Trigger warning: violence, abuse of a minor.
Song: Darkside (Neoni)
Jinx POV
Jinx gave nothing away.
But inside, her thoughts were in complete turmoil.
Vi was alive?
Vi hadn’t abandoned her?
Countless questions swirled through her mind.
And the only man who supposedly had the answers was standing right in front of her.
A man she didn’t trust in the slightest.
Why would he waste his precious time telling her about her sister?
Why would he try to drive a wedge between her and Silco?
She might have believed him…
If she hadn’t had that conversation with her father.
She had never hidden the fact that she feared he would one day use her to further his own ambitions.
But Silco had made the greatest gesture he possibly could.
He had set her free.
Bad timing, Marcus, she thought.
Without warning, she grabbed him by the throat and teleported.
When she opened her eyes again, they were standing in front of the manor gates.
She strolled leisurely through the forest while Marcus struggled desperately in her grip.
It didn’t matter anymore.
She wasn’t mortal.
He could keep trying if he wanted.
“You see, Marcus,” she said casually as they walked, “there’s one little problem with your story.”
“My father would never have hidden my sister’s existence.”
“Or at least…
not before killing her.”
“I know him well.”
“And Vi reminds him far too much of Vander for him to leave her alive.”
“So there are a few lies in your story.”
“Or perhaps a few very important omissions.”
She smiled.
“But don’t worry.”
“I’m going to help you find the light.”
She kept walking until they reached a clearing.
A gentle smile spread across her face when she spotted the tent.
So many good memories were tied to that place.
Humming to herself, Jinx stepped inside and made her way down to the dungeon her wife apparently believed she had managed to hide from her.
She ignored the screams echoing through the chamber as Marcus began trembling with terror.
“Don’t worry,” she said lightly.
“That’s just my wife…
having a little fun.”
When she stepped inside, she found her wife lounging on a sofa.
“Please…
just kill me…” one of the men groaned.
“Oh, come now, Nathan,” Hope replied.
“I’m sure you’ve got a little more courage than that.”
As she spoke, a spell slowly flayed the man’s skin, layer by agonizing layer.
Jinx rolled her eyes.
Her wife was always so dramatic.
She had figured out where that particular trait came from the moment she’d met Klaus.
She suspected the rest of the Mikaelsons were exactly the same.
” Silencio” Jinx murmured.
The four men instantly lost the ability to speak.
Hope was far more skilled than she was when it came to nonverbal magic.
“Who’s this?” Hope asked.
“The Sheriff of Piltover.”
Jinx chained Marcus to the wall and locked his cage.
“Weren’t you supposed to be working in your workshop?” Hope asked.
“I find it rather strange that the Sheriff would pay you a visit.”
Jinx sighed before wrapping her arms around her wife.
“You know I wasn’t there,” she admitted at last.
“I had a feeling,” Hope replied.
“But…
did it help?”
Jinx nodded.
“Why aren’t you angry?”
“I’m sure you wanted me as far away from that alley as possible.”
“Jinx, I’m your wife, not your jailer.”
“I love you, and I trust you.”
“If you wanted to go there, then I assume you had a good reason.”
She glanced at the men chained to the walls.
“But, Jinx…
I never want to see that scene again.”
Her voice faltered.
“I can’t.”
“It broke me.”
“I know,” Jinx said softly.
“I felt it.”
“I think our bond has become stronger.”
“It’s the only explanation for how I was able to speak to you inside your mind.”
“I can hear words from you now,” Hope admitted, “but they’re…
blurred.”
“Maybe we just need to give it more time.”
Jinx turned to look at the Sheriff, who was silently watching the others endure their torture.
“I need your help getting into his mind,” she said.
“Without damaging it.”
“Why?” Hope asked.
“He knows where my sister is.”
“I could search his memories for you.”
Jinx shook her head.
“No.”
“I need to see for myself.”
“I need to know what happened to Vi.”
“I really need to.”
Her voice trembled.
Hope tightened her embrace and kissed her forehead.
“Okay.”
“Then let’s get to work.”
“Entering someone’s mind is much more complicated than using compulsion, but it follows the same principles.”
“The arts of the mind…” Hope began.
“Are you sure about this?” Hope asked.
“We can practice on another prisoner first.”
“I’m sure,” Jinx said before hesitating.
“Just…
be here when I come back,” she pleaded.
“Always, sweetheart.”
“Always.”
Then Jinx dove in.
She felt a slight resistance, but it was nothing compared to someone who had actually been trained to shield their mind.
The mind was like a series of layers.
The more layers there were, the stronger the protection.
Marcus had only three.
Just slightly more than an ordinary human.
He must have received some mental training during his Enforcer education.
Unfortunately for him…
She was stronger.
At last, she saw a scene she wished she could forget.
Her sister, seen from behind, had just slapped her.
Jinx watched Vi walk away.
She watched herself beg her to come back.
In vain.
But then the memory shifted, giving her a different point of view.
Vi hadn’t gone far.
She was crying.
She looked back at Jinx, clearly about to return to her—
When Marcus grabbed her from behind and pressed a chloroform-soaked cloth over her face.
Jinx watched as Marcus carried the unconscious Vi onto a boat.
The memory followed them until they reached Stillwater Prison.
“A new prisoner,” the warden said.
“Aren’t they a little young?” he added, looking at Vi.
“Young, maybe,” Marcus replied, “but violent.
She’s the one who blew up the Kiramman building.”
“Really?”
“A Councilor’s property?”
A cruel smile spread across the man’s face.
“Then if she’s such a tough girl, I’ll make sure she understands she’s not in the Undercity anymore.”
Marcus nodded before handing Vi over to the guards.
The image dissolved.
Another memory took its place.
Vi sat alone in her cell, pounding her fists against the wall.
“What do you want?” she demanded when she saw Marcus.
“I just came to tell you one thing,” Marcus said.
“I don’t want to hear a single word about what happened that night at the warehouse.”
“Is that clear?”
Vi spat on the floor.
“You want me to forget you’re a crooked bastard who sold himself to Silco?”
“Fat chance.”
Marcus sighed.
“I thought you’d say that.”
He snapped his fingers.
A group of guards unlocked the cell door and began beating her.
Jinx could only watch the scene unfold…
Powerless.
When the guards finally stepped back, Marcus spoke again.
“And now?”
“Have you changed your mind?”
Jinx looked at her sister’s bruised and bloodied face and felt her composure begin to crack.
Vi beckoned Marcus closer.
He leaned down toward her.
“Go fuck yourself.”
She drove her knee straight into his groin.
Marcus crumpled to the floor.
Jinx couldn’t help but feel a flicker of satisfaction.
But Marcus, grimacing in pain, motioned to the guards.
“Keep going.”
“When I come back…
I expect her to be obedient.”
Groaning, he staggered toward the exit.
Behind him, the sickening sound of fists striking flesh echoed through the corridor.
The memory dissolved once more, and another scene took its place.
Vi was sitting against the wall of her cell.
She glared at Marcus with undisguised hatred.
“My mistake,” Marcus said.
“I thought force would be enough to persuade you.”
“But you’ve lived with violence your entire life.”
“I forgot that with people like you…
you have to strike the heart.”
He paused, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
“I wonder how your little sister would feel about joining you here.”
“One word from me, and she’ll be checking into this fine establishment with you.”
“You won’t touch her!” Vi shouted, throwing herself against the bars.
“Don’t be so sure.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“It’s your choice.”
“Your sister can spend the rest of her childhood behind these four walls…”
“…or out on the filthy streets of the Undercity.”
“It has always been your choice, Vi,” he finished, almost gently.
Vi’s face fell.
She slowly turned her back on him.
“Fine.”
“I’ll never tell anyone that the great Sheriff Marcus was working with Silco…
or that he had a hand in Sheriff Grayson’s death.”
“Satisfied?”
“Very,” Marcus replied.
“Have a nice life in here, Vi.”
“You’ll never see another sunrise.”
Marcus never approached Vi’s cell again.
The only things he saw were the reports that occasionally landed on his desk:
Prisoner fights.
An assault on a guard.
Disciplinary incidents.
But he never went back to visit Prisoner 516. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
When Jinx opened her eyes again, she fixed a cold, merciless stare on the unconscious man before her.
“Sweetheart?
Jinx?”
“Jinx, are you okay?”
Jinx flinched as she felt Hope’s hand gently rest on her shoulder.
“Hope…”
“Can you make him suffer as much as the others…”
“…without leaving any marks?”
“I still need him for a little while.”
Hope studied her wife in silence before answering.
“I could.”
“But he’s the Sheriff.”
“If he disappears, people will notice.”
“And what if he doesn’t disappear…
not yet?”
Hope tilted her head.
“I’m listening.”
“I need you to compel him.”
“A compulsion so strong he’ll believe he’s always been this way.”
“What kind of compulsion?” Hope asked.
“He must obey every order we give him.”
“Without ever questioning it.”
“And from this moment on…”
“…he won’t feel any joy.”
“No warmth.”
“Nothing.”
“Not until I lift the command.”
“Jinx?” Hope asked cautiously.
“I’ll explain later.”
“Can you do it?”
Over the next few seconds, Hope wove an intricate web of compulsion through Marcus’s mind.
“It’s done.”
The man began shivering uncontrollably.
He looked as though he had lost something precious…
Without knowing what it was.
Jinx teleported him back to the alley.
“You’re going to release my sister.”
“I want her here by tomorrow.”
“Ma’am,” Marcus replied mechanically, “that’s not something I can do without a Councilor’s seal.”
“You’re the one who arrested her!”
“You’re the Sheriff!” Jinx snapped.
“The moment she was arrested for a crime against a Councilor,” Marcus answered, “her fate passed into the Council’s hands.”
Jinx’s kick sent Marcus sprawling to the ground.
“You’re useless!” she shouted.
Before she could lunge at him again, two arms wrapped gently around her.
“Sheriff Marcus,” Hope said calmly, “return to your duties.
We’ll contact you when we require your services.”
The man obeyed without hesitation.
“You followed me?”
“Why did you follow me?”
“I thought you trusted me!”
The moment the words left her mouth, Jinx felt the sadness radiating through Hope.
She had hurt her.
She had taken her anger out on the one person who had done nothing wrong.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m so sorry.”
The words dissolved into sobs as she buried her face against Hope’s chest.
“It’s okay, my love.”
“It’ll be okay.”
“We’ll fix this.”
“I promise.”
Hope held her for another moment before teleporting them back to their bedroom at the manor.
For several long minutes, she simply comforted her wife.
“She didn’t want to leave me.”
“He locked her away in Stillwater.”
“She was there all those years…”
“…and I never knew.”
“Even alone…”
“Even while she was suffering…”
“She was still protecting me.”
“And I did nothing.”
“Nothing.”
“How am I supposed to look her in the eye, Hope?”
“I worked with Silco while she was being beaten.”
“She’s your sister,” Hope said softly.
“It may take time…”
“But one day, she’ll forgive you.”
“Believe me.”
“I come from a family where nearly everyone has tried to kill everyone else at least once.”
“I know what I’m talking about.”
She kissed Jinx gently on the forehead.
“Don’t worry.”
“We happen to have a very influential neighbor.”
“I’m sure he’ll be able to help us free your sister when the time comes.”
“A neighbor?”
“I thought nobody knew we lived here.”
“You spent an entire day putting protective spells over the estate.”
“Anti-intrusion.”
“Anti-UV for vampires.”
“Anti-everything.”
“I’m pretty sure anyone trying to leave the forest would end up wandering through a magical maze.”
Hope smiled innocently.
“I like doing things properly.”
That finally drew a laugh from Jinx—the first genuine one since she’d returned.
“In the meantime…”
Hope hesitated for a moment.
“Would you do me a huge favor?”
“What kind of favor?” Jinx asked.
Hope smiled warmly.
“Would you let me take you on a date?”