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Fury heats me from the inside. I call up my magic, whispering to the vines that have proved faithful so far. Nothing happens.
I look back at Uziah, who watches me knowingly. “Your magic won’t work here.” His gaze flicks to my ribs.
I frown, realizing the symbol Maricha carved into me must have something to do with my fae magic being blocked. I take comfort in knowing the power is only being cloaked and not gone forever. I’m going to need all the help I can get to defeat these two assholes.
“You will regret this,” I tell him.
His smile doesn’t reach his eyes, but it holds the full weight of his certainty as he says, “If I do, you will not live to see it.”
He turns to go before I can figure out what the hell he means.
“Wait,” I call.
He turns a bit impatiently.
“Where are we?” I ask. “What realm?”
“The Earth realm.” His expression lightens with a hint of smugness as he adds, “Don’t you recognize it? My club has proven to be the perfect stronghold for what Maricha and I are building together.”
“We’re beneath the Bite Club?” I ask, shocked.
He winks. “Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Actually, it’s quite the opposite. I don’t get it. What does a god need with a street gang who uses a nightclub as their headquarters?”
“The club merely provides a modern-day façade for the prison I carved millennia ago. As for the Crimson Roses, they have always been a means to a greater end. One of many tools and empires I have built for myself over my life. But none of them are greater than the power of my own son. I raised a small army to help me get him back.” He pauses and then says, “Yet, in the end, you did it all on your own.”
I don’t answer, and he retreats as quickly as he came.
A moment later, the door creaks and then bangs shut behind him.
In the silence, I think through his words, turning them over and over until I can find the clues they offer. If we’re underneath the Bite Club, that means we’re in a position to be found. Legion is important to Caius and the people of Tartarus. I have to believe Klyn will come looking when he doesn’t return.
But how long before they figure out there’s a dungeon below the club?
In the meantime, whatever Maricha and Uziah are ordering Legion to do, it can’t be good. In fact, it must be pretty terrible if they’re using me as leverage, especially when their order alone is more than enough to compel him.
Before Legion was cast into Tartarus, he destroyed entire empires and civilizations for his mother. I have no doubt that’s what she plans to order him to do again.
Guilt pangs through me as I think about what’s happening to the people of the Crossroads. No number of innocent deaths is worth my life. Especially not an entire city of people. But as long as I’m stuck in this cell, I have no way of stopping Maricha and Uziah. No way of breaking their hold over Legion with their blood oath. As long as I’m here, bound by dark magic, my mate is doomed to be a pawn. A very dangerous, very effective one at that.
Chapter 38
Legion
My dragon writhes against the cage of the blood oath. Five thousand years in Tartarus has changed me. Where my dragon nature strained against being bound with such a leash before, the shadow beast I’ve become opposes my restraints with endless fury. Even so, my own capture pales in comparison to Tori’s. Watching Maricha carve into her was the worst torment I’ve ever felt—far beyond the suffering of my own fate. And Maricha knows it too. Maybe letting her discover my weakness for my mate is a good thing. Tori is still alive. Locked in the dungeon of this wretched place but alive. There is still hope.
I stand before Maricha and Uziah now, my shoulders stiff and muscles tensed with the fury churning inside me. They sit like a ruling king and queen in their high back chairs that one of the soldiers set up on the stage of the vamp club. While the rest of us stand below them, taking our orders.
Around me, Bite Club is dimly lit and full of Crimson Roses.
I hate that I didn’t see this coming when I was here before. Then again, who would have guessed a ten-thousand-year-old demon with aspirations for world power ruled from a dance club on the outskirts of an otherwise free city?
Then there’s Uziah. He’s ambitious and cunning, but he leads with his ego. Already, I’ve seen the way my mother looks at him. She’s putting up with him. There’s no love here. She’s not capable.
“Legion, are you listening?” My mother’s sharp voice slashes through my thoughts.
“I’m trying my best not to,” I say.
