Chapter Eleven

“You’re sure about this?” Wreck asked.

They were parked in the visitor’s parking lot of Cold Foot Prison. Not that they had been allowed to have visitors. This lot was all for show. Now, it was full of media.

Wreck had parked the truck at the very end of a row, just to observe the chaos.

“I’m sure,” King rumbled. “Besides, our treatment will probably improve after what Damon is doing with this investigation.”

“Going back into the cage for personal vengeance.” There was a smile in Wreck’s voice.

“Nah. I don’t even know Rook. All I know is the scar that he carved into Katrina’s face.”

“Silver’s face too,” Wreck murmured thoughtfully, eyes on the back entrance of the prison. “There’s our ticket in. Let’s go.”

The man of the hour, Damon Daye, the blue dragon himself, was striding out of the prison with half a dozen other people. Every shifter on this planet knew Damon Daye. He held the power, and had used it for good to advocate for shifters. His gutting of Cold Foot was another notch on his belt that said he was building his legacy as a fucking legend.

Such a boss.

King shoved the door open and followed Wreck toward Damon and his people.

Damon swung his gaze directly to Wreck, to King, and back to Wreck. He said something low to his team and veered straight for them.

“There’s cameras with special mics that can pick up everything,” Damon whispered. “If this is about the Crew, the answer is no.”

“It’s not about the Crew,” King told him. “I know I’m out. I’m not fighting it.”

Damon’s eyes narrowed. They were silver-colored and had elongated pupils, and the air all around them felt heavier by the moment. “What is it about?”

“He wants at Rook,” Wreck murmured softly.

Damon straightened his spine, lifted his chin, and stared at King for a three-count before he glanced around at the media that were headed their way. “Come with me.” He did an about-face and strode quickly for the prison.

King caught a glance from Wreck, and then they matched the dragon’s pace, following closely.

“How long were you in solitary?” Damon asked.

“Two years, and then was dropped into the breeding program in a cell by myself for the last couple of months.”

“Who will know you?” Damon asked, leading them through a gate and past the fence with the coils of razor wire.

“The guards. The others in the breeding program. Namely a breeder named Jackal.”

“The Jackal is dead,” Damon said in an emotionless tone.

King flashed Wreck a look, and the Alpha nodded. “I’ll make sure Raynah knows.”

Good. Wreck was good at sensing what needed to be done. He was good at giving closure.

“The guards won’t be a problem. All have been removed from the premises. We are hiring all-new staff that will be monitored by my team and held accountable for fair treatment. Not soft treatment,” Damon amended. “The prisoners will serve the sentence they deserve, but the experimenting, torture, and breeding programs are snuffed out of existence as of yesterday.” There was a tremor of rage in the dragon’s voice now.

King would hate to be on his bad side.

“This Rook…” Damon said as he beeped his key card against the reader at the door into the prison. “He is the same Rook that went after the Fastlanders?”

“Yes.”

The dragon looked up at a camera on the eaves of the building and pushed the door open, stood by as King and Wreck passed. “Did you bring any metal on you?”

“No,” King answered. “I can do what I need to do with my hands.”

The dragon’s eyebrows drew up, and then he nodded once and gestured for him and Wreck to walk through the metal detector, where a pair of guards King didn’t recognize were waiting with metal-detecting wands in hand.

King went through, and so did Wreck. Damon followed, nodded to the guards, and then gestured for King and Wreck to follow him down a narrow hallway. He opened a door, and waited for them to go in ahead of him.

“There are no cameras or mics in here,” Damon said simply. “Why are you back here?”

“To teach Rook a lesson about disfiguring women.”

“Specifically Katrina?” Damon guessed.

King didn’t answer with words. Just nodded once.

“Your brother—”

“Hurt a woman, and no I do not have remorse. The only regret I have is that I ended his life in town, where there were human witnesses. That wasn’t some grand plan. He had it coming. I didn’t plan on it being a public Challenge.”

“Wreck told me to look up some pictures of a woman. Mariah Frey.”

Another nod from King.

“I did.” Damon inhaled sharply. “Do you know what happened to her?”

“Yes. That’s why my brother is dead.”

“No, I mean afterward?”

King shrugged. “Wreck told me some.”

A slow smile took Damon’s face. “He told you she paired up? She has a baby girl? Her mate is a silverback, and a good one. I’ve always liked him for a family group. I talked to her on the phone this morning, just to check on her. She’s happy, King. Do you know what she asked me to tell you, if I ever got the chance?”

“What?”

“Thank you.”

King dropped his gaze to the white tiles of the floor, and focused on a crack in one so the dragon wouldn’t see the emotion on his face. He cleared his throat. “If you ever talk to her again, tell her she’s welcome.”

“I can transfer Rook to solitary—”

“I don’t want him like that,” King said somberly. “I want it public. Like he did to Katrina. I want him to always remember the faces of the crowd as they don’t help him.”

“And if they try to help him?” Damon asked.

King lifted his head slowly and leveled the blue dragon with a look. “Then I’ll take them all.”