The Cage (Book 2)

Taboo

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Taboo

"You heard me."

Cade went to lean against the bars, folding his branch-like arms across the wide expanse of his chest. The change in his demeanor was unexpected, like a mask falling to reveal what was really underneath. The grim look on his face filled me with a dreadful sense of foreboding, and I couldn't believe he'd come into my cell joking.

In my mind, I replayed Cade's even grimmer words: Schneider's leadership is being questioned. They're saying if he can't control his bitch and keep her from escaping, he can't control this prison.

My breakfast was quickly forgotten, so much so that it slid out of my lap and the tray clattered to the ground, spilling its contents across the floor. Neither of us moved to clean it up -well, in my injured state, I couldn't.

It seemed that I'd unwittingly done more damage than I ever intended or anticipated.

Fuck, this was bad. This was really, really bad.

"Who's in a position to question Schneider's authority?" I wasn't sure how Schneider ever came to be in power in what was supposed to be a private-owned maximum security prison, but his authority had seemed undisputed by guard and prisoner alike. He'd seemed above reproach, his word a command to be followed.

Until I showed up, that is.

Feelings of regret and guilt nestled deep in my chest, carving a gaping cavity through which cold air blew. I suddenly felt the urge to bury myself in the covers up to my chest.

"Who do you think?" Cade growled.

Hazarding a guess, I tentatively said, "The... guards?"

"Who fucking else? They've been looking for a mistake to hold over Schneider's head these past few months ever since he became the King." Cade's eyes zeroed in on me like a missile locking on target and I shuddered at the intensity of his gaze. Once, he may have looked at me with endearment or even pity, but such emotions were gone from his eyes now. He was very, very upset with me. "And you gave it to them." The accusation in his voice hurt.

Despite knowing that Cade's words were probably true, I felt the lawyer in me rising to protest and question this hurtful charge. "How would me escaping count as a mistake to hold over Schneider's head? It's my mistake, not his."

Wasn't this a strike on my own record than anyone else's?

"You escaped under Schneider's watch. He's the one who let you out of the prison in the first place, so you were his responsibility. Not to mention that he declared you as his bitch to all the prison. Hence, you're now his liability." Cade sighed agitatedly. "A lot of things go here, but that's one taboo we never break. If you do, you better make damn sure you don't come back." Cade glowered at me, not bothering to hide back his scorn. A muscle ticked in his strong jaw. "You didn't even manage to escape for a day. How did you think you could ever escape off this island?"

That stung. But the truth often did. Cade was right. In all of it. I was a colossal idiot for letting fear and suspicion cloud my judgment and stir me into unwise action without a care for consequences. And what did I get for my efforts? I'd nearly gotten myself killed, and Schneider was now under fire because of me.

If Schneider had really intended any ill will toward me, he would have left me to die from the snake bite on that beach. The urgency in his face and voice as he rushed me back to the prison, urging me to fight off unconsciousness and stay with him, was still crystal clear in my mind.

Shame clung to me like a mantle. The guilt weighed heavily on my shoulders, as painful as the bite marks on my side, if not more.

Schneider must hate my guts by now. He definitely regretted ever helping me. I knew I would if I were in his precarious position. I couldn't stomach the thought. It made me want to curl up on my side and weep. He was my only ally here -Did I lose him too?

"What are the guards doing exactly?" I had an inkling what those motherfuckers were up to, but I wanted to know the full extent of it.

Those goddamn fucking vindictive pieces of shit. Even Schneider wasn't safe from their scheming and evil plots?!

"Man, you don't know anything, do you. They're going to make this as big of a deal as possible, hoping to rile the whole prison against Schneider. Once people start turning on Schneider, it will be much easier to remove him from his position as the highest ranking boss."

So, even in prison there was politics. The guards were vying for power, it seemed, or so I could only assume. They wanted Schneider out of the picture so they could do what they wanted. Including get to me without Schneider to stand in their way.

In my stupidity, I'd fucked myself over, big time.

I attempted to swallow the lump that lodged itself in my throat. "What can I do to make this right?" Surely, there was something I could do...

"You can sit in one place and do nothing." Cade straightened off the bars and slipped out of the cell, the door sliding shut behind him on a wave of his hand.

I couldn't blame him for his reaction. I may have single-handedly dethroned his king. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

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