“I heard he was missing.”
“My sister says he’s dangerous, like, a real psycho.”
“He’s soooo hot.”
“Fucking mages are all arrogant bastards.”
I reached the front of the crowd to find a row of journalists and news vans waiting by the steps. A brunette witch in a tailored suit grabbed my arm when I pushed past her. My magic zapped the cunt, leaving a blackened scorch mark on her pale wrist.
She screeched in pain, falling back immediately, much to my satisfaction. The other members of the media mob lifted their cameras and microphones while muttering to each other and their watching audience. I ignored them.
A pair of guards stopped me when I reached the main entrance.
“Get out of my fucking way or die,” I snapped. The older of the two said something into a comms device and then moved aside. Dad must have spotted my arrival.
The witch manning the reception desk looked up nervously when I approached.
“Go on up,” she squeaked. “Mr. Vane is waiting for you.”
Of course he was. No doubt he’d be rubbing his hands together in glee. Nothing pleased my father more than a show of loyalty. He hated it when I refused to play the part of a dutiful son at public events, claiming it made us look weak.
It was why he’d resorted to threatening my mother in recent years.
I wish I knew where she’d gone. I’d checked the house after leaving the facility, but there’d been no sign of her. Just an empty room and broken shackles.
Either she’d escaped or someone had freed her. I just prayed my father hadn’t ended her life to prevent her from talking.
I took the stairs up to the executive floor, needing to burn off some of the adrenaline in my system before I torched the building. Already a storm rumbled outside, lightning flashing in sporadic bursts through the windows lining the stairwell.
If a torrential downpour washed all the scumbags outside away, I’d have no regrets. They were all festering boils on my peachy ass.
When I reached the executive floor, I found empty offices and silence. All Dad’s little minions must be hiding.
They were right to hide. If anyone stopped me from taking my mate away from here, I’d kill them.
Including Dad.
He’d hurt me and mine for the last time. The bullshit ended right here, right now.
Anyone with half a brain knew Raven’s arrest was a joke. I seriously doubted my father had any evidence against her that would stand up in a human or magical court. And if he claimed otherwise, he was lying.
I stormed into the conference room to find him waiting for me with a smug grin, Brianna at his shoulder.
Raven sat in a chair, her wrists and ankles shackled with magic-blocking cuffs. The look she threw me was a mix of panic and relief.
“Ah, you’ve made it at last.” Dad acted like he knew I’d come, which knocked me off my stride for a second. Had he been tracking me?
“You really should pay more attention to your surroundings, Alaric. The receptionist at that hideous motel reported you the moment you booked a room for the night.”What a fucking asshole—he’d asked for an extra hundred bucks not to record the booking. I promised myself I’d return to the dump later and fry his ass.
“Let her go,” I said to Dad, rolling my eyes.
He laughed as if this was all some kind of joke. Even Brianna cracked a smile.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Alaric. Your mate has committed a terrible crime. The humans are calling for the death penalty, but I am willing to waive that in return for your loyalty.”
Around twenty security mages lined the room. Not one of them had the power to take me down; I’d cast a protection spell on the way upstairs, in case Dad tried anything underhanded.
Not even my father would risk hurling dark magic at me with so many people watching. Sure, these cockroaches were his most loyal minions, but I doubted they knew he dabbled in banned magic.
