“Oh, yeah, right. Sorry.” Flint’s cheeks turn ruddy.

And I’m not trying to be rude here, especially since this girl looks like she could tear any one of us limb from limb with her bare hands, but I also have no idea what’s going on. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m kind of new to the whole paranormal world. What’s a manticore?”

Remy laughs again, but Calder lifts her head proudly, red hair streaming down her back and announces, “Only the fiercest and most beautiful creature ever created.”

It doesn’t tell me much, but it’s one hell of a description. And, looking at her, I can’t help thinking that it is right freaking on.

110

The Big Not-So-Easy

“Manticores are part human and part lion, with eagle wings and a scorpion’s tail,” Hudson tells me softly.

“That is totally badass!” I exclaim.

“I know.” Calder grins, pretending to buff her nails on her shirt. “We’re the best.”

“Definitely the most modest,” Hudson interjects dryly.

Flint makes a choking sound, but Calder waves an airy hand. “It’s okay. I don’t believe in hiding my light under a bushel.”

It’s, like, the most perfect answer ever—at least from this glorious creature, which is probably why I crack up the second Remy’s eyes meet mine. He laughs, too, but Calder just fluffs up her hair and swishes it back and forth.

“So why don’t you pull up some metal floor,” Remy suggests. “Get comfortable, and tell me what made you ask for me.”

“You mean get uncomfortable, right?” Flint asks as he looks at the scarred and dented floor. I look closely, too, pretty sure that some of these scars are actually…claw marks? The thought makes my stomach sink.

What happens in here that someone would have to do something like that? And how do we keep it from happening to us?

Remy grins. “Comfort’s relative after a life in prison. But I guess you’ll find that out soon enough.”

“Actually, that’s kind of what we were hoping you could help us with,” I tell him. “Flint’s mom is the dragon queen, and she told us to find you. We need to locate someone else in the prison and then break out, preferably as soon as possible.”

“Is that right?” Remy asks, brows raised. “You’re gonna break four of you out of this place like it’s nothing, huh?” He snaps, and sparks explode from the ends of his fingertips. They hang in the air between us for a moment or two before slowly fading away.

“That’s the plan, yeah,” Flint tells him.

“You know this place is governed by an unbreakable curse, right?”

“We do,” I say.

“So, what?” he asks. “You think you might be the ones to actually beat that?”

“We are going to be the ones to beat it,” Hudson tells him, and for a second he sounds just as arrogant as Calder. And, like with her, the confidence works on him.

Like really, really works on him. His blue eyes are gleaming as he squares off against Remy, his dark hair falling over his forehead since the wind/fire thing destroyed his normal style. Plus, the prison jumpsuit that looks ridiculous on me actually looks pretty damn good on him, especially with its open collar leaving his very kissable throat on display while also molding to the rest of the muscles on his upper body pretty damn well.

I know we’re in prison, just like I know that things don’t get much worse than this.

I also know if we succeed in actually finding the blacksmith, we’re going to use him to find the Crown, defeat Cyrus, and break our mating bond so that we can save Jaxon’s soul.

But right now, right at this very moment, when my mate has his arm around me and is preparing to wheel and deal with a warlock and a manticore, it’s pretty hard to remember all that. Honestly, it’s pretty hard to remember anything except that. For some reason I can’t begin to understand, the universe made this gorgeous, sexy, brilliant guy my mate. Mine.

I’m trying not to draw attention to myself, but something of what I’m feeling must be showing on my face because Hudson keeps shooting me weird little looks. And when our gazes actually meet for a second or two, he squirms uncomfortably and—I’m pretty sure—forgets how to breathe.

It’s only proximity, I tell myself. Only biology. But when Hudson lifts a sardonic brow in response to Remy’s “no one breaks out of this prison,” all of a sudden he’s not the only one squirming.

“So how do we get out, then?” Flint asks. “Because we are getting out.”

I don’t know if Remy is humoring us or if he believes us, but after he studies each of our faces in turn, he says, “First? We barter.”

“What does that mean?” I ask. “You think we can buy our way out of prison?”

“Cher.” He gives me a look like he’s disappointed in me. “Haven’t you figured out by now that anything can be bought with the right price?”

“Yeah, so name your price,” Hudson tells him. “We’ll get it for you.”

“Well, well. Aren’t you the big man?” Calder says, and I can’t tell if she approves or if she’s being sarcastic. At least not until she looks Hudson over from head to toe…and licks her lips.

Which is just…fantastic. Apparently, we’re supposed to put our fate in the hands of a depraved Amazon and a warlock who feels an awful lot like a con man. Lucky, lucky us.

“It’s not quite so simple,” Remy says, and I swear his accent has gotten even heavier.

“What does that mean?” Hudson responds.

“It means you need to slow your roll. Getting to where you might be able to bust out of this place is a process, and it doesn’t matter how impatient you are; some things can’t be rushed.”

“I understand that,” Hudson counters. “But is there any way we can maybe speed it along a little?”

Remy shakes his head, like he pities Hudson. “You’re in N’Awlins now, baby. That’s not how things work down here.”

A prison for paranormal creatures is in New Orleans. Everything about that sentence makes total sense.

“So how exactly do they work, then?” Hudson eyes him like he’s wondering what size bucket he’d need for Remy if he decides to go full Bloodletter on his ass.

“Nice and slow. Just like all the best things in life,” he answers, even as he sends me a cheeky little wink. “They don’t call it The Big Easy for nothing.”

Flint bursts out laughing—which he hastily turns into a cough when Hudson turns to stare at him with narrowed eyes.

“Sorry,” he murmurs.

Hudson sighs and rubs his eyes like he’s got the world’s biggest headache…which seems fair, to be honest. Remy is…a lot.

“So what do we need to do?” I ask, hoping to give him a chance to regroup.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment since the day I was born,” Remy replies. “So the first thing you need to do? Listen to me.”

“You remember the day you were born?” I ask, which is, admittedly, the most inane of the questions racing around in my brain. But it’s the one that somehow comes out, partly because it seems ridiculous and partly, I think, because the paranormal world is just bizarre enough that that could actually be a thing, especially considering I am currently sitting with a dragon, a vampire, a warlock, and a manticore. Anything is possible.

Remy doesn’t answer right away, and after a few seconds, I decide he’s not going to answer at all. But then he says, “When you’re born in a prison, you tend to remember it.”

“You were born here?” Flint asks. “That’s…”

“What it is,” Remy finishes with a warning look. It’s obvious he doesn’t want any sympathy from us, but that seems impossible when my heart is breaking for him.

Still, I clear my throat in an effort to sound normal and not all choked up. “So you’ve never been outside these walls?”

“It’s not so bad.” He shrugs. “Once you learn how the prison works, you do okay. It’s not like I’m lacking for anything.”

Except freedom. And fresh air. And the choice of what to do with any and every part of his life.

He’s right. It’s not so bad. It’s horrible. Especially when I think about the fact that he did nothing to get here. He’s spent his entire life locked up in this prison simply for the crime of being born.

Actually, it’s beyond horrible.

“I’m—” I break off, not sure what to say.

But Remy just shakes his head. “Please don’t tell me you’re sorry.”

“It’s hard not to,” I respond.

“It shouldn’t be. Not for you.”

I don’t understand. “Why not?”

“Because, cher. You’re the only thing I’ve been living for for the last couple of years. And hearing you say you’re sorry about that would plain break my heart.”

111

I Never Asked to Be

Your Saving Grace…But

Someone’s Got to Do It

“What exactly does that mean?” Hudson’s voice cuts like broken glass through the silence.

“It means I’ve been waiting for her for a long time.” Remy smiles at me. “You disappeared for a little while there, but you came back a few weeks ago. And I, for one, have to say that I am intensely grateful for whatever put you back on the path of debauchery and mayhem that landed you in this fine establishment.”