“Where is Sammi now?” Ana asks.
“And where’s Ethan?”
“Ethan’s in the bullshit that passes for a jail around here. We haven’t seen Sammi since it all happened,” Luis replies.
A building headache grows behind my eyes, but I push it aside.
“Take me to Ethan.”
∞∞∞
“That building up there,” Luis says in a quiet voice, pointing ahead. “They won’t let me and Papi get close, we’ve tried.”
I nod absently as my eyes follow the movements around the building. After so long in The Tomb this so-called prison is pathetic to me, but I suppose killing everyone and breaking Ethan out would be a bit at odds with the idea of lying low. I dart a glance at Ana and notice her assessing the building in much the same way and I feel a tug pull up the corner of my lip.
“Maybe I should try first?” she asks, her eyes still moving.
“No,” I reply. “We go together.”
I meet her gaze and we war with our eyes until finally she huffs her agreement. Luis heads back to the bar to wait for us.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” she mutters to me as we walk up together. Outside of the building, two men stand at the door and eye us warily as we approach.
“Hello,” Ana says warmly, stopping a few feet in front of them. “How are you gentlemen this fine day?”
The two men look at one another and then back to her.
“Keep it moving,” one says and the other just crosses his arms. I fight to hold back another smirk and wait to see how Ana handles this. She shifts slightly before continuing.
“I heard a friend of ours was arrested yesterday, we were just hoping to see him actually.”
One of the guards frowns and tilts his head to the other, whispering something.
“Not a chance,” the first one says. “No one allowed in until The Watch gets here.”
“But—”
“You heard the man, fuck off!”
Before Ana can react to this I am already in front of the man with a blade at his throat. I stare into his eyes, keeping my voice low and measured.
“That is no way to talk to a lady. Now, why don’t you let us in to see our friend real quick before I have to slit your fucking throat even quicker.”
The man pales and nods to his companion, who's staring at me like I’m the devil, to open the door. Ana is glaring at me and I don’t doubt I’ll get an earful later, but what the fuck was I supposed to do? Sit back and let this wormy fucker disrespect my woman?
When the door swings open, I drop the blade and grin at the man in front of me.
“Glad we could work things out,” I say before striding into the building. Snakes curl under my skin at the feeling of being inside stone walls once more. The walls that would have once seemed like home now feel oppressive and confining. The familiar smells of hot stone and piss fill my nostrils and I grit my teeth and move faster, ignoring the few other prisoners as we pass.
“Ax? Ana? How the hell did you get in here!” Ethan exclaims as we step up to his—incredibly shitty—jail cell.
“I’m very persuasive,” I tell him, and I can feel Ana roll her eyes beside me.
“What the hell happened?” she asks, ignoring me completely.
“Where’s Sammi?” Ethan asks quickly.
“We’ll find her after this,” Ana says soothingly, “but tell us what happened, it’s important.”