Hands stuffed in the pockets of my jeans, I waited patiently for the warden to unlock the gate and usher me through. When he finally did, I simply nodded my thanks, not bothering with unnecessary niceties. Words were so overused these days they were losing their meanings.

“Just through here,” the portly man said, unlocking another door and holding it open for me. “A guard will bring the prisoner through in a few, and when you want out, just knock on the door. Clear?”

“Clear,” I responded, my tone clipped and gruff. There was a table in the center of the room with a chair on either side of it. I didn’t sit, though. My dragon was enraged, pacing within me and clawing to get out. It was all I could do to maintain my human shape when I was this worked up. Still, I’d much rather this be me than Vixen.

Seconds later the door reopened, and a haggard, old woman was ushered in. She was in the standard prison-issue uniform, and her hands were shackled with handcuffs, which the guard attached to the bar down the center of the table.

“Who the hell are you?” She sneered at me, showing yellow-brown teeth that I swear took all of my self-control not to smack out of her disgusting face. People like her didn’t deserve to live, in prison or not.

“Irrelevant,” I snarled, unable to keep the fury from my voice as I eyed the woman who had broken my Vixen as a child. How anyone could do what she had allowed to happen to my girl... My fists curled, the knuckles popping and stretching as my dragon claws threatened to protrude.

“I came for information. You’d be wise to give it over.” My tone accepted no negotiation on this point, and her eyes widened as she stared at my flexing fists.

“What do you wanna know?” she asked, not taking her eyes from my hands but paling noticeably. Good. I wanted her afraid.

“You took something that didn’t belong to you. A ring.” I wasn’t asking; I was telling. “You’re going to tell me where to find it now.”

Her gaze darted up to my face as I stood, towering over her, and a small smile pulled at her wrinkled mouth.

“Boy, I’ve taken a great many things that didn’t belong to me. It’s part of the reason I’m here, you follow?” She looked at me with narrowed eyes. “You going to need to be more specific.”

Ice shot through my blood, and I knew my dragon was riding close to the surface. This mention that she was in jail for theft only served to infuriate me further. The slippery bitch had managed to weasel her way out of a much more serious sentence for child abuse and underage sex trafficking, but luckily the prosecutor had managed to slap her with a series of lesser crimes of theft and assault that had compounded to a life sentence anyway.

“A sapphire ring with an intricate gold setting. You took it from a little girl with fox-red hair.” My heart cracked at the thought of little seven-year-old Kit in the care of this vile creature.

“Ah, that little bitch,” Suzette spat, and her lip curled with a snarl. “More trouble than she was ever damn worth.”

My palms slammed down on the table with a bang that echoed like thunder, and I let my eyes meld with my dragon. Fury vibrated over my skin, and I let Suzette see in my eyes just how much shit she would be in if she didn’t answer me.

“The ring,” I snarled. “Where is it now?”

“R-Richard,” she whimpered, finally seeming to comprehend the danger she was in with me. “I left everything in my safe, and my boys said that Richard’s men came and cleaned it out. Held a gun to their heads and made them give over the combination. Said they were collecting a refund.”

“If you’re lying to me,” I growled, leaning in close. My eyes must have totally dragoned out as the room was in infinitely sharper focus than it had been a few moments ago.

“I’m not! I swear!” The pathetic excuse for a human began sobbing, and the distinct, acrid smell of urine reached my sensitive nostrils as she pissed herself.

“You’d better pray I don’t need to return here,” I threatened, turning and banging on the door to be let out. The woman said nothing as I left the room, and I stalked down the prison corridor with anger riding my every step.

How the fuck was I going to tell Vixen that the ring she needed for full control of her powers was in the possession of the man who had abused and traumatized her for two full years as a kid?

Richard Liath. Also known as Mr. Gray.