Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

Most of the prisoners in the cafeteria gave me a wide berth as I sat alone at a rickety metal table, and it wasn't all because of the black jumpsuit. Word had spread about the chaos in the pit, and I was the cause of it. Fane ripping Sorin's heart out and then me tearing off his head probably had something to do with it too.

I was still a pariah, just for different reasons now.

Speaking of Fane… Knots fisted in my stomach because the guards hadn't brought him in yet. Every day for the last two weeks, Fane and I had dinner at the same time. We were allowed to sit together, and I hadn't tortured a single prisoner either. I'd endured enough torture myself, but not from Mykel or Venna. It was your average, standard sessions from prison guards. The guilt over Maddie's death also did a number on my mental stability.

How many times could I beat myself up over her demise?

Actually, a lot .

The princess and her pet must have been away for a while. Were they back now? Was that why Fane wasn't here?

Invisible blades dragged down my back as my anxiety heightened. Something was definitely wrong.

"You really know how to make a name for yourself, don't you?" Knox took the seat across from me while his shifter pack looked on with worry.

Did they think I'd kill him?

Probably.

I jerked my chin toward the group of tables he usually lingered around. "Why aren't you sitting with them? They look ready to rush over here in case my talons come out."

He smirked. "They're protective of their alpha."

If that was the case, he must have been worthy of that title, unlike Dorian who only wanted the power and glory of it.

The humor vanished from Knox as his eyebrows lowered. "They're also worried I might get caught up in the middle of something like Maddie did and end up with a silver blade to my heart.

I pushed the chicken around on my tray—at least it looked like chicken. "She shouldn't have been in that position. It's my fault."

"Of course it is."

My head snapped up at his harsh tone. "I didn't want this. Things just… I'm no good. In fact, your pack is right to be worried. You should stay as far away from me as you can."

He shrugged. "You're right, but I'm not a loner like Maddie. I'm not as easily susceptible to foul play."

"How long have you been here?" It was a shame to have someone as sincere as him in Heldrok instead of leading a large pack on Earth .

Knox brushed wayward brown strands of hair out of his face. "Time isn't the same here, so I'm not sure. Maybe decades or maybe only a few years." He sighed and stabbed a piece of meat with his fork. "Feels like fucking forever."

It must have been torture for him and all the other shifters, including Fane, not to transform. Did the warden ever remove their sigils and let them roam in their animal forms?

"I was born in the Silver Ridge pack but left because I fell in love with a human." His gaze cast on his tray as he absentmindedly dragged his fork through the mushy vegetables. "Barric was against me turning her."

"Why? That happens, right?"

He nodded. "With fated mates, there is no other option, but we weren't fated. I just loved her." Knox's fingers tightened on the fork. "Barric always treated those born and those bitten differently. He thought the bitten ones were beneath him."

That didn't seem like the head alpha I'd met. "I was bitten, and he practically begged me to join his pack."

"Really?" His attention went to the mark on my neck. "I bet he didn't want Fane to join."

I snorted. "Not so much. He gave up on asking when he learned we were a package deal."

"Maybe Barric has changed," Knox mumbled.

I swallowed another bite of food and finished the rest of my water. "What happened to her? The human you loved?"

"I turned her, and she became a wolf." He placed his fork down and rubbed the center of his chest. "I assume she's still with our pack, Greenview, in Virginia."

My throat tightened at the pain in his voice. "Will you ever get out of here? "

"I hope so." He leaned forward, piercing me with an intense look. "When you and Fane escape, will you find Alicia Morgan there and tell her I'm okay and I miss her."

Unable to speak, I nodded while fighting back tears. For shit's sake. When did I become such a lovesick sap?

Fane's wicked grin flashed through my mind, and I sighed.

Son of a bitch.

"What makes you so sure we'll bust out of here?" I asked when my voice finally returned.

Knox scoffed. "We're talking about Fane Maverick. If anyone can do it, it's him. Not only does he have plenty of allies in high places, like Ruin Bacchus, but he has you." He shook his head. "You've got some power in that little body, more than any shifter or demon."

He was right about that.

A chill skated down my nape as Mykel strolled through the cafeteria door, looking out of place in his sleek onyx suit, gelled hair, and smirk.

I hated him almost as much as Venna.

The dux demon loomed at our table. "Princess Venna has a surprise for you, Tate."

The moisture zapped from my mouth, and my pulse skyrocketed, but I kept my expression blank. "What kind of surprise?" I had no doubt that Fane's absence had everything to do with the glee shining in the dux demon's citrine eyes.

Mykel's lips pulled apart even farther. "You'll just have to come find out."

After leading me through the winding stone corridors, Mykel stopped at a solid steel door and used a long key to unlock it. Before I stepped inside, the tingling in my tattoo told me who I'd find.

But I couldn't have imagined this .

Heavy chains shackled Fane to the wall on the right, his arms stretched over his head and feet pinned down.

My sharp intake of air echoed in the room, and I hurried to him, my hands shaking as I tried to free him. Cuts and bruises mottled his face and bare torso. "Are you okay?" I couldn't stop the tremors from distorting my words.

Fane gave a lopsided grin even though he'd been bound and tormented for what looked like hours. "This is nothing."

Venna, in her usual dominatrix leather outfit, pushed off the wall and flashed her teeth in a broad grin like a monster poised to attack. "Those restraints won't come off unless I want them to."

Rage hemorrhaged through my bloodstream, and the small chamber blurred around the edges. "I'm going to kill you with a knife dipped in Demise just like I did your sister."

The delight evaporated from her expression while darkness twisted through her eyes. "Take a look around, Tate. From now on, these four walls will be your life, and you won't get the chance to escape this hell to kill me."

As she motioned her hand around the room, my attention fell on the bed opposite Fane. The blood-red sheets ripped a pit open in my gut, filling it with acid. Why the fuck was there a bed? What kind of torture had she subjected Fane to?

"Nothing like that, Teague." Fane's voice sliced through the chaos in my head. "I would have torn her apart if she tried. "

"He is such a fine specimen." Venna dragged her nails down his chest, his muscles jumping.

My instincts kicked in, and I snatched her wrists as the shifter magic within clawed against the barriers. "Keep your fucking hands off of what's mine ." A snarl curled out of my mouth, and even the demon parts of me wanted to shred her apart just for touching him.

Mykel grabbed my hair and yanked me away from the princess. "Keep your hands off of her ."

The chains rattled as Fane struggled in them, his teeth growing and pupils lengthening. "One of these days, I'm going to rip your spine out and behead you with it."

The seven-foot-tall dux demon smirked. "You can try, mutt. And you'll fail."

"Enough!" Venna motioned for Mykel to release me, and he sent me stumbling forward. The demon princess moved to a set of drawers, pulling out a sharp knife. "It's time to get down to business."

My fists clenched by my sides until my nails bit into my palms. "You're even more delusional than I thought if you believe I'll stand here and watch you torture Fane."

Her head tilted as she coolly regarded me, the twisted smile on her scarlet lips pouring frost over my flesh. "Tell me what Ruin's working on."

"Go to hell," I spat.

Venna's laughter lifted the hairs on my nape.

She tossed the dagger between her hands as she slowly crossed the small space toward me. "Tell me what Ruin's doing, or you will be the one torturing Fane."

My blood ran cold at her words, and it felt like I was breathing through a tiny straw. I'd been waiting for the day she'd force me to torture him. "No," I gritted out.

The demon princess waved her hand around the cell again. "I created this little love nest so you could torture him day and night. And then you'll have to sleep while looking at his bloody, bruised body chained to the wall."

I forced back the bile shooting up my esophagus. She couldn't do this. This was a nightmare come true, and every bit of pain I caused him would haunt me until the end of my days.

"You will not have one second of peace, Tate." She skimmed the blade down his arm. "And neither will he."

Fane tugged on the chains again. "You'll share Ziva and Karn's fate soon, Venna."

She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and blew him a kiss. "Such a threat for someone in your position, Fane."

He shrugged. "I've been in worse positions and made it out." His head leaned forward as far as it would go. "Trust me when I say your life has a countdown clock that started the moment you decided to come after us."

"You're not as scary as you think." Even through all her bravado, as she angled away, fear pulsated from her. "Tell me the truth, Tate, or you will take this knife and mark his flesh."

When I remained tight-lipped, Venna jerked her head, and Mykel shoved me toward her. She slapped the knife's hilt in my palm, forcing my fingers around it.

"Don't even think of attacking me." She lifted my hand with the knife. "Mykel will start cutting off Fane's body parts."

Sickness crashed inside me as my trembling hand hovered in front of Fane's chest. I wouldn't divulge Ruin's secrets through all the torture they rained upon me, even when they let Sorin have a go, but threatening Fane had my resolve crumbling faster than snow melted in the south.

"I can't do this, Maverick." I blinked unshed tears from my eyes. "I can take all the torture in the world, but I can't do this."

His jaw muscles ticked. "It's okay. Venna would find out sooner or later. Tell her. Ruin will understand."

The demon princess glanced between us, lines developing across her forehead. "You two aren't fated mates or even officially mated." She turned to Mykel. "Right?"

My heart hammered out a frantic beat as I swiveled away from the demon shifter, lowering the knife. "Ruin is attempting to make synthetic souls for demons to consume."

Mykel cursed and spat on the ground as if the idea was sacrilege. Venna's sneer twisted her features into something ghastly as her face paled and cheekbones protruded.

"That little bastard." Blackness infiltrated her irises until the blue vanished. "He's so fucking cocky he thinks he can screw with the natural order of things."

A heavy rock plunged through my center, and I wanted to sink into the floor as I anticipated Ruin's disappointment when he found out I spilled his secret.

"He'll understand, Teague. I promise." Invisible fingers stroked my cheek, pulling my attention to Fane. "He had to know this was a possibility when Venna took us. Ruin will be prepared for this. Plus, he can't do much without the Infernal Sol or at least you."

My lids fluttered closed, and I leaned into his phantom touch. "I just know how much he wanted to make Soulvation."

Venna snapped her fingers, breaking me out of the moment with Fane, and his touch vanished. "Don't think you're off the hook, Tate." She laughed as she jerked her head toward Fane. "You're still going to torture him."

"What!" I hissed. "I told you what you wanted."

She shrugged. "You two still deserve to pay for killing my sister and Karn, and I can't think of a better way to do that than this." As her cheeks hollowed out even more, ice coiled around my heart, freezing me. "You'll be swallowed up by guilt as you tear into Fane over and over again."

Panic gripped my muscles, and I threw the knife at her. "Fuck you!"

The royal ducked the blade, and Mykel grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms to my sides.

Big mistake.

I dropped the barriers keeping the Infernal Sol at bay, seconds away from unleashing it when Venna yanked her pet out of my grasp.

"Not so fast, Tate." She snatched a picture from her tight leather pants and dangled it by the tips of her black nails.

Fane's roar pierced my eardrums as my knees threatened to give out at the image of Dylan Anders smiling for the camera. The demon shifter pulled at the chains, but the magic enchanting them kept him firmly bound against the stone wall.

"No amount of running will save you when I get free of this place, Venna." His teeth elongated to sharp points, and his voice was barely more than a growl. "You haven't seen all that I'm capable of, but you will."

"Until then…" She closed the distance between us, her heels like gunshots against the cold ground. "Torture him, or little Dylan will be torn apart, piece by adorable piece. "

I never thought I could hate someone more than Mr. Bowden, but Venna quickly rose in the ranks.

"You already robbed Fane of his brother." Her ruby lips pulled into a vicious grin. "Do you really want to take away the rest of his family, starting with the youngest?"

"Just do it, Tate. You know I can handle it."

I stumbled for the drawer of torture devices.

Venna cleared her throat. "No, Tate. I want you to torture him with his fears."