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“What the—”

Arms like reinforced concrete clamped around my upper body. Fury ignited my weary form. “What’s the meaning of this?” I fought to gasp while the bands grew tighter. Tighter.Tighter!

“Release me,” I wheezed, my aching bones creaking. Whysave me only to kill me? Perhaps these locals were even dumber than I remembered.

As my vision tunneled, my grinning savior sauntered up, curvy hips rolling, manacles in her hands. “Welcome to Carcerem, Victor Custodis.”

Chapter Four

VICTOR

Voices permeatedthe fog in my muddled brain. Various aches and pains made themselves known as well. Awareness took hold in an instant. I’d been taken captive. I swallowed a groan, feigning sleep. Moisture from the ground dampened my thin pants. Ropes circled my torso, pinning me against a tree. Manacles bound my wrists and ankles—the metal strangely icy where it rested against my bare flesh.

Just a few feet in front of me, I sensed a presence. Spiced pears wafted under my nose.

“You keep staring at him like that, and you’ll make me jealous,” a smoky voice said from further away. “After all, I’m the pretty one in the family.”

“You’re pretty all right,” the female answered, close enough her sweet breath brushed my face. “Pretty annoying. And he’s far from my type. Besides, I’m not staring, more like studying. Same way he did us earlier. I mean, did youseethe way he looked at us? Flarking creep.”

Were the sorceress and horned demon lovers? For somereason, this didn’t sit well, stirring something violent inside of me.

“Runa is right. He isn’t worthy of her,” said a deeper voice. Boots crunched the ground, drawing closer. “Look at him in his fancy clothes, not a single callous on his hands, covered in blood and filth. This puny male is lucky we captured him. He would not have survived one span here in Carcerem. We have done him a favor.”

Clearly, this larger male wasn’t the brains of the operation.

“It is odd that this infamous warrior couldn’t even defend himself against one gallspawn. Are you sure we got the right guy?” The smoky voice spoke again.

This other male consulted the woman. Perhaps she was the leader? Interesting.

“Yaga has never failed us before,” the female said. “Although I did expect him to be…more.”

That she found me lacking lit a fire in my stomach. I flicked my eyes open, glaring at two of my captors. The largest held a stick as if he contemplated poking me.

Despite my exhaustion, I stared deep into his eyes, pushing a wave of compulsion into the command. “Given your disappointment, perhaps it’s best you release me.”

At my words, the stone male flinched as though startled, then frowned. “He even speaks like a weakling.”

I gritted my teeth. Over the centuries, many a powerful being had shaken with fear when meeting me.

“You idiot,” his horned partner scoffed. “He didn’t know his manacles suppress magic and tried to compel you.”

Enchanted manacles? That could be a problem as I was already injured.

The big guy reared back. “Does he think me some weak-willed mortal? Athos do not succumb to tricks of the mind. Our skulls are too thick.”

Too thick, indeed.

The woman rose from her crouched position, displeasure in the angle of her brow. “So, this is the Great Victor Custodis.”

“The one Yaga risked consulting the fates over,” her massive companion scoffed. “The one she claimed will set us on the path to freedom.”

I bit back an angry retort. While I was born in this backward kingdom, I’d spent my life in the mortal world. Given the short time I lived here in my youth, there was much I didn’t know about the land and its inhabitants. I hadn’t a clue whom or what I was dealing with.

“I fear you have me at a disadvantage,” I said in an even tone. “It seems unfair that you know my name and I don’t know yours.”

“Very well,” said the woman. “I am Runa, sorceress of Carcerem.”

For some odd reason, my heart flipped as I took in her form, my blood warming. She wore the garb of a warrior maiden with boots that covered her shapely legs to just above her knees. Her fitted skirt was pleated over her thighs. On the chest of her laced corset was an ornate metal breastplate. While the women of the mortal realm changed their appearance with cosmetics, I suspected Runa’s violet hair and lavender eyes were natural. Though she professed to be a sorceress, she’d yet to reveal the nature of her magic. I’d need to watch her closely lest I fall victim to her sorcery. Maybe she already had me under her spell. It would explain my strange reaction to her.