Page 101 of Outcast Fae
Ah, there was the question. One that would be very difficult for me to get a young girl to understand. I decided to be honest, but leave out some of the harsher details.
“They have families outside of here, people that can use their influence to get them out. But they’ve had their memories wiped. There’s no way they’d let them out of here knowing all that went on.”
Arryn sighed. “But we have Dean McIntosh out there, right? She got the other kids out. She can get us out, too, right?”
I chewed on my lip. Dean McIntosh had used her connections with Meadow Song to get the other children to freedom. She was a powerful witch, but now that the Habermanns were onto her, what more could she do?
I patted Arryn’s slender hand. “I don’t know, but we have to have hope. If the dean can get us out, she will.”
Arryn’s head leaned down, resting on my shoulder, and I put my arm around her. It was a kindness that they’d put us together in this cell, one I worried every night they might somehow take away. Arryn was young and tiny, weighing about eighty pounds. She would not survive this prison without me at her side. Twice I’d witnessed people trying to steal her food in the cafeteria when my back was turned. I could only imagine what would happen to her if I wasn’t there to stand up for her.
Her worries echoed my own. How long would we be held in the dome? What would they do with us? These cells were different than the one we’d originally been held in, more permanent, which worried me. They hadn’t tried any more of their experiments since the others escaped, but that didn’t mean that more weren’t coming. It appeared Sinasre, Arryn, and I were the only fae left, so I was sure they would want to keep us for that.
Contrary to what I had thought, there were more prisoners kept under the dome. I had seen nearly fifty of them in the common areas—all looking rough and unapproachable. It was there where I’d spotted Sinasre a few times in passing. They kept the females and the males separated now, but we used the same cafeteria and recreation areas. The fenced-in yard offered little in the way of exercise but it sometimes allowed me a glimpse at my cousin before he was ushered away. He looked healthy enough, and I took that as another consolation.
I’d also been keeping an eye out for Vaughn’s cousin, though I had no idea what she looked like. Still, I searched the line in the cafeteria, or out on the recreation field. Why I did this I still wasn’t sure.
I’d seen Vaughn a few times, though. I didn’t feel as positive about those interactions as I had with Sinasre’s, however. He was free now and working for the enemy. Once, I’d passed him, and he hadn’t even looked in my direction. It took everything I had within me not to lunge at him and claw his eyes out for once and for all.
Vaughn had betrayed me, kept me here, kept Arryn here. He had made a deal with those two monsters, Adaline and Alexander, and I couldn’t forgive him for that. Maybe it had even been easy for him. Maybe he had always hated me, and every word he’d said to me was a lie.
All but those last two.Fae. Bitch.
He’d meant those.
Vaughn seemed to be working as a guard, taking the place of Horace and Dalton. What had happened to them was not clear, but I hadn’t seen them around so they’d either escaped or had been killed. They’d risked so much for all of us, I hoped it was the former.
Finally, the graduation ceremony ended, the TV clicked off, and I could rest in peace. The next activity was dinner. Like every day so far, we’d be released at five PM and ushered like hogs into the cafeteria for slop that was supposed to pass for food.
If the food didn’t kill me, the monotony might.
So, when the door buzzed open before five, I sat up, turning my eyes to it.
Adaline Habermann stood just inside our cell. She was wearing a high-cut red dress and black high heels. Her blond hair was slicked back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck.
“Hello, Tally.”
I stood up, my heart beginning to pound. “Hello.”
“Well, I’m finally here to discuss your future. Could you follow me, please?”
She turned and walked out of the cell, her heels clomping on the floor. Arryn, who’d gotten down from her bunk and now stood beside me, gripped my wrist. “What is this?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I guess I’d better find out.”
“Will you come back?” Her round dark eyes grew even wider, making her look like a scared field mouse. Her silver hair had gone lank in the days here, her pale skin almost translucent, and her wings had lost their luster. I needed to get her out soon or she’d disappear. This could be my only chance.
I patted her hand reassuringly. “I’ll come back. Don’t worry.”
She let go, and I tried to appear confident as I strode out of the cell door and into the hall.
Two guards waited for me, flanking either side of the door. Adaline was walking ahead as if she had no doubt I would choose to follow her. The guards and I walked down the long hallway as women and girls watched us pass through the bars with curiosity on their faces.
We were buzzed out of the main cell block door and into a hall of offices. The guards pointed me to the first door on the left, which stood open. Swallowing hard, I entered what appeared to be Adaline Habermann’s office.
It was a neat, but sparse office decorated with clean lines, a big black desk, and light gray curtains around one of those large TV screens that showed a serene beach. Adaline sat behind the desk watching me. She gestured to one of the two leather chairs opposite her desk.
“What is this about?” I asked, sitting down.
