Page 96 of Dragon Unleashed

For half a second I keep myself contained, then the jumpsuit bursts into raging flames. An electric shock rushes through mybody as the handcuffs discharge. My teeth clench, my jaw locks, and every single muscle twitches. The officer grins and directs a blast of her water magic at my kit.

“Maybe you ain’t so harmless as you look.” She pokes at the destroyed uniform with a frown. “But I gotta tell you, someone big and important got it out for you. You watch your back.”

She vanishes out of the cubicle and I sink to the wooden bench, trembling from the aftereffects of the shock. Magic-binding cuffs are a bitch.

“Your guardian won’t pay bail.” The officer has marched on down the block before I register what he’s said.

It’s no surprise. The Virrey has the money, but he put me in here. I’m sure he did. Who else could get my ass slung in jail so quickly? I slam the flat of my hand against the wall. A tiny eruption of flames skitters away across the damp stone, incinerating cobwebs as it goes. I tense for the shock.

“Hellfire.” The gravelly voice of my cellmate penetrates the convulsion of my muscles. “Been in here twenty-five years. Never seen me an inmate as can still use any of their magic. Not unless it’s life or death. And you? You just a little bit pissed.”

I snort and offer Grammy a half smile. Once she worked out I wasn’t a pushover, and that I wasn’t too interested in interrupting her little racket, she mellowed right out. Never did see the positives from mushrooms myself, but the damp of this room makes it the perfect spot for growing them. Grams got the spores smuggled in years ago. Now she does a roaring trade. No one touches Grams. Every prisoner has been past our cell at least once in the two days I’ve been here. Two very long days of people testing the newbie.

Once those doors open in the morning, it’s a free-for-all. Didn’t take long for me to figure out the issue was my prime spot with Grammy. It doesn’t mean I’m giving it up though. She gets extra yard time, extra food, and extra shower time. And so does her cellmate. Pretty sure I’d get the odd shroom if I asked. No doubt the very fact I haven’t asked is what made her happy to have me stay.

“What you gonna do now, kid?”

I shrug. “Guess you got a new pal, Grams.”

She scowls. “You’ve got friends out there. Rich friends. Use them.”

“I’m notusingthem.”

“Why not? Afraid they don’t value you more than the green stuff?”

I glare at her, tears pricking my eyes. “They might not have it. It’s a lot.” I scrub angrily at my allegiance mark.

“Bullshit. You’re scared. Scared those posh boys in your allegiance don’t have your back.” She cackles for a whole minute before it breaks down into a hacking cough. Eventually she spits a glob of bloody mucus onto the cell floor. “You get one phone call. Call ’em.”

The moment the cuffs drop from my wrists a rush of magic fills me. It’s a high. I can smell colors. The air has a taste. And goddesses be damned if I don’t owe Grams for pushing me to admit I needed help. For showing me my friends have my back. I don’t recognize the officer at the desk who signs my things back to me. The last thing he hands over is my receipt. Nervously I glance down at it. How much did I ask the guys to pay?

I’m walking out the door by the time I flip the paper over and see the total bail posted. I grind to a halt just as a talcum-powdered body runs into me with arms flailing.

“Half a million?” I squeak, shoving Naeve off. “Half a million? Send me back in there right now and get your money back!”

Naeve holds me at arm’s length and grins like a Cheshire cat. I look over her shoulder. No one else came.

“No way! I have my bestie back.” She links arms and steers me away from the front of the prison. “The academy wouldn’t let anyone else skip class. But as teacher’s pet, I got away with it.”

She sniffs.

“Ew, you smell of damp.”

“Yeah, we had a…fungus issue.” I grin to myself as I let Naeve maneuver us toward the portal. Deep in my pocket my fingers curl around a piece of paper. To anyone else it’s a list of fancy Latin names. To Grams it’s her next paycheck—a list of new spores she wants. And I’ll do nearly anything to get them to her.

As we step onto academy ground, flashes go off in my face. I flinch, backing up a step. Students line the path, phones and tablets in hand. Camille has the cheek to step up right next to me and take a selfie; the others just snap photos from a distance.

“Murderer.”

“Killer.”

I swallow my anger. These posh idiots don’t know the first thing about survival. If they had any sense and they really thought I’d killed Professor Allegra, then they wouldn’t be up in my face.

I snarl and waft my hands menacingly, letting off a shower of small explosions over their heads. The crowd scatters, screaming. I flick a wind under their toes, tripping them as they run. Idiots.

Naeve nudges me hard but even she’s struggling to keep a grin from her face.

I traipse along, listening to her inane chatter. Hell, I was only incarcerated for a few days. Why does it feel so alien? These people don’t live in the real world. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass that Beck banned someone from the Wailing Moon, or that Hewie got turned down by his crush.

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