Chapter 10

Sometimes, Benji would utter something completely ridiculous and forget about it two minutes later, but the image that got seared into your brain was like getting Rick Rolled with pictures.

I was currently obsessed with Smurf nuns. Thanks for that, Benji. I wasn’t even going to be able to tell if they were blue, but Benji would definitely point it out when he got here.

I was picked up at the airport by a pretty intense orderly who seemed to think because I was blind, I also couldn’t hear. Father Nathan gave them this whole backstory about how I lost my sight performing an exorcism on a werewolf. It kind of explained the scarring, but not really. I didn’t have scratches, I had chemical burns. It seemed to be enough for the orderly and I didn’t plan on taking my glasses off, even though I could see better without them.

He had a really nasty aura and when I went to get out of the car, he also seemed to think I was lame and he needed to pick me up.

“No need. My body is fine and my cane will guide me,” I said.

He just grunted at me.

This was the test. I knew they lined the walls of these places with silver, but I hadn’t known it was angel tears that were also hobbling me. I had the bracelet the bearded man gave me on. Cas and Benji said it looked like silver, so it would be part of my cover. A supernatural wouldn’t be wearing it. I didn’t know of anything that could make us immune to silver, but I’d also never met auras like those three men before.

“After you,” the orderly said.

“No, I insist. I’m enjoying the fresh air.”

“Don’t dally.”

When he stepped into the building, I placed my hand on the wall and closed my eyes. I could sense the silver, but it wasn’t irritating me. I reached out with my magic and transfigured all of it into titanium. It would look close enough to silver to fool them if they decided to take a little closer look. It also aided in strength and mental clarity, so it would help them instead of hurt them.

I took in a breath. As soon as I stepped through that door, the angel tears were going to zap my magic. I knew what it felt like to be in one of these facilities. This time, they thought I was one of them, so they wouldn’t be torturing me. There was that singer who had that thing he wouldn’t do for love, but apparently coming back here wasn’t that for me because Benji needed this just as much as I did.

I shivered when I stepped through the door. It was different this time. With the silver and angel tears, I might as well be human. Now that I’d taken away their silver, I could feel my magic, I just couldn’t access it.

A man stepped in front of me. I could just tell that he was shorter than me and seemed to enjoy food from what limited vision I had left. I had to force myself to not physically recoil from this man. He’d done some bad things.

“Welcome, Father Niall. I’m Monsignor Hannibal and I run this facility. We’ve had an unfortunate situation in the basement recently, but you don’t have to worry about the monsters down there. It’s not really safe for you. I’ve taken over the basement. I’ve been told you were the best at identifying exactly what these creatures are, what kind of treatment they need, and if they need to go in the basement.

“I’m going to put you in our wing for new intakes. We get them from all over. New Eden specializes in the worst of them. We have some in the basement we can’t even get close to. I’ll show you to your room to get settled and let you learn the layout of the place.”

New intake was exactly where I needed to be when Benji and Cas got here. My room was pretty simple, based on the outlines I could see of it. There was a twin bed, a desk, a closet, and a crucifix on the wall. Thankfully, when I transfigured everything silver in the building, the crucifix went with it because they’d ask questions if I got rid of it and I didn’t want to sleep with silver right above my head.

Since I could feel my magic, but I couldn’t use it, I could also tell that someone important was in the basement. Not someone famous, but someone important to me. Could this person be coven or even the woman we’d been waiting so long for?

If she was, I had just enough magic to reach out to her. I could feel it. Green witch. Was this the green witch we’d been sent to fetch? Di and his friends could have convinced Cas much easier if they had mentioned that from the start. Because this one was in the basement right where Di said his girlfriend was.

I reached out to her with my mind. I had just enough magic to do that.

“Are you okay?”

“Who the fuck are you?” she demanded.

I liked her already. This place hadn’t broken her. She’d fit right in with us.

“A friend. You can call me Pax. I’m going to get us all out of here. Then, I’m going to take you to dinner.”

“Well, Pax, I already tried that and pissed off a fake priest who is now starving me. Good luck with getting everyone out, but you can’t take me to dinner.”

I growled. Food deprivation was one of their favorites because they were scared of us, even with the silver and angel tears. It kept us weak and unable to fight back. Our mate fought back, so they were punishing her, but we were going to get her out.

“You’d say no to a gourmet meal prepared by some pretty sexy cooks who fully plan to get everyone out of here after getting starved by a fake priest? So stubborn. Maybe you should think about how I’m able to talk to you.”

“I’m not fucking stupid and I’m probably a lot older than you. I know exactly what it means. I’m being fucked with and so are you. If you manage to break out of here, the best thing you can do is leave me. If you manage to get everyone out, don’t go to the cell you can’t see into. Get everyone away from here and pretend no one is in it. Forget I was ever here.”

Yeah, not going to happen. And she didn’t reject me. She just warned me away from her. Like that ever worked with mates. I didn’t know how long she’d been down here, but I knew exactly what it was like. I knew Cas could help me because he was like me but I was still terrified to leave with him. Cas was a part of me just as much as the mystery witch in the basement.

It took me a long time to trust people again. She would be no different from Benji and me. She didn’t need romance right now. She needed a friend and reassurances this would be over soon.

And that was what a mate did.