CHAPTER SEVEN
The stench of urine and everything else foul made Simon Alison almost want to vomit, but he held it in and tried not to be dizzy. They were thrown in a prison that look like nothing more than a cage, and he could feel a headache forming at the back of his skull where he’d been knocked out.
Not a good way to kick off playing a role, to be honest.
But he'd been in worse conditions than this-had gone on missions that involved watching his friends getting beat to within an inch of their life and having to be imprisoned for a week. Nothing smelled as bad as this place, though.
He turned his head from side to side, shaking the throbbing away. Beside him, he could smell Robin—a combination of lemon-scented spells and her, and it was somewhat comforting. He finally turned his gaze in that direction and saw her sitting a meter away from him, her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. Her cloak was gone, leaving her in jeans and a plain black shirt, and her chin rested on her arms.
She was openly staring at him, her green eyes solemn. Simon blinked when she placed a palm on his forehead. Then he winced when she pressed deep, pulling his head back when pain hit him. She frowned.
“I don’t have my powers here,” she whispered.
He tried to shift. Sure enough, he couldn’t seem to. “It’s okay.”
She kept frowning. “You’ve got a large bruise on your forehead, you know. And I think another at the back.”
“I figured,” he replied, touching it gingerly. There was already a bump there, one that would only grow. Oh, well.
Robin nudged him, her gaze suddenly fixed on something. Simon looked up and found a guard standing in front of the iron bars. It was a bulky man missing some teeth, and what was left were all yellow and half rotten. His black eyes were focused on Robin, as if she held a particular interest to him.
Simon immediately stood up and placed himself in front of Robin’s sitting form.
“What the hell are you looking at?” he growled.
The man’s eyes narrowed and he sneered, his hands gripping the lock as if to open it. A knife glinted in his hand, and Simon’s back went rigid as he prepared himself to defend.
But before the man could enter, a crash was heard outside. Then a commotion followed as shouts filled the air. Simon could hear protests of a male voice, then a thump and some grunts. After a few seconds, more guards were dragging another man in their direction.
The cell door was opened and the man was thrown in without an ounce of care, where he crashed on the ground unceremoniously. Simon stepped forward to help him get to his feet, watching the guards close the door with a bang and yell insults at them before leaving the premises.
The man groaned, sitting up. He was shorter than Simon but taller than Robin, and he looked like he could use a few good dinners to give him some weight. It was obvious that life on this island must have made him haggard and thin.
“Thanks,” the man muttered. Then his gaze shifted between Robin and Simon, a cool, dark blue that was very familiar.
Simon suddenly realized who this was. He glanced at Robin, whose eyes had flickered but didn’t reveal any other expression. Not wanting to give out their knowledge, he held out a hand.
“I’m Simon,” he said.
The man looked at the hand before reluctantly taking it. “Jason.” Then, obviously not wanting to engage in any more conversation, he hobbled along to the side of the cage and leaned his bloodied head on the wall. There were bruises and cuts all over his face, indicating he was punched thoroughly.
“What did you do?” Robin asked bluntly from her spot. She was eyeing the bruises, as if mentally imagining treating each one of them.
“Try to escape,” Jason replied shortly. Then he turned his back on them.
Interesting. Isabella’s brother wanted to escape as much as them, if not more. Did that mean he was innocent?
Only time would tell.
And Simon intended to find out the truth.
*****
Things were pretty routine as far as being imprisoned went. They were given their daily nourishment—a disgusting measly bowl of slop and maybe 4 ounces of water. Simon wolfed down his, feeling the first sign of hunger pangs and dreaming of a juicy steak. Shifters had fast metabolisms, but he’d learned how to deal with it when they had nothing to eat on crucial missions. He figured he still had two to three days before the hunger would really get to him.
Robin ate listlessly, while Jason waited for the two of them to finish their meals before eating his. He wasn’t exactly cold, but it was obvious he wasn’t here to make friends, so they left him as he was.
There was a small section of the prison that was made into a makeshift restroom, but nothing for showering. They made do, and on the second day in the cage, Robin tied her hair up and cleaned her face by ripping a portion of her shirt and dipping it in her remaining water. They talked in low voices, trying to decide some kind of strategy, all while silently worrying about Dylan and Isabella.
News of Dylan’s—or rather, Captain Sanders’—unfortunate event had spread through the area, and Simon’s sensitive ears picked up odds and ends of the gossip. It was amusing and alarming how the story went from him being ambushed to some intricate plot of love and murder, with Sanders being the victim of it all. Really, this only proved they were all idiots.
Dangerous idiots, but still.
On the third day, Jason finally spoke all of a sudden.
“You were discussing escape.”
Simon and Robin looked at each other before meeting his gaze. Apparently he was listening to their whispered conversations all along. Simon nodded his head warily. “What’s it to you?”
Jason leaned forward, his blue eyes darker than ever. There was hate brewing there, along with spite. “I was working undercover until I was busted. I need to get these children out. So I need to escape.”
Robin looked skeptical. Simon couldn’t blame her, considering this was a new discovery altogether. Isabella certainly didn’t know. Simon rolled the idea around in his mind, then decided to give it a shot. Jason was too old to be a child slave, so this was the only plausible reason why he was here with them.
“How do we know you’re not setting a trap for us?” Simon asked.
“You’d be dead on the first day had I been setting a trap for you,” Jason replied softly.
Simon glared. Robin stopped looking skeptical and gave Jason a serious look.
“You lay out the plan to us and we’ll see what we can do,” Robin said testily.
Jason moved his fingers, an indication to come closer. Robin and Simon did. The three huddled at the side, whispering and whispering.
The plan was decided.
*****
They slept at night and decided to wake up at dawn to implement it. But Simon woke up with a start in the middle of the night as a muffled sound came from beside him. He reached out for Robin automatically, as she’d always slept a few inches away from him since they got trapped here. But his hands came up empty.
Then he saw it—the girl with a hand clamped on her mouth, and black eyes sneering at him. Robin was struggling and trying to fight, but the bulky man was stronger and heavier. She had no chance.
Simon leapt to his feet, fury rising inside him. He shouted out curses until Jason woke up, too, his blue eyes widening at the scene. Simon charged for the man, while Jason tried to pull Robin back—but they were too late as Robin was dragged outside of the cage, disappearing from view.
Simon only had a split second to watch the horror in her eyes before she was gone and the cell door was shut back in their faces. He howled. He pounded on the steel bars, crying out for blood. Arms banded around him, and he heard Jason’s voice calling him out, telling him to calm down. But he couldn’t calm down, because the man had Robin—and he knew exactly what happened to girls in this horrible place. He’d seen the intentions in the man’s eyes.
He shook the bars. Sounds rose from outside, and guards gathered around his cell. He snarled at them all, even while they warned him to stand back.
When he didn’t listen, the door was opened again. Simon launched himself towards the exit, but the guards were having none of it as they all dragged him back. One guard punched him in the face, and he managed to get a punch in.
Another guard kicked him. Then another.
Simon was overpowered as all the guards helped out in knocking him down all over again.