a shit job of cutting it himself, or the barber was a woman he couldn’t find
the clit of.
As I watched, amused, two shadowy tendrils wrapped around both his
wrists and forced his hands behind his back. Panic flared to life in his gaze,
but he couldn’t speak with the third shadow over his mouth. His eyes sparked
with his mage power, but before he could call on his gifts, a knife
materialized in Ryland’s hand and my shadow mate slashed it across his
throat in a demented, bloody smile.
Ryland’s ice-blue eyes shone in the darkness of the hall as he held the
blood-covered blade tightly in his grasp. Shadows converged on the two of
them, obscuring the disgusting mage completely from view.
I gave my love a brief nod of solidarity, one he returned, before he
diminished from sight once more, taking with him the man’s body and the
blood spilled on the floor.
No wonder shadows made the best fucking assassins and spies. Damn. I
was a little jealous I didn’t have those powers.
“I’m here!” a flamboyant voice called enthusiastically, forcing my
attention back to the crack in the door leading to the main parlor. A headache
formed behind my eyes as I watched Axel swagger into the room, Toby
trailing behind him on a leash. The human’s eyes flicked from face to face,
searching desperately for his girlfriend. When his gaze landed on Ali’s
crumpled, naked form, horror etched itself onto his features, followed
immediately by sadness and grief.
I’m sorry, Toby. I’m so, so sorry.
The mages present turned from one another to stare at Axel, who simply
flicked his hair away from his face and then plopped down onto one of the
couches. His shadows curled around his hands, and when they dissipated, he
had a lit cigar between his fingers. He brought it to his lips to take a drag…
and then began to cough dramatically, his face twisting into a scowl. He
tossed the still lit cigar to Toby, who struggled to catch it, before flashing a
blindingly white smile at the party goers. I trusted that smile just as much as I
trusted a shark circling the water in search of fresh blood. “Now the party can
truly begin.”
The mages appeared confused but quickly dismissed Axel as irrelevant.
Why would they worry, after all, when Axel was a nightmare just like them?
I only prayed that Axel’s confusing loyalty to me outweighed the one he
felt towards his fellow nightmares.
Somewhat satisfied that Axel could keep an eye on the humans, I moved
back down the hallway, towards where I noticed the kitchen to be.
Naked men and women hurried in and out of the room, carrying trays of
alcohol and other snacks. Their lifeless eyes barely spared me a glance as
they hurried to do the mages’ bidding. My eyes snagged on one woman
standing a little bit apart from the others, almost as if she wasn’t sure what to
do.
A familiar woman.
Like the others, Natalia was naked and covered in hideous bruises. Ropes
were wrapped around her body in a style I might’ve found artful if it hadn’t
been for the circumstances behind them. They were tied around her breasts,
causing the skin around her nipples to turn purple, and crisscrossed her
stomach.
When her eyes fell on me, they widened imperceptibly, a myriad of
emotions flitting across her face. At first, I saw hope, but then that hope
quickly transformed into fear and anger.
I hurried towards her, searching the kitchen for anything I could use to
free her from the bindings. As if he’d heard my thoughts, Ryland
materialized beside me, handed me his blade, and then disappeared from
view once more. Ignoring Natalia’s whine of fear, I hurried towards her and
sliced through the rope. She released a grunt of pain and immediately rubbed
at her bare breasts, still that ungodly purple color.
“What are you doing here?” she asked anxiously, crossing her arms over
her chest. I wanted to give her something to cover herself up, but I didn’t
dare. Not yet. If a mage were to see her in normal clothes before I could
implement my plan, everything would be ruined.
“I…I…” I opened and shut my mouth repeatedly before deciding to tell
her the truth. “I screwed up when I turned you away before. And I’m sorry. I
should’ve helped when I had the chance.”
kept sneaking furtive glances to where Ryland had disappeared to, as if she
thought he was looking at her nude, beaten body. I wanted to promise her that
my shadow mate would never violate her like that, and even if she wanted
him to look, he was loyal to me and our mate bond, but I knew my words
would fall on deaf ears. And after what she’d been through, I didn’t even
want to reassure her.
She deserved to be fucking furious.
“It’s not like you being here would’ve made a difference.” Natalia
wrapped one arm around her chest while she pushed a strand of orange hair
behind her ear with the other hand. “Ali was already dead when I arrived.”
Pure agony distorted her features, and she blinked rapidly to hold back the
tears.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered sincerely. Her grief was almost palpable. It made
my heart ache for her. I knew what it felt like to lose the people you loved,
and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
“I want them to pay. To suffer.” She finally dropped both hands to her
sides and clenched them into fists.
“They will,” I promised, holding up my necklace. Her brows furrowed
together as she stared at the potion visible in the translucent vial clasped to
the end of the stylish string.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a poison,” I explained, moving towards a tray full of glasses. The
human standing there stared at me impassively, not a flicker of emotion in his
gaze, before stepping aside. He didn’t speak, didn’t blink, just watched with a
deadened look that had my heart racing.
“A poison?” For the first time since I saw her in this hellhole, intrigue
entered Natalia’s eyes as she watched me pour a generous amount into each
glass. I then poured scotch into all of the glasses until the poison was no
longer visible.
“It’s one I’m…familiar with.”
Understatement of the century.
This was the same poison Zack had given me, the same one coursing
through my system, killing me slowly.
But according to Paco, if I gave these mages exactly three teaspoons…
It wouldn’t kill them slowly.
“You ready to get your revenge?” I quirked an eyebrow at Natalia, who
grinned sharply. She grabbed the tray from me and sashayed out the door.
Surprisingly, the human male followed us out too, a wicked glint
appearing in his eyes that had fear strangling my airways. I was just grateful
that malevolence didn’t seem to be directed at me.
Pasting a fake grin on my face, I entered the main living room and moved
through the crowd, dancing to the beat and ignoring the hands that grabbed at
me. I watched out of my periphery
as Natalia whispered to one of the girls
and then handed her a glass of poisoned scotch from her tray. That girl
immediately turned to a mage sitting on the couch, perched on his lap, and
then offered him a sultry grin. He cupped her bare breasts, twisting her
nipples, as she giggled and placed the cup to his lips. He opened his mouth
eagerly, allowing her to pour the liquid in.
The second his eyes flickered away from her to speak to his companion,
her eyes turned dead. Empty. Emotionless.
Ruined.
All of these humans were ruined beyond repair because of the depraved
things these mages made them do. I wasn’t sure they’d ever recover.
It seemed as if word had spread amongst the humans. Almost the entire
tray was empty as they handed out scotch to all of the men and women
present.
The man who had been in the kitchen with us was kissing a mage woman
while an older man reached around him from behind to jerk him off. The
human handed the glass to the woman first, and while she drank, he turned
around in the man’s arms to kiss him. When he finally pulled away, it was
only to grab the glass from the mage woman and hand it to the older man.
A devilish smile pulled up my lips.
Axel, reclining on the couch where I last saw him, smirked and winked at
me. Toby was staring intently at Natalia, who didn’t seem to realize he was
there as she flitted from mage to mage with a sultry grin, passing out drinks.
When she passed me, I grabbed the two remaining drinks from the tray
and moved onto the dance floor. Immediately, my body was sandwiched
between two sweaty, ancient men who rolled their lengths against my body. I
giggled like I actually enjoyed the feel of their micropenises digging into my
hips.
The shadows in the far corner of the room twisted and writhed in
agitation, but fortunately, the men and women present were either too drunk
or too high to care. I gave Ryland a warning look over the bald man’s head,
and the shadows immediately calmed down.
“Drink?” I inquired, raising my voice to be heard over the music.
The men agreed and accepted the drinks eagerly.
And then the fun part began.
One of the mages began to scream in agony, blood gushing out of his
nose, ears, mouth, and eyes. As panic splayed itself across his face, the other
mages began to scream as well. The mage woman I noted earlier grabbed at
her throat as she doubled over, convulsing. Blood poured from every pore of
her body as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. The two men I was with
released me as if my touch was toxic, green balls of power materializing in
their palms. Before they could wield their magic, however, the poison took
effect and forced them to their knees, where roaches like them fucking
belonged.
Their screams were music to my ears.
“We have company.” Axel rose gracefully and removed his machete from
his back, swinging it around in his hands like a baton.
Toby immediately removed the collar from his neck and screamed,
“Natalia!” at the top of his lungs. The girl turned from where she was
hovering over a dead mage’s body, her mouth flying open as tears filled her
eyes.
“Toby!”
The main door was pushed open, and a dozen guards rushed inside, their
weapons raised. But Ryland was prepared for that as he fired his magical gun
at every man who entered, the bullets exploding in their chests. Some of the
bullets caused them to instantly burst into flames, while others had them
falling to the ground and seizing as white-blue electricity crackled over their
skin.
We did it. A semi-hysterical laugh threatened to break free as I stared at
the fallen bodies surrounding me. We did it.
Something wet touched my upper lip, and I rubbed it away impatiently.
When I glanced at my fingers, I was surprised to find them stained red with
blood.
What the…?
Dizziness coursed through me, like a wrecking ball destroying my mind
in one fatal swoop, and I swayed precariously to the side.
The sounds of gunfire and shouts reverberated through the mansion as the
humans attacked the mages and guards with a vengeance. Punching, clawing,
screaming…all of their rage, anger, and hopelessness had led to this one final
showdown.
I could see Bash, Dair, Killian, and Jax at the front entrance, shooting at
the remaining guards. And there was Ryland, fighting back-to-back with
Axel. And Toby and Natalia. And the haunting young man with the dead
eyes. And—
Darkness shrouded my vision, and I fell.
TWENTY
RYLAND
I t’d been an hour, and she still hadn’t woken up.
I stared intently at Z where she lay on the floor in Paco’s shed, her
head in Killian’s lap.
Fortunately, I had been paying enough attention to my sweet mate back at
the brothel to catch her before she fell, though no words were capable of
describing the terror I felt as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. The
fight had already been won by that time, since the mages didn’t have a
chance with the poison destroying their bodies, and Axel and Natalia had
been working together to go room to room and free the rest of the humans.
Me? I ran like hell with my mate in my arms. I knew I should’ve stayed
and finished the mission, but I couldn’t concentrate knowing how close Z
was to death’s door. Her face had been so pale, so sickly, that panic had
eroded what remained of my mind. Killian, Jax, Bash, and Dair had hurried
after me, all of us climbing into a car parked in front of the building. The
idiot mage who’d been driving it had left the keys in the ignition. From there,
all we’d had to do was drive the hour ride to Paco’s house.
And now, we waited.
Waited and twiddled our damn thumbs as the archaic mage surveyed Z
with a clinical intensity that had my heart pounding out of rhythm as my gut
lurched with fear.
“Paco…” Bash growled out, pacing in the tiny shed. He scrubbed at his
ash-blond hair, the strands sticking out in all directions like he’d stuck his
finger in an electrical outlet.
“Shh!” The old man began to wave his hand erratically in Bash’s
direction, though what he was trying to articulate through that gesture, I had
no idea.
My shadows coiled around my stomach like a constricting snake as I
glared at Z’s forehead, despite my anger not being directed at her.
Losing her…
It was unfathomable. I imagined it would be similar to wading through an
endless ocean of black tar, my hands roaming blindly in the dark. There was
no light without Z.
Why hadn’t she told me she was feeling that sick? I never would’ve
allowed her to go on this mission to begin with if I knew… Though telling Z
not to do something would’ve only resulted in an acerbic tongue-lashing.
What if she’d been fighting against a mage when she passed out? What if
she’d been injured? What if…what if…what if…
My heart felt like a wave shredded to pieces on the jagg
ed stones of the
shore.
Whispers of what Z did for Natalia had spread throughout the camp. I
knew my little dove would snort and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all,
claiming she wasn’t a hero, but the rest of the humans begged to differ. The
ones who’d been hesitant to follow Z now whispered her name with
reverence. They’d inquired about Z’s condition no less than twenty-six times
since we’d returned from the brothel, though we always kept our answers
vague.
She’s fine.
She’s recovering.
She’s doing great.
Fucking bullshit.
“I want to learn to fight.” Killian’s voice dragged me out of my thoughts
and had my head snapping in his direction. When he realized we were all
staring at him intently, his cheeks turned crimson and he lowered his lips to
Z’s forehead.
“You want to what?” Bash stared at his best friend in disbelief, his blond
brows crawling up into his hairline. “Kill, you don’t fight. You hug.”
Killian threw him a withering glare. “Maybe, but the world is changing,
and I want to change with it. I don’t want to be a pampered prince anymore. I
want to learn to fight. I want to be by Z’s side when she charges into battle,
not waiting in the car.” His lips compressed into a thin, stubborn line. The
pain in his eyes was like a blazing beacon that called to the broken part of my
own soul.
“You caught a fly once and set it free,” Bash pointed out. “You can’t kill
anyone, Kill.” He actually looked distressed by the prospect, and I couldn’t
say I blamed him. For as long as I could remember, my brothers and I had
protected Killian from the worst this world had to offer. He had a light inside
of him, a flame that shone brilliantly and burned through the darkest of
nights. We didn’t want his hands to be stained with blood, and I knew Z felt
the same.
He was the one person we refused to let this war tarnish.
“You can’t protect me from the world,” Killian pointed out. He turned his
gaze to me, and I swore the fucker was giving me puppy dog eyes. That
might work on Z, but it wouldn’t work on me. Nope. Nada. Not me. I had a
will of motherfucking steel. “Please, Ryland. Can you train me to fight?”
“Fine.” My traitorous mouth said the word before my brain could catch
up.