Still … I had to chuckle at her.
"You're the queen of the backward compliment."
She shrugged. "What can I say, you have a true gift from the gods. I'd swear that's a photo sitting there, not a picture painted with tiny little brush strokes. But that isn't going to save your life if someone comes at you armed."
Truth. Still, my artistic abilities had saved me on more than one occasion. Not in the way Jessa was saying, but the ability I had to paint scenes in my mind allowed me to notice little details. Sometimes that saved me from being attacked, or let me know when someone was trying to trick me.
I should have known it with Larkspur's daughters, but grief and abandonment issues had completely wiped out my artistic side. I didn't paint for months, which was like the first time ever. I'd been a bit broken then. I wasn't sure all the cracks were filled yet, but things were getting better.
I was about halfway done with the painting when a whoosh noise drew my attention. We'd been in the building with Hadie when Maximus and Lock had gone to the prison. I still had no idea where the cells even were, and the last thing I expected to see was a pair of dragon-sized eagles fly over our heads. They went into a glide, landing in the center of the large oval space. Jessa was already on her feet, her body half crouched and blade in hand. She only relaxed when she noticed Maximus and Lock on their backs.
I was standing too. Somehow my wolf had taken control for a second and shot me to my feet. My back ached briefly as it adjusted to the weight on my front. Every day the width of my tummy doubled. Maybe I was carrying twins too. Or my girl was very cozy in her well-padded room.
Maximus' face was lit up as he gracefully launched himself from the huge bird. It was nice to see him with such a carefree expression, dimples flashing.
Damn dimples. Jessa was right. They were weapons.
He took his normal long strides, reaching us in seconds. "I hope neither of you are afraid of flying on the back of giant eagles, because you have to see this prison. It's ingenious."
Jessa scoffed. "I was a goddamned dragon. You can't have forgotten already. Old age is gonna do a real number on you, my friend."
He ruffled her hair before laying a kiss on her cheek. "I remember, babe. Don't worry, I know you're an expert flyer."
Ah, so the question had been for me, and I really had no idea.
"Guess we're about to find out," I said, standing taller. I was not missing out, even if there was a chance the flying motion would have me wanting to vomit over the edge.
Maximus reached out and took my hand, touching me on instinct. I was totally down with this instinct thing.
My eyes remained locked on the fascinating beasts as we walked closer. Jessa moved toward Lock. He reached down and hoisted her up with ease. Maximus led me to the other, and without any hesitation placed both hands on my waist and lifted me onto its back, right behind this little brown leather saddle.
"Normally you'd have to let the eagle come to you first, but he trusts me now, so as long as you're with me, we're fine," he said as he leapt up behind me, settling in close.
It was good to know the bird wasn't planning on attacking me anytime soon. Maximus wrapped his arms tightly around me then and all other thoughts disappeared. He ran a soft caress over my belly, before reaching forward and clenching a large hand into the loop of the saddle attachment.
"Hold on," he said softly. Then with a sharp whistle from Lock the eagle spread its wings. The sudden change in footing sent a lurching sensation through my stomach. The eagle was fast, trotting along on two legs until it reached the edge of the mountain, and without a moment's hesitation dropped right off the side.
I couldn't stop the shriek bursting from my mouth. My stomach roiled wildly for many seconds, before eventually the flight went from falling to gliding and I was able to swallow a few times and stop my breakfast from reappearing. Then the beauty of the world stilled everything inside of me. I forgot about the torture, about the last few months of fear and loneliness. I forgot about my stupid decisions, and my heartbreak at losing the only guy who'd ever held my interest for longer than a few minutes. In that moment I was no longer Mischa Lebron, damaged and broken. I was a creature of the sky and I was free.
I lifted my arms up and closed my eyes as the gliding sensation washed through my body and into my soul.
"You look like one of the gods," Maximus said, his voice low and strained. "The light is surrounding your face, and there's so much serenity shining from you."
He dropped his head then and buried it into the space between my shoulder and my neck. I could feel him inhaling deeply, as if breathing me in. There might have even been the scrape of fangs, but no bite. Which was sort of disappointing.
He lifted his face, lips brushing gently against my cheek. "You need to open your eyes now, gorgeous. Sinchin cells are just around this curve of mountain."
I shifted slightly so I could see his depthless brown eyes shimmering back at me. His face was so close that it would take nothing for me to lean forward and press my lips to his. The cocky grin on his face said it all. He knew I wanted to kiss him.
Dammit, why were the Compasses so irresistible?
The eagle started flapping harder, increasing the bumpiness of the flight, which was enough distraction for me to look away and focus on the mountain. It was almost as breathtaking as the male behind me.
I loved seeing Sinchin from this angle. We had made it to the top through an elevator magically built into the center of it, but the actual mountain itself was hundreds of miles wide, and had large ruts and ground-out sections everywhere. There were huge cliffs of bare stone; others were overrun with grass and wildflowers, like the ones we'd received earlier from the people. Small animals were dotted around, mountain goats and other mammals feeding and climbing.
As the eagle crested around the side I realized this part of the mountain was almost a straight up and down wall. The rest was designed in the normal tapering pyramid shape, smaller at the top before gradually easing out to the largest section at the bottom. Not here though, this was completely vertical and smooth, no handholds or anything.
That's when I saw them, right near the top – scattered prison cells built into the rock face. They started right across the top, and moved along in rows. Hundreds of them.
Maximus started to explain it to me and Jessa, who was hovering close by with Lock. "There are five hundred cells, each occupied by a single prisoner. The magical barriers extend out about six feet in all directions from the edge of the rock. That way they can't touch the mountain itself to try and escape. They'd have to jump, which some prisoners have chosen to do, but apparently the mountain never lets them leave. If they jump, they disappear into the ground below and are never seen again. No one knows what happens to them."
So literally the prison cells were ten-by-ten square holes in the side of the mountain. There looked to be a pallet bed and small restroom facility in each. A shimmery, clear dome extended out from each of the holes, which was obviously that barrier Maximus was talking about, which meant the supe could walk right out and stand on … nothing. I could see some of the prisoners sitting right on the edge of their clear barrier, staring out into the distance, legs dangling out into the abyss below.
There was a real mix of supe races. Some I couldn't tell from here, but others were clearly from the demi-fey contingent.
"How do they get food and supplies for activities?" Jessa asked.
Lock picked up the conversation now. "Mostly everything in this prison is controlled by the mountain itself. Whoever created the spell inside this giant rock was one powerful magic user, because over time it has become a sentient being. Once a day the rock wall at the back of each cell opens, allowing the prisoners to leave. On the other side is a large football-field-size space. The inmates have time to eat, use the gym, and work on creative products. We allow them to take paints to their rooms, because many of them find the view comforting in their time of incarceration."
"When new prisoners arrive, they go into the same lift we used," Maximus said. "But the prison takes them straight to their cell, no detours."
Lock nodded, his eyes drifting across the expanse of cells. "Yes, there's actually very little use for us here, except to make sure everything continues running smoothly. It's why I'm generally the only one around the prison. The other leaders don't bother themselves with it so much."
I had to shake my head – prison was a bleak life. Understandably. Some of the inmates deserved to be here, no doubt; others probably deserved worse, but it was still sad to see life wasted in such a way. I wished people could just enjoy their blessings and not seek to harm others. Maybe there would be a world one day where prisons were not the sole reason for our supernatural communities.
"We need to return to Stratford now," Maximus finally said. I noticed then that the sun had shifted quite dramatically in the sky. Time had flown by so quickly.
The eagles banked off; many of the prisoners' eyes followed us. Some even waved, like we were visitors who'd stopped by for tea. In no time the birds had deposited us back to the mountaintop, before taking off again.
"If the mountain provides everything for the prisoners, why do you need the birds?" I asked.