Mischa's cheeks pinked as she continued staring out into the vast space.
"I would very much like to see your paintings," I said.
I wanted this piece of the Mischa puzzle. I was adding it to my collection.
A throat cleared behind us and we turned as a unit to find Hadie with a tall, dark-skinned male at her side. He was not quite my height but had the bulk of someone used to combat. I took a step forward and we clasped hands in a brief shake.
"Thank you for visiting," he said, his voice low and naturally rumbly. "My name is Lock. I'm one of the leaders of this community, and the vampire leader on the Asian supe council."
Lock. The name was familiar to me. He had fought in the last supernatural war and had been singlehandedly responsible for taking down an entire pack of shifters.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," I said. "I'm Maximus Compass, and these are my pack mates, Jessa and Mischa Lebron."
He gave a brief nod to the girls before focusing on me again. "We're grateful that you've taken the time to stop by. I've been hoping to speak with you about a couple of prison exchanges. We have some local supes here, and you know we don't like to leave them in the country of their residence."
I nodded. Braxton had already filled me in on this part. "We have some space in Vanguard for transfers. I'm not sure there are any up on exchange right now, but I can double-check with our prison manager."
Hadie turned toward the girls then, starting a side conversation. "We do have some art supplies here that the prisoners use. Would you like to see if there is anything suitable?"
She'd heard our conversation.
Mischa's eyes widened and she turned to me. "Do we have time?"
Fuck. Joy lit up her features and it was like being punched in the gut. I couldn't stop myself from reaching for her and pressing my lips to hers. I needed to kiss that pretty little mouth.
She kissed me back without hesitation, and it was only the knowledge that others were watching that kept me from claiming her right then and there. There were only so many times you could tempt a mate bond before it forced you together. I needed to slow this down. She wasn't ready. Trust was not where it should be between us. I needed to prove my loyalty to her, my worth.
I pulled back, leaving her flushed and breathless. I wanted to see her looking like that many times.
"Go, we have plenty of time. Lock and I have leader shit to talk about anyway."
The vampire laughed then, his rumble turning into a boom of mirth. "Leader shit might be the most accurate description I've heard to date."
Mischa had her hand pressed to her lips, and seemed to want to say something, but then Hadie gestured for the girls to follow her. Jessa hooked her arm through her sister's, and soon they were stepping over to a large building close to the edge of the east side. I watched them until they were out of sight.
"Congratulations on your child. I had not heard there was more than one mated Compass, or more than one young due."
I turned back to Lock and gave him a nod of thanks. "Yes, Braxton and I will be blessed as fathers very soon."
"My daughter has just had a son with her mate," he said. "I thought I could not love any supe more than my child until my grandson arrived. He owns my heart."
I clasped him on the shoulder. "Congratulations to you and Hadie. That's truly wonderful news."
I couldn't wait to meet my daughter, to hold her close and promise her the world. The thought that Kristoff had nearly ended her life kept me from peaceful sleep, and had oceans of anger churning within me.
Chan was a healer without equal. He had worked miracles to keep them both alive. Although, at one point he'd suggested that Mischa might not make it, and that we should remove the child in order to give the baby a chance to survive. It had been a hard decision, but at the time my instinct said to keep them together, that mother and daughter were stronger that way. They had proved me right, fighting off the effects of the oil, pushing through the pain together. True warriors. My perfect girls.
"Let me show you through the prison," Lock said, distracting me from the dark memories filling my mind. I couldn't dwell on what I'd almost lost. For now I was grateful.
I followed the vamp in the opposite direction of where the girls went. Despite the roundish shape of this space, this was the largest of edges.
"Magic keeps the breezes up here to minimum. Otherwise we'd be buffeted," Lock said, giving me the tour. "We house five hundred supes here. The other prison, in North China, has about a thousand. We have quite limited space."
He led me right up to the edge and then whistled loudly. He repeated this action twice more. We both waited, silently staring out into the horizon. Standing this close to the edge felt as if I were standing on the clouds. A flapping could be heard now, distant at first but getting louder and louder, until two beasts flew into view – large eagles, but like no eagle a human would ever have seen.
"Beautiful, aren't they?"
"Yes," I said. "Where do they stay when you don't need them?"
Lock gave a waving hand signal to the birds and they swiftly landed behind us. They were massive, standing at least a foot taller than me, and twice as wide. The span of their wings was almost comparable to dragons, and the incredible power of their bodies was unmistakable.
"I don't know where they go, but they always come when called. They're the true guardians of this prison. They're tied to the mountain itself, and the prison makes sure they're protected and cared for."
This "living" prison, and the mythical guardian eagles which allowed supes to travel to the cages, was something no other community could boast. The origin story of Sinchin stated that these birds were a product of the prison's magic, that they will never die and cannot be manipulated by inmates.
Lock crossed to the closest eagle and reached out a hand. Large obsidian eyes followed his movements, and as he approached the bird lowered his head and allowed him to touch. Lock then stepped around to the side and pulled himself up onto its back, settling in close to the joints of the wing. I wondered why he didn't just slide right off the silky feathers, until I noticed a small harness-style leather strap crossed over the middle. Lock gripped it to anchor himself.
"Make sure you extend the first reach, but then let him come to you," he said, warning in his tone.
Copying his movements, keeping myself as calm as possible, I approached the other bird. There was maybe a moment longer hesitation from my beast, but he soon lowered his head and allowed me to mount. I settled myself onto his strong back, and surprisingly enough it was comfortable and easy to grip my legs.
"Prepare yourself, young vampire," Lock said with a grin. "This is not for the weak of disposition."
I returned his grin. "My disposition is as rock solid as Sinchin."
Not to mention I'd spent plenty of time on the back of my dragon brother. We'd made Braxton take us flying many times. That's what he got for being the lucky asshole with a dragon soul inside. Still, as the eagles spread their wings and ran for the side of the mountain, nothing quite prepared me for that initial drop off a mountain thousands of feet in the air.
It was freeing in a way that would be impossible to explain. It was something everyone needed to experience for themselves. I wished we lived closer so I could do it all the time. Mischa and Jessa had to give this a go, they couldn't leave until they had. With some strong thrusts and tilting of their bodies, the eagles circled around and started to cross to the prison.
As the cells came into sight I had to shake my head. Now that was what I called some truly secure prisoners.
Mischa Lebron
Jessa sat beside me while I painted. For once she was quiet and tranquil. Clearly something about this place gave her a sense of calm. Not sure what that said about my sister, considering this was a prison, housing a bunch of deadly criminals. Still, if I ever committed a crime, this was where I'd hope they would send me. The beauty would occupy me for many years. Of course, I was yet to see where the cells were, so maybe I'd change my mind about that. But for now it was perfect.
Most of my mind was occupied with building layers of images and then painting them into place. Still a part of me was stuck mentally repeating that kiss from Maximus. It had come from nowhere, in front of others, and he gave zero cares. He had kissed me like he couldn't stop himself, and my heart was still pounding.
He was disarming me, tearing down every wall I'd ever built to protect myself, walls I'd been building since I was old enough to feel the sharp sting of rejection, of hatred, of prejudice toward anyone different to the norm. The human world might have a lot of wonderful in it, but there was also a lot of hate. The supe world was segregated too, but not in the same way. Humans were the same species, the same blood and organs beneath their skin, and they still found ways to separate themselves out. The supe races were actually different species and still managed to live in communities together, to build a world which protected humans and other supernaturals. Yes, they had wars, but it just didn't seem as bad. Or maybe I'd not been here long enough to see it. Hopefully it was just not as bad.
"I'd hate you, except I think art is a useless skill. Now, knife throwing, that's a great skill," Jessa said, her head thrown back in the sunlight. There was no malice in her words, something else I appreciated about supes. If a human was jealous of my paintings, they'd have sneered and acted like art was the worst thing anyone could bother doing. Jessa did none of that, she just spoke truthfully. I had a skill she admired but didn't think was any use. So she wasn't jealous.