Audrey Wright

The dawn of the next day came and, with it, more worries and stress. The battle must have occurred by now. How many had been injured? How many had been killed? Why couldn't there be a way for peace to be brokered? Why did they need me? What role did they expect me to play?

Once more, I did my best to try to find a way out of here. There was no means for me to try to make hand or footholds. The walls were smooth for that, and I had no way of climbing up to the upper window.

Still, I went to the opposite side of the cell, ran, and tried to leap up to grab the window ledge, but I failed.

Just as I was going to stake a second crack at it, footsteps sounded in the hallway. I shrunk back away from the hallway, deeper into my cell, wishing to crouch and hide.

"You. Girl. Stand."

The man's voice was harsh but familiar. He had been the one to fuck the girl earlier. It had gone on and on too, and I heard every bit of it. Disgusting.

I straightened but did not look at him.

"I have news for you."

I said nothing. If he wanted a response, he wasn't going to get one.

"The first true battle happened earlier. Do you want to know who won?" he asked.

A pregnant pause settled over us. I wasn't about to play his games. Besides, if he had his tongue, he had to be one of them, one of the Fanged Serpents, and I had nothing to say to his kind.

"I'm sure you already know." He smirked.

I clenched my fists, so angry I could punch him. Already, the lack of food and drink was wearing on me, and I knew that if I tried to punch him, I would miss and hit a bar instead or else I would end up tripping over my feet and falling.

"Yes, the Fanged Serpents won. It was just a small battle, a means to see how much of a fight they could put up, and they're pathetic, honestly." The man shook his head as if disappointed. "But we suffered no true losses, and even better, one of their dragons died."

My ears were ringing. My chest was so tight that I could hardly breathe. A dead dragon. One of mine? No, no way. I would know if one of mine had. Wouldn't I? Yes. The connection I had with all of them remained, Damon's strongest of all. He still felt weak, was still hurting, but the others… they had to be okay.

Still, the man was observing me carefully, clearly wanting a reaction, so I gave him one. I began to wail and cry, giving him a show. I cursed him and even spat at him.

"Don't worry." He grinned as he wiped the wad of saliva from his cheek. "I promise it will all be over soon."

"Will I…" I sniffled, trying to pretend to compose myself.

Actually, all of this yelling and wailing was almost therapeutic. I wanted to rage, to lash out, to cry and wail. I needed a way to release all of my stress, and this was one hell of a way of doing that.

"Will I be released then? When it's over?" I asked.

"Released? Oh, yes, you will be. You'll be released to the sweet embrace of death. You will be burned, and the smoke will be so very seductive to me."

"I hope you choke on the smoke," I snapped. "Choke and die."

"I am not just a dragon," he hissed. "I am a phoenix. Burn me, and I will rise again. You shall see."

"A phoenix?" I bit my lip, thinking furious. Was he being serious? Who knew? The others had told me vampires weren't real, and there weren't any other shifters aside from dragons. Still, phoenix was a whole other animal.

"What is it about you that makes the leaders want to protect you?" he asked suddenly.

I shrugged and answered honestly. "I have no idea. Besides…" I did my best to scowl and look frustrated and hurt. Back to playing him as best as I could. "If they did care for me, why hadn't they come for me?"

"Maybe they don't care for you as much as you think they do."

My heart literally pained at hearing that. My chest was giving my palpitations. I even put my hand there to try to alleviate my sufferings.

I didn't want them to come after me. I didn't want them to be reckless and stupid and risk getting hurt to save me. I didn't want them to focus on anything but keeping themselves and their dragons alive. It killed me that one of the dragons had been slain already in this war.

But still, I did want at least a sign that they hadn't forgotten about me.

I almost smiled, ruining everything, just recalling Damon and our connection and our love-making. Nothing could convince me that hadn't been real.

The man held out his hand.

I jerked back.

"Give me your hand please," he said, his tone softening slightly.

"I don't even know your name. I don't want you to touch me."

"Do you want my name?"

I dropped my gaze to the floor.

"What do you want?"

"Food that isn't rancid." I lifted my nose. For the most part, I had gotten used to the stench of the rotting food in the hallway and the spoiled milk. "And for that mess to be cleaned up."

"I suppose that can be arranged." He grinned. "Audrey Wright."

I gulped and did my best not to reveal my shock.

"Yes, I know your name, so I'll tell you mine. Jeremy Jenson." He reached through the bar more with his hand.

I didn't want to, but I had to try to learn more about him. Maybe he truly was a phoenix. Maybe that was merely in jest. Either way, information was important, and if there was a way I could get him to trust me, to open up… I just needed an in. If I could learn his weakness, that would help to ensure the safety of the lives of the Three-Trailed Clan, but only if I could get free and tell them what I learned.

So, I handed him my hand. Jeremy turned it over, produced a Swiss army knife, and superficially cut my palm. I hissed, pretending it hurt worse than it had. He smirked, staring at me as he pulled my hand through the bar and licked my blood.

"Entirely human," he said, sounding disappointed.

I yanked my hand back. "I could've told you that."

"Is it just lust then?" he mused, eyeing me. "I guess you're passingly pretty."

"Hey!"

Jeremy smirked. "It can't be love because then they would have come for you, wouldn't they have?"

"I haven't known them that long. Of course it's not love. It's… I don't know what it is. They might not either. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe…" I glanced away from him and bit my lower lip. "Maybe you discover that holding me won't amount to anything. You want them to try and free me, don't you?"

He shrugged. "I like to find weaknesses and exploit them."

Yes, that made sense. Hadn't they wiped out other clans already?

"What is it you want?" I whispered.

The dragon shifter grinned and reached through the bar to touch my chin. "I want what I want."

"How descriptive," I said dryly.

"Either I will find a use for you or you will be kicked to the curb, and by kicked to the curb I mean—"

"Charred to death."

He grinned. "Precisely. See? You can be taught."

Whistling, Jeremy stalked off. Was he the leader of the Fanged Serpents? Did they have more than one?

I'm playing with fire, guys. I'll do my best to not get burned if you do the same.