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I ggy tiredly followed Maverick with his eyes as the man paced. Who did he have to kill for a pair of fucking ear plugs? Kill, beg, fuck, suck…he didn’t care. Hell, he’d take a nice shot of drugs, regardless of what they were, if they’d offer it to him. Really, he'd do anything to not have to listen to another second of Maverick’s delulu psychobabble.

Iggy would also like a sandwich, as they were barely fucking feeding him. Because apparently, trying to drive him insane hadn’t been tortuous enough.

Didn’t they know he was a growing, thirty-five-year-old little boy?! He needed more than three fucking apples a day! A shower would be nice too. Not that he’d dare ask for that, and risk Maverick being the one to help him. Ugh—his hair just felt so gross.

At least they’d taken his contacts out the day after he’d woken up. He shuddered as he remembered the feeling of Maverick’s fingers on his eyes.

“Harlow was always a bad seed. I see that now! So much promise though. The violence he always brought with him. I can’t blame myself for thinking he’d be worthy of joining us. How could I have known how far he’d fall?! I couldn’t!”

Iggy barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Couldn’t the man at least come up with new material?! Like, Iggy had always figured he’d have a violent death due to his job, but holy fuck, he had never in, his wildest imagination, thought he’d be fucking talked to death.

“But he is more than unworthy… He is as vile as the things he hunts. One of which he sleeps with. That fucking whore! When I get my hands on him… How, just how?! How could Harlow have fallen so far?! Tony, I get! The man was always a bleeding heart, paranormal loving bastard. But Harlow had so much promise, and now he’s not only fucking a vampire, but a male vampire at that! Even after what he did, I could have found a way to forgive and bring him into the fold…”

Iggy flinched when the man suddenly stopped and spun towards him. He faked a smile.

“Ignatius, my boy, tell me something.”

I'm not your fucking boy , he thought, even as he said, “Yes?”

“How trapped does that whore have him? Is there a chance to free Harlow from its grasp? Is he redeemable? Can we bring him into the fold?”

As Harlow had likely been plotting to kill Iggy for just asking Foxx out…not very likely. The man seemed quite intent on keeping the vampire.

He blinked. Wait…‘free him’? ‘Bring him into the fold’? Holy fuck, Maverick didn’t know Harlow had been changed!? Though, he supposed, changed was the wrong word considering he was a dhampir.

Shit… Well, Iggy sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. He cleared his throat. “Harlow…seemed attached the last time I was around the two.”

Maverick’s brow rose. “How attached?”

As attached as you seem to be to fucking both of us , he thought snidely. How did the man both hate Harlow, yet want him to join ‘them’?

“Um, well, the ‘kill anyone who touched what he thought was his’ type of attached?”

“So, it’s too late.”

He cleared his throat again, though it was mostly due to dryness rather than nerves this time. “I’d say so…”

The man pursed his lips. “Too bad. Such a waste. No matter.” Maverick tsked. “Well, we have better things to talk about, Ignatius. I know Tony has you under his thumb. But you have choices, my boy.”

Oh, he wanted to yell anytime the bastard called him his ‘boy’. Though Iggy really couldn’t understand how it had taken the man seven fucking days to finally ask him to join his stupid ass cult. Especially with how much he’d rambled on. Though he supposed the first day he hadn’t really been awake or aware.

“Maverick, Tony has always been good to me. He’s protected me, you know that. I don’t know why you took me, but you know I’d never betray him.” He took a deep breath. “Why did you take me, even knowing that?”

“Your loyalty is commendable. It’s part of why I want you, and yet it is also a part of you that I can’t help but hate. I need loyal people. I want loyal followers. You being loyal makes me want you, and I wouldn’t be interested if you weren’t, yet it also makes it so much harder for me to have you.”

Oh, being talked about as if he could be owned was always fun—NOT. Iggy really didn’t get Maverick. Like, it would be one thing if it was a sexual thing, but this obsession the fucker had over him never made any fucking sense!

“I won’t betray him.”

“I know, that’s fine. He—” Maverick ground his teeth. “—may have survived that fucking explosion, but it’s only a matter of time before his luck runs out. Hah, it’s just like his ass to stupidly survive when he shouldn't have!”

A wave of relief slammed into him, his vision actually swaying with it as a bit of the tension wound around his body trickled away with the knowledge.

Alive… Tony was alive. Iggy swallowed hard, doing his best to not show any of what he was feeling.

Maverick cocked his head and laughed, his words softer when he spoke next. “Oh, Ignatius. You were always so skilled at hiding your emotions. Which is due to your childhood, no doubt.” He flinched as the man moved closer, a spine-chilling shudder running through him when Maverick caressed his hair. “They didn’t know what God had given them. Hell, I don’t even think you know, or you wouldn’t cover it up with contacts, an ungodly amount of piercings, and a silly spell. But I know, I know how special you are.

“Don’t hide from me, Ignatius. I won’t punish you for feeling. And let me apologize, I should have told you sooner. It must have been hard to stop yourself from asking this past week.” The man pulled his hand away, a small smile on his face. “Do you want to know what happened?”

Iggy took a deep breath and hesitantly said, “Yes, please.”

“Ah, so polite. Well, apparently, Tony only survived because a woman sacrificed herself instead. Hah, I bet he’s suffering over that.”

A…woman? “W-who?”

“Charity, I believe her name was.”

His eyes widened and he whispered, “No…” before he could stop himself.

“Ah… I’m sorry, Ignatius. You liked her, didn’t you? But then, I suppose, she was quite beautiful.”

While he didn’t want to give the man the satisfaction of his reaction, Iggy couldn’t hold back the tears. “She…never hurt anyone. And she was human… Maverick, why do you have to do this?”

“You’ll understand soon, I promise. You’ll see my side of things, and you will join me. As for the woman… She died because in war, innocents are always sacrificed for the greater good. But as you cared for her, I’ll see if I can get some funeral pictures for you. The service is later today apparently.”

Iggy wanted to scream ‘fuck your greater good’, but held back. It was too soon for him to lose it. He wasn’t ready to die yet, and part of him still had hope he’d be found. But Iggy would remember this feeling, his anger, for the moment hope fled. For when he stopped caring whether death was there for him or not. Because at that time, he would spew out every single word of hatred he held in his heart for the bastard standing in front of him. But until then, he’d be silent.

“You want to ask, don’t you? Who else died.” The soft, kind voice the man had taken on now sounded as taunting as it likely had always meant to be. “Go ahead, ask.”

Iggy remained silent while tears trailed down his face, and instead of responding, he just stared blankly .

Maverick started to laugh, and he kept laughing as he walked away.

“Please…please, someone find me…” he whispered once the other human had disappeared up the stairs.