Page 56 of Alice and Her Shifters (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 2)

She situated herself and leveled her gaze on me. “My men will find and kill the two members of the group that had gotten away. Once they return, I will grant you the freedom you desire. Though, I have half a mind to withhold the reward until my punishments are complete.”

A sour taste entered my mouth again. It shouldn’t have surprised me that she would find a way to stall releasing me from my curse. That was our arrangement. Bring in the girl, get curse lifted. Calvin and Milo were simply a bonus for her. Truth be told, it didn’t surprise me at all, but the idea that she was going to drag this out for as long as she could really made me want to strangle her. I forced the sensation down and nodded. “As you wish.”

“Good,” she said. “I’m glad you came around. I was beginning to wonder.”

“I rather like my head resting quite nicely on my shoulders,” I said with a smirk.

“As do I,” she said and then let out a sigh. “Well, your accommodations should find you comfortable for the next couple of days. On the third is when I will add to my collection, then you will walk yourself out the doors a free man.”

I nodded. “Thank you, Milady.”

“Don’t thank me yet. There is a caveat to this,” she added.

“I’m listening,” I said.

Her eyes turned cold and serious. “Should anything go awry, your head will be added to my collection as payment.”

Her voice betrayed little in her threat. Camelia never made idle threats. She always found a way to follow up on her dangerous promises. That was why it was always better to wish for death than to cross paths with this woman.

I nodded. “Very well.”

“Now, off with you. I need to think,” she said.

I stood and left the room without a word and spent the next couple of hours devising a plan to free my group. When the moment was right, and the red witch was busy preparing for her beheading ritual, I did the only thing I could.

I drugged the guards. Again.

I stole the keys to the cells. Again.

And when I made it to Calvin’s cell… again… I broke him out. The second his cell door was opened, he glared at me, standing in the center of his cell, seemingly ready to kill me.

“Leave me be,” he said.

“Suit yourself,” I said and turned for Aidan’s cell.

“This is another trick of yours, isn’t it?” he asked.

“No, this is me correcting a mistake I made,” I said. “Stand there and lose your head or come with me.”

He nodded and shuffled his feet across the floor. The second he stepped foot out of the cell he punched me in the jaw.

“I deserved that,” I said and spat out blood. I shimmied my jaw from side to side to check and see if Calvin’s hit managed to break anything. Far as I could tell, he only managed to knock a few teeth loose.

“You deserve a hell of a lot more than that,” Calvin growled out.

Aidan’s voice echoed toward us. “Fight later. We need to save our beautiful rose.”

Calvin huffed. “He’s right. But I don’t trust you. How do I know this is not another trick of yours?”

“You don’t,” I snapped. “But the drugs I slipped the guards won’t last forever, so you decide what you’re going to do. Save Alice or die getting caught trying to escape. Up to you.”

I didn’t wait for a response. Instead, I continued forward to Aidan’s cell. I unlocked the gate and swung it open. Aidan’s green eyes glowed as they met mine.

He laughed as he stepped out. “Damned for sure.”

He repeated that statement repeatedly as we made the short trek to Alice’s cell. I wanted to turn around and gag him, but that was a waste of effort and energy. He would only continue to make noises and draw attention. It was a waste of breath and energy I couldn’t afford to lose.

The second I reached Alice’s cell, the door was blasted off its hinges. I stopped merely inches before being crushed by the iron. I stared at the gate, lying bent against the wall and then shifted my gaze to Alice. She huffed and removed a strand of her blond hair before glaring at me. I smirked. That was impressive.

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