- Elias Carter:
The metallic click of boot heels echoed down the long corridor, a slow, steady rhythm against the silence. Raine and I followed behind the four prisoners as they were led back to their cells, their chains dragging softly over the ground. None of them spoke. Not this time.
Jaxon walked with his usual stillness, a mountain of a man whose silence seemed to press heavier than the air itself. Kai was beside him, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds as if checking on him. Luca walked a little ahead of them, straight-backed, eyes darting like he was taking in every bolt and seam in the corridor. Damon, of course, trailed behind, as if he was taking his time on a casual stroll rather than being escorted back to a cell.
Raine glanced at me but said nothing. I could feel her tension—the same as mine—but we both knew how to keep it beneath the surface. For now.
The doors were already open when we reached the row of cells. Kai paused outside, waiting for Raine to remove his cuffs. I stepped forward, but Raine raised a hand lightly.
"I'll take the first three, and you take Damon," she teased.
I rolled my eyes at her and stepped aside as she moved to Jaxon first.
Jaxon didn't look at her. Not at me. Not at anything. He just stood there, hands out, wrists thick and bruised from the metal restraints.
Raine wordlessly slid the key into the first cuff, then the second. The chains fell away with a dull clatter, and Jaxon dropped his arms slowly back to his sides. He didn't move otherwise—no gratitude, no reaction at all.
Then came Kai.
Raine turned to him next and unlocked the cuffs around his wrists. The moment the second one fell away, he didn't even acknowledge her. He spun immediately, stepping into the cell towards Jaxon and grabbing both of the man's hands in his.
His grip was firm, almost desperate. He whispered something into Jaxon's ear—too soft for us to hear—but the effect was clear. Jaxon gave the smallest of nods, and Kai smiled, not at us, not at the room, just at him.
It was… intimate.
Raine hesitated beside them, visibly surprised. So was I.
When she moved to Luca, he was already standing with his hands politely extended toward her.
"Thank you," he said, his voice calm, articulate, almost melodic. "And… I wanted to say I appreciate what you did earlier. In the cafeteria."
Raine blinked at him. "Oh?"
He offered a small smile. "Most wouldn't have said anything. But you did. Thank you for standing up for Jaxon."
She nodded quietly as she unlocked his cuffs.
"You're welcome."
"I know most people think of us as one thing," Luca continued softly, flexing his wrists once the chains were off. "But it means something—to be seen differently, even if just for a moment."
There was a weight in his words, but he didn't wait for a response. With a quiet nod, he turned and stepped into his cell, folding his hands behind his back as he settled in like a man preparing to read, not a man in captivity.
That left one.
Damon.
He was already watching me as I sighed and approached him. I couldn't help the way my shoulders tensed, even as I told myself not to let it show. His wrists were raised slightly, already waiting.
I stepped close.
Raine hovered nearby, but I knew she was enjoying setting me up.
I slid the key into the first cuff. His skin was warm beneath the metal. The cuff clicked open. Then the second.
That's when he spoke—low, quiet as if we were in on some private conversation no one else could hear.
"You touch chains like you've worn them before."
I stilled for a heartbeat, holding the cuff loosely in my fingers.
"Is that supposed to mean something?" I muttered.
He tilted his head slightly, a half-smile touching his lips. "Maybe. Maybe not."
He took a step closer—not aggressive, not overt—but enough to breach the space between us. I didn't move back.
"You're not like the others," he said. "You're trying so hard to pretend you don't see it. But you do."
I narrowed my eyes. "See what?"
Damon smiled. "Exactly."
Then, without waiting for me to respond, he turned and walked into his cell. He didn't glance back. Just sat down on the bench like he was lounging in a café as if the bars weren't there at all.
Raine stepped to my side and let out a breath.
"God, he gives me the creeps," she whispered.
"Yeah," I said, eyes still on him. "Same."
But deep down, I wasn't sure if it was just that.
Because Damon…
There was something else. Something worse than unsettling.
Something I hadn't figured out yet.
Raine didn't say anything as we both turned and stepped away from the cell doors, the heavy clang of the locks echoing behind us as one of the prison guards moved in to secure them properly. I could still feel the faint warmth from Damon's wrist on my fingers, and it annoyed me more than I wanted to admit.
We didn't speak as we walked down the corridor together, her hands in her jacket pockets, mine curled into fists. But she was watching me.
"He got under your skin," she said after a moment, voice soft, almost careful.
I glanced at her. "Not really."
She raised an eyebrow. "Elias, come on."
I didn't answer.
Raine sighed and slowed her pace until we matched step for step. "Jokes aside. You know, you've dealt with worse than him. So what is it? What's bothering you?"
I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. "It's not what he said. It's how he said it. Like he already knows something I don't. Like I'm playing catch-up in a game I didn't even agree to be part of."
Raine gave a short nod. "Yeah. He talks like he's watching the future happen and waiting for you to figure it out."
"That's poetic," I said dryly.
"Don't mock me," she said, elbowing me lightly.
A ghost of a smile touched my lips.
As we walked past the next wing of cells, I turned to glance over my shoulder. Damon hadn't moved from his bench. But I caught the tail end of a look—just the flicker of his eyes through the bars. Not staring. Just… watching. Measuring.
I looked away quickly.
"They're… close, aren't they?" I said, changing the subject. "Kai and Jaxon. And Kai with Luca. All of them with Damon."
Raine nodded slowly. "Very. I've seen loyalty before, but this is different. They don't move unless the others do. They react to each other like pieces of the same machine."
"It's like they're built to survive together," I said.
"Maybe they had to be."
We reached the door at the end of the hall, leading back to the main level. Raine pushed it open, and we stepped into the wide corridor beyond, the sterile lights overhead humming faintly.
"Luca's different, though," I added.
"Yeah," Raine said. "I noticed that too. The way he speaks, the way he holds himself—he's educated. More than you'd expect from someone raised in the Undercity."
"You think he wasn't?" I asked.
"I don't know. Maybe he was. Maybe he clawed his way out of it and chose to go back. Or maybe… maybe the Undercity isn't what we think it is."
I frowned. "That's dangerous thinking."
"It's honest thinking," she corrected.
We reached our wing and headed for our rooms. I slowed at my door, hand on the panel. Raine stopped beside me.
"I'm going to stay up a bit. Read over the reports again," she said.
I nodded. "Let me know if you find anything we missed."
She didn't leave right away. "Hey," she said after a second, "you did good in there."
I looked at her, surprised. "Thanks."
"I mean it. Damon messes with your head, but you don't flinch. That matters."
"He doesn't scare me," I said.
She smiled faintly. "Good. Just… don't underestimate him either."
I watched her walk off down the hall, her boots soft on the smooth floor. Then I stepped into our room and let the door slide shut behind me.
But even in the quiet, even with the lights dimmed and the noise of the prison fading into nothing, I couldn't shake the weight of Damon's voice in my head.
You touch chains like you've worn them before.
What the hell did he mean by that?
And why did it feel like he wasn't wrong? Like he is telling I will be wearing them soon.