“He has feelings for you.”
I let out a harsh laugh. This was just too much. He’d made it clear that I only complicated his life. One minute, he was hot; and the next, cold. He knotted up my insides. And talking about it with his pregnant wife—bond-mate, whatever—was not a good idea.
“I’d like to know if you feel the same for him.”
“Nothing is happening between us. We’re not even on speaking terms.”
“Why not?” she asked softly.
Mentally, I’d been prepared for her to confront me about Silas and tell me to back off. Reassuring her would be easy because I didn’t want to be tangled up in their mess. There were so many reasons Silas and I were not going to happen. But this was not what I had expected at all.
“Besides the obvious?” I waved my hand at her perfect face, her immaculate clothing, and her belly, then I sighed. “To start with, we disagree whether I should do whatever he says without question.” I frowned, realizing he acted like that because everyone around him actually did do whatever he said. Damn, what a head trip.
“You’re both strong-minded,” she corrected.
“We drive each other crazy.”
“He took you under his personal protection and became your Aegis. That’s... unheard of.”
“The bond thing? He did that to manipulate me.”
She shook her head. “Giving you his sigil was an act of trust. You have access to his familial source and are tied to him directly. He’s personally responsible for your actions and your safety.”
“Why are you defending him?” I huffed. “Your father almost had kittens when he found out Silas gave the Valeron sigil to me.”
“My father used the Fate’s prophecy as leverage to push Silas into the bonding. Consequently, Silas drew his boundary at sharing the Valeron power source with me. They’ll never see eye to eye on it, but I understand why he’s acted as he has.”
“Silas is stubborn,” I argued.
“He is. But he has shown me, and Stephan, incredible kindness.” She cradled her stomach again, reminding me of everything she had to lose.
“What do you want from me?” I finally demanded. I couldn’t wrap my brain around what she meant by this strange pep talk. Stephan had also been pushing me at Silas, and I just didn’t get it. They had nothing to gain from my interference in their lives. Plus, Silas didn’t want me involved in his life. He’d made that very clear.
“Silas and I tried to find a suitable way to make our arrangement work. Eventually, he spent his time away from Aeterna, doing the Council’s bidding, and I lived my life here.” Aria’s hands twisted in her lap, and her eyes lowered. “I didn’t intend to fall in love with Stephan. I know how despicable I must seem.”
The pod shot straight up like an elevator, and my stomach dropped. I didn’t know the details of everything that had happened between the three of them, but she was just as stuck as the rest of them and trying to make the best of a bad situation.
I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “It isn’t my place to judge you.”
“Silas has sacrificed everything. I won’t let him sacrifice his own happiness.” Her mouth narrowed into a determined line. “And you make him happy.”
I snorted. Mostly, I pissed him off. A lot. And he’d told me very clearly that he didn’t want a relationship with me. But her words made me wonder. Silas had played the role of protector for so long, I wondered if he was still trying to protect his family by denying himself anything that would further complicate their already impossible situation. That might explain the roller coaster of emotions he’d put me through. And possibly, despite everything, he had the same confused feelings I did. “What are you saying exactly?”
“I’m asking you not to give up on him.”
“I already screwed up your plans once. Wouldn’t this put you all at greater risk? What if Alaric found out?”
“It is a risk. My father could disinherit me and enact sanctions against House Valeron.” Her gentle, refined features tightened. “But it’s also the right thing to do. I have found my happiness, and Silas deserves his as well.”
The pod slid to a stop, but she made no move to get out.
“I’ll think about what you said,” I told her, careful not to promise anything. I had a lot to think about. I couldn’t believe Silas’s wife—or whatever she was—had asked me to be in a relationship with him. It wasn’t a traditional marriage, and obviously, she was in love with Stephan, but this was all too crazy to believe.
She placed her hand on mine. “That’s all I’m asking.” The door opened, and she slid gracefully from the pod, while I scrambled after her.
The guards flanked us as I emerged into the bright Aeternal sun and took in the crazy bustle of the City Centre on market day. We were in the circular courtyard of the central portal, directly above the streets of Lower Aeterna. It was a world of difference. Well-dressed men and women strolled the streets, leisurely examining the goods of the market.
Dozens of merchants lined the open space. Among the familiar sights and smells of a street market, I saw just as much unknown magic and technology. Tele-nets hung between the booths, advertising their goods. The vendors toward the center had their own ports, which must’ve linked back to their permanent shops. Servants bustled through them, carrying baskets of inventory.
“I understand you did not bring any clothing of your own from Earth,” Aria said. “Men never think of such things. May I take you to my tailor? It’s the official reason for our trip this day.”
I examined my own clothing. I’d changed into a pair of wide-legged pants and a long tunic to cover the new thigh holster holding Ripper. It was quite baggy, and the colors didn’t match. Next to Aria, I was pretty much a hot mess.
“Could your tailor make me some long tunics with slits up to about here?” I held my hand at my hip. “And some matching leggings?” Now that I had the thigh holster, I could wear it over the tighter-fitting pants, and the slit would still allow easy access.
Aria inclined her head and looped her arm through mine. I let her lead me, trying not to be jealous of her innate elegance. Everything about her was ridiculously graceful.
As we walked arm in arm, a child ran right into my legs. The little boy gazed up at me with big brown eyes. He couldn’t have been more than five or six.
He held out a necklace. “This is for you.” At the end of a long, braided cord hung a round pendant the size of a golf ball. I took it and examined the intricate carvings on the piece. Something about the design pulled at my memory.
“What is this?” I asked, but the boy had already run off.
The pendant flared with magic.
“Drop it!” Aria yelled.
Pressure sucked at the air. My insides wrenched a moment before everything disappeared.
I landed in a new location, clutching my stomach with one hand and the pendant with the other while my body tried to reorient itself.
Titus sneered down at me. “Hello, kitten.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Titus backhanded me. Pain exploded across my face, and I fell onto the floor.
Rough hands lifted me again. Blood dripped from my mouth, which throbbed in time with the pounding in my ears. Two men zip-tied my wrists and ankles to a chair as I tried to clear my vision.
I’d been pulled—skimmed—from the courtyard to a nondescript room. Another chair sat on the opposite side of the room, facing me. My stomach sank. “Aria!”
Aria was bound to her own chair, and her terrified gaze was locked on me. I groaned, realizing the spell that had pulled me there had swept up Aria with it. I had been beyond stupid for accepting the pendant on the street.
Four generic white walls, a door, and several people were in the small room. I saw no windows. Other than the vague impression that we were in a house, I had no idea where we were.
I reached for my magic but felt nothing. That was when I noticed a new pendant around my neck. Marcel’s memories flashed over me along with a swell o
f panic. Titus had used the same pendant to block his magic before he’d tortured and killed him.
Aria whimpered, “Maeve!”
My head was still spinning, but I noted the same pendant hanging around her neck.
“Silence her,” Titus commanded.
The shorter man, a stocky brunette, stuffed a cloth in Aria’s mouth and slapped a piece of silver duct tape on top. Aria’s eyes were wide with panic.
“Get the others ready. Quickly,” Titus ordered.
The man rushed out of the room. We were left with Titus and the last of his minions, a lanky man with an obnoxious smirk.
Titus held Marcel’s charm in one hand and twirled Ripper with the other.
My heart hammered wildly, sending my head spinning.
“I’m asking nicely just this once. Tell me where your people are,” Titus said.
“That wasn’t a question,” I replied automatically. My mind spun furiously. Titus believed me to be part of the Lost Sect, and I didn’t know how to convince him otherwise.
Titus’s minion smashed his fist into my face.
My head jerked to the side, and pain exploded along my cheekbone. Fire flamed along the entire left side of my face.
Aria screamed behind her gag.
Titus grabbed my face. My vision swam, and my whole world was pain. Someone had stuffed straw in my head. No, something sharper—needles. Needles were stabbing my brain.
“You can tell me, or I can let Remus loose on you.” He jerked his head at the other man. “He likes to get creative.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I warned Titus. I tried to turn the pain into a glare. But every jagged breath stabbed like shards of glass in my head. With my hands bound and blood dripping out of my mouth, I was as threatening as a stuffed bunny.
Titus stepped back, and Remus smirked as he stepped into view again.
My new friend Remus hit me in the stomach. Another blow landed, and I doubled over the pain, gasping and choking. Air. I need air.
Someone cried out. I didn’t know if it was me or Aria.
“Stop!” I gasped. “I’ll... tell you everything I know.”
The blows paused, and I struggled for breath. My brain wouldn’t move fast enough. Titus kept asking questions I didn’t have answers to. But I would’ve said anything to make the pain stop.
Remus’s smile lit up his eyes.
Disgusted anger grew thick in my chest. The sick bastard was enjoying this. I needed to stall until I had a plan, but I had no way to answer Titus’s questions. I tried the truth one more time. “I’m not part of the Lost Sect.”
“Tell me how to find them.” Titus’s eyes lit with what I could only describe as manic fervor. “Tell me now!”
Remus backhanded me on the other side of my face. The force wrenched my head to the side. My vision blurred, and I couldn’t see out of my right eye anymore. It wouldn’t open. Moaning, I let my head flop on my neck. Everything hurt. I had to find a way to make them stop. I needed a plan before they beat me to death. I needed time.
I took a deep breath and carefully raised my head. It hurt like hell. My words slurred with pain. “Before I tell you anything, you have to release Father Mike.”
“Who is Father Mike?”
“He—you—” The pain in every part of my head made my brain move slowly. “You don’t have him?”
“This Father Mike was the man sheltering you in Boston? I did not realize how much he meant to you, or we would have tried harder to kill him.” Titus bared his teeth at me and shifted the nails on one of his hands into claws. He dug them into my shoulder, and I screamed. “Rest assured, after you are dead, I will find everyone you love—including this Father Mike—and I will do everything I can to make their deaths painful and slow. He can be first.”
Despite the pain, a wave of relief washed over me. Father Mike was alive, and the Brotherhood didn’t have him! He must have escaped and gone into hiding.
Titus released my shoulder and pulled Ripper from my thigh holster. He looked at the knife thoughtfully before he turned and held Ripper’s blade to Aria’s throat. “Perhaps a similar motivation would suffice?”
Pale and wide-eyed, Aria froze. She whimpered as Titus pushed the blade against her porcelain skin. A thin red line of blood dripped down her throat. Titus shifted his grip, grabbed a fistful of her long hair, and prepared to drag the blade across her neck.
Aria’s nostrils flared in silent terror, her whimpers buried behind the gag. Her eyes never left mine. She was begging me to do something.
“Wait! I’ll tell you where they are! Just let her go—she’s pregnant!”
Titus released her with a satisfied smirk.
“You know you’re a sociopath, right?” I asked as my mind raced. I had to give him something believable. But my mind was drawing a complete blank.
I tensed as Remus moved to hit me. Titus held his hand up, and Remus backed off with a disappointed grunt. Titus’s eyes narrowed. He took a step back and tapped the knife hilt against his chin again.
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded. “We never did anything to you!”
It was apparently the right thing to say. His mouth twisted at the edges. “You have no idea what your people have done! We are the backbone of Aeterna, and we’re done supporting them”—he pointed Ripper at Aria—“with our sweat and blood. It’s time for our army to rise up and vindicate the martyrs of our cause!”
“Then why do you need me? You have your army!”
He snorted angrily. “As usual, Silas fratched everything up, not even realizing what he’d done. We got a small spark of discord over a Traiten instead of a martyr for our cause. But don’t worry, kitten, our army grows every day. The Council’s short-sighted energy rationing sees to it.”
He was talking about Atticus! They had intended to kill him when they set him up, and Titus had no idea we’d discovered the compulsion that had led to Atticus’s false confession.
“If you have what you need, why chase me across Earth for the tiny bit of magic Marcel stole? I’m nothing compared to your big plans.”
“The magic he stole? You really don’t know, do you?” Titus leaned in so close, I could see flecks of gray in his ice-blue eyes. “Your people were very clever. But you can’t hide in plain sight anymore. Everything I need to know is in here.” He tapped Ripper’s handle on my temple.
I flinched back. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ll break the binding for you—crack you open like an egg and get the location of your Sect,” he said. “And when I track down the last of your people, I will control all their abilities and Earth’s Source. Not even the Council can stop me with that kind of power.”
My brow scrunched in confusion. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“You have two options, kitten. We can do the Transference, and believe me, it will be very painful for you. Or you can tell me where they are now, and I’ll make your death quick.”
I laughed without humor. I couldn’t help it. “Has anyone ever gone for the ‘your death will be quick’ option? I mean seriously?”
“We’re wasting time,” Titus growled. “We’ll have to risk the unbinding. I’ll return when we’re ready.”
He squatted in front of Aria. “Good gods, what an unexpected gift you are, my lady. Delivering the body of Silas’s mate and unborn child to him will truly be a pleasure.”
He handed Remus my knife and the pendant. “The blonde is yours. Have fun.”
My entire body clenched in horror as I realized what I’d done.
Remus followed Titus to the door and locked it behind him. He spun back to us, and a grin spread across his face. Circling behind Aria, he flipped her long hair with his fingers.
Her chin quivered, and her nostrils flared in sheer terror.
He licked his lips.
“Remus,” I said, drawing his attention away from her. “You’re a sick bastard.” Nothing like insulting the creeper right out of the gate, but begging would
only encourage him.
The sound of his chuckle sent shivers down my spine. “You’ve got quite a mouth on you.”
“I think you broke my cheekbone,” I grunted. I would be lucky if that was all the damage he did. The pain was threatening to push me over the edge of consciousness. I’d never been so miserable in my life. Every movement hurt, but I had to push it aside. I couldn’t break now.
Remus crouched in front of Aria. She cringed as he picked up a strand of her hair between his fingers.
“Do you remember me?” he whispered.
Tears streamed down her face. She tried to speak, but the gag muffled her words.
“If we had more time, I’d work you over nice and slow.” A strangled sob escaped her, and Remus laughed again. “Even though we’ll be rushed, I’m still going to enjoy this.” He slid his hand under her skirt, pushing the delicate fabric up her thigh.
I was helpless, tied to the chair, without magic. Memories from Marcel’s last days threatened to overwhelm me. I fought them back. I couldn’t afford to black out. We weren’t going to die like this.
Remus’s aura flared, filling the room with dark-amber energy, a shade just shy of orange and tinted to black at the edges with stolen life. He was Human and Shifter, I guessed. He used Ripper to slice into his palm then wiped the flat of the bloody knife on Aria’s cheek.
She whimpered again.
“Shhh,” he whispered. He drew the edge of the blade lightly down her neck to her collarbone. Crimson liquid welled from the shallow cut. His palm followed the same path, mixing their blood.
Aria trembled in her chair. Her head rocked violently back and forth until he took a fistful of her hair and held her in place.
“Remus!” I yelled, but he didn’t pay any attention to me. “Wait! You don’t want to do this!”
Dark energy built around him. A pattern grew out of the magic—sharp edges and intersecting angles, skewed like a spiderweb and black like death.
I reached for my magic again, mentally clawing against the magical block, but there was nothing.
Aria’s whole body convulsed. She screamed behind the gag in a long, high-pitched wail of pain. Magic drained from her to Remus.
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