Chapter 50
Jade
“You need to eat,” the man said from the doorway. His hands shook as he pushed a tray into the cell I had been forced into. I had fought and scratched but it was no use. My body was too weak to escape the prison I had been thrown in. I kicked the tray away with my bare foot and slid back into the dark corner. Starving myself was better than eating the wolfsbane in the food. I shook my head hard and it felt like the room was spinning. He exhaled hard. “You don’t understand, he said you will eat or I will be punished. My family will be punished.”
I didn’t want to see the poor man’s family punished but I also wasn’t going to be weak in here. Whatever Damian had done to my skin, it was a sickly color and I had a feeling I was running a fever. Every few seconds I either felt like I was on fire or ice cold. I shook my head again. There was nothing I could do to help this man. He had to help himself. If they all rose up, they could have more power than Damian. They could liberate themselves but there was nothing I could do while I withered away in the darkness.
There was a shout before a door slammed down the hall. It rattled the bars on the door to my cell. I didn’t worry about getting my hopes up on anything exciting happening. Damian was probably in another mood and coming to take it out on me. I curled my arms around my knees and rested my chin on the tops of them. As the shouting grew closer, my hands began to shake.
I would fight. I would try. I wouldn’t allow him to hurt me again.
My fingers balled into fists as I prepared for him to try to hurt me again. My body trembled as I tensed. Except, it wasn’t Damian that came flying through the door. It was Micah with a guard behind him. My shoulders straightened as I pushed out of the corner. The guard tossed him into the cell with me. He tumbled across the cobblestones and came to a skidding stop at my feet. His face looked like it had been beaten into a pulp.
The chef that had delivered my food had disappeared. The door to our cell slammed closed. Micah rose off of the floor in a jerky fashion.
“What are you doing?” he croaked out as the guard went to turn to leave.
The guard didn’t turn back to us but threw over his shoulder. “You aren’t one of us. You are probably the reason Damian is insane right now.”
“Did Damian tell you to do this?” Micah yelled. The guard didn’t answer and we were left alone. Micah wasted no time. He whipped around faster than an injured man should have. He knelt down beside me and took my hands in his. “It’s time to go, little wolf.”
I reared back. “What?”
Micah shook his head as he surveyed the walls and pulled me to my feet. “We don’t have much time, Jade. You need to get up.”
My body shook as I was forced to my feet. Pain laced straight through my stomach and it took every ounce of my power not to double over on the injury causing me so much pain. I sucked air through my teeth and managed to stand up straight.
“We can’t get out of here.” I shook my head. There was no way out.
Micah rolled his eyes. “They’ve drugged you enough they don’t have any cameras down here. There is only one line of electricity running through this dungeon. It isn’t enough for cameras and lights. All the guards are worried about the threat above us, currently.”
I frowned as I followed him to the door. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and yanked on the iron. It didn’t protest as he pulled it free from the wall. He was careful to place the massive door on the ground and leaned it against the wall. It hardly made a sound.
“The wolves will be listening, we have to be careful.” He tucked my hand inside of his. “Are you okay to run?”
His eyes dipped to my stomach. My eyebrows pulled together. “What do you know?”
“Did he carve a ‘D’ into your stomach?”
I pulled my hand out of his and took a step away from him. “What’s going on?”
“That’s for Rafe to explain. He felt your pain and the same thing happened to him.”
I gasped. “Damian must have used magic. He wanted you all to come out and find me. This is a trap.”
Micah put his hands on either of my shoulders. “Damian is preoccupied above us. That is all that matters. We have to get you out. There are tunnels down here. Thank goodness I didn’t have to try to find you. Damian made all of this easier for me.”
I held my hand up. “What about the children?”
Micah grinned. “They’re safe. We got them out. He kept all of his eggs in one basket.”
“Tunnels?”
Micah nodded. “Yes, there are tunnels down here. I went over the blueprints of the house months ago. I didn’t know if I would need a way to escape. Thankfully I did that or this would be going a lot worse right now.”
It couldn’t be that easy and I refused to believe anything otherwise. Until we got to my pack, I wouldn’t feel safe. I wouldn’t feel like I won. I didn’t know if that would be enough. Damian was more powerful than we knew and he was holding it all back. He would find me again. I pressed my back against the wall and refused to go on.
“He will find me again, I can’t leave.”
