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—No! No, no, no. You can’t be trapped. You can’t—
Not like I chose it. Did you see the way he fucking moved?
“I will gut you like a fucking pig if you don’t get him out of here right now,” his father growled. “Chaining him does not fall under the oath.”
“Seems to me like it does.” An ornate, cushioned chair emerged from the ether and the shapeshifter settled into it, looking down at himself. Ticking off fingers, he said, “Thaddeus is safe, whole, and unharmed. Alive, as am I. I fail to see the issue.”
The ground quaked, rumbling beneath Thad’s feet as dust and pebbles rained down from above.
“Ah, that’ll be our darling Brand reopening the chasm, precisely as I need him to.” A table laden with food manifested next, dishes rattling as the cavern shook. “Okthana’s going to be pissed beyond all reason, but”—he shrugged—“the cunt can rot.”
A sliver of pale light appeared at the edges of the sealed entrance as it was pried open—right before shadows swept in to blot it out and flood into the space.
Their searching, wispy fingers ran through the shapeshifter’s hair, and he said, “Not these few, or the Demons, and only half of the others. Take your pick.”
The darkness raced away, scattering, and a deafening cacophony of tortured screams followed as they fed themselves into the prisoners through mouth and nose.
Thad was going to be sick.
—Deep breaths, love. It’s alright. We’ll find a way. We have to find a way—
Shite, she was as panicked as he was.
“Now that we’re all here and safe, allow me to introduce myself more properly, Thaddeus.” He plucked a goblet from the table and took a long pull before setting it down again. “I am called Astrellion, Son of Jettus.”
“He doesn’t give a bleeding fuck what your name is, you rancid pile of dragon shite.”
A muscle twitched in Astrellion’s cheek. “As I was saying—”
“A beloved son!” his father shouted. “You were to treat him as a beloved son!”
The smile Astrellion leveled on him was downright terrifying. “Your mistake, Caius, was in not realizing how I treat those who are beloved to me. My mistake was not remembering sooner.” He misted, reappearing inches from Thad and stroking his brow. “Complicated, because of the ‘safe, whole, unharmed’ caveat, but a recent visit with someone else helped me realize that I had a little room to bend. Not to mention another conversation I overheard, which only validated my intentions. Anyway”—he glanced in Nyri’s direction across the way with a contented sigh, though Thad could barely see her from where he was—“take Nyriadne, for instance. I absolutely adore her, and look where she is.”
A tremor of colossal proportions shook Thodelebor’s foundations, a crack splitting down one side of the cave. Another shudder, boulders crashing outside, and the entrance was resealed by a mass of grassy earth that cut off the flow of shadows.
Deathly silence hung in the air. Thad had no idea when the keening wails of the other creatures stopped. He was too busy staring into the violet eyes of his captor, drawing in slow, steadying breaths to suffuse his mind and wolf with calm.
“Hmm…” Astrellion tilted his head. “Where was I? Ah, yes—we were going to talk about all the things I plan to do with Nyriadne when she comes around, so you understand your place.”
—We will kill him—
Aye, Sorcha. We will. For now…
Thad reared back and slammed his head into Astrellion’s, shattering the arsehole’s nose and spitting in his face when he reeled.
—We can hurt him, but he can’t hurt you—
Good to know.
Astrellion righted himself, shaking with rage. Gaze manic, he wiped away the blood dribbling down his lips and chin with the back of a trembling hand. “When I finally break the cockstain that sired you and destroy this binding oath between us”—his lids went heavy, features a slack-jawed mask of rapture before he pinned Thad with a burning look of anticipation—“I’m going to fuck the bleeding end of your severed head.”
A wave of his hand, a blur and clink, and Thad found himself with an iron collar around his neck.
Astrellion misted back to his seat and sank into the velvet with a satisfied groan. “Since my precious Nyri seems to be a sore spot for you, how about we try another route instead? Just so we’re clear.” He lifted his goblet again, twirling it ‘round and ‘round. “Let me tell you a little story about my beloved sister, Endellion…”
Okthana was coming.
If Lunara misted them away, they might lose her forever. She wasn’t sure Brand would survive that perpetually looming threat, never quite sure where his abuser was, what she was planning.
