Gabe stood up so fast, the metal chair tipped over and clanked to the floor, the sound echoing off the wall making it seem even louder. The crash startled Avery, causing her to jump from her bed.

As he paced, Gabe ran his fingers through his hair so roughly, she thought he might pull strands right off his skull.

“What? What did I say?” she asked, uncertain about how she should interpret the outburst.

Someone stole my mother’s religious symbols. What did it mean, and why was Gabe so anxious about it?

After a moment, he stood still and put his hands on his hips, nostrils flaring.

“I just want to make sure I’m getting this right. Your mom was killed. The cop investigating is Fae and thinks a human killed your mother, but you don’t believe him. You think it was a vampire based on a bite mark you saw when you identified the body. And, not only was she beaten, but all religious symbols were taken from her apartment. Am I right so far?”

She nodded, stepping away from the bars and remaining silent. His intensity caused her concern. The anxiety that had eased over the past few days now returned with a roar. She ran her hand up and down her arms as her limbs became warm, then leaned against the wall when the room started to spin. What she’d said had obviously upset him, but she couldn’t make sense about why.

“Okay, I need to think.”

Gabe pivoted and marched down the hallway toward his desk. After a moment, she heard his voice but couldn’t make out the words. He was talking on the phone again, but to whom?

Avery collapsed back on the bed, frightened that she’d just hurt her case, or punched a hole in a new can of worms she had never known even existed.

An hour passed, and Gabe didn’t return. When she heard the elevator doors open, she stared at the hallway, curious to see who had come to visit. To her absolute delight, it was Madge.

“I came to check on my patient,” the nurse said with a grin. “How are you feeling today, Avery?”

When Madge waved her hand, the cell door rolled open. For a place that didn’t allow magic, Madge sure could spin hers around.

“I’m pretty good,” she replied as the nurse entered her cell.

“Let’s take a peek at your injuries.”

Avery extended both arms, examining the pink lines where deep gashes had been. Madge’s cool, gentle touch caused a shiver to travel down her spine, but she found it calming and reassuring.

“These look wonderful,” the nurse murmured. “I think the scarring will be minimal.”

A brief wave of happiness radiated through Avery, followed by a heavy sigh of disappointment. Who knew how long she’d be in this awful place? Who cared about scars in here? Nobody to impress.

“Lie down and let me see your torso.”

Avery did as instructed, then unzipped her jumpsuit. The bruising had turned an awful yellow and brown color.

“Any pain?” Madge asked as she sat on the edge of the bed, lightly pressing around Avery’s ribcage.

She shook her head. “Only when I roll over a certain way at night, but other than that, no.”

“Good,” Madge said with a grin, but then her brow furrowed, as if the woman worried about her.

Although it was none of her business, Avery wanted to understand why Madge’s magic worked in a place where it was forbidden.

“Why can you use your magic when no one else can?”

Madge sighed. “I’m one of the original Fae who help secure Spectral Prison with faery dust. Since it’s my magic holding it together, I can use it.”

Avery didn’t dare ask what Madge thought of her creation where paranormal entities were housed in horrible conditions.

“Gabe seems edgy today,” Madge commented as she got to her feet.

Avery zipped her jumpsuit, then sat up, curious about the quick change in subject. Why did Madge care about Gabe’s frame of mind?

“Yeah, he is. We had a conversation that… well, he wasn’t happy with my answers.”

“He can be difficult,” the nurse replied. She seemed preoccupied, her brows still knit with worry.

Avery’s curiosity was piqued, and she wondered how long Madge and Gabe had known each other. Although the nurse was the nicest person she’d met since arriving, the warden/prisoner dynamic remained, and this was far from an ideal way to get to know someone.

“I found that boy out in the forest when he was about five or six,” Madge began. “He was curled up against his mom. She was in wolf form and had been shot. He was naked, crying, and wetter than water. I don’t know how many days he’d been out in the wild, but I took him in and raised him like my own.”

Avery’s stare widened. A Fae raising a shifter? “What about his pack?”

Madge shrugged. “They weren’t anywhere to be found. He’s a member now, but that didn’t happen until he turned eighteen.”

“What about you? What did the shifters say about you raising him?”

“Nothing. They weren’t mad. They weren’t grateful. It was just the way it was. He’s very close to the pack now, but I’ll always consider him mine.”

Gabe’s footsteps drew closer, and he came into view.

“I didn’t hear you come in, Madge,” he said. “You know you aren’t supposed to be down here. It’s against the rules.”

She waved her hand in front of her face as if pushing his words away. “I know, and sometimes rules are meant to be broken. I wanted to check up on my faery patient. It’s so rare one of my own kind comes to this place.”

She winked at Avery and stepped outside the cell once Gabe opened it.

Avery watched with newfound interest as the two had a brief conversation. She noted a definite familial connection between them, and she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. Then again, she’d been terrified the first time she’d met the nurse and had been absorbed with the fact Danica was trying to kill her.

Gabe escorted Madge back to the elevator, their conversation fading into hushed whispers. Surely they didn’t want her to hear what they had to say, but Avery stood and went to the bars, trying to decipher their murmurs.

After a few minutes, Gabe returned and righted the chair. He sat down, his dark gaze more intense than she’d ever seen it.

“I want to know what you learned when you stole that paper from McAllister. What was written on it?”

She opened her mouth to tell him about the addresses but decided against it at the last second. Information could be very valuable in a place like this. He obviously thought she knew something about her mother’s murder, and even though she really didn’t, maybe she could leverage it.

“How do you know I took anything from him?” she asked.

“McAllister updated your file with a detailed report that says you assaulted him and took a paper from your mother’s murder file. I want to know why you stole it and what was on it.”

She narrowed her gaze at him. Earlier, he’d just about had a heart attack when she’d revealed her mother’s religious relics had been stolen, and now, he seemed ready to beat her into telling him what had been on the paper.

What had Gabe stumbled into, and how did her story fit in?

“Why do you want to know?”

He sighed and rubbed his face. “My pack recently had a religious symbol stolen by a vampire. The damned bloodsucker almost killed one of our members. I want revenge for that, and we want to get the artifact back. We haven’t had any luck recovering it. I think it seems too much of a coincidence that a vampire took the same type of item from us, and from your mom. It’s strange he’s taking religious symbols. There have never been more godless creatures than vampires.”

Avery immediately thought of Victoria, and was about to argue, but thought better of it. As a general rule, she avoided them too because they tended to be awful and wanted to suck her dry. Hell, she’d just been attacked twice not too long ago. Victoria was the exception.

Frankly, Avery couldn’t argue with his logic, but Gabe wanted something from her, and even though it didn’t seem important, maybe she could use it to get something out of this hellish experience.

Who knows how long I’ll be here?

Then it hit her.

“McAllister updated my file? Does that mean that he included my sentence in there?”

Gabe nodded. She knew by the pity in his stare, it wasn’t good news.

“What did it say?”

“He’s recommending fifteen to twenty.”

The words slammed her in the gut like a fist, leaving her unable to catch a breath. There was no way she’d heard him correctly.

“What?” she whispered.

“Fifteen to twenty years, Avery,” he repeated.

Her knees weakened as she sank to the mattress, a hollow pit forming in her stomach. “T-that’s so long! It’s not like I killed someone!”

“I know.”

As her eyes welled, she glanced around, trying to imagine spending the next fifteen years in prison. All the grey, no sunlight, no plants … she’d rather slit her wrists.

“And no trial?”

“Nope.”

The paranormal justice system was much harsher than its human counterpart. The cops decided if there was a trial or not, or they could simply sentence a prisoner to whatever amount of time they saw fit. She’d heard it was what most cops did, and that was one reason the prisons were so overcrowded.

Long moments passed as she let the weight of Gabe’s words sink in. She thought she might drown in the hopelessness of her situation while her hatred for McAllister roiled.

Finally, Gabe broke the silence. “What do you think, Avery? Will you tell me what was on that paper?”

She’d likely spend the best years of her life in this horrid place, but Gabe thought she had something valuable. Leverage it, Avery. Figure out a way!

“I’m… I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to share that.” She hedged before revealing more. She’d never negotiated like this before and wasn’t sure how far to push it.

Gabe sighed, exasperated. “I’ll just call McAllister and get it from him.”

She chewed on her lip. If McAllister hadn’t included the information in the report, she doubted he would tell Gabe. Besides, she knew the cop had been hiding something.

“I think you should do that,” she said softly, hoping her bet would pay off. If McAllister sang, she’d have nothing but an angry guard looking after her. But if not… she’d continue to have a bargaining chip.

He shook his head and stood, then took long strides toward his desk. Once again, she heard his voice, but couldn’t make out the conversation. He returned in minutes and sat down again.

“What did he say?’ she asked, her hopes high.

He cracked his knuckles, and his nostrils flared as if he wanted to hit something.

“He said it was none of my business.”

She bit her lip to hide the smile. Gabe thought she had important input, and he couldn’t get the information anywhere else. If he wanted it bad enough, she was going to make him deal to get it. But, what could she ask for that he could deliver? He already brought her food from the outside. Maybe a bottle of wine? Maybe he could at least find a way for her to get out of solitary confinement without being killed by Danica and her followers?

He stood and crossed his arms before clearing his throat.

“I have an idea,” he ventured.

“What’s that?”

“It’s obvious you don’t belong in here, Avery. You’re a damned Fae who made some stupid choices fueled by grief, anger, and who knows what else. You’ll either kill yourself, or someone will do it for you before you ever see the light of day again.”

She furrowed her brow, more confused than ever. “And?”

“What if we did this? You give me that information, and I get you out of here.”