Imprisoned Heir Read online

  9

  Nyx

  Wherever we’re going, it was on another floor of the prison. I wasn’t sure how many floors there were, but I’d been trying to create a mental map of the entire structure as I learned more. I should have been afraid of Zavian’s threat. That he’d feed any dissenters not worth dealing with to the Deep One.

  I shuddered as I was loaded into another teleportation runic circle. The only fate worse than death would be living here forever, unable to escape.

  Once we were on another floor, three prison guards filed the four of us into a larger room with no windows, made from the same sea stone as the rest of the prison. The stone held cold in and dispersed warmth. At least our prison uniforms were warm, if nothing else.

  As soon as the four of us were inside the room, all the prison guards left except Zavian. He locked the door from the inside while another locking mechanism sounded from the outside.

  Finally, he turned toward us and crossed his arms at his chest once more. “My name is Zavian. Your behavior in front of me determines your fate here in the Atlantis Institute. I’m not just your guard, but also your guide. Although it should be obvious, I enjoy this no more than any of you.”

  “I’m glad the feeling’s mutual,” Frost said, her voice thick with sarcasm.

  I swallowed hard. He was so demanding. I wondered if he liked being in control in other areas of his life, too.

  Zavian inhaled sharply as if he could sense my thoughts. My cheeks flushed with warmth and I shifted where I stood. This was hardly my fault.

  “Today, I’m here to tell you how your sentence here may be reduced, as well as to administer your first trial toward proving reform,” Zavian continued, but still my gaze was drawn to his gorgeous cerulean eyes as deep as the sea surrounding us right now. Lights from above made them shimmer and lighten even more, or maybe that was due to the turquoise sea stone the room had been built from.

  Zavian scowled as he spoke, and I could already see he didn’t believe reforming us was possible.

  Everything about his opinion of me made me want to prove him wrong. To prove my own innocence again and again, instead of simply trying to escape or go through the motions here.

  “Trial?” Dax asked. “We didn’t get a trial before being imprisoned here.”

  Zavian’s eyes took on a hard glint. On anyone else, the hard look might have pinned them on the spot. But Dax didn’t seem like the type of guy to back down. “Not a single one amongst you deserved a trial. You’re all murderers—or worse.”

  “I hardly think espionage is worse than murder,” Frost said flippantly. “But I’m also aware it’s not really a contest.”

  Titus growled. A bit too much like a real dragon, if you asked me. “I’m bloody innocent. I’ve told your people that a hundred times. I’m not going to sit here and continue proving something not one of you wants to believe.”

  Amen, Titus. I was in the same boat. Except for not continuing to prove my innocence. Proving that was all I had left. Because if I didn’t, and if I also couldn’t find a way to escape this prison, I wouldn’t be able to keep looking for a cure to my sister’s death curse. She would die, and then I would have no more reason to live.

  Zavian went rigid, although he didn’t raise his voice. Which was more terrifying than if he had. His hard stare moved to Titus and, although his eyes were blue, they burned with fiery fury. “You committed regicide to pave way for your family to become the next royals and lied about it. You had the motive, the power, and a supreme lack of an alibi. There was no trial for you because you did not deserve one. And you’re only here because the new dragon king wanted you to suffer for life rather than end it quickly.”

  Titus took a step forward. Zavian reached for the trident strapped to his back in return. Growling, Titus froze without making any other threatening movements. “If I’m so guilty and should rot in prison, why the hell are you people offering me a chance at reducing my sentence?”

  Frost crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “Because it’s not really a sentence reduction. Is it, hot stuff?”

  Zavian paid her no mind, although a stab of something resembling jealousy hit me in the gut. Envy. Why? Zavian was a prison guard, for the gods’ sake. Not to mention the brother of the very sea fae nobles Eos had killed. Why should I care who called Zavian hot?

  Even now, standing disgusted by us, a hand near his weapon to kill us should we misstep, I couldn’t help the way my eyes roamed his muscular body. The hard planes of his chest and arms were just visible through the tight-fitting armor he wore. I also didn’t know that the color blue could look so angry until meeting him and seeing his eyes burn. It was fascinating to watch and impossible to turn from. A force pulled me to him that I didn’t understand. I wanted to get close to him, to rub against him and fall down at his knees. A cross between worship and pleasurable adoration. This was no ordinary attraction. This was something much stronger.

  I swallowed hard as I realized what it was. Zavian’s gaze flitted to my throat, then up to my eyes. I inhaled sharply as our gazes met and warmth rushed over me, as if I’d stepped out of the cold ocean and into a warm summer day on the Cornish coast. Zavian was light even though his expression was dark and full of disgust. He was the center of this moment—no, my world.

  My fated mate.

  My lips parted as Zavian held the gaze and I slipped forward a step. My cheeks flushed with warmth, my heartbeat fluttering. My movement caused him to finally blink and draw his trident, brandishing it between us.

  I inhaled deeply, as if I’d been holding my breath this entire time. It was only then that I realized the room had fallen silent, and the others had watched the entire exchange. Frost looked at me now with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. And Dax… seethed where he stood.

  Zavian’s hard voice cut through their reactions. “If you survive the trials—and there is a solid chance you will not—you will have the opportunity to prove you have reformed enough to move on to your next phase of imprisonment. That is how your sentence is reduced. You’re still indentured for life, but you serve the sea court directly as soldiers or courtesans or janitors—whatever is needed at the time. If you do not pass the trials, you will be fed to the Deep One. Its ancient form haunts this prison as a reminder of the old era of power.”

  My mouth ran dry. I licked my lips to wet them and watched the way Zavian’s gaze followed the motion. Excitement coursed through me, curling near my core. “Why have trials that can be failed if it means immediate death?”

  Zavian’s grip on his trident loosened. “Because this prison holds the worst of the worst, and there will always be need for vacant cells.”

  Great. So I could spend life in prison with my mate as my guard who hated me. If that happened, my sister would surely die. Or I passed the reform trials and moved into the sea court, and Cyra still died unless that freedom happened to include teleportation back to Cornwall. At least I’d be alive at that point to try curing her death curse, and maybe by that time, my mate wouldn’t hate me as much as he did right now.

  There was, of course, another option. If I managed to somehow escape Atlantis and save my sister, we’d most certainly have to live our whole lives on the run. But we’d both be free and alive, which was worth every single risk along the way. Except the Deep One apparently lurked outside this prison, and it was hungry.

  If it truly existed at all.

  My thoughts continued to race and account for every possibility, running the probability that any of them would succeed. Zavian continued talking, informing Titus and Dax that before there’d been vampires and dragon shifters, the older fae gods had ruled over all the world. All fae children were taught these stories of our creation. The vampires and dragon shifters no doubt had their own version of creation as well, and who knew what the truth was.

  All I knew for sure was that Alexandria had been built in the shadow of the once-great sea fae kingdom. But hubris had destroyed Atlantis, and in its stead, the sea court had t
ried to rebuild. This prison was all that remained of that initial city, which was why the rebels hated it so much. They supported the old ways, the old gods, and the old city. Not the mockery Atlantis had become in being turned into a prison.

  So when Zavian talked about needing vacant cells for the worst of the worst, I knew he didn’t just mean the murderers and spies, the traffickers and drug lords of the supernatural world. He also meant the rebels. I knew that now.

  What better way to silence rebels against the sea court than to kill them with a creature of the old ways?

  I’d zoned out through most of what Zavian had said, lost to my thoughts. But Dax’s snarl snapped me back to reality.

  “You can kill me now, then,” Dax said, “because I’m guilty of everything they charged me for, and reform means an end to my empire. Besides, you’ll kill me anyway by keeping me here.”

  He meant the lack of blood to feast upon. Without blood, vampires couldn’t feed and sustain themselves. At least Dax’s time here would be short without it. Although starvation was a shitty way to go.

  “Your empire,” Zavian spat, “is built upon the lives of trafficked humans who become feeding husks and then die. You of all of these deserve to be here. Even above her.” His fiery blue gaze settled on me again and it felt like he’d set my skin on fire.

  I went to speak, my mouth still dry, and cleared my throat. “Is the sea court so desperate for soldiers and courtesans they’d accept criminals? From what I hear, the court hates us surface dwellers. I’m surprised they’d allow non-sea-fae into their midst.”

  Zavian smiled cruelly. “It is of great entertainment value to watch you all squirm and serve.” But even in those threatening words, his eyes softened.

  I bowed a little and sarcastically said, “Then I hope we entertain you.”

  “I don’t,” Titus snarled. “I hope this entire place burns. That the old fae gods turn on you and smite you for doing this to innocents.”

  Damn. Titus had a real chip on his shoulder. If I’d been accused of regicide, I might have one, too. But his angered insistence of innocence rang true. Was it possible he’d been wrongly accused if this prison only accepted the worst of the worst?

  I was innocent. But my body wasn’t. My hands had killed those men, whether I’d been a willing participant or not.

  Zavian deftly placed his trident in the sheath at his back. “That’s unfortunate. Because until the final trial to prove your reformation is complete, the four of you are a unit. If one fails, you all fail. If one of you dissents and causes problems, you’ll all be punished. So if you must fight, fight each other.”

  I glanced around at my unit. Titus had bit off everyone’s heads on the transport here. I had no doubt the squabbles would continue. But if we wanted to win or escape, we’d have to work together.

  “Joy,” Dax drawled. “I can see this going very well.”

  Frost scoffed. “Doubtful.”

  “You’ll have a chance to find out now,” Zavian said as he gestured for the door. “For your first trial begins now. You’ll be working against another unit in the prison. You must solve a riddle while staying alive. The first team to solve the riddle wins, unless one team dies in the process.”

  “What the hell kind of trial is that?” Frost snapped. “We’re in prison, not some sort of demented game.”

  “Entertainment,” I answered for Zavian as a sinking feeling filled my gut. “Every part of this is a game for the twisted sea court.”

  It was why my mother had left the sea court for the surface.

  Zavian led our unit from the smaller ready room and into a much larger space. On the other side of the sea stone room was another four-person unit made up of at least one fae, a shifter of some sort, and what might have been two humans. Witches appeared the same as humans, though, so from a distance, it was impossible to tell. Either way, I’d already bet on our team winning whatever this cruel joke of a trial was.

  A line of runes separated the space in half. Stepping toward it caused the tracking rune on my neck to sear with fire. The closer I stepped toward it, the brighter the tracking rune burned.

  I had no doubt this was how they handled letting prisoners walk around relatively free without bindings. It was definitely effective.

  I looked up at the two-story-high ceiling. At the far end of the room, perfectly perpendicular to the line of runes separating our unit from theirs, was a window that shimmered with magic. Zavian stood in that window alongside other guards and several other sea fae, his arms crossed and his expression stern. To either side of that window were larger runes and devices I’d never seen before. In fact, those runes and devices lined each of the four walls.

  I glanced over the other unit, who all looked as confused as my own.

  “What are they planning?” Frost asked as she inspected the chamber.

  “A fucking game,” Titus exclaimed.

  Dax growled and stalked from one side of our pen to the other. “We have to win. I won’t die like cattle waiting for the slaughter.”

  Frost turned on him and said sharply, “Yet you’ll eat humans and supernaturals all the same.”

  Dax’s fists clenched at his sides, and it was only then that I noticed how pale he was beginning to look. Even for a vampire, his staggering gait and general irritability from hunger was worrisome. “We do what we must to survive. As do you.”

  “Kinda gotta focus on surviving this very moment first.” I gestured to the intricate runes on the walls. “Anyone recognize those?”

  Frost cringed. “Unfortunately.”

  “And?”

  A shrill alarm blared throughout the room. I cupped my ears, as if doing so would help block it out at all. It did not. Did they have to use this alarm for everything?

  That was when the first shot went off. A shard of ice zipped past my shoulder. I watched Dax slip out of the way just in time to avoid being hit in the shoulder with it.

  “What the fuck?” I looked back to the devices on the wall. Each of them now glowed with magic.

  “Watch out!” Dax charged toward me and knocked me out of the way of a stream of fire. We tumbled the ground, slamming into the hard sea stone. Pain exploded across my shoulder and side, and where Dax gripped me tight.

  He rolled over me, his eyes drawn. “Are you okay?”

  Pain throbbed in my shoulder. “Yeah, I’m fine. Except for your vise grip.”

  Water slicked my back. Confused, I glanced beside me. My eyes widened. Our side of the room was filling with water! My skin hummed from contact with the saltwater, but my fear kicked into overdrive. Without my magic, I couldn’t breathe underwater. Neither could any of my unit, and we were already now several inches deep.

  “Move!” Frost shouted as an arc of lightning cracked above us. We ducked, narrowly avoiding it.

  Shit. That lightning was dangerous with water in play.

  Titus roared loudly as the scales on his forearms lit up like embers. “They’re going to kill us.”

  “No.” Not all of us, surely. The sea court needed their entertainment, which meant there was a way out of this. What was it Zavian had said? “We have to solve the riddle.”

  Frost sent me an incredulous stare as she weaved out of the way of more streams of fire. “What riddle? I don’t see one, do you?” She bumped into Dax as the water at our feet continued to rise.

  I glanced around the room again. The only thing I could see that’d qualify as a riddle was those runes I couldn’t read. I opened my mouth to point them out to Frost again when a searing pain split open my shoulder. Blood spurted out from the wound around an ice shard that was now melting.

  I fell to my knees as the cold magic froze my veins. This wasn’t a game. This wasn’t a trial. This was torture.

  The other unit wasn’t faring any better. Two of them were on their knees, covered in burns and scorch marks. The rising water, now up to their shoulders while kneeling, sizzled off their wounds.

  Human. They had to be. The only
reason any of us on my unit were dodging these attacks without magic was because of our supernaturally inclined senses. I wasn’t sure what sorts of heinous crimes you had to commit to get locked up in Atlantis Prison as a human, but they’d never stood a chance.

  Another ice shard careened into my thigh. I screamed this time, unable to keep the pain inside. I hated it. Hated that the sea fae up in that window box were getting off on this.

  Dax appeared at my side and hauled me up out of the water. Cold saltwater now soaked my prison uniform from my shoulders to my boots. If that lightning hit the water or one of us, we’d be fucked.

  I pointed to the runes on the walls and shouted over the chaos. “That’s the riddle. Those runes. Frost, what do they say?”

  Frost ducked out of the way of another bolt of lightning that got way too close for comfort. Some of her hair smoked as it skimmed past her and just above the top of the water.

  “Fuck you!” Titus screamed. “That’s what it says.”

  “Now, that’s not very optimistic, is it?” Frost said with her usual sarcasm. Her eyes narrowed, her gaze flitting between the runes. “It’s… It’s all jumbled across the walls.”

  I picked up on the sound the devices made before an ice shard shot out and leaped out of the way of another. Too bad I was already bleeding from two other wounds.

  “Why would they make a riddle only one person can read if we’re lucky?” Dax asked.

  “Because they want us to suffer and die,” Titus snarled. “The sea court is filled with sadists.”

  That wasn’t it. Granted, it was entirely possible to have a unit where no one could read the runes. But the sea court liked their cruel games, I was sure of it. That meant we had to have a chance at success, albeit a small one. In that case, there was likely someone on each side who could read the runes.

  Judging by the state of their unit, with one floating on their back and the other three burned to crisps but still fighting, I had to think it was the dead human.

  We’d win for sure now if we could figure out the riddle before dying.