up. There’s a shower and toilet through the door to your left. I suggest you make use of it quickly. Catch you on the flip side.” Jezzie gave him a wink to lighten the mood before she moved to her cot and lay down, closed her eyes, and proceeded to fantasize about all the ways she could fuck Raum up.

If he came close enough, touched her long enough, she could drain him of every emotion and leave him a vegetable as she ate his fetid soul. His brain would leak like coolant from his ears onto the cold hard floor. Pretty sure the world would be a better place if he were to end up a puddle of coagulated goo.

Chapter 16

His dragon sight saw through the fuzzy haze of her illusion. The angels obviously didn’t, but their sight wasn’t like a dragon’s. Dragons were designed to seek out treasure, and treasure shone the brightest under the gaze of his kind. Her beauty, though, shone brighter than any treasure he could ever hope to have. The false beauty of her illusion paled in comparison to the radiance of her true appearance.

He felt his dragon huff from deep within as he mentally waxed poetic. Derisive, but not in disagreement, the grumpy bastard. It shocked him though—for so long he’d been without his dragon’s company—to feel his dragon pushing to the surface for a look at her as they passed her cell.

He could smell her honeysuckle scent through the small holes drilled into the glass walls. It called to him on a primal level; confused him as his dragon struggled to speak through the shackles binding them both.

Her eyes found his, and by all the heavens he wished she hadn’t seen him as he was in that moment, or in any moment which would follow. Another time, another place, a different future, and, most definitely, a different past. Not this version of him. The one who looked tattered and worn, covered in dirt and his own blood. Raum hadn’t broken the dragon, but he’d done a hell of a job at whittling away at the man.

Captivating gray eyes traveled over him like flames on a winter’s night. He’d not gotten hard since before Raum had trapped him, thank fuck, but apparently one look from her, and he was on the verge of exposing himself through the thin material of his rags. It’s what they were. Probably worn by previous pets, to be worn by countless more if Raum didn’t destroy them first.

Raum capturing him had been a possibility from the start. More like a probability, but then those sanctimonious prats had thought they’d developed a completely infallible tracking system. They’d assured him they would know his location at all times, he’d only have to send the signal, and they’d swoop in to nab Raum before any harm was done.

If the fucker who’d tasked him with this mission ever crossed his path again, she’d be nothing but a pile of melted goo and ashes.

Raum had him on a short leash as he spun him to the side and unclipped the blasted thing. A hard shove between his shoulders caught him off guard and sent him into the cell and down on his knees. Raum grabbed a fistful of Nithe’s long, knotted hair, yanking him backwards. A firm foot against his spine kept him upright but caused his back to arch, his throat exposed and vulnerable. Hot breath tickled his ear . . . Instant limp noodle effect.

“Settle in, N. I’ll be back a little later. I think this one might be fun. I think you do too. I notice everything, and I’ll use every advantage I can get. Play nice with the bitch,” Raum’s whispered words were but a breath above silence. No sound carried; he’d shielded his words so only Nithe would hear them. When he was done he thrust Nithe’s head away from him, causing him to fall forward once more. If he hadn’t managed to get his arms out in front of himself as fast as he had, he would have landed on his face.

Nithe heard the distinct click of the locking mechanism as the cell door shut, and the sound of footfalls as they retreated. After a few moments of silence, bar his own rough breathing and the soft rhythmical ones of the woman in the next cell, he heard a slightly husky voice ask if he was okay.

What could he tell her? No, no, in absolutely no way was he okay. Forced out of his clan due to the side effects of his mother’s indiscretion, said mother turning her back upon him, everything to do with Raum. No! Not okay. The torture, the shame, the utter self-loathing boiling inside him, the injustice of it all, the irony of that very term, injustice, and what it meant deep within his soul. Yet, the sound of her voice soothed his bitterness, calmed the raging fire, and bought with it a moment of blessed peace.

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