Chapter 34: Vincent

Pain.

It's all I can feel.

It's all I can think of.

I don't know how long I've been chained down here. The guards rotate on a schedule that changes every day. The food I receive is usually so spread apart that it can't be given to me at normal mealtimes.

The dungeon is dark and cold, completely pitch black and the only sounds I hear are the sounds of my tears hitting the hard ground beneath me.

I can only hope that my mates are okay.

Knowing them, they probably started searching for me the moment they realized I wasn't out collecting souls. I have to trust that they can find me.

Amri's magic was just starting to show when my father captured me. Zain was in pain, confused by the presence of Callyx in his mind. Who knows what Callyx is going through? And Damion…the fucker. I didn't even want him as a mate at first but now I can't see our mating bond without seeing him. A single speck of light amongst all our da rkness.

Fuck.

I've got to get out of here. I've got to get back to them.

The dungeon doors open, light shining through the space and blinding me. I blink over and over again until I finally get used to the sight.

"Vincent. You look absolutely pitiful."

My eyes raise as I find my father standing in front of me, and my heart sinks when I see who stands in chains next to him.

Damion. Our light.

I growl at my father, straining against my chains but unable to even make them groan. Instead, their power becomes stronger, sucking the life and the magic out of me until I sag against them.

My father laughs, pulling on the chains until Damion falls on his feet in front of me. Bending down, my father loops his chains through a ring in the floor, placing him just far enough that I could probably see him in the darkness of the dungeon, but I couldn't touch him.

"Damion here will be joining you for the time being."

I look at my mate, realizing the chains that hold him are the sister chains to my own, strong enough to hold him and make it hurt, but weak enough not to kill him.

"Damion, are you okay? What's happened? Where are the others?"

My father chuckles, kicking Damion in the side hard enough to make him double over.

"He doesn't know. He did a horrible job on the ritual and ended up needing collecting. He hasn't seen either of your mates in weeks, since they showed up somewhere in the Underworld. Right under my fucking nose! "

I smile. They found my note.

My father sighs, "But, it will not be for naught. Once they realize I have Damion, they'll reveal themselves. That is if my creatures don't find them first."

My blood runs cold, colder than the dungeon around me, colder than my father's heart.

He continues. "That little witch's magic is a beacon for all the terrible creatures at my command, and you'll soon realize why choosing her as a mate was such a shortsighted idea."

"Don't you touch her!" I pull against my chains, using all my strength to try and break them.

"Oh, but I plan to."

My father winks before turning around and striding out of the dungeon, the door slamming closed behind him.

Damion groans, slowly lifting his head. I see him look down at his fingers before they start wiggling. Despite the position we're in right now, I fight the urge to laugh.

"It takes a little while after death to get used to your body again."

He looks up, his eyes struggling to find mine in the darkness. "What are we going to do? We have to save them. He's sending…things after Amri."

I'm quiet for a long moment before I realize I have to tell him the truth. No more lies. No more hiding. "These chains were forged to hold in fallen angels. There's no getting out of them."

"But Amri…"

"Amri has to be her own hero now."