Page 21 of Bellamy

My situation was dire. I had let myself be captured by the enemy. In doing so, I’d put my brothers in a tough situation too. Raiden was more than likely blaming himself, since he’d been with me. Galen would be pissy as always, but worry would linger beneath his anger. Castor would call me a dumbass—a much-deserved title—and then demand they come save my sorry ass.

I tried reaching out to them telepathically. Being in a different realm made that impossible.

There was no way in hell Alastair would surrender Light Bringer. The fate of the world relied on keeping it out of Asa’s hands. My life wasn’t more important than that. Unlikely they’d come rescue me either. Alastair was too smart for such an obvious trap. He knew that’s exactly what Asa wanted.

The only outcome?

I was going to die in this cell.

***

I knew it wasn’t real, the sight of the ships in the harbor, their large sails casting shadows on the water. I had been there before, too many years ago to count. The edges of my vision rippled, as if underwater.

“Why did you like to watch the ships?” a deep voice asked. I couldn’t see the man who spoke.

Sitting on the shore, I hugged my knees. “Because they offered freedom.”

“Freedom from what?”

“Life.” I watched oarsmen board the vessel. Crates were loaded. Soon, the ship would leave the city and set off on another adventure. “I dreamed sometimes that I could stow away on one of them. To leave behind the pain. The sadness. To escape.”

“To escape what?”

A pause. “Everything.”

Suddenly, the scene changed, like the slide changing on one of those old projectors. The harbor faded away, and I found myself in the cramped attic I’d once called home. A ray of sunlight broke through the small window, shining on the dust particles in the air.

“Don’t look at me!” Mother screamed, shaking me by the shoulders. “You have his eyes.”

With a gasp, my eyes opened. I was strapped to a chair, arms bound behind me and legs chained.

“Welcome back,” Belphegor said as he loomed over me. “Have a nice trip?”

“Fuck you.”

“So your mother hated you. Interesting.” He walked over to the table in the otherwise bare room, his boots heavy on the floor. He poured a glass of blood-laced wine and took a drink.

How much time had passed since he’d captured me? One day? Two? It hadn’t been that long, but it felt like a lifetime.

Belphegor had been using his power to search through my thoughts. He’d made me relive memories I’d long since tried to put out of my head. The more he learned about my past, about me, the more my mind was opened to him—the harder it was to keep shit hidden.

He wanted the location of Lucifer’s sword. Because at the moment, he suspected we had it at our mansion, but he wasn’t certain. And even if we did have it there, the coordinates had been changed, making the barrier around our home impossible for him to locate.

Lazarus had used powerful warding to hide us after our location had been exposed last year. Clara had helped using her magic. Belphegor wouldn’t breach the barrier again. Not if I had anything to do with it.

I won’t surrender.

“I can’t believe someone as sweet as Gray ever came from you.”

Belphegor’s brown eyes flickered back to me, and he placed his drink on the table. The color Lust made him see when he looked at me? A unique shade of blue. “Gradyn has always had a gentle heart. He kept it no matter how hard I pushed him.”

“Did you ever screw with his head like this?”

“Never.”

“Good.” I rested my head against the back of the chair. Like the cuffs on my wrists, the chair also had runes etched into the sides to further restrain me.

Fuck, I was tired. Drained physically and mentally. But I wouldn’t break. I’d never give him what he wanted.