Page 34 of Cosmic Power

“No, but why would he? I’m a prisoner here, like you.”

Not exactly like her. Did she know Barnabas was her father? Did she hear their conversation? If she could hear her talking to herself, then she most definitely had to have heard…

“Shit,” Zamorra hissed under her breath.

Navi. The demon had to have heard their talk of escape.

Zamorra cleared her throat and tried to act aloof. “Just outta curiosity, how long have you been eavesdropping on me?”

“It’s not eavesdropping if you’re talking so fucking loudly the entire room can hear you.”

Chuckling, Zamorra said, “You know what? Despite the bitchy attitude, I kinda like you.”

“Yeah? The feeling isn’t mutual.”

Zamorra rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Miss Cranky Pants. Look, I don’t know what you heard—”

“I heard everything.”

Yep, that’s what Zamorra was afraid of.

“Well, then you know that if you want any chance of getting out of this hellhole, you’ll keep your damn mouth shut.”

The demon snorted. “It’s kind of ironic,youtellingmeto keep my mouth shut when you’re incapable of doing it yourself, but I’m no snitch. You won’t make it out of here anyway. It’s been tried over the years. No one’s made it further than outside this room.”

“How many others are in this place?”

“Right now? Us, two vampires, two mages and another shifter.”

Two vampires? Could one of them be—

“Did one of those vamps come in at the same time I did? Big guy? Blonde hair? Probably looked like half his face had melted off?”

“I don’t know about all that shit, never saw him. But he did come in at the same time you did.”

Has to be Roman then, Zamorra thought.

“Muscles? Can you hear me?” Zamorra asked, raising her voice in case he was a few cells away from her.

There was no response.

It was possible he was still passed out. His injuries were pretty fucked up, but Zamorra kept trying.

“Come on, Muscles,” she yelled. “Answer me. Let me know you’re all good.”

“If he’s hurt, he could be hibernating,” the demon interjected.

“Hibernating? What’s that?”

“When a vampire is severely injured, their body shuts down and goes into a state of hibernation to heal itself. If they don’t have access to blood, the process can take even longer.”

Huh. Learn something new every day.

Zamorra sighed and began to pace again. She hated this inactivity. She needed to get out. To move around. To run.

She marched over to the iron bars and kicked them. “Hey!” she yelled as loudly as she could. “This is bullshit! Even criminals in prison get yard time! Let me out of here!” She kicked the bars again and again, not stopping until her leg started to go numb.

“You’re wasting your breath,” the demon sighed. “They don’t give a fuck if you’re going crazy in here.”

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