“Damn it,” I snapped, stepping back between the two slabs.
I refocused, looking around the room until my gaze stopped on the vines. It seemed like the chamber was underground, but it was rare to find such a place in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Had I been taken out of the city? And if so, how far? Or was this a place designed to appear as if it were below ground?
If I was still near the city, I had complete faith that I’d figure out where I was the moment I got outside. If I knew anything, it was the layout of New Orleans and the surrounding areas.
I’d just have to get out of this tomb first.
Tightening my grip on the chain, I looked down at the heavy metal. My thumb smoothed over a rusted section, causing some of the oxidation to flake off.
Wait.
That wasn’t rust.
It was dried blood.
Jesus.
Stomach churning, I almost dropped the links as I lifted my gaze to the door. The chain freaked me out, but it was also a weapon. An image of Princess Leia choking the ever-loving crap out of Jabba the Hutt formed.
I could do that. In fact, the scene of me strangling Aric to death replaced the one from Return of the Jedi, and it filled me with a rather unhealthy amount of glee. Twisting the chain around my hands, I waited.
I didn’t have to wait long.
The sound of footfalls was like a breath of air along the back of my neck. Darting toward the slab, I shifted the chain behind my back and leaned against the stone, hiding the chain. Every muscle in my body tensed painfully.
A stuttered heartbeat later, the door creaked open, and fresh air rushed in—rose-scented air. I was either near a garden or, if I was underground, I couldn’t be that far. I filed that little piece of information away. Aric stood in the doorway, appearing alone. His broad shoulders nearly took up the entire width of the opening as he ducked and stepped through the door.
A whoosh went through the room, startling me. Fire sparked, and the remaining torches flared to life, nearly a dozen of them casting flickering light into the chamber.
I’d been right about the vines, but now I also saw that there were chains mixed among them.
“I thought you’d still be asleep,” Aric said, his deep voice tinged with amusement.
The links of the chain I held pressed into my palms. “Sorry to disappoint you. I’m wide-awake, asshole.”
He chuckled as he straightened. The door behind him swung shut, cutting off the flow of fresher, warmer air. “Don’t apologize, I am thrilled that you’re awake.”
I lifted my chin, forcing myself to breathe steady and sure. “Where am I?”
“Where I want you to be.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Aric smirked as he stopped just a few feet inside the chamber, out of my reach. “You’re right outside the city. I believe this used to be an old tomb that has partially sunken underground.”
Shock splashed through me.
“You seem surprised that I told you.” He inclined his head. “I’m not worried about you escaping. Not at all.”
Fury quickly replaced the surprise, prickling at my skin. “I wouldn’t be too confident about that.”
His gaze flickered over me. “Your courage is…admirable, but I have no reason not to be overconfident.”
I forced out a laugh even though my heart raced. “There’s a very fine line between confidence and arrogance.”
“True.” He smoothed an imaginary wrinkle on his white, linen shirt. “But there is a difference. Not that you’d know anything about confidence.”
“Really?” My spine stiffened. “You know nothing about me.”
“I know everything about you, Brighton Jussier,” he replied. “You’re thirty years old, never married, and childless. Once devoted to taking care of your poor, unstable mother, you’re now devoted to finding and killing me.”
My chest rose with a heavy breath. “Did you read my Facebook profile or something?”
He laughed. “You were born into the Order, but you’re not a true member. Other than hunting me, you do not hunt fae. How do you mortals put it? You were put out to pasture before you even grazed. They do not see you as remotely useful to their goals. You’re simply allowed to be because of who your parents were.”
I flinched as his words landed a blow on the still open wound left behind by Ivy and Ren, both who doubted my ability to do anything more than read a map. There was too much truth to what Aric said.
“The only reason you ever even came onto my radar was because you were seen aiding the wounded Summer Prince.”
He was talking about Fabian, and the night the Queen had been forced back into the Otherworld, when I’d helped transport the Prince back to Hotel Good Fae.
“Other than that, you’re fairly unremarkable. Well, with the exception of fucking the King,” he remarked, and my breath caught. “Then again, at one time, he was known for having very little taste when it came to his partners.”
That would’ve stung if I weren’t currently chained up in a tomb.
“So, do you still think I don’t know anything about you, little bird?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Why not? Isn’t that what Caden calls you?”
The sound of his name was like a shock to the system, one I couldn’t afford to be distracted by. “No. He doesn’t call me that.”
“Hmm.” Aric folded his arms over the dark shirt he wore. “That’s what he called Siobhan. Do you know who that is?”
“No.” I kept my gaze glued to him, ordering myself to wait until the perfect moment to strike. “And in case you’re wondering, this is my I-don’t-care face.”
“She was his lover, and his would-be mate.”
I sucked in air. Another fiancée?
“’His little bird’ is what he called her. Because she was as light as air and just as constant and steady. Always perched on his shoulder when they were young. And she would sing—oh, she sang so beautifully.” Aric chuckled lowly. “I can see you didn’t know that.”
Pressing my lips together, I said nothing because there was nothing to say. The King wasn’t Caden to me any longer. Pretty sure he’d driven that point home the last time I saw him. Blood rushed to my cheeks, making the skin prick with the reminder of that humiliation. He was just the King to me now, and I didn’t care if he’d been engaged once or five times.
“Siobhan was his soulmate. His one, true love. They grew up together, were promised to one another from birth. She was groomed to be his Queen. They shared their lives and their bodies for well over two hundred years. She was beautiful. A stunning creature, tall, and full of grace. She had blond hair like you, like spun sunlight.” His lips curved into a taunting smile as my body jerked. “That’s the only thing you share in common with her. Other than the hair, you’re…pathetically, uninspiringly human.”
I didn’t care. The sting that crawled up the back of my throat had nothing to do with anything Aric was saying. “I don’t think uninspiringly is a word.”
His smile was tight-lipped. “Do you know what happened to Caden’s little bird?”
“No, but I’m betting you’re going to tell me.”
“I snapped her wings and plucked all her feathers.” His upper lip curled.
Revulsion morphed into sudden understanding. This was the loved one the King had spoken about losing. This was why he wanted Aric for himself. Not because the psycho was trying to bring the Queen back to the mortal world or because he’d stabbed him in battle. Because the bastard had killed his fiancée. And I could understand the King’s need for revenge. I totally did because of what this monster had cost me.
“It’s what led to the war between our Courts,” Aric continued. “Well, one of many, but this was the big one. We had years of peace. The Otherworld was thriving, but my Queen…she wanted this world, and she needed Caden for that. You know the prophecy.”
Of course, I did. The child of the Prince and a halfling
—who happened to be Ivy—would undo the spells that kept all the doors to the Otherworld sealed. Because the ideology, the basic fundamentals of our world and the Otherworld, would be challenged, and, therefore, collapse because a halfling shouldn’t exist, and a Prince was never supposed to be in our world. It was the whole insane baby prophecy that had been hard to believe when I first heard about it.
Aric unfolded his arms as he walked away from me and moved toward the wall near the door. “My job was to goad the Prince into war, where he’d be weakened in battle. I knew exactly what would provoke him. Taking Siobhan was a part of getting the job done.” Aric reached out, running his fingers over a vine. The thick, ropey strand blanched and withered under his touch. “But one I thoroughly enjoyed.”
“You’re messed up,” I snarled. “Seriously. A one hundred percent psychopath, but I’m not the King’s little bird. I’m not anything to him, so I don’t know why you’re telling me any of this. It doesn’t hurt me.” A lie. “At all.”
“True,” Aric murmured, looking over his shoulder at me. “You’ll never mean to him what Siobhan did.”
I flinched, hating myself for it—hating him for it.
“Perhaps you don’t mean much to him. You are human, after all, but you mean something.” Lowering his hand, he faced me. “Enough that I’m sure I’ll also enjoy our time together even though you won’t last nearly as long as Siobhan.”
Nausea twisted my stomach as he took a step toward me. The chain practically hummed against my palms.
“And when I’m done with you, I’ll make sure Caden knows exactly where you’ve been and what was done to you, even if he doesn’t realize you’re missing.”
Just a few steps closer. That was all.
“And if he doesn’t care now, he will,” the Ancient continued, his voice low and taunting. “Because when I’m done with you, all he will be reminded of is his little—”
Snapping forward, I lifted the chain above my head, prepared to wrap it around the bastard’s neck and squeeze until I ripped his head right off.
Except that wasn’t what happened.
Aric was like a cobra striking, ripping the chain from my hands with such force that the flesh on my palms tore. I jerked as the burning pain shot up my arms, stumbling back. He yanked the chain toward him, and I had no choice but to follow. I slammed into him just as he placed his hand around the band circling my neck.
“What did you think you were going to do?” he asked, pale blue eyes gleaming. “Hurt me?”
“Kill you,” I gasped.
“Really?” Aric laughed, lifting me onto the tips of my toes. “Do you really have that in you? Because the last time you and I were alone, you gave up pretty quickly. Trembling and crying on the ground while that old hag bled out beside you.”
“I’m not that girl anymore.”
“Good.” He sneered. “I’d rather you fight me than give up. Weakness is boring.”
Before I could say another word, he lifted me off the floor by the band around my neck. The metal pressed in, cutting off my air flow before I even took my last breath. Panic exploded like a bomb in the pit of my stomach. Turning, he slammed me down onto the slab, knocking whatever air was still in my lungs out. The moment he let go of my throat, my training kicked in.
Don’t get stuck on your back. Don’t get stuck on your back.
Swinging out a fist, I jerked upward, but he was still holding the chain and pulled it back. The back of my head cracked off the stone as he caught my fist and then my other hand. Tsking under his breath, he pressed my wrists together as he transferred them into one hand.
“Keep fighting me,” he said. “I find it greatly amusing.”
Lifting my hips, I twisted toward him, kicking out. The heel of my foot connected with his thigh, causing him to grunt. The burst of satisfaction was short-lived when he drew my arms up over my head.
“Kicking is not nice, little bird,” he admonished. Panic choked me just as badly as the band had earlier when cool metal clicked around my wrists, securing my hands to the stone. “You wouldn’t like it if I did it to you.”
“Fuck you.” I kicked out again, catching him in the stomach.
The blow to the side of my head stunned me. I hadn’t even seen him move, but I felt the explosion of pain. White crowded my vision as I breathed through the agony.
“Didn’t like that, did you?” He had a hold of my leg as he moved down to the end of the slab. “I can do much, much worse.”
“You…you hit like an…underdeveloped five-year-old,” I said, blinking to clear the starbursts from my vision.
Cool metal snapped around my right ankle and then my left, and the only good takeaway was that I wasn’t spread eagle. But when I dipped my chin and peered down, I could see that the hem of my dress was riding up. Not like it had far to go to begin with.
Aric stalked back toward me. “I didn’t know you had such a mouth on you.”
“Surprise.”
He gave me another tight smile as he placed his hand over mine. “I’m going to have to teach you how to be mindful of what you say to me.”
My heart tripped over itself as he trailed his hand down my arm. “Good luck.”
“I won’t need it.” His hand left my arm, and he gripped my cheeks. “You will, but you will find none of it.”
I forced myself to meet his pale eyes. “I’m not scared of you.”
His smile increased as did the pressure on my face. “That is a lie. Do you know how I know that?”
He was right. God, he was. I was terrified of the Ancient, but I’d be damned if I gave him the satisfaction of admitting it. “You’re a super special, know-it-all fae?”
“Cute.” His chuckle dripped ice down my spine as he guided my head up. “I can smell it in your sweat. It reminds me of kerosene.”
“Sorry I…”—I swallowed back a groan as the pressure on the joints of my jaw increased—“I don’t smell better for you.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Using his grip on my face, he pulled me upright as he held the chain in his other fist, shortening the length until the cuff pressed into the front of my throat. My back bowed painfully, and my arms stretched. “I love the smell of fear. It gets me hard.”
My heart stuttered and then sped up. A whole new horror swamped me. There were a lot of things I could deal with. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. Pain. Humiliation. Fear. None of those were new. But this possibility? I didn’t know how to deal with that.
“You’re sick,” I gasped out.
Aric aligned his face with mine, causing my hands to open and close. When he spoke, his icy breath coasted over my nose. “Not sick enough to fuck you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
A rush of relief pounded through me so fast and hard, I almost lost it. A burn in my throat crawled upward—
“Don’t be too relieved to hear that. It offends me, and”—he tilted his head, his gaze traveling over the length of my body, lingering in areas that caused my skin to crawl—“well, I can always be swayed.”
Revulsion threatened to choke me as he lifted his gaze to mine. I glared back at him, my hands trembling as they curled into fists. Once again, I found myself wishing I was wearing anything but the sleeveless sheath dress. Then again, I had a feeling if I were wearing a parka or a head-to-toe shapeless jumpsuit, I’d still feel stripped bare.
One side of Aric’s lips kicked up. “But right now, there is something else I want from you.”
“I’m not going to tell you a damn thing about the Order.”
“Silly girl.” He jerked the chain, snapping my head back. “There is nothing about the Order that I don’t already know. They are no threat to me.”
Whether that was true or not, I had no idea, but I couldn’t really focus on that. Not when the strain of the chain was sending jagged shards of pain down my neck. “Then I’m of no use to you.”
“Not true.” He leaned away from me, reaching behind him. “You have
so many uses to me, you have no idea.”
Aric pulled something out of his back pocket. In the golden light of the torches, my heart stopped in my chest when I saw what he held. A long, slender blade that came to a wickedly sharp point.
My gaze flew to his, and my breath caught as his hand and the blade it held moved out of my line of sight. “What are you doing?”
He continued to smile at me. “Pulling out your feathers.”
There was a good chance my heart stopped.
“Scream as loud as you like,” he offered, and I felt the tip of the blade press into my skin. I bit down as the slight pressure turned to pain. “Because no one is coming for you.”
Chapter 9
My body was on fire, and for once, I wished for that bone-chilling coldness that had greeted me when I first came to in the chamber.
And when was that?
Had to be…days ago. Definitely days. Maybe five if I based it on when Aric arrived. Twice a day, I believed. Possibly the morning and the night, and each time he stayed…long enough to do what he needed, which was to take me outside to do my business like a dog on a leash, and then do what he wanted, which was to turn me into a living, breathing pincushion.
And to feed.
He generally fed on the second visit, and I was always left unconscious when he left, waking the same way I had the first time, my head throbbing and feeling disoriented. And each time, it seemed to take seconds longer for me to remember how I had gotten here.
Why I was here.
My painfully empty stomach grumbled as I stared at the withered vines by the door. It had to be at least three days since Aric had tossed a bag of cold McDonalds at me. I’d scarfed that grease-soaked crap down and then promptly vomited it all back up. Now, I’d probably murder someone for a stale and cold cheeseburger.
The Summer King Bundle: 3 Stories by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 26