Chapter 46

Tristan

My head is woozy.My bond thrumming. My magic buzzing.

And I don't know if it's from the after effects of that damn drug or because I just fucked Rhianna Blackwaters.

Fucked her. Made her come twice. And now her cunt is all sticky with my come.

Shit, all I want to do is push her down on the mattress, spread her thighs and gaze at how fucking messy I've made her. Suck on that stiff sensitive little nub of hers and make her fall apart all over again.

Yeah, maybe the drug has affected my senses.

Or maybe it's the bond.

Or maybe it's just me.

Doesn't matter. All that is going to have to wait. We need to get out of here. We've already wasted precious time – yeah, not wasted, those minutes were fucking well spent! However, I don't know what my father has in store for her, what he has in store for my friend, fuck, what he has in store for me. One thing's for certain though, it won't be good.

She runs her fingers over the locket, her magic flaring and her lips moving in a silent spell. I wait. Nothing happens.

"I can still see you," I say, anxiety stirring in my blood. Escaping from this hell hole is going to be much easier if we can't be seen.

"Because I want you to see me. Because you're my mate." I frown. She's making no sense. "Trust me," she says, "if I don't want someone to see me, they won't be able to."

"You're sure?"

She lifts an eyebrow, telling me exactly what she thinks of that comment. I'm being a jerk. "Yes, I'm sure," she says.

"Good." I take her hand in mine and let myself disappear from view. "Don't let go."

"I won't," she says, threading her fingers through mine for good measure.

By the door, we listen for any sounds and, when we're sure the coast is clear, we open it, stepping over the two guards I knocked out earlier. The hallway at this end of the mansion is empty and dark, and I lead Rhi through this wing pausing when we reach the family section. Here there are more guards. One stationed outside my father's room, two more patrolling the hallways.

"Quietly," I whisper to her, and then squeezing her hand in mine, we tiptoe along the landing, holding our breaths as we pass the guard. He can't see us. I doubt he can hear us either. But he senses us, nonetheless.

He stands to attention, swinging his gaze around.

"Who's there?" he calls out. I pull on Rhi's arm, increasing our pace. "I know you're there!"

He throws magic down the hallway and I yank Rhi to the side, watching as the angry bolt crashes into a far wall.

I keep pulling Rhi along.

We're almost at the staircase when my father's door swings open and he steps into the hallway dressed in a black silk dressing gown that makes him look like a pimp. He never did have any taste.

"What is it?" he asks in irritation to the guard.

"Someone in the hallway."

My father peers into the gloom as we descend the first step, all the lights suddenly ablaze.

"I can't see anyone," my father says.

Someone else steps out of my father's room and onto the landing.

Someone dressed in a scarlet nightgown that hugs her figure.

Summer.

I halt in shock, nearly stumbling over my own feet, Rhi bumping into me from behind.

Summer? Is my father sleeping with Summer Clutton-Brock?

Yeah, he definitely has no taste. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. By either of them. Of course, Summer wouldn't be content with me. Of course, she'd have her sights set higher. And as for him …

"Your family really is fucked up," Rhi hisses by my ear and I pick up my pace, dragging her down the staircase as I hear my father start to issue orders.

"Check the girl's room. Check Tristan's too," he says.

"You don't think they've escaped," Summer says, reaching out to cling to his arm like she's some helpless maiden. My father shakes her off in irritation and strolls to the top of the staircase just as we reach the bottom.

"Come on," I hiss at Rhi, pulling her across the grand entrance towards the doorway that leads down to the cellar where I'm sure the others are being kept. We're halfway across when the giant chandelier above our heads, all lit up and made from glittering crystal, snaps from the ceiling and crashes towards the floor.

My grip slips from Rhi's as we dive in opposite directions, glass splintering all around us.

"I know you're there," my father thunders from above and I jump to my feet, pulling Rhi to hers, blood on her skin, as my father sends a rain of fire down upon us.

"The door," I cry in her ear and we sprint in that direction, no longer caring if we can be heard or not.

The guard at the door spins his gaze around desperately as my father yells at him to stop us. But I knock him out and we're through the door and racing down the steps.

Somewhere behind us, my father roars with anger. It's only a matter of time until he catches up with us, and too late I realize, as the two of us take out the guards rushing up the steps to meet us, that I'm going to fail to rescue my friend all over again. I'm going to fail to rescue Rhi too. Because even if we reach Spencer, we're going to be trapped down here like rats in a drainpipe with nowhere to go. No escape. Just like the prison.

"Rhi," I say. We need to stop. We need to rethink this. But she's racing down the steps in front of me and I have no choice but to follow her.

At the bottom, she lets out a howl of pain, swaying on her feet. Professor Stone and the assassin, Renzo Barone are both chained to the wall.

And so is Spencer. Looking just as beat up, just as hurt as before.

"Spencer!" she gasps.

He looks unconscious, his body hanging limply from the chains. At the sound of her voice, though, he raises his head, his face a mess of dried blood, his nose smashed in.

"Oh my–" Rhi cries.

"Sweetheart," Stone says. The professor looks surprisingly well. The assassin on the other hand sports a black eye, a cut lip and he's missing a front tooth. "We've no time for reunions. You need to get us the fuck out of here."

"There is no way out," I tell them all flatly.

We're doomed, all of us. I can hear my father's footfall across the hallway. He'll be here any minute with his infinite number of guards, and there'll be nothing we can do. Sure, we can fight, and fuck I will fight. I'll fight with everything I have. But it will be no use. We're going to lose.

"Of course, there's a way out," Piglet snaps in irritation, racing towards the assassin. "Just hold them off, okay?"

I consider explaining to her that she's wrong. I know this house. I know every hiding place. Every escape route. The only way out of this cellar is back up that staircase. And at the top of the staircase, blocking our exit, waiting for us, will be my father.

"One thing you're going to need to learn quickly, Kennedy," Stone says, "is not to argue with the woman." The assassin snorts, rubbing his newly freed wrists and Rhi turns her attention to the professor next. "Not if you want an easy life."

"And what the hell is that meant to mean?" Rhi asks.

"That you're always right, sweetheart."

She throws him a dirty look but then our attention is diverted to magic crashing down the staircase.

"Shit," Stone mutters as the assassin joins me and together we hurtle our own magic back up towards my father.

Behind me, I hear more snapping of chains and cuffs and then Spencer moaning in agony.

"Okay," Rhi says, "we're ready."

"Ready?" I say. "Ready for what? What the hell is the plan now?"

"Time to go," Barone says.

"I'm telling you, there's no way out. We're trapped."

"And I'm telling you there is," the assassin says, his eyes – mismatched and manic – gleam. "Me."

Then he grabs my arm as Rhi reaches for his hand and I don't know what the hell they have planned but my father is here, racing down the steps, shooting powerful magic our way.

Immediately, Rhi flings her hands forward and fires her own magic, meeting his with a crash of sparks.

Rage rolls through her body in hot, hot dangerous flames and she makes no effort to hold it back. She pushes her magic at my father with the full weight of her body.

His own magic withers away and he holds up his arms, shielding himself, although the force of her magic has him sliding backwards.

"There!" he says. "Powerful. But not quite crimson magic. Seems Miss Clutton-Brock was a little over excited in her description."

He goes to strike Rhi back, and no fucking way.

No. Fucking. Way.

No way is he laying one single finger on my girl.

I dart in front of her and crash magic his way before he can retaliate against her. His face curls with rage and he raises his arms to strike me back.

"Renzo," Rhi shouts, this time firing far darker magic at my father. He raises his arms again, shielding himself a second time, only this time I can feel his defenses are no match for hers. I can feel them creaking.

"Ready?" the assassin calls.

"No." Rhi shakes her head. "Tristan!"

The assassin tuts his tongue. "Really?" he mutters. "The dude's kind of a jerk."

I'd take offense if I knew what they were talking about. Instead, I'm too busy battling my father.

"Renzo, please," she insists.

"Fine," he says sulkily. "Grab the beast," he says to Stone, then takes a hold of Rhi's arm and Stone's. "When I count to three," he tells Rhi, "you stop firing and grab the jerk, okay?"

Rhi nods, battling as the Lord Protector attempts to push back her magic.

"One, two, three!"