Page 99 of Outcast Fae
One guard went for Arryn while the other three swarmed Vaughn. Arryn was pushed face-first against the wall with such force that I cried out too.
“Let her go,” I shouted. “She’s just a child, you animal.”
But even animals were better than this.
For his part, Vaughn didn’t struggle. He let them push him against the wall next to Arryn while they slapped handcuffs around his wrists as well as Arryn’s. Why were they restraining Vaughn? It didn’t make any sense. He was with them, wasn’t he?
“I want to see Adaline Habermann,” he kept repeating.
Arryn was sobbing as they held her tight. The disconsolate sound tore my heart in two.
Karen took hold of my gurney and started rolling it out of the room. She smiled crookedly, satisfaction in her eyes. “Hello, insolent fae. I knew from the beginning you would turn out to be a troublemaker, but no worries, we’ll make a good little girl out of you still.”
Tears prickled behind my eyes, but I wouldn’t shed a single one. Not while she could see me.
We had just exited the room—Arryn and Vaughn staggering behind the gurney —when Alonzo came running down from the direction of the warehouse.
“They’ve escaped. All of them,” he said.
Karen grunted, the heavy lines around her mouth getting more pronounced. “This was not our fault. It was that bitch, Meadow Song! I told Adaline not to trust her. Too much magic is always a problem. At least, these three didn’t escape.” She turned to face our guards. “C’mon, let’s take them upstairs.”
Karen walked ahead, her back ramrod straight, her attitude full of self-importance. A red-faced guard approached my gurney and started pushing me along.
The guard at my gurney turned to Alonzo, but his eyes were on Karen. “Of course she doesn’t like magic. What else would you expect from aflim?”
Alonzo pressed a finger to his lips. “Better watch out what you say. You don’t want to get on Karen’s bad side. Trust me on that one.”
Moments later, they stuffed us in an elevator. The door slid shut. Vaughn stood very near, enough that I got the urge to jump off the gurney and gouge his eyes out. I willed him to look at me so he could see how much I hated him, how much I regretted trusting him, but he never looked at me. He kept his gaze fixed on the spot on the wall.
“Coward. Traitor,” I whispered under my breath. Still, he didn’t look my way.
* * *
“We putout the fire the witch created as a distraction,” Karen said in a clipped tone. “Also, Silver Bear is dead. One of them killed him. I think it was the fae with his blood all over her.”
She was standing in front of Adaline and Alexander Habermann, providing a quick report of what had happened.
“Putting out the fire wasn’t easy,” she continued. “Magical flames are always stubborn. Two Jeeps and a helicopter burned down. We don’t have a body count yet of how many of the guards were killed as the inmates from Block X escaped. Meadow Song managed to free most of them, except for these three,” she hooked a finger over her shoulder, “and the two you have already.”
Two she had? I assumed she was talking about Sinasre and Vaughn’s cousin.
We were in an open space that appeared to be some sort of breakroom. I was still strapped to the gurney while Arryn and Vaughn were flanking me. Guards stood behind them, guns at the ready. There were machines that dispense food in one corner, one of those ovens that heat food in record time, and several tables with chairs.
I watched Adaline and Alexander’s faces closely for their reaction to Karen’s report. I expected to see anger and frustration, but these emotions barely registered. If anything, both of them appeared indifferent which surprised me. Weren’t they worried their secret would be out, that the world would now know what kind of monsters they were?
“Thanks for the report, Karen,” Adaline gave her subordinate one of her cold smiles, then approached my gurney with Alexander trailing behind, looking as if he’d rather be elsewhere.
“We have exactly who we need. Don’t we, brother?” Adaline said.
“Indeed,” he responded as he removed a fleck of dirt from his white lab coat.
“You won’t get away with this,” I said. “The others will tell everyone what you’re doing here.”
“Is that so?” Adaline smiled at me as if I were an idiot child. “We may not like magic here in the dome, Tally, but outside, the island is well protected by all manner of spells. There’s a particular one that stands out as my favorite. It makes you forget any bad memories you have of your stay at New Starts.”
All my hopes of rescue fell. I had thought that those who had escaped would be able to tell Dean McIntosh and the authorities everything that was going on in this place, but that would not happen if what she was saying was true. That meant Arryn and Sinasre would be stuck here with me, suffering at the hands of these two vile humans.
Adaline peered down her nose at me. If I could have, I would’ve spat on her face. I hated her. She and Vaughn fought for first place for the honor of people I hated most in the world.
