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“Of course. We would obviously use any information you gave us to help with hunting down any would-be survivors the next time.” Von winced. “Having you survive all this timereallydilutes the image of Bloodstone Island. It’s supposed to be this place where one wrong step means death.” He sighed heavily. “If anyone can live there, it’s nothing more than a tropical resort, really. If it becomes too easy, then contestants will eventuallyrun off all the time. And while I enjoy an exciting death as much as our viewers, it’s only truly juicy if it happens on camera.”
“Can you shut up?” Chelsey snapped.
“Yes, please,” Crew agreed. “I forgot how annoying you were, Von.”
If their words hurt the vampire in any way, he didn’t show it. “I can see how some would think me less than truthful, but I assure you, everything I say is accurate. It’s part of what helps my mystique, if you will.” Von smiled slyly. “I am beloved by fans around the world. I shudder to think how much I would be missed if I was gone. Every immortal being dreams of hearing they would be missed if they vanished from this life. That is a gift I don’t take lightly.”
Thankfully, the car pulled up outside a skyscraper downtown before Von could continue waxing poetic about how much he thought everyone loved him. Two hulking demons opened the door. Things were fine until Eli stepped out of the car.
The larger of the two guards growled low in his throat. “Filth,” he grunted.
Eli glared back at them. “Sulfurous prick.”
“Big words from an angel who lost her wings,” the other guard said.
Von clapped his hands. “Enough of that, boys. These are honored guests. Please don’t embarrass me.Thank you.” He drew the last words out like the end of some chipper song.
The demons, though visibly still upset at Eli’s presence, had some professionalism and kept their mouths shit. They stood behind us as we followed Von, probably to make sure none of us ran.
Von’s assistant, who still hadn’t said a word to us, hurried along ahead of us, forcing our group to walk fast to keep up. Von led us to a private elevator at the far end of the lobby, using some type of magical gem embedded in a keycard to unlock the door.
Once we’d gotten inside and the doors closed, he grinned around at all of us. “This is fun,” he murmured. “Such a coup, having the two of you here. I cannot wait to see the ratings for this little special.” His smile slipped a bit. “Hmm, they won’t be as big as they should be, of course, what with all that silly fighting going on. But it is what it is.”
We passed floor after floor. Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, it went on and on. The hum of the elevator was almost enough to lull me to sleep. How tall was this building?
Eventually, the elevator car slowed to a stop. I glanced up and saw we were on floor 107.
“Everyone off!” Von exclaimed.
The doors slid open, and we stepped into a large room that looked like some sort of set or media room. There were cameras everywhere, standard recording devices as well as the enchanted hovering cameras. Techs and assistants were testing audio equipment, adjusting lights and furniture. When I saw what else awaited us, I nearly laughed.
A large table had been set up at the center of the room, and the same board members we’d met on Bloodstone sat around it. Everyone was in attendance, even the mysterious woman in white. The only one missing was the deceased Garth Sheen. In his place sat Simon Shingleman.
Kira stiffened beside me, and a swirl of emotions flooded her mind. It made me momentarily dizzy. Along with the inevitable rage, the most prevalent emotion between the two of us was disgust. Part of me had hoped the news Eli had relayed to us would be wrong. Surely a person as unstable as Simon couldn’t have been given such a place of power and responsibility. Yet, here he was, looking like King Shit of Turd Mountain. A self-important smile played on his lips. The others wore crisp, expensive suits, while Simon was wearing his ratty, stained lab coat.
There were a few other notable faces in the room as well: the mayor of Fangmore City, a few actors and musicians, a well-known billionaire tech mogul, and the starting point guard for the Fangmore Howlers professional basketball team. It was as though they were setting up for some sort of talk show and had no care about the war going on beyond the city gates. Very few people had the privilege of continuing their lives like nothing was happening.
To the left of the large table, Callista Oborin stared daggers at me and Kira. Her shattered nose had been magically healed, but that didn’t help with her opinion of us.
Von strode across the room, and the others at the table turned in our direction. Not a single one of them looked happy to see us. Other than Simon, that was. The scientist beamed at us, but there was no way to know exactly what that smile meant. It certainly didn’t hide the madness behind his eyes.
Simon’s gaze locked on Kira, and my skin crawled at the way he leered at her. I tugged Kira aside, putting myself between her and the mad fae scientist. My instincts were screaming that we were in danger. Had we walked into a hornet’s nest? A trap? Would we ever see the Eleventh Pack’s lands again? There was no way of knowing what to expect. All I could do was keep my mate safe if things went sideways.
Von and his assistant took a seat at the table. “Come now, everyone,” the vampire said. “Have a seat. The show must go on.”
Then the asshole winked at me.
Chapter 25
Kira
The hesitancy I felt as we walked toward the table nearly made me freeze in place, but I pushed forward. I wouldnotlet these assholes see me weak.
Before each seat was a legal pad and pencil, as if they expected us to take notes or something. Wyatt took his seat, and I sat beside him, the mousy little assistant on my other side. The woman still hadn’t said a word, which didn’t surprise me. If I had to be around Von Thornton all day, I’d keep my mouth shut, too. The guy never seemed to stop talking. The poor woman had probably given up on speaking while at work.
Simon’s eyes were still on me. Even without looking in his direction, I could feel them boring into me. In the deepest recesses of my mind, I could still catch small hints and whispers of his voice, calling to me. It was less like the connection Wyatt and I shared and more like a faint memory. Any hope I’d had that I’d imagined it vanished. That subconscious pull and tug toward him was still there; Simon still had some sort of control over me.
What had he done to me in that lab?
