Mostly, however, I was just keen to know what the call was about. And from the incandescent rage on Tiberius’s face, it wasn’t good news.
“They’ve done WHAT?”Oh my. Tibs was super angry about something. Had my mates gone on a psychotic murder spree in myabsence? I fucking hoped so. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
I knew my mates were alive, but being alive didn’t mean they were safe.
Everything from the time we arrived at the club was a confusing mess in my head, but I vaguely remembered demons attacking.
A horde of demons rampaging through a packed nightclub would have led to dozens of fatalities. Maybe even hundreds.
“Are you sure he’s dead?” Tiberius’s voice turned icy. Whoever had perished, presumably at my mates’ hands, was important to the mage. “They will pay for this!”
“Sorry for your loss.” I tried not to smirk while Miss Whiplash tugged me across the floor, but I failed miserably. When we reached the doorway, I wedged my foot against the frame, and she had no choice but to stop.
Tiberius ground his teeth before forcing a glacial smile in my direction. “Your mates now have a warrant out for their arrest on charges ofFirst Degree MurderandCrimes Against Humans. The minute the mage security task force apprehends them, they will be placed on death row in the maximum security penitentiary for feral magicals.”
My mouth gaped open most unattractively. “That’s bullshit!” Whoever had died had almost certainly deserved it. Zane didn’t kill for no reason…okay, so maybe he did…but Maverick was not a thrill killer!
“It was all caught on camera, Miss Blackstone. The evidence is indisputable.”
“You can’t kill my soul-bonded mates! I’ll…I’ll die!”
“Not a problem, my dear. Once I’ve extracted your magic, you’re no longer of use to me.”
Silence lay heavy on my shoulders as I paced up and down my cell. I point-blank refused to let Tiberius Vane’s vague threats scare me. His reaction to whatever update he’d received reassured me my mates were still out there, searching for me. They were all powerful, resourceful, and in Rasmus’s case, virtually indestructible.
If he could survive a mass extinction event like the bloodborne virus, he could survive a pathetic, small-dicked mage like Tiberius Vane.
Okay,fiiiine,so I had no idea whether Tibs had a small dick, but since he exuded small-dick energy, it seemed likely.
My fingers drifted to the ruby necklace at my throat. Rasmus could use it to find me, right? With Zane’s teleportation skills, my mates would get here any minute now.
Someone pushed a cheese sandwich and a bottle of water through a hatch in the door to my cell.
The bread had green mold on the crust, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. I picked off the mold and ate the rest, washing it down with a few sips of water. Although I was thirsty enough to drain the entire bottle, I put it aside for later in case no further refreshments arrived.
The magic-blocking cuffs weighed my wrists down, sapping my energy, and so with nothing else to do, I sat down on the hard floor, intending to take a short power nap.
Only I must have dropped into an exhausted slumber because when I next opened my eyes, the light had changed and my cell looked different.
Was I dreaming?
Like my prison, this room had a metal door and no window, but it was slightly larger. I spotted Alaric lying on a small cot, his eyesclosed, and realized that, despite the cuffs, I must have somehow dream-walked from my cell into his.
Two emerald-green eyes snapped open.
“Raven? How the fuck did you escape?”
13
Alaric
The goddess-cursed cuffs were making my life hell. Being unable to release magic was like being burned alive. Constantly. I’d tried explaining to my father in words of one syllable just how inhumane such cuffs were on a storm mage, and he’d expressed zero concern.
Anyone would think he didn’t give a fuck about his only son.Oh wait…
Following his revelation that he expected me to have sex with Raven, he’d sent me back to this sad room.
His words pounded inside my head on an endless loop.“…you need to fuck the little bitch and seal the bond.”
