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Chapter Four
VICTOR
Voices permeated the 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 you see the way he looked at us? Flarking creep.”
Were the sorceress and horned demon lovers? For some reason, 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.
“Kronk. Athos.” Her partner jabbed a finger into his chest with a hollow thud.
Given the stony texture of his flesh when he’d almost crushed me to death, I’d suspected as much.
Athos were a formidable race, possessing an ability to turn to stone.
The indestructible nature of their bodies, combined with their unmatched strength, was admirable.
To have even one in my army would be an incredible advantage.
Runa confirmed my suspicions. “Kronk is the brawn in our little group. And very much likes to pound soft, frail things. Almost as much as he enjoys giving hugs.”
Kronk offered a broad grin in response, and I nodded, warning received. I was all too familiar with the athos’s hugs.
The muscular male with the black horns and the ability to throw fire was likely an infernus. In my world, they were known as fire demons and forced to shear their horns to walk among the humans. Here, not even the smoke rolling from the male’s nostrils would raise an eyebrow.
“Drazen,” the horned demon offered from where he lounged against a fallen log.
Before him was a small stack of branches. He blew into his fist, setting his hand on fire, then tossed the fireball into the kindling. Flames exploded, igniting the wood.
“How’s that for an introduction?” Drazen said, a cocky sneer on his face.
I’d seen better but didn’t dare voice that opinion. “So, sorcery, brawn, and fire. What, exactly, is my role here?”
“Your job is the easiest of all,” the infernus sneered, holding up his flaming index finger then snuffing it out in his fist. “You’re our prisoner.”
“We’re selling you to Vex,” the athos volunteered.
“Kronk,” Runa groaned.
“What?” The block-headed giant raised his hands. “It’s not as if a puny male like him can best us. What does it matter if he knows?”
“And who is this Vex?” I asked.
“He’s a vicious gang leader and a collector of the rare and unusual,” Runa said, her voice oddly appealing, rolling through my ears.
“Word on the street is you’re a hot commodity, despite your apparent weakness.
Rumor is you’ve sent many of the mortal world’s criminals here.
There are some who took it personally. Vex, for instance. ”
I pondered the odd name. “Doesn’t sound familiar. Perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else.”
“You’d better hope not,” Drazen snorted, puffing smoke. “If you’re of no value to Vex, you’re of no value to us, and that would make my friend Kronk very angry.”
“So, you’re flesh peddlers. Slavers.” Proving once again that this female wasn’t my mate. The fates wouldn’t have bound me to a creature so far beneath my station.
Kronk stiffened his spine. “Are not. You are our first.”
“Common thieves then.” Like every other bottom-dweller in this disgusting kingdom.
“Not common.” Kronk took a menacing step that had me drawing up my legs.
Runa placed a placating hand on the athos’s thick arm, saying, “In Carcerem, we’re more like royalty, as far as our fellow thieves are concerned. Not that you are one to judge, Victor Custodis.”
Ha. My crimes were exemplary compared to theirs.
She lowered to her knees beside me, close enough I could once again pick up her delightful—no, annoying—scent.
Freckles spilled across the bridge of her nose. The flaw was strangely endearing, despite her being a common criminal.
Her violet eyes took me in, scanning my features in a disturbingly intimate way.
“I must confess to being curious about you.” She canted her head, lavender tendrils tumbling over her shoulders.
“Yaga claims you’re a vampire, hundreds of spans old.
Says you’re from the mortal realm. That you were once a great leader there, although a deceitful one. ”
This Yaga person wasn’t wrong. It was about time Runa and her crew showed me a bit of respect.
When she raised her hand, I forced myself to remain still, to allow her touch.
Instead of striking me, she brushed my silver-white hair back from my forehead, leaning closer, whispering in a way that made goosebumps dance down my arms. “I bet there are all kinds of secrets stored in that pretty head of yours.”
She had no idea.
“What do you think, boys?” Runa asked.
“Do it,” Drazen encouraged, an evil smirk twisting his mouth. “Could be something useful in there. Something worth a few coins.”
Do what? Apprehension flickered through the haze the sorceress had created.
When she placed her palms on my face, I flinched back, knocking my skull against the tree. At her touch, a warm tingling sensation sparked within my body.
“What are you up to, pet?” I said, attempting to hide my response.
“Runa can both project images into someone’s mind and extract them. That means we’re about to possess all your dirty little secrets,” Drazen answered.
Outrage burned across my senses, fury sharpening my fangs. I would not allow this injustice. This personal invasion. An assault on my psyche.
Sure, I’d performed a similar act not so long ago on a young faerie who had fallen into my hands.
Without reservation, I’d invaded her mind to test her mettle, claiming it was to assess if she was a danger.
When in reality, I’d done it to see how she could be of use to me—even knowing it was a gross abuse of my power and an immoral assault on so many levels.
Apparently, karma was no friend of mine.
“No,” I snarled. Too late.
Runa’s glowing eyes held me captive, and I was helpless to look away. In spite of my attempt to engage every mental block in my repertoire, I felt her gliding right through my barriers. The female was extraordinarily skilled. It was too bad she ran with a band of thieves.
Her presence swirled within me. Not like a gentle breeze, more like a tempest blasting through my defenses. It lit up all the nerve endings in my body, bringing me to life while sending me to my death at the same time.
In my ears, a gentle pulse pounded. My own? No. It didn’t match the panicked hammering behind my sternum. The seductive rhythm grew louder, the tempo almost hypnotic, pulling me deeper and turning me inside out. What was this madness?
Beneath my breastbone, my own heart skipped and leaped to a quicker beat as though it ran a race, eager to meet the rhythm of the one in my head.
The sorceress’s soft gasp said she’d felt it, too.
Did she attempt to enchant me only to get caught up in her own magic? It would serve her right.
Even more determined to keep her out, I clenched my jaw, reassembling the fractured walls of my barriers—and failing. Runa’s power swam through my essence, the two mixing together in perfect harmony. Then, slamming into an obstacle.
“What is this?” she whispered. Whether the words were out loud or in my mind, I couldn’t discern.
Again, she struck the barrier, causing pain to spark in my skull.
“Not possible,” she growled, and I sensed her gathering energy for another blow. To my shame, I cringed in readiness, grunting as she struck again. Again. Hammering. Failing.
Hot liquid trickled from my nose and ears. Agony stole my breath. The sorceress’s grip tightened, her hands crushing my face.
“No. More,” my garbled objection slipped past drooling lips.
Determination flooded the connection between us. Curse the woman, she readied for another attack. My brains would be little more than porridge if she didn’t stop.
“Runa! Enough!” a voice barked.
The grasping hands whipped off my face, and Runa’s cry melded with my groan of pain .
Ears ringing, I blinked, finding my attacker cradled in her partner’s granite arms.
“Are you okay?” Kronk trailed a coarse finger under her chin.
“What happened?” She peered up at him, expression dazed.
“You tell us,” Drazen demanded, crowding the pair.
Yes, I would like to know as well. The daggered glare I sent her was sharp enough to fillet her porcelain flesh from her bones.
Runa sat straighter in Kronk’s lap, pressing her palm to her forehead. “He’s bound.”
“He’s what?” the horned infernus asked, saving me from asking the same.
“There’s a shield of sorts, buried deep within his psyche. I’ve never seen anything like it. Whoever placed it there was incredibly powerful. The harder I pushed, the harder it pushed back.”
“What fool would bind a vampire?” Drazen curled his lip. “They’re weaklings. Fast, but inferior to us in every way.”
I had no knowledge of any barrier. Whatever it was the little thief discovered, at least it had kept my secrets out of her clutches. To hide my own pain and confusion, I chuckled, my head lolling on my shoulders. “What’s the matter, pet? Bit off more than you could handle?”
“That’s it. I’ve had about enough of this arrogant bastard.” Drazen snapped his fingers, fire blazing from their tips.
Kronk grasped the infernus’s hand in his large fist, snuffing out the flames. “Brother, you cannot.”
Runa groaned her disappointment. “Kronk is right. Even without his secrets, he’s valuable. Twenty-four hours and we’ll be free of him. Then our debt will be paid. Surely, we can tolerate the arrogant prick for twenty-four hours without killing him.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
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- Page 6 (Reading here)
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- Page 59
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