She scrambled back in fear. Stay calm, Saia. Stay calm.
The invisible bars sizzled and vanished. Rough hands grabbed her. A scream ripped free from her, and then she was falling...
Riley leaped through the closing portal, and reappeared at the foot of the gloomy, ebony mounts of Stygia.
Flaming green torches suspended on the rock face gave the place some light. But the strong stench of sulfur nailed him straight in the lungs. Hot air hung suspended around him, thick with past pain, fear, and torture.
Whatever was going on here had the small horde in a frenzy. He prayed Saia wasn’t in this shitpit as he frantically scanned for her. She’d run from him because he’d hurt her. Now his worst enemy had her in a place she’d had no idea existed.
Baric would torture her with no remorse just to make Riley pay for whatever crime the fucker thought he’d committed.
A message from an old friend…
What damn friend? He had none here, except Gaelin.
Riley tossed aside the hoodie he’d grabbed off Saia before Baric disappeared with her.
More torches flamed to life from poles buried in the jagged ground. It revealed the worn gray tarps, makeshifts dwellings lining the foot of the mountain. Home to the malcontents of Stygia.
The excited mumblings stopped as he drew closer to the crudely dug out circular arena. The place stank from unwashed bodies.
Their clothes tattered, hair lank and greasy, the malcontents watched him closely.
Saia? Answer me! Keeping a wary eye on them, Riley tried to speak in her mind, but everything was a blur. He couldn’t connect, too much static inference.
Or maybe she still doesn’t want to talk to you for being such an asshole?
His heart stuttered. Now was not the time for her to ignore him. Saia, dammit, answer me!
A high-pitched female scream pierced the air. Riley spun around. There, in the distance, he saw the guard hauling her. She fought to break free, but the bastard manacled his arm around her waist. Her terror hit Riley square in the heart as the guard brought her into the center of the crowd.
Oh, fuck! The truth struck him hard. Baric had jailed her in this cesspit where humans were fought for or hunted with the same end. Trophies…sex slaves.
He spied the bastard hanging on to one of the flaming poles. And felt a surge of satisfaction when Baric clutched his belly. Saia had done some damage if he couldn’t stand unaided.
A gaunt malcontent in trews and tattered chainmail swaggered over and blocked his path. The demon bore the undernourished, skeletal look of those living in the wastelands. The gleam in his malevolent black gaze didn’t bode well for Riley.
“Let her go.”
The demon sneered at his demand. “You dare to give us orders? You know the rules. Once in those caves she belongs to the one who wins her. Bring her here.”
The malcontent guard dragged Saia over by the arm, and she stumbled. Riley balled his fingers so he didn’t give in to the urge to smash his fist into the fucker’s face and ruin his one chance to save her.
But the moment Baric laid eyes on Saia, he let go of the pole and lurched toward her.
Snarling, Riley flashed over and lashed out with a flying kick to Baric’s throat. He fell face down and lay shuddering on the ground.
“Riley!” Saia’s terror enveloped him like a tidal wave. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. I thought he was a Caligo.” Her gaze darted to the demon convulsing as if in the throes of death. If only they were that lucky. It would take more than a kick to kill the bastard.
“Let me go!” She started struggling again, kicking the demon guard in the shin. He screeched and hopped on one foot, howling. Saia yanked free and ran. The pissed guard flashed after her. Riley shoved him back with a psychic push and hauled her into the safety of his arms.
She buried her face in his shirt, her heart pounding frantically against his chest.
The demons surrounding them snickered. Her little show of rebellion heightened the tension as they watched her with growing lust.
“It’s okay, baby. I have you now.” He rubbed her back, eyeing the horde pushing closer.
He recalled then, there were those from other citadels who came here for the sport of hunting the docile Otium demons they’d trapped for their perverse pleasure when humans weren’t available…
The yells started, as did the sneers and lewd promises from several demons. Their bellows intensified. They jostled excitedly as if waiting for a fucking lynching.
Saia’s body tensed against his. Then he heard their words. “Judgment—judgment!”
An eerie sensation rushed through his psyche, as a transparent shield surrounded them, preventing his flashing. Oh, fuck. The only way out now was to kill the asshole who’d put up the block—which could be any of these dumbasses.
“The Trial, it is,” the gaunt malcontent announced, his shrunken black eyes gleaming with eagerness.
This little piece of shit was the warden for these caves? He’d heard of the Trials when he was a boy. A most brutal form of punishment. Whatever the injured party chose, it ran for seven long days, be it a hunt or a fight. And it could move as slowly as seven fucking years.
“She thought to kill one of us. Her punishment…” He paused, savoring the moment as the anticipation grew. His thin lips stretched in a parody of a smile, his parchment-pale skin split, and blood oozed down from the crack on his cheek and lips. He licked away the gore. “Is a one day Trial, to be hunted and claimed, and if she lasts the day without getting caught, she’s free to return to her world.”
Raucous laughter built up at the changed rules and spread like wildfire around the excited demons. This was just a fucking game to the bastards.
One day? Saia wouldn’t last an hour on her own in this place. It was just a hunt and seize for their perverted amusement.
“Kill him?” Her shocked whisper speared him in the heart. “No—it was an accident.”
No matter how much he screwed things up with her, and he had, no way would he allow her to be hurt or hunted like a fucking animal.
“I know. The bastard will heal soon enough.” And join the rest of these scavengers in the hunt if he didn’t do something fast. Their only chance of survival was to get to the Citadel of Wra.
He continued to scan for a way out, his hand caressing her back. A comfort he had no idea he needed, thought it was for her, until her arms tightened around him.
With no escape from this farce of a hunt, he said, “I’ll fight in her stead.” Everyone froze at his proclamation. “For seven days.”
Discontent ripples started among the horde and grew to a deafening roar.
“No-no, they’ll kill you.” Saia’s fingers fisted his shirt as if to keep him there.
She thought him incapable of protecting her? Weak. The hated word seeped through him. He snapped, “They’ll catch you in five-fucking-seconds flat once you leave here. If by some miracle, you survive the day, they won’t let you go—is that what you want?”
“No, no, God, no!” She shook her head, glancing around the arena. “Where-where are we?” Her petrified gaze rushed back to his.
“You’re in Stygia.”
At her confused expression, no, she had no idea what that meant.
The noise level escalated. If they didn’t accept his challenge, he was screwed. He wished he could have fought the one-day Trial, but those assholes wouldn’t even consider it. It was their deprived attempt at a joke when humans were taken prisoners.
In all the frenzy, the sounds of thundering hooves reached him. Soldiers rode in on enormous black destriers, dressed in gray chainmail and capes. They pulled up short. The animals snorted. Muscles rippled, nostrils distended and their black eyes flashed red.
The male up front caught Riley’s attention. Exceptionally tall, with ropes of white hair down to his waist and dressed all in black, he remained seated on his destrier as he watched them. A Fallen?
Shit, if the dark angel took him on in a f
ight, he’d have no chance of winning.
“Riley?” Saia whispered, her terrified gaze pinned on the restless demonic animals. “Wh-what are those things?”
“War horses. I’ll explain later.”
“Very well,” the warden called out.
The verdict was given. A space cleared.
The easy acceptance had his gut clenching. The bastards thought him that dumb? Even if he lasted seven days of fighting, they still planned to take Saia. He picked up on the shitheads’ thoughts, believing he’d be too tired to protect her.
Not happening. The first chance he got, he was leaving with Saia. Unless dear old Dad made an appearance.
No, he couldn’t see that happening, not with him dispatching all the guards his sire had sent. Yeah, he was screwed. No point in wasting time, then.
Riley pushed Saia behind him, grabbed the sword from the nearest guard, and skewered the demon in the chest. He snatched a dagger and handed it to Saia. “Use it if anyone gets too close, and stay behind me,” he barked out his warning.
With the mountain at their backs, the demons attacked from the sides and front, giving him no chance to start this so-called mockery of a Trial. Not that he expected any better. Good thing these malcontents possessed almost no abilities, except for flashing, and whoever controlled the invisible shield.
His sword swinging, Riley attacked, but more came at him. He hurled them back with his mind when they got too close. Hearing a grunt, he wheeled around. Baric grabbed hold of Saia, twisted her arm, and she cried out. He seized her weapon and brought it down—
“No, you fucking don’t!” The fury, which had taken hold of him the moment Baric had captured Saia in the park, exploded. Riley leaped through the air, deflected the strike with his sword. Freed, Saia stumbled back. Riley rammed his weapon into the asshole’s belly. Whipping around, he sliced Baric across the throat, severing the carotid. Blood gushed from the deep wound as the demon shimmered and vanished.
Finally, he’d annihilated the bastard who’d hunted and tortured him a thousand years ago, caused him scars that he still bore in his soul.
Now, he had to get his shit together, dig deeper for continued strength, and save Saia.
But as time meandered to a slow beat, the torches gave out to be replaced by new ones. His arms ached, muscles burned. He bled from several wounds, and his shirt was in shreds, but he was fucking glad as the bodies fell.
Breathing hard, Riley glanced back to find Saia plastered against the mountain’s rock face. Her gaze fixed on him. Even with dirt streaking her tear-stained face, she’d never looked more lovely. And so damn brave.
By the gods, she had to be terrified of all the brutality, the carnage she’d witnessed. But he could do little to ease her into the gruesome way of life in his world.
He swiped his sweat-drenched face with the back of his hand, the heat draining him. The ancient symbols he sported on his biceps stretched and strained at his exertion.
The sky darkened to a brilliant purple hue before giving way to complete darkness. More torches came alive. Blood spilled as the fight continued.
His energy started to wane. His arms weighed him down like he wielded a tanker.
He couldn’t hold out much longer—couldn’t protect Saia. No! Fear zipped through him and thundered into his head. He couldn’t leave her alone in this place. A sizzling hiss, and the invisible shield surrounding them evaporated. Horses reared in a cacophony—
A terrified cry rent the air, Riley spun around. Saia was no longer behind him. His heart crashed against his sternum. “Saia!”
Thundering hooves added to the ruckus, raising dust clouds as they vanished into the dark and swallowed his roar. He scanned frantically, but it was in vain. Whoever had taken her had disappeared. Gathering the last of his depleting energy, Riley flashed, following the vibration of her terror. He reappeared in a massive gray hall, brightened by torches attached to the walls.
Riley lurched several feet before he regained his balance, and inhaled a harsh breath of much cleaner air, the sulfur barely noticeable in this place. Then he recognized exactly where he was.
The Obsidian fortress in the Citadel of Wra.
The dark gray granite floors gleamed in the lights. Several high-ranking demons bent over open parchment on the long table against the wall at the far end, others were engaged in earnest discussion. But all were dressed in the same uniform he’d seen on the riders of the destriers.
The low chatter stopped. The demons whirled around. Nostrils flared. They sniffed, trying to place him. Disbelief followed the moment they made the connection. Then absolute silence.
He ignored them and searched for Saia. Suddenly, the air turned dense. Menacing strains of ancient power slithered over him.
Oh, yeah, his old man was around.
“You finally return…for a human?”
At the low, powerful voice, Riley turned. For the first time in a millennium and a half, his gaze lit on the male who’d tossed him aside when he was just a child.
Towering over most and still as unapproachable, Wrath strolled toward him. His face set in the same cold, inflexible lines Riley remembered as a boy. A male, who, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be in his prime but was as old as time. One of the Original Seven, not a demon, but created by an Ancient power for justice and balance of the realms.
Several of the infernal lords followed Wrath, along with Nicor.
“Let me go!”
At Saia’s desperate cry, Riley wheeled around. The white-haired Fallen had her trapped by her wrist. Anger blazed. A miracle he could speak with his jaw clamped so tight. “Return her to me.”
“Why? Did you claim her?” Wrath asked, his voice steely.
What the fuck? Why was the bastard doing this? His first priority had always been his armies, his damn wars. His own son always came last. Loathing corroded a hole in Riley’s gut. “She is mine to protect.”
Wrath walked up to Saia. The Fallen released her. Warily, she eyed Wrath as he circled her. He sniffed. “Strange, I smell no bonding scent—” His hand flashed, he yanked up her top to reveal a smooth, tanned belly. Her yoga pants rode low on her hips, exposing the black lacy top of her panties. “Or see a mating mark.”
With an outraged gasp, Saia shoved away from him, color leaching from her face. She pulled up her pants and tugged down her top, holding it there with both hands.
“With your morons always dogging my heels, it’s a miracle I can take a damn piss without being spied on.” Rage battered through Riley’s skull. He wanted to kill the bastard. The only thing staying him was that none could take on a Sin and win. And Saia needed him.
“You have been gone too long. You no longer see…” With that cryptic comment, Wrath turned and studied Riley with eyes the color of a tree python, cool and equally deceptive. “Well, then, your old chamber awaits you. Get the deed done, or else she will be claimed. I refuse to have an unclaimed mortal roaming the citadel, causing a ruckus among my soldiers.”
“That will never happen. She is mine.”
The urge to take Saia and run became paramount, except there was no place to hide on this damn stratum of Stygia, especially with Wrath attuned to every inch of his domain.
“I want her.”
What the fuck? Wiping the sweat and blood from his face with a weary hand, Riley laid eyes on a smirking, bulky, seven-feet-tall demon stepping out from the hordes fast filling the great hall.
Oh, shit. Riley swallowed his groan. He doubted if he could raise his arms to slap, let alone fight the ugly-ass.
The demon’s lustful gaze swept up and down Saia, lingering on the seductive glimpse of skin visible where her top didn’t quite reach her low-riding pants. Riley’s temper shot up like a boiling thermostat. “Shouldn’t you be over in Asmodeus’s camp?” he snapped. “Lust’s valued there.”
“Then we fight for her.” The demon grinned like he’d already fucking won.
It pissed Riley off. He’d barely gotten h
is breath back. His wounds hurt like a bitch, but with his sire watching, only pride had him nailing his feet to the floor and not going horizontal.
But the fear on Saia’s face gave him the added strength to focus.
“Well, then, the fight commences.” Wrath strolled to the raised dais at the far end of the great hall and settled on a high chair cast from black steel and leather. “V’lyrn, bring the female here until this is over.”
Riley stared at the male who’d spawned him. Wrath probably waited to be proven right, that Riley was still the scared little boy who’d been shipped off eons ago.
Without a word, he turned to his opponent. The only way out was to fight the hulking shithead sneering at him, and then save Saia by mating her.
Hell, he could just imagine how well she’d agree to that after he’d been such a bastard to her.
Another fight? Saia’s heart lodged in her throat. Riley faced a brute twice his size. She could now see clearly in the bright lights. His sleeveless hoodie was in tatters, bloodied. He could barely stand straight. No, no—
Someone grabbed her by her arm. She stumbled. The cold, white-haired man hauled her over to the one seated on the huge black throne-like chair with its lattice leather and metal backrest.
Her blood thundered in her ears, her gaze darted around her in terror. The urge to run to Riley took hold. Only, she couldn’t move, an invisible force field had surrounded her.
“I wouldn’t if I were you, human,” the seated man said. “Not if you don’t want one of my soldiers to claim you. Now, watch with whom your fate ends.” He leaned back in his chair as if prepared to watch a thirty-second YouTube clip.
If Riley didn’t win, she’d be given to that brutish demon? Dread fisted her stomach. Just what was this place she’d fallen into?
“You are in my Citadel. In Wra,” the man responded, as if reading her mind.
Citadel of Wra?
Her gaze darted back to him. There was something disturbingly familiar about him. His short hair had various shades of gold interwoven into the bronze strands. But those eyes…so cold—she swallowed hard.
Mystic Realms: A Limited Edition Collection Page 127