Chapter 16
Jade
Lucas and I were playing cards when the door to our room slammed open. We had been permitted some more luxuries. Luxuries I wasn’t about to turn down. I was happy to have something to keep us occupied, rather than our thoughts and anxiety.
The guard today was different and I tried to keep the surprise off of my face. I couldn’t let them know I had gotten attached to another person here. Having Lucas roped into this was bad enough.
“The man stays,” The guard started. “Jade, you are to come with me.”
I shrugged at Lucas before I followed the guard out. It was better to just go willingly, rather than fighting it. It could turn out to be something completely harmless.
I tried to remain positive, even though we both knew better. I was led down unfamiliar hallways until the man brought me to another public shower and locker room. Two women were waiting for me inside.
One of the women was lounging on a couch pushed into the corner of the room and the other was holding up a curling iron like it was an award. I took a step back before the blonde-headed woman jumped from the couch. The one with the hot tool in her hand just continued to watch me with bright eyes. Her hair was a light purple and something inside of me warned that she was a witch. It had nothing to do with her hair, or the way she looked but everything to do with her aura.
“I am Sheeva,” The purple-haired woman smiled with all of her teeth.
The blonde wasn’t nearly as happy or friendly. “I’m Bee,”
Sheeva continued talking like we were going to be great pals but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Your presence has been requested by the Alpha of our local pack.”
I frowned. “I thought Damian was the Alpha.”
Bee barked out a harsh laugh. “He wishes he was an Alpha. He’s nothing but wanna-be scum.”
Sheeva threw a bobby pin at her and scowled at the both of us. “We have work we need to do or we will all be punished. This isn’t the time to smack talk our oppressor.”
They hate Damian too.I made sure to catalog that information for later.
Sheeva patted the chair in front of her and I gingerly sat down in it. She wasted no time before she started yanking my hair this way and that way. I didn’t bother with watching what she was doing in the mirror. Instead, I kept my eyes on Bee. She was pulling an outfit from one of the lockers. My stomach clenched. It looked like something I had worn before everything had happened with Rafe. Before the change. It would have been an outfit I would have been excited to wear.
Now? Not so much.
Her light blue eyes met mine in the mirror. “You will not fight me. You will put this on.”
My back jerked upright and I found myself standing. I walked over to her on numb legs. What was happening to me? My body was moving on its own accord. I jerked to a stop in front of her and then my body was returned to me.
“The magic that I have is at the disposal of Damian, if you do something I don’t like, I will take your body from you.” Her words were filled with a dark satisfaction but also, there was a note of sadness. She didn’t like being able to do this but whatever Damian had over her was enough.
I looked at the floor. I had no idea what she was going through but I wouldn’t make this harder than it had to be. I didn’t want to be a prisoner either. I couldn’t imagine what Damian had over her and I didn’t want to know. It made this entire situation that much worse.
Modesty wasn’t something I could afford here. I didn’t bother with feeling embarrassed as I stripped the t-shirt dress over my head. The clothing that had been chosen for me didn’t allow for underwear so I stripped it off just as quickly.
The clothes slid over my body in a new way. I imagined at one point they would have clung to my curves. But now there weren’t many curves left. The little food I had allowed myself to eat had done this. My lack of transformations and running with Nalia hadn’t helped. Tears filled my eyes to see my gaunt cheeks in the bright fluorescent lighting. Even my green eyes looked dull and lifeless. Whatever Damian was trying to sell, it wouldn’t go well.
Sheeva seemed to sense where my thoughts had headed. “Nothing a little makeup can’t fix.” She patted the chair again, but this time she was more gentle. The strap of the black crop top fell down my shoulder and I tried to shrug it back up.
Once upon a time, I would have loved to have worn this and show off my cleavage but this time, I wanted to hide. Who was this girl and where was the real Jade?
