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Jericho eyed his chains. “Step back,” he cautioned.

Corded muscle rippled in his arms as he tested the metal’s strength. He stretched up on his toes, gaining an inch of slack. Three puffs of his chest, and he heaved himself into his restraints. Metal and concrete slammed together in a resounding clang.

The hefty rings embedded in the wall didn’t budge.

Her heart plummeted. “There has to be another way.” Heavy padlocks secured several loops of chain around his wrist. If she only had some leverage, maybe she could pry them open.

With her palm pressed against the pounding bump on her forehead, she turned in a circle in the middle of the cell. There was nothing to work with, no furniture. Just four walls and a steel door with a bar-covered window.

She angled closer, eyeing strange lines that were etched into the stone. Recognition had her sucking a sharp breath. Carved deep in the concrete were dozens of claw marks. All of them thick and broad as though something really big and really angry had tried to tear its way out. What kind of creature was capable of slicing through cement?

“Alex, listen to me.” Jericho’s biting tone whipped her head around.

His golden skin had paled, and he dragged his gaze from the slashes. “If you see an opportunity to run, you take—”

“I’m not leaving you,” she said before he’d even finished.

“Dammit, Alex,” he yelled. “For once, will you just do as you’re told?”

“I’m not. Leaving. You,” she fired back, raking her hands through her tangled hair. “Therehasto be a way to set you free.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” said a brittle voice. “He won’t be in chains much longer.”

Dread froze Alex’s muscles in place.

That voice. Like nails on a chalkboard.

The door opened,and a red haze filled Jericho’s vision. He lowered his head and unleashed a threatening growl.

Helen’s stilettos tapped a death knoll in the small cell. Not far behind her, a large male in a black suit lingered. He cut Jericho an antagonistic snarl, flexing thick biceps. Unimpressed, Jericho kept his eyes locked on the biggest threat in the room.

Helen.

She stood in front of him. Close enough that he could have snapped her neck before she realized his hand circled her throat. Instinct churned, roiled, seethed. His darker half lunged at the end of its leash, urging him to fight, to protect. He strained against the restraints.

Helen scoffed at his efforts. “Don’t waste your energy. The metal is indestructible. Enchanted with the finest magic money can buy. Of course, only the best would do for Victor’s favorite,” she purred.

He suspected he wasn’t the first to experience Helen’s hospitality. Waking in chains was bad enough, but it was the claw marks scored into the walls that flooded him with panic. Gods save him—he wanted to be wrong.

Her nauseating perfume invaded his lungs, and she leaned in, scraping one polished nail across his bare chest. “I’m pleased to see you’re awake.” She nodded toward the male at the door. “I was afraid Ryder stuck you too deep, but we needed you weak…and hungry.”

Jericho’s jaw clenched. He’d feared as much, given the puddle of blood pooling beneath his feet.

With manicured fingertips, she traced the clenched ridges of his abdomen. “Tell me, Jericho, how do you like your accommodations?”

He glared at a spot over her shoulder.

When he refused to play her petty game, she became incensed. “What’s the matter, warrior? Too proud to beg for your freedom?” She peeled thin lips back from her fangs, plunging two fingers into the knife wound in his side.

Molten fire stabbed his ribs, and he threw back his head, unable to contain his bellow of pain.

“Get your hands off him.” Alex lunged to attack.

Helen spun just as Ryder grabbed Alex’s arm.Crack!The back of his hand struck Alex’s cheek. The force of the blow sent her careening into the wall, where she slid to the ground.

Rage, hot and volcanic, erupted beneath Jericho’s sternum. He sawed his teeth together. Metal gouged his wrists, tendons wrenching in his shoulders. If he bargained for Alex’s life, they’d realize how much she meant to him, putting her in more danger.

Alex’s soft moan filled him with a modicum of relief.Please be okay.She braced her arms against the floor, swiped her cheek, then stared at the streak of blood. When her head lifted, fire blazed in her eyes.