Dragon Marked_ Supernatural Prison #1(85)

“Did you hear about the prison breakout?” I asked my dad. “Was it dragon marked?” I’d been needing an answer to this for days.

Jonathon moved over and brushed my hair off my cheek, his warm hand lingering for a moment. “We’ve received bits and pieces of information. Two women were seen outside the perimeter, and then the next thing anyone knew they’d disappeared, and the account is that some prisoners are missing also.” He brushed a hand over my hair. “Strange thing is, everyone in the main area was accounted for.” His growl was low. “Which leaves me to guess that it had to be your secret area.”

Louis, who’d had an unreadable expression on his face during my little breakdown, stepped further into the room. “I have contacts around the world. It is the same in all the prisons. Prisoners escaped, but none from the main prison.”

“So the most logical conclusion,” I mused, “they’re freeing dragon marked.” I was strangely relieved about this. No more babies in chains.

Tyson spoke up. “We’ve had some other drama here also. Kristoff has been arrested. The council’s a bit of a mess at the moment.”

I turned to my father. “Kristoff was arrested?”

He nodded. “Yes, caught trying to plant a spell on Jacob.”

I searched for the blond fey. He was against the wall, looking perfect. Not a hair out of place. “What was the spell?” I asked him.

“An influence spell. He wanted me to attack Tyson and Maximus. He had some sort of dark-fey crystal, which we all thought were destroyed. It made me very susceptible to influence.”

Jonathon cleared his throat. “Of course he didn’t know we were watching him. Caught him in the act.”

Tyson straightened. “Which was lucky, since this crystal would have hidden all of his magical essence. There would have been no way to trace the spell back to the sorcerer.”

“But it’s over now?” I asked.

Lienda and Jonathon exchanged a glance. “He still has to be tried, but he’s off to Vanguard right now.” My father grinned. “I’ll bet now he wishes that he hadn’t pushed for that quick little law change about holding those awaiting trial in the main prison.”

A grin also crossed my face. Nice to see karma was still doing its job.

Well, that was one asshole out of the way, but there were four now heading directly for me, and I was no longer safe from the hunters. “Can you block my energy again?” I asked Louis.

He shoved both of his hands in his back pocket, leaning back all sexy and confident. “I can try, Jess, but if my senses are correct, you’re probably too strong now.” He turned then and started to make his way out of the room. “We have a little time, find me tomorrow. You know where I’ll be.” Then he was gone.

Damn, hopefully he could help me or I’d have to run. Or fight. Shifting my head, I clashed eyes with Mischa. She had both of her hands covering her mouth. She looked to be sobbing into them. Before I could stop her, she ran straight up to me and threw her arms around my waist. Her hold was tight, her face buried in my chest. She didn’t seem to care or probably even know that she’d put herself into a submissive position to me.

“I was so scared for you, I haven’t slept for days.” She let the sobbing words trail off and it was clear she’d thought I was going to die in there. “And Maximus … he’s so angry.”

I held her tightly. “The boys are right, Max is hotheaded but he’s also incredibly smart, he’ll understand.” I sucked in deeply. “And I’m okay. Nothing too insane happened in Vanguard.”

Maybe if I repeated it enough I’d even believe it.

Although, in the end, it was true. Nothing too crazy had happened. I knew it wouldn’t take me long to get past my time in Vanguard. And Vlad was no longer kicking, so that made it much easier to bear. Lienda came in from the side and Jonathon followed. The four of us hugged, one big family group.

“I know you weren’t aware, but I owe you thanks for whatever you did to help your redhead friend long ago,” I told my mother. “She was a huge help.”

Lienda’s blue-green eyes flashed in my direction. “Cherise,” she breathed. “It had to be. She was my brother’s mate. She got herself thrown in Vanguard to be with him. Seems I owe her big-time.” Her grip on me tightened. “I was so worried for you. Your dad and I tried to get into the prison, but security is a hell of a lot stronger than it used to be. Lucky Jon was able to cover up our actions.”

“You tried to get in to find me?” I blinked a few times.