FANGED

Chapter Twenty-Four

A long drawn out sigh came from the other side of the wall. "Answer the question, Red. Are you alright?"

"I'm plastered like a Farrah Fawcett poster to an adolescent teenage boy's wall, what do you think?" I snapped irritably.

"I take it that means you are also chained?"

"I can't pull the wool over your eyes, Fang," I drawled, rolling my eyes even though I knew he couldn't see me. "Did you have a nice nap Rip Van Winkle?" I didn't even bother to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I knew I shouldn't blame him for this, but since it was his idea to come to the Colony in the first place...I totally was.

"Fucking Nicolai," he grumbled. I could hear some muffled rattling as he cussed and moved around.

"Are you chained to the wall too?"

"No. I'm strapped down on some kind of stone table."

"Oh sure," I grunted. "You get the upgraded room...figures."

He laughed drily. "I hardly classify it as an upgrade."

"Yeah...well at least you get to lay down. I'm stuck in a yoga pose from hell." Not that I had any idea what I was talking about. I've taken a total of one yoga class in my life and I spent the entire hour praying I wouldn't fart as the instructor tried to turn my body into a pretzel. Whoever said yoga gives you inner peace, never did a pose where you are staring at your inner thighs. A sight I am reluctant to ever see again.

"Trust me...it's not all that comfortable for me either," he muttered.

"Oh! You poor baby. I'll just pop down and give room service a call to come fluff up your pillow...oh, wait! That's right...I can't because I'm chained to a damn wall!" I wiggled around clanging my chains until my headache couldn't take not one more rattle. Exhausted from my effort, I flopped my head back, wincing in pain when it connected with the wall. Great...just flipping great.

"I know you're upset, Red, but try to stay calm." His annoyingly composed voice came oozing from the stone wall and I glared at it.

"Calm? You want me to stay calm when I'm in a torture chamber straight out of The Game of Thrones?" I snorted. "Hey, I have a better idea. How about you ghost your sweet ass over here and GET ME DOWN!"

"You think I have a sweet ass?"

"Focus, Fang. We're in the bowels of the castle here. Forget your ass for a minute and get your Casper on."

"As much as I would like ghost over there and get you down, I can't," he said.

"Why not?"

Another heavy sigh floated through the grimy stones. "Because the chains and walls are reinforced with lead."

"And you're afraid of a little lead poisoning?"

"No...lead keeps vampires from being able to dissipate."

My stomach plummeted down to my toes. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, Melanie." The resignation in his voice made the fear I had been holding at bay start climbing up my spine.

Silence filled the chamber and I swear...I could hear the screams of prisoners past. Swallowing the terror clawing at me, I flicked my eyes around the room, looking for something...anything that would get us out of this. Preferably alive. Where's MacGyver when you needed him?

"What was Nico-lame talking about when he said you refused the throne?" I asked the emptiness to get my mind off our shitty situation.

"Nico-lame?" Soft laughter drifted across my cell. "Tell me you didn't call him that?"