Avery hadn’t seen the head-butt coming.

As Danica crashed her forehead into hers, Avery’s knees weakened and stars appeared before her eyes. The women in both cells began screaming something about a fight, but Avery knew there wouldn’t be one because her spinning head slowly took her to the ground at Danica’s feet.

“Get up, faery!” Danica screeched.

As the shifter kicked Avery’s shin, white-hot pain radiated throughout her leg and up her spine. With a gasp and a whimper, she knew she wouldn’t be going anywhere. She simply didn’t have the strength.

Voices around her rose, all screaming for her to get up and fight.

“You think you can accuse my man of assault and get away with it? Do you know what our pack leader did to him?”

Perfect. I’m sharing a cell with Jake’s mate. The worst possible punishment. As if being in prison isn’t enough. Wonderful, just wonderful. How does this crap keep happening to me?

When would this downward spiral end? Hadn’t she reached rock bottom yet? As Avery sat on the cold, concrete floor—legs pulled up to her chest, her head lowered with her arms covering it, every inch of her body in agony—it certainly seemed like it.

Danica yanked on Avery’s hair, forcing her to gaze upward. A surprising calm came over her as she stared up at the woman baring her teeth as if she would chew off Avery’s face.

Avery quickly glanced around for Cat and found her at the other end of the cell leaning against the bars with her arms crossed over her chest, watching with interest.

So much for the bobcat having her back.

Avery now understood just how alone she was.

Danica made a fist and brought it back. Avery closed her eyes, not wanting to see the blow coming.

Within another moment, Danica released her hair. Avery dared to check the area to find out what had happened.

Danica was being pulled out of the cell by two guards while screaming threats at the top of her lungs.

“I’m coming for you, little faerie! You’re mine! You’ll be seeing me again!”

A third guard approached Avery, grabbed her bicep, and hauled her to a standing position. She cried out at the pain in her chest and at how hard he’d gripped her arm. He dragged her out and down the hall away from the holding cells. She had to run to keep up with his long strides.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“Solitary confinement,” he grumbled.

What?

“B-but I didn’t do anything!” she stuttered, imagining a dark, dank hole in the ground without any light. She’d lose her mind for sure.

“I know.”

“Then why are you taking me there?”

He cleared his throat and stopped at an elevator, not bothering to answer her question.

Tears stung her eyes, and a vise gripped her heart as fear washed over her at the unknown.

“It’s for your own safety,” he finally said as the elevator opened and he pulled her in past the closing doors.

“My safety? Putting me alone in a cell is for my safety?”

The tears fell freely now and quickly turned into sobs wracking her body. Avery’s stomach clenched, and she thought she might vomit. The pain in her torso increased with every breath, but she couldn’t stop crying.

The guard pushed the button and turned her to face the door. She watched the elevator numbers go down… underground. Her knees weakened with each passing floor, her mind clinging to visions of the outdoors, plants and flowers.

When the door panels split, he stepped out, steering her to the right down a corridor. Three cells lined the wall, each with a solid partition between them. He opened the last one and shoved her inside. Claustrophobia set in as she stared at the ten by ten space. A grey floor and grey walls.

A single bed was positioned on the right against the cement wall. At the foot of it was a metal toilet. Her body instinctively jerked as the bars slammed closed behind her and the guard’s footsteps echoed in the empty hallway.

“Someone will be down to see you soon,” he called. “He’ll explain everything.”

“Don’t leave me down here alone!” she cried as she grabbed the bars. “Please! Please, come back!”

The elevator doors closed, and then she was completely alone, staring at the cement wall directly across from her cell.

Avery turned and glanced at the toilet, and then at the twin bed. A stack of grey sheets and a grey, wool blanket were piled neatly on top.

As her cries echoed off the concrete, she realized she had now reached rock bottom, and she sank to the floor. As a Fae, there was nothing worse than being shut away from light and plants. Everything in this space was dead.

She closed her eyes to lessen the sense of claustrophobia. Everything grey assaulted her senses. Longing for open spaces, greenery, and flowers, she wondered how long it would be before she lost her mind.

While wiping her eyes, she decided that if she was going to live through this hell, she needed her body to mend. Time to make the bed so she could rest. Right now, she couldn’t think about her situation. It was too depressing and too overwhelming. Healing had become paramount in her mind, and there was only one way to do that.

After arranging the sheets, pillow and blanket, she slowly maneuvered her way into the bed, her body aching with each movement. She rolled over and covered her head with the musty-smelling covers, hoping to block out the nightmare.

She quickly fell asleep.

A banging sound startled Avery awake, and the first thing she thought of was the water pipes in her apartment. They were loud at times, especially during cold weather.

But wait. It’s summer, right?

“You alive in there?”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she pulled the blanket down to her chest. A cement wall greeted her, as did the smell of mold. For a brief second, she’d forgotten where she was, but then the nightmare came rushing back.

She turned her head and saw a man standing on the other side of the bars, a small smirk on his beautiful face. A shifter. She didn’t even have to smell him to know. His black hair had been combed back into perfect waves, dark eyes smoldering. The uniform hugged the ridges and hard planes of his body.

As she rolled over and sat up, she winced as her torso vehemently disagreed with the action. Avery rubbed her face, then slowly stood.

“Who do we have here?” he asked as he opened a manila folder. She grimaced, thinking about a similar one with her mother’s name written on it that had been the beginning of her downfall into a life of crime.

“Avery Dubois,” she said, her voice hoarse from all the crying and fear.

The man glanced up at her and grinned. “Nice to meet you, Avery Dubois. Sounds like you need a glass of water, but we’ll take care of that in a minute. I’m Gabe. I’m in charge down here.”

She nodded. He seemed friendlier than anyone she’d met since arriving, except Cat. But she focused on not thinking about that betrayal.

“Nice to meet you,” she murmured.

“Looks like you took a trip to medical before arriving at our fine facility,” he continued as he flipped through the pages. “Deep lacerations on your arms and hands, bruising on your ribs, but nothing broken.”

This had been the first time anyone had explained the injuries she’d sustained. She sighed, happy that nothing was fractured.

“Let me see your arms,” he said, shutting the file and tucking it under his arm.

She turned her arms over so her palms faced upward.

“Come here,” he cajoled, waving her closer. “I promise not to bite.”

She hesitated. Every shifter she’d ever met had teased her, assaulted her, or abandoned her in her hour of need. Bile rose from her belly as she thought about Cat.

“I’m the law, Avery. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She didn’t know if she believed that, either. McAllister had been the law. Because she hadn’t swallowed McAllister’s line of bullshit about her mother, he’d definitely tried to hurt her. But then again, if she hadn’t broken into his house, assaulted him, or stole from him, maybe that wouldn’t be the case.

While she slowly approached the cell bars, Gabe kept the grin in place. She slid her arms through the opening. He studied one, then the other. The scent of wolf met her nose, but thankfully, he definitely wasn’t from the Rainier pack. However, she couldn’t place his particular onenot that she was familiar with all of them in the western Washington region. She also noticed a woodsy smell lingering around him, overrunning the wolf odor. Definitely a nice change from the packs she’d been acquainted with and the scents she’d come to know.

“Have these bandages been changed?” he asked.

She studied the guard’s face. He stood over six feet tall and smart, chocolate-brown eyes stared at her as he waited for an answer.

Another beautiful shifter, but at least this one also smells nice.

She glanced down at her arms. Small spots of red and yellow had begun to show through the white gauze, which probably meant an infection.

Avery shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of. I woke up on the bus headed here.”

He nodded. “Okay, then. First, we get you some water. Second, I take you up to medical. Third, you get a fine meal from our chef… and I say that with the highest level of sarcasm I can manage.”

Backing away, her mind swam as her stomach howled at the mention of food. She didn’t care how awful it was. She was starving and would inhale it.

No matter how nice this guy seemed, her internal radar blared. Why was he being so kind to her? What did he want in return? She’d have to tread carefully with him and make sure she didn’t find herself in a precarious position where he thought she owed him something.

He disappeared from her line of sight, but she still heard his voice. Oddly enough, she found the low timbre comforting, despite her lack of trust.

She grabbed the bars and leaned her forehead against them, the cool steel refreshing against her scalp. Closing her eyes, she willed him to come back and talk to her more. In a few short moments, he had become her lifeline in this horrible place, even if she didn’t place complete faith in his reliability or honesty. After he finished talking, she heard the click of the phone when he hung it on the cradle. A moment later, he appeared and handed her a paper cup of water.

Gabe grinned as she greedily gulped it, unaware of how thirsty she had been. His smile quickly dissipated, and he furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes.

“There’s nothing in the medical report about that knot between your eyes,” he commented. “Did that happen before you got here, or after?”

Avery gently pressed two fingers to her forehead and found the bump he’d mentioned. She recognized it as the place Danica had head-butted her.

“After,” she replied.

“Is that why you’re down here?” he asked, his voice dripping with irritation as he placed his hands on his hips. “Did you get into it with someone upstairs?”

“I... it wasn’t my fault,” she stammered, afraid she’d lose the only ally she seemingly had in this horrible place. “This shifter upstairs named Danica attacked me. I didn’t do anything to provoke it. They dragged me down here right after.”

It became important to Avery that he believe her, and she gripped the bars separating them with one hand, and the paper cup crushed in her other.

Gabe sighed and shook his head. “Danica’s a piece of work. If she sets her sights on you, you’re in big trouble. What did you do to get her attention?”

She hedged on telling him. Although Avery appreciated his company, and the distraction he offered, she didn’t trust him. She’d never been able to rely on a shifter before, and she certainly wouldn’t now.

“It’s a long story,” she finally offered.

“Okay,” he said with a nod. “But I will tell you this: It sucks down here, but if you were upstairs, you’d be dead by morning.”