Free Shadow Soldier by Kali Argent

the Bastille to see them.”
    Since he hadn’t technically asked a question, Roux stared straight ahead and did her best to ignore him. Just because she didn’t casually toss around the word “friend” didn’t mean she was indifferent to what happened to Cade and the others men.
    “Tell me,” he continued, clearly amused, “if you really don’t care, why is this so important to you?”
    “I owe them,” she answered, the words spilling from her lips before she’d registered the intention to say them. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, and it was the closest she could get to telling him the truth. “Especially Cade.”
    “Cade?” Deke’s voice didn’t waver, but the cords in his neck strained. “Is he…yours?”
    What had happened between her and Cade, it was in the past, and it had never been about anything more than a mutual release of tension. “No, he’s not mine, whatever that means. Like I said, I owe him, that’s it.”
    Deke grunted, but he didn’t say anything further on the subject as he led her past the last brick building. Beyond the intersection, the cobblestone streets of the Square gave way to asphalt-paved roads lined on either side with newer, more modern shops. Jewelry, clothing, shoes, toys, electronics, appliances—the row of businesses contained everything she could possibly want, and some things she’d almost forgotten existed.
    Past the stores with their gleaming windows and colorful displays, the blacktop curved to the south, opening to green fields and sparse forests. Atop the highest hill and surrounded by a black, iron fence sat a white, three-story mansion with towering columns and sprawling balconies.
    Roux stared up at the pretentious house with an arched brow and wrinkled her nose. “That’s not excessive or anything.”
    “The royals enjoy their luxuries.” With a shrug, Deke turned her away from the mansion, leading her in the opposite direction.
    “Are they really royalty?”
    “Yes and no.” He pointed toward a concrete building set into the mouth of the forest and nudged her toward it. “The Diavolos family is the oldest and wealthiest line of vampires in North America. They’re considered nobility amongst the paranormal community, but they aren’t royalty like you’d think of the title.”
    Roux didn’t know how she could use the information, but she filed it away for future reference. “And this place?” she asked, nodding toward the stone building. “This is the Bastille?”
    “That’s just what the guards call it. You can think of it like a holding center. When refugees come in—”
    “You mean humans. When you kidnap humans and bring them here against their will, what happens after that?” Her irritation flared when he laughed at her. “What’s so funny?”
    “You.” Deke shook his head as he urged her ahead of him. “After everything you’ve seen this morning, you still think this place is a prison.”
    One hour didn’t erase the horrible things she’d seen during the past eighteen months. “Forgive me if I remain skeptical.”
    Instead of debating her, Deke shook his head again and stepped forward to push open the huge, metal door. “There’s an infirmary in the basement,” he said as they entered a wide, sterile corridor. “You need to get that arm looked at before we leave.”
    Roux ran her fingertips over the gauze bandage on her forearm. It didn’t hurt as much anymore, and the bleeding had stopped. The gash didn’t go deep enough to require stitches, and as long as she kept it clean, the risk of infection was minimal.
    “I’m fine. It barely even hurts today.”
    Deke said nothing.
    At the end of the hallway, he pushed open a set of double, swinging doors to reveal a room that brought back memories of her high school cafeteria, right down to the deafening volume of noise. Long, collapsible tables with bench seats covered most of the gray and white checkered tiles, and dozens of people milled about the rectangular room.
    The