Chapter 18

Mari held Cisco's hand in a tight grip as they walked through the doors of the warehouse Argento had directed them to. It was on the outskirts of the city, tucked away on a dark, dead-end street that looked like an excellent place to conduct illegal business.

Cisco's eyes adjusted to the dim interior faster than hers, and a low growl emanated from him. A few seconds later, she saw what had triggered the anger: Rio and Willow bound and lying on the ground, neither of them moving. Another person was tied next to them, but Mari didn't recognize them. Beyond the three prone forms, Argento sat on what could only be called a throne—a golden chair with arcane designs carved into it, rising eight or so feet tall. Argento rested at ease in the chair, his knees splayed and his posture relaxed.

A tall woman with warm brown skin stood next to the throne, her expression blank. Her hair was braided intricately and piled atop her head. She held a spear even taller than herself, and it rested against her shoulder in one hand. Mari thought she had seen the woman before, but she couldn't place her.

When they got within twenty feet of the raised platform all of them were on, Argento said, "That's close enough, thank you."

The woman aimed the spear at the center of Rio's back. Now that they were closer, Mari could see from the irritated welts marking Rio's skin that he was bound with silver. Cisco stopped cold. Wrapped in that much silver, Rio wouldn't be able to heal.

"Kima, what are you doing, working for this piece of shit?" Cisco directed the question at the woman rather than Argento.

This was the lion shifter that Tilly was pining over? What was she doing here, with Argento?

Kima's mouth tensed, but she didn't answer. Her gaze cut to the third prone figure on the platform with Rio and Willow. Argento sat with one foot propped on the body of that person at his feet. Blood dripped slowly from their slack mouth to pool on the ground under their face.

Now that Mari could put a face to the name, she remembered Kima. She hadn't seen the lion shifter often because she'd been tasked at the club for years. Mari still had no idea who the third bound person was, but it was obvious they were important to Kima.

"I don't really have the patience for reminiscing," Argento interjected. "There are some spelled iron manacles just to your right, if you would be so kind, Francisco?"

Cisco looked dubiously to his right, and when his gaze fell on the manacles, his entire body tensed. Mari could see the calculations going on behind his eyes as he wondered if he could charge the platform before the woman impaled Rio. His shoulders sagged when he came to the conclusion that he couldn't act before her, meaning that she was probably deadly quick.

He crossed to the chains like a man going to the gallows and then slipped one cuff around his wrist. Arcane symbols glowed as there was an audible click, fastening the iron shut. He repeated the action with one that went around his neck and another on the other wrist. Once he was bound, Argento wiggled his fingers, and the chains pulled taut, holding Cisco to the ground with magic-infused metal even his supernatural strength wouldn't be able to break. With a smirk, Argento closed his fist, and the chains drew tighter, pulling Cisco down toward the ground. Cisco fought the whole way, snarling and pulling against the chains with every formidable inch of his body, but ended up on his knees, glaring up at Argento.

"There now. That's better." Argento smiled at her with no warmth. "Now we can have a pleasant conversation without worrying that he'll do something rash." His voice was cultured and deep, and it made her skin crawl because she could feel his formidable charisma wrapping around her, tempting her.

"I don't think we have anything to talk about," Mari answered after a moment, proud that her voice didn't shake.

"Oh, but we do." Argento chuckled. "You're going to come to me willingly and offer yourself to me, or I'm going to murder everyone you care about."

With a nod from him, Kima poked her spear into Rio's back. He didn't move or make a sound, but Mari saw the blood start to pool. Next to her, Cisco roared, his anger vibrating through the room with dark malice.

Mari took a step forward. "I'll agree to come closer to you if she stops."

Kima withdrew the blade immediately and bent to press against the wound to staunch the bleeding, her expression stricken and sad.

"That's good." Argento gestured. "Keep coming."

With every step she took, Mari felt his magic wrapping around her, the warmth of it seductive. She'd never felt the touch of her father's magic, but she knew how it worked well enough, as she'd seen it in action when he used it on those around him. Argento would twist her desires to suit his needs and use them against her. She balled her hands into fists, determined to resist him as long as possible.

His smirk at her reaction was sharp and dangerous. "I find it amusing that you think you can resist me. Your father should have taught you better than that."

Mari shuddered with revulsion at the idea that her father would have used his power on her. She stepped forward again, trying to draw out the moments before she'd be close enough for him to touch her.

"Oh my." He laughed again, deep and resonant. "Did you think he was your actual father? Now that is amusing. He was no more your father than I am." He snorted. "Although it's certainly true that we both fucked your mother. Sometimes at the same time." His lips curled seductively.

She shook her head and stopped. She knew his magic was clouding her mind, but also what he was saying just didn't make any damned sense. "What?"

"Keep moving, pet." He glanced toward where Kima still hovered over Rio. "I'll answer all your questions."

She moved closer again, feeling drawn to him even as she was repelled by everything he stood for. "What do you mean he wasn't my father?"

"I mean biologically." He crooked a finger to keep her moving. "Despite his weird fascination with treating you like a daughter, you were no relation of his. We can't procreate like that." He said the last bit as if the idea disgusted him.

"Then who is my father?" She hesitated after her next step, waiting for his answer.

"That is a very complicated question I don't have the time or the inclination to answer right now. Suffice to say, there was a ritual and a summoning." He waved his hand lightly as if the rest didn't matter.

She crept closer once again, now because she had to hear the rest. She had to understand what he was talking about. On some level, she understood that was the allure of his magic as well, tempting her with information. His grin sharpened.

"Do you know where my mother is?"

His brow furrowed. "I assumed she was dead, but now that you ask, I'm not sure I know."

She pondered the strange answer as she climbed onto the platform.

Argento stopped her by raising a hand. "Strip."

"Mari, no." She heard Cisco struggling behind her, trying to get free again, but she was too interested in the answers Argento had to stop now.

Argento waved a hand. "I could make him be silent, but I enjoy the sounds of his desperation. Don't you?"

That made Cisco quiet into a faint growling.

"Not particularly." She started to slide out of her clothes with swift and efficient movements, not making a show of it the way he seemed to want.

Argento cocked an eyebrow at her. "Well, no matter." His magic brushed against her skin, making goosebumps rise. "Come sit on my lap, pet."

She moved under her own power, not waiting for his magic to compel her, sliding into his lap as he eased back on his throne. His hand moved to possessively grip her thigh just above her knee as his eyes raked over her. This close to him, she'd expected to feel the pull to please him keenly, but mostly she just wanted to remove his hand from her body. His magic tickled into her, teasing against hers, tempting her to let him in. She relaxed her thighs so that he would think she'd stopped resisting him.

Mari knew she couldn't fight him for long, that eventually, her desire would bend to his will. She also knew that her original plan couldn't work because she didn't actually want him. She couldn't pretend to be aroused by him long enough for her magic to engage without actually losing herself to it.

She reached for the only other weapon in her arsenal, the presence she was connected to, deep under the city. She stroked against the wards that guarded it, letting them feel her desperation. Her need. They unlocked with a whispered acknowledgement only she could hear.

Murmuring as Argento's hand moved up along her thigh, she arched her back. But rather than surrendering to him, she surrendered herself to the creature of untold power that slept miles below her. She felt the rumbling response vibrating through her, and she gasped.

Argento chuckled, thinking that her rising desire had something to do with him when the only thing she felt for him was revulsion.

Mari opened herself to the strange being she didn't understand, offering everything she was to its hunger, hoping that it would answer her call. Her lips parted in a wanton moan as she felt it rushing toward her.

The room around them froze. Nothing moved. None of the others in the room even breathed. Something huge and dark swelled from the shadows across the room, coming into being as if it had always been there, just out of sight.

"Mariana, what have you done?" Argento's voice shivered with fear.

"She's freed me from the yolk of servitude your kind held me with for far too long," an impossibly deep voice answered as the congregation of shadows resolved itself into something vaguely shaped like a man. The figure stood tall, his curling, elegant horns not quite brushing the twelve-foot ceiling. Huge dark wings rose behind him, and those did scrape the plaster above him, making it rain down over him like a gentle snowfall.

Every inch of his coal-black skin was covered in glowing red arcane symbols that looked carved upon him. He wore no clothing, so she could see that the entire surface of his body was marked in the same manner. The application of whatever those were must have been excruciating. His enormous cock hung flaccid against his thigh. A heavy piercing hung from the tip and glowed enticingly. The air around him shimmered as if he emitted heat.

She could feel his power uncoiling from across the room as he moved toward them almost lazily, his midnight black hooves reverberating with every step. This was the most powerful creature she had ever seen, or heard of, and she had set him free. Shivers of anticipation danced over her skin at his approach.

The demon, or devil, or whatever the fuck he was, laughed darkly, the rich sound of it resonating through the room. "Mariana, is it? This is what you made when you were playing at being gods? Your kind is even more foolish than I ever thought." His glare cut toward Argento, who whimpered and tried to back away, but he was caught between his ridiculous throne and Mari. "You could never have held her forever, even without me to contend with."

Mari couldn't look away from him, even though he terrified her to the very core of her being. "What am I?"

He looked back at her, into her, with his black-on-black eyes. "You were the trap meant to enslave me forever. The gift so perfect that I would thank them rather than destroy them as they deserved. My ideal mate. Everything I could ever want in a mouth-watering package created just for me."

He spoke the words calmly, as if none of this affected him. One corner of his lips curled. "But they didn't understand what they were making. A gift made for a god is a god in its own right." He licked his lower lip. "A bottomless well of every dark desire made flesh. A bounty that could sate even my endless hunger. There is no taming what you are. They, of all creatures, should have understood that."

Argento cringed under her. "Basilio insisted he could control her by keeping her hungry and powerless."

"And how did that work out for him?" The creature laughed, and the joy in it made her want to bask in him.

Her toes curled as she felt the laughter move through her. She found herself smiling at him before she knew what she was doing. Mari struggled to bring her body back under control. The implications of what he was saying were so frightening. She needed more information. "How far does all of this go back?"

"When those who would become humans were still living in trees, his kind found me here. I was an innocent then, a simple child of nature who didn't understand desire or my own power. But they trapped me here, twisting me over the eons into what they needed, an endless hunger that they could feed when it suited them and extract what they wanted."

"And what is that?" Mari asked, though she was terrified to know the truth.

The creature focused his heavy gaze on Argento again. "Good fortune. The ability to hide from their creator, who hunts them still in every corner of the universe but this one because of my protection."

Argento was shivering uncontrollably now. "No, please. You can't."

The creature's fathomless eyes moved to Mari once more. This creature was ancient. Beyond ancient. And all of those years were held in the weight of that stare. The question was clear, resonating in her head as if he had spoken aloud. She knew it would wait as long as it took to get her answer.

The response was a simple one. After everything her father had done to her and those she cared about. After everything Argento had done to who knows how many in the years he'd run the club as his own personal playground. Her nod was curt, barely more than a bob of her chin, but it was enough.

"You don't understand what you're do—" Argento cut off with a tortured scream just before he exploded into a chunky red mist under her.

She jolted as she hit the throne he had been sitting on, now slick with every atom of what he had once been. Gore covered every inch of her, and she wasn't sure any amount of water would ever clean her of it. It took her several seconds to find her voice again. "What did you do?"

The creature chuckled darkly. "All I did was stop concealing him."

That thought was much more terrifying than the idea that this creature had annihilated Argento with a thought. "And whatever is hunting them, will it come for us?"

"You and your city are still under my protection." The huge fanged mouth attempted a smile that was more horrifying than friendly. "I would never let you come to harm."

The threat was palpable in the air between them. So long as she kept giving him what he craved, they would be safe. Fear shivered through her. "What should I call you?"

The creature tilted his chin up slightly and purred seductively as if he could taste the emotion on the air and enjoyed the flavor. A slow smile turned one corner of his mouth up. "Dohal."

"What happens now, Dohal?"

He looked as if he had never heard anything as sweet as his name on her lips. "Let them worship at your feet, my dark goddess, but never forget who you belong to." His hands glowed suddenly, his power reaching out for her.

Mari screamed as searing pain engulfed both of her forearms and wrists. She tried to twist it, to subsume it, but nothing worked. The burning agony of it roared through her until she could do nothing but sob, surrendering herself to the endless torment. It was as if he held her pinned under him, covered in the molten heat of his body.

Gradually, the pain eased, and she looked down at her arms. The blood that had covered every inch of her was burned away there. Through her tear-filled vision, she saw the marks of his clawed hands burned into her skin like a brand as if he had held her down long enough to scorch her. She could see every whorl of the designs carved into his skin mirrored on hers. As she watched, the red glow slowly faded, leaving the marks more subtle, like intricate tattoos, but the afterimage of them was burned into her retinas.

He curled his fingers, and the marks flared to life again as if he'd tightened his grip around her wrists. She writhed as the sensation of heat rose swiftly, prickling over her skin and making her arch toward him with the need of sating the rising desire. Where Argento's touch had felt unwanted and uncomfortable, Dohal's felt like coming home.

"Your father kept us both starving for fear of what he thought I would do." The sensation of his hands moved up her arms slowly and over the rest of her body, a delicate, dangerous caress.

"But I would have you be the whole of who you were always meant to be, for both of us." Mari felt the whisper of his lips over her mouth, even though he hadn't moved any closer to her. Every inch of her ached for him.

One spectral hand moved to her neck, tightening around her throat. The platinum of her necklace heated under his touch until it felt molten, but somehow, it didn't burn her. The metal moved and writhed against her skin like the most intimate caress. His power flowed through the necklace and into her, choking her for a moment until she surrendered to it.

The phantom hands moved over her body, stroking every part of her on the way down. His claws dug into her hips as she tried to move toward him, holding her down. His scorching fingers slid down over her thighs. Her legs parted for him with no resistance, welcoming him. She could deny him nothing. Wanted to deny him nothing.

"Every inch of you is mine, bavi." He said the last word like a prayer, in a whisper. The heat of his kiss descended between her legs, and she moaned. Penetration followed, hot and quick, like being fucked by something huge and made of fire.

Pleasure detonated inside her, unlike anything she'd ever felt. She was unmade from the inside out, torn to shreds by him as he stood a dozen feet away. She was sure she wouldn't survive if he ever actually touched her.

The room snapped back into motion while she was still panting for breath as she recovered. Her entire body felt swollen and achy. Every stitch of her magic had been pulled from her. And in the space where it had been, all that remained was a numbness so profound, she wondered if she'd ever feel again.

Dohal was gone as if he'd never existed. But Mari had no doubt that he would be back to claim her eventually.

Cisco reacted first. His eyes took in her blood-drenched body in an instant. "What in the fuck just happened?"

Mari just shook her head because she couldn't speak.

"Kima, get the fuck over here and release me."

The woman jumped into action at his command, though she'd been staring fixedly at the gore Mari sat in the center of, trying to figure out what had happened to Argento. The moment she removed the cuffs, Cisco lunged for Rio.

Cisco growled as he tore away the silver, then quieted when he pulled Rio into his arms. The puma shifter was still unconscious from whatever Argento had done to him, but he was already healing. Once satisfied that Rio was safe, Cisco looked Mari over again. "Are you okay? Whose blood is that?"

Mari finally found her voice after swallowing twice. "That's what's left of Argento."

Kima inhaled a harsh breath as she bent to remove the chains from the other bound man. He groaned softly as she moved him, and she soothed him with a quiet murmur. Afterwards, she went to check on Willow.

Cisco's eyes lingered on her wrists and on her neck for a moment, but his next question wasn't about either. "Did you do that?"

"Not intentionally."

Cisco finally looked around the rest of the room slowly. "I wasn't judging. I just wanted to know if there was something more dangerous than him that we had to worry about."

Mari started laughing, and she couldn't stop for a long, long time.