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Chapter Twelve

VICTOR

Rage pounded in my veins, the burn a wildfire I fought to contain. I struggled with the need to fight, to smash, to hurt, to kill. When I’d returned and found Runa pinned beneath three males, a crimson haze filled my vision.

This wasn’t me.

In my world, I was known for being cool and collected, completely in control at all times. It was possible something in this kingdom was affecting me—causing me to react this way.

The fire burning in my gut wasn’t run-of-the-mill anger. No. This was something deeper—darker. More explosive. Like some part of me had cracked, allowing something new to escape. What? I didn’t know. All I’d known for certain was those males had needed to die for touching her.

All except one.

The last was a gift.

Watching Runa end the bastard, how she took a moment to toy with the prick before taking her revenge, that dark piece of me had taken notice. Afterward, I’d been unable to resist tasting her. That simple taste might have been my undoing because even with my latest windfall of blood, I hungered.

Once I’d tossed the males out beside the garbage, making sure to snap the neck of the last, I sat on my cot.

Leaning back against the wall, I propped my foot on the miserable excuse for a mattress and rested my elbow on my knee.

It was a sad attempt on my part to appear at ease when everything inside twisted into knots.

Still, it was important that Runa not know she might very well hold my future in her hands.

“Okay, Custodis.” Runa rested on her cot with her head propped on her hand. Lavender tendrils spilled down her arm in a becoming display. “Tell me. Why do you need me?”

“The king’s former seer claims your sister can open a portal to the mortal realm. Is this true?”

Runa’s eyes hardened. “Raelynn is no longer my sister.”

“Fine, then. Regardless of your familial ties, the queen has portal magic.”

“Yes. Her magic is the reason the false king has access to Carcerem’s power. Raelynn ripped a gateway between the two, forcing the connection. Taking something the realm was unwilling to give.”

Like the bastards who’d attacked her. Darkness swelled at the reminder, and I took a deep breath to cool my rising anger.

“And you.” I managed to say in a steady voice. “Do you share that power?”

Her dark brow furrowed. “It’s an ability that’s passed down through the females in my bloodline.

Though I’ve never attempted to use it. For…

” She hesitated, eyes darkening. “Many reasons. One being that it requires a significant amount of magic, forcing the caster to draw deeply from Carcerem’s reserves of obsidian.

Too deeply.” She rubbed her fingers together.

“But it could be done.”

She chewed her lip, growing more discomfited. “In theory. Also, a sacrifice is needed. A life freely given. Idris must have done the same to claim Carcerem’s power.”

The seer had said as much. So, I’d have to convince some simpleton to offer up their life. It was a minor detail.

“Perhaps we could work together.”

The sorceress narrowed her violet eyes. “You want me to create a portal to send you home.”

“It’s not as if I can beg the queen for her aid.”

Runa frowned. “What you want from me… It’s a big ask.”

“Bigger than agreeing to kidnap a male so Vex could torture, then murder him?”

She grinned, unapologetic. “Much bigger.”

“I’m sure we could come to some sort of agreement.”

Her grin twisted with derision. “Look around you, vampire. You’ve nothing to barter.”

“Not true. Agree to my terms, and I will ensure no further harm comes to you, both in Gamma cell and the pit. Also, since you are currently unable to steal secrets due to the torque, I will share any intel I gather with you and your brothers. Together, we will make our escape.”

“And how do you plan on gathering this intel without your compulsion available to you? You’re not the most charming vampire I’ve encountered.”

I smiled, flashing my fangs. “I could demonstrate if you like?”

Runa’s cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink. “Never mind.”

“Me thinks the lady protests too much.” I smirked, enjoying our verbal sparring.

“In your dreams, vampire.” Runa flopped back on her cot.

“Think on it. We share a common goal. Both of us wish to escape and return home.”

“I’d also like a cart full of jewels, my own castle, and a goose that lays golden eggs. ”

“You mock me.”

“Handsome and perceptive.”

She thinks me handsome? For a moment, I was thrown off target until I gave myself a mental shake. Focus . “We can help each other.”

“You have a plan?”

Not yet. “Absolutely.”

“Tell me.”

“I haven’t worked out the details.”

“Says someone who’s unaccustomed to answering to a competent woman. No deal. You either treat me like an equal partner, or we’re done here.”

A low growl clawed at my insides. What I was unaccustomed to was defiance. “I will tell you when the time is right.”

She rolled to her opposite side, daring to give me her back. “Good night, vampire.”

Infuriating female. “In case you didn’t realize, your head is most definitely on the queen’s chopping block. Don’t think I didn’t see the gleam in Raelynn’s eyes. You’re here because she wants you dead instead of incarcerated. Worse, she wants to watch.”

Silence.

“As my partner, you will have access to information you wouldn’t otherwise, aid in the games, and protection in the cells. Should I fail, that will mean one or both of us is dead, and then what does it matter? You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

“Nothing to lose but my soul.” She snorted. “Tapping into the amount of magic a portal requires could take me to a place I cannot afford to travel. The queen’s blackened flesh is proof she’s in over her head. If the darkness takes hold of me, as it has with Raelynn, I may never return.”

An issue that held few ramifications for me .

“And every minute you spend here, both you and your brothers’ life expectancies shorten.”

She exhaled a heavy sigh, her shoulders rising and falling. “And without us, many of the villages will go hungry, falling prey to Idris’s tax collectors. More than just our lives are at stake.”

“Do we have a deal?” I pressed, glad she couldn’t see the sweat that gathered on my brow.

“Yes, vampire,” she said to the wall. “We have a deal. But one misstep from you, and I’ll make sure my brothers and I are the only ones to leave this place.”

I relaxed into my cot, smiling at the ceiling. “Understood.”

Now I’d found my ticket home, all I needed was to facilitate our escape.