Page 61 of Even Vampires Bleed
I knew it would with the way that idiot hit me, but being prepared for something to hurt doesn’t actually make it hurt less.
There is a flutter against my cheek.
I open my eyes and I’m greeted by two beautiful blue wings.
The butterfly-shifter.
I thought it would have flown away by now.
Except I don’t remember releasing it before getting hit on the head.
Did I prevent it from escaping?
If it’s the case, I’m never going to forgive myself.
I slowly sit, and the butterfly comes to perch on my shoulder.
“I hope you’re all good,” I tell them as I rub the sleepiness out of my eyes with the pads of my fingers.
Of course, they don’t answer me.
I evaluate where we ended up.
It looks like a standard prison. Three walls, bars, a mattress, no bed sheet, and a pot that I suppose is acting as a chamber pot.
Bars only.
Surprising for a prison made for shapeshifters.
I approach the side of the room that’s made of bars and lift my hand through them.
Arghhh.
I’m zapped away with an electric discharge that reverberates through my arms.
It hurts like hell.
Way more than my head when I woke up.
Is this why the butterfly-shifter is still with me?
I can’t imagine what an electrical discharge as strong as this would do to such a small body.
The worst in all of that?
I can see the lock on the door made of bars. It’s an old rusty thing, and I would be free in just a second.
If I could get my hand out.
Because this is one of those locks that can only be worked on from one side.
The soldiers knew what they were doing when they locked me inside this cell.
It feels like this electric field between the bars has been specifically designed for someone like me.
It makes me wonder if they knew about all the missions we did with Elis and let them happen just to study me.
No, it can’t be that.
