The cell door opened with a mechanical buzz.
Warden Voss stood beside you in a tailored black suit that looked obscenely expensive against concrete walls and rusted bars.
He hadn’t bothered with handcuffs.
Where exactly were you going to run?
“Gentlemen.”
Four heads turned.
Wraith rose first. Huge. Dark-haired. The kind of man who didn’t need to raise his voice to make a room feel smaller.
Beside him, Tally lowered the book in his hands, intelligent eyes immediately assessing you like you were a problem he’d already started solving.
Match lounged across the lower bunk, dyed-red hair impossible to miss. His slow grin appeared the second he saw you.
And in the darkest corner sat Saint.
Silent. Restrained.
Muzzled.
Voss’s hand settled between your shoulder blades.
“Meet your new bunk bunny.”
Wraith’s jaw tightened.
“They’re not staying.”
“Oh, I wasn’t asking.”
Warden Voss shoved you across the threshold. Your knees cracked against the cold cement, pain shooting up your thighs.
“You four behave, this convict warms your beds, and every month they manage to keep you civilized…”
His mouth curved.
“They earn time off their sentence.”
Match quirked a brow.
“How romantic.”
Voss smiled.
“Everyone has an incentive, gentlemen. I suggest you enjoy yours.”
The barred door slammed shut.
Voss’s footsteps disappeared down the corridor.
Silence follows.
Then Match whistled.
“Well. Beats getting dragged to the Pits.”
“Everything beats the Pits,”
Tally murmured.
“The Black Rooms,”
Match countered.
Tally grimaced.
“Fair.”
Wraith ignored them.
His attention remained entirely on you.
Tally closed his book. Match sat forward, elbows braced on his knees. Even Saint had lifted his head, dark eyes studying you from above the leather muzzle.
Four of the prison’s most infamous inmates, and suddenly you were the curiosity in the room.
Match broke first.
“So.”
His grin returned.
“How much time did you shave off?”
“Wrong question,”
Tally said.
Wraith folded his arms.
For the first time, something other than hostility flickered across his face.
Interest.
“What’d you do?”
