Page 59 of Wrongfully Magicked
My stomach goes weightless, and I startle when it feels like I’m being dropped from a great height. I don’t even have time to brace myself before my head smacks against the ground hard. Air rushes out of me, and my chest feels like a dragon is standing on it. I try to gather my thoughts, but the painful thud in my skull makes that nearly impossible.
I groan, struggling to stay conscious.
Every time I blink, I’m greeted by inky darkness.
When the clank of a gate being slammed shut reaches me, I lift my head. With blurry vision, I can barely make out that I’ve been tossed into some sort of cage. After a few more seconds, my brain finally processes that it’s not my vision that’s dark…I’m actually in a fucking dungeon.
Pushing myself upright with shaky arms, I lean against a dirt wall at my back and gingerly probe the wound along my face. I wince, then grimace when it feels like my whole face is on fire.
The last thing I remember is a fist to the face…then nothing.
The guys!
I jerk upright, frantically searching the darkness for any sign of them, and recoil when it looks like I’m in a dungeon of some type. The walls, floors, and ceiling are all stone and dirt, little more than a hovel. It doesn’t really give off welcoming vibes, and I eye the ceiling warily when dirt trickles down like rain.
Not comforting at all.
While I would love to start digging for my freedom, I suspect the ceiling would cave in on me before I got too far.
Cages line the dark interior, three on each side, and I note that only half of them are full. Thankfully, most of the other occupants are some distance away. Maybe they placed us apart to keep us from working together to escape, but I suspect it’smore to keep the prisoners from killing and eating each other. Though the air smells mainly of dirt and moisture, the scent underneath is unmistakable—blood.
I crawl closer toward the cell door when the man across from me speaks with a low, guttural voice. “Don’t touch the bars if you don’t want your brain to be scrambled.”
I shiver at the husky sound. It’s so thick with menace that I sink my hands into the dirt to keep from recoiling. When I peer through the bars, I’m locked in place by the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. They pierce the darkness, while everything else remains wreathed in shadows.
Squinting through the dim light, I can scarcely make out his hulking shape. He’s big, no doubt easily able to take care of himself. I don’t get the impression that he means me harm, but who the fuck knows in this place.
Heart pounding in my throat, I give him a nod of thanks and check out the other occupants. One looks to be a wolf that caught mange, a constant rumble emerging from his beastly form. Long strings of drool drip from his fangs and mats the fur of his chest.
Yeah, I can already tell we’re not going to be besties.
Another cage contains a girl.
I say girl, but I use the term loosely. On closer inspection, she appears more like an insect than human. She’s tiny, no more than four feet tall, and looks like a light breeze would knock her over. She should look childlike, but there is a meanness to her that dispels that thought immediately.
Maybe she descended from what the myths call fairies, but she was crossed with the wrong species somewhere along the way. Delicate, insect-like wings stick out of her back, but they are wilted, the edges looking a little melted.
Her skin has a light green hue, almost making her resemble a rotting corpse. Her bulging, bug-like black eyes dominate her face, and when she flashes a hostile smile in my direction,serrated teeth issue a warning all on their own, one that says not to fuck with her.
I quickly avert my gaze. The girl’s breathless chuckle echoes in the confined space like dozens of insects hissing, and I can’t contain my cringe.
When the other cells appear empty, I sag in relief.
The guys escaped from being captured.
I refuse to even consider that they might have been killed.
After years of being held captive by my family, I’m not one to sit on my ass and wait for fate to happen. Fate is a fickle bitch at the best of times. If I want a different future, then it’s up to me to change it.
I reach toward the bars, my fingers hovering just out of reach, instantly feeling the crackle of energy snap around the metal. My loving family used all kinds of wards and security systems to try to keep me contained over the years.
After time and a lot of determination, I learned every system has weaknesses.
I also learned that I’m able to withstand a lot of pain in the process.
As I’ve aged, so have my powers.
They’ve grown stronger.
