“Is that why you killed your family?” I asked. “Your goddess rejected you, so you went on a killing rampage in a fit of rage?”
“Shut the fuck up!” Digger roared.
I let out a maniacal laugh. I’d finally figured this bastard out. “That’s why you roofie your victims,” I continued. “Because drugs are the only power you actually have.”
Digger screamed at the top of his lungs. He flung himself at me again, and my feet slipped out from under me. We both landed on the floor. He curled his hands around my neck, fully intending to kill me. One of his cronies stomped on my leg, and I gasped as the pain of tearing tendons shot through my knee. My leg had never healed quite right after I broke it in the Underground, and the assault only made it worse.
It fueled my anger— that was for sure. I got my good leg under Digger and kicked him off of me.
Deuce was obviously getting impatient, because he yelled from across the room, “This ends now!”
He appeared next to me in under a second, then grabbed me by the hair and yanked me to my feet. Deuce was stronger, because he was a vampire, and no amount of struggling would loosen his hold on me. He dragged me to the edge of the room and began bashing my head into the pipes. Pain shot through my nose and across my entire face. I could feel the bruises forming immediately, swelling my right eye closed. He smashed my mouth into the pipes, and my lip split open.
“Bleed, god fucking damn it!” Deuce spat. “I want to eat you alive. And when I’m done with you, I’m going for your no good crippled wife— only unlike you, I’ll have my fun before I dispose of her.”
That pissed me the fuck off.No onedared to threaten Ava, not while I was still living and breathing. If this fucker wanted to get to her, he was going to have to kill me first, and I’d come back from the dead before I’d ever let anyone touch her again.
With blind fucking rage, I managed to slip out from under his grip and shove him off. I grabbed Deuce by the back of the head and slammed his face so hard into the pipes that it knocked him out cold.
It took a fucking lot to knock out a vampire, but Deuce went down like a dead body. Hell, I would’ve thought I’d killed him if I didn’t know he was immortal.
Marcus landed one final blow to one of the gang members, and I heard another body hit the ground. The ones left standing backed away, clearly horrified that I’d managed to knock out a vampire.
“Who’s next?” I demanded.
Digger and his gang scrambled out of there as fast as they could. Now that I knew Digger’s secret, I didn’t think he’d be messing with us again.
I went over to Marcus and helped him to his feet. He was in rough shape. We both were. We limped around the room to gather our wet clothes, and had barely pulled them on when inmates began flooding through the doorway. It wouldn’t be long before the guards found Deuce lying on the floor, and I didn’t want to stick around when they did.
Marcus and I fled for the exit, back toward the Happy House. We must’ve looked rough. Pain pulsed through my nose, and blood trickled down my lip. My whole face was swollen, and my right eye wouldn’t open. Not to mention the broken ribs. I couldn’t walk without limping.
I clapped Marcus on the back and leaned into him, only to realize he was clutching his arm.
He inhaled a sharp breath through his teeth. “They broke my arm.”
“Fuck, man,” I growled. “You did well in there, though.”
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m surprised we made it out alive.”
Hand landed on us, yanking us apart.
“You, with me!” one of the guards barked at Marcus, while the others held me still.
“Where are you taking him?” I demanded.
The guards chuckled, as if they were amused by my audacity to question it. “You’ll find out soon enough. The Warden’s saving the best for last.”
Panic filled Marcus’ voice. “Thebest for last? What does that mean? Charlie! Where are they taking me?!”
Nowhere good. My teeth ground together, but the guards holding me had to be vamps or angels, because I couldn’t struggle out of their grip. For the first time since being thrown in these cuffs, I could feel my magic rattling around inside of me, begging to escape. I’d bring this whole place down on these motherfuckers if I could.
“Don’t play his game, Marcus!” I called after him. “You don’t give in!”
A heavy door clanged, and the sound of Marcus’ panicked cries faded. My stomach dropped out of my abdomen, and I resisted the urge to drop to my knees and curse the gods for abandoning us down here. The Warden was picking off my friends one by one, like cattle set for slaughter.
I realized something even more terrible. The Warden had taken Marcus, which meant he was done with Ava-Marie. She could be dead right now for all I knew… but Icouldn’tknow, not as long as these damn cuffs were blocking our bond.
Screw the fucking Warden! These games he wanted to play ended now. He could take my Familiar from me, he could take my friends, he could even take the love of my life away. He could rip everything I had to live for out of my grasp, but one thing would always keep me going.
