Page 72 of Phoenix Falling
A kick rattled the door next to mine. “Do it faster.”
The trio in the hallway met each other’s eyes, then proceeded away from us as if by mutual agreement. I watched them go through the outer door, heard aclickbehind them, and looked across at Beckan’s.
“A female,”he said in my head.“Why are they imprisoning a female?”
“I don’t know, Brother.”But I didn’t think it boded well. Unfortunately for the two of us, all we could do was wait and see.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
THE TRAITOR
The camera I’d mounted months ago in the far corner of the hall outside the jail cells allowed me to see the new female every time she came to her door, which was frequently. I could faintly make out the sound of her yelling as she flung abuse at the guard on the other side of the separating door, though reading her lips gave me the full, amusing story.
This was the female Sun had been spending time with? The self-important son of the king and this grubby whore?
Guess there was no accounting for taste. Too bad the wolves who shared her jail weren’t as entertaining.
The faint buzz of the burner phone I kept in the inside pocket of my jacket alerted me to contact. It had gotten more frequent lately, a fact that was irritating as hell. I didn’t like moving on someone else’s timeline, particularly when I wasn’t in on deciding it. Helios, however, wasn’t someone I could afford to piss off, not if I wanted to keep my head.
I pulled the cell out.
Text: need intel
Of course they did.
Response: Don’t you have your own lackeys for that?
Text: you are the lackey
One thing about shifters, attitudes remained the same across the board, “good” guys or “bad” guys. Luckily I had years of keeping my rage under control. I wasn’t certain who contacted me or if it was the same every time, but with the attitude that came with every word, I suspected that big bad asshole of a second who’d held the sword to my head. That one had no idea what I was capable of. I might not have a second form, but the one I did have worked just fine. He’d discover that fact soon enough.
Text: do you have this female in captivity
An image appeared on the screen, a female with dirty locks and blood on her face. Newly captured, maybe? Shock zinged through me as I looked beyond the dirt and realized who it was.
Excitement quickly followed.
Response: We do.
Text: need to track her whereabouts ahead of schedule
Response: What for?
Not that I needed to know, but I liked giving the Anigma jackass a hard time. What I really liked was the delicious thrill that went through me at the realization that Demetri’s female was part of the target for the Anigma. What could they want with her? Sure, she was a truth detector, but that wasn’t any great skill, not when you had females like Kat who could take your head off with a word. Or Lyris, who could make you forget your own existence.
What was truly important about her was her connection to Lyris’s brother. I would be taking something infinitely precious from the male who had stood in my way all these years. And I’d have Lyris as well. Mine to torture. Mine to control.
Win-win.
Text: just follow
I didn’t acknowledge that final command. I’d do it, but I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of telling them so. Not that they would doubt it. The stakes were just as high for me as they were for the Anigma.
My gaze trailed back to the computer screen and its view of the redhead whose hand was pushed through the bars of her door, allowing her to flip off the retreating guard. What would the Anigma think of that one? A female who could take on any persona, fool you with her outward appearance. I’d watched her change, been awed and alarmed at the idea that she could make you believe you’d done things with her that hadn’t actually happened, as she’d suggested with Cale. A far more valuable gift than a truth detector.
Wonder what the Anigma would grant me for her.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
