Chapter 8

For once, Kova's curse was a blessing. His encounter with his brothers had left him battered and bruised, his skin burnt and scraped by Shoshanna's magic. And Armina had done her best to weaken him, draining him nearly dry to give her vicious apprentices raw material to play with while making him hungry and desperate.

But as long as she wasn't pulling those little strings, he didn't feel a damn thing. His body was heavy, and moving his fingers took a monumental effort, but there was no pain to drive him insane. Even the hunger was dull; he knew that he wanted to feed, but it was not the gnawing, living creature in his gut he'd once known when he was first turned. There was only the familiar numbness that had been his companion ever since he killed that cackling little apprentice all those years ago.

Lying there on the concrete floor, he smiled up at the dingy ceiling and thought about Lucia. Even that brief video, her image captured on that flat glass for just a few seconds, was enough to give him hope. He relished the memory of her soft smile, as if she heard something no one else did.

She was alive. She was safe.

Nothing else mattered now but making sure she stayed that way. Now, the only thing that bound him to Armina Voss was this damned magic. And if he could break through it somehow, then he was going to kill the bitch slowly to make sure she never got her claws in anyone again.

The basement door flew open, followed by a clatter of footsteps as three angry witches burst into their little homemade dungeon. Armina held Stella's arm for balance, but her face was full of unbridled fury. "What did you tell her?" she snapped.

"Good evening, mistress," he said with syrupy sweetness. The bindings, the stern voice in his head…they didn't understand insincerity, it seemed.

She stalked toward him, and the sheer force of her power struck a chord of fear deep in his chest. Even weakened by whatever she'd been doing, she was a force of nature, an unnatural disaster waiting to ravage whatever dared to step into her path. "Get up," she seethed.

Like little barbed wires tugging at his muscles, her words jerked him to his feet. Staring down at her slender frame through the bars, he realized how easily that thin neck would snap in his bare hands. "Is something wrong?"

"Scarlett is gone," she said. "And I know you have something to do with it."

"I told you everything that happened," he said. Except for Lucia. It was a small blessing that she hadn't realized Shoshanna had freed Lucia. Armina wanted to know about Julian, about the witch, where she lived, what it smelled like, everything about the witch. That overgrown ego had to know everything about the rival who threatened her reign over magic. It had never occurred to her to ask about Lucia, and he had fought back his tongue, telling himself he wasn't lying—she merely hadn't asked.

"Did she come back down here last night after I left you?" Armina demanded.

He bit his tongue, and then the searing pain erupted in his head. There it was, a gift only she could give. Fire licked down his spine, swelling in his nerves, making him feel as if he was burning alive. He groaned, then clenched his jaws until he could bite out, "Yes."

"And what did you tell her?"

Lucia is safe. She is safe. She is alive and breathing and dancing and smiling, he reminded himself. Be smart. Stay alive.

"I told her I had hope things would get better," he finally said.

"What does that mean?"

He just smiled, knowing his teeth were coated in blood. "Your spell keeps me from saying precisely what I mean. But I know you're smart enough to guess."

Fire flashed in her eyes, and his world went searing, atomic-blast white. When the pain settled, he found himself huddled on his knees, sweat and blood pooling on the floor beneath him.

"Get up and mind your manners," she spat. Behind her, Stella stared in horror. Her pulse throbbed loud and fast, though she managed to stand perfectly still behind her mentor.

He slowly rose and said, "I could find her. She trusts me."

"I'll tell you what he told her," a low voice rumbled.

Dread pooled in his gut, and he saw Armina's gaze shift to the other cell, where the older vampire stood. "What did he say?" Armina seethed.

"He told her Julian Alcott would be at Underground Atlanta," Shea said.

"You fucking prick," Kova seethed. Be calm. Lucia is your secret.

The witch smiled and stepped closer to the other vampire. "Anything else?"

"Not that I recall," Shea said. Then his voice ripped out in a sharp cry, which satisfied Kova more than he thought possible. The other man struggled to his feet and said, "Nothing else. She knows you're hiding things from her, but he didn't tell her what."

"I want her back," Armina snapped. "It's not time for her to face him. Not yet."

"He might just kill her. Wouldn't that be entertaining?" Shea said. Kova recognized the warning flash in Armina's eyes, and he watched in grim satisfaction as she flicked her hand. The ousted vampire king slammed his head into the bars and reeled, then let out a laugh. "You fucking—" His voice trailed into a groan.

"I'll go find her," Kova said. "She trusts me. She'll come back with me."

"I'm not letting you anywhere near her," Armina seethed. She gestured to Lux, then Shea. "You take him to Atlanta and deal with this."

"You can't!" Kova protested.

Her eyes narrowed, but she kept her gaze on Shea, who was staring at her with hunger in his eyes. "You have two rules. You don't kill Julian Alcott, and you bring me Scarlett alive and unharmed. If you disobey me on either count, I will hang you in this cell by your Achilles tendons, cut off your miserable little cock, flay you from head to toe for the next five hundred years, and reupholster every piece of furniture I own with your fucking hide," she said calmly. "Do you understand?"

The other man was quiet, then nodded. "I understand. What about the rest of his court?"

"They're not your concern. My hunters will deal with them," Armina said.

At that, Shea smiled, a predator's hungry grin. "Yes, mistress," he said, mockery dripping from his words.

Kova slammed his fists against the bars as she let Shea out, until she flicked her hand and sent him back into that maelstrom of white-hot pain. When he woke, the other cell was empty, and Armina stared down at him. "Why would you risk your Lucia to defy me?"

"Because—" he blurted, holding back the truth. Because she is safe from you.

That knowledge was the only thing that kept him alive now. If she knew that she had lost her only leverage, she would kill him, or turn him into one of those mindless husks lurking around the estate.And now he had living, breathing hope for a better life.

He had to see her dance again, had to hear her voice.

Blood pooled on his tongue, but he swallowed it down and said, "After all this time, don't you care about her? How many times have you killed her now? Just let her go. Please."

"I do nothing," Armina said. "I let fate have her."

"That's a fucking lie and you know it," he said, bracing himself for another onslaught of agony, but none came.

"Ms. Voss?" Stella said quietly.

"Go upstairs," Armina said without breaking her gaze from Kova's.

Stella nodded and said, "Just call if you need me."

The older witch scowled, but didn't turn to watch her apprentice go. Slowly, she fetched a rolling stool and eased onto it. The sound of her joints cracking was noisy, even if he didn't have sensitive hearing. Her magic was taking a serious toll, but he couldn't muster any sympathy.

As she sat, her lips pursed in a faint, secretive smile. "Scarlett suffers very little. She gets to be young and beautiful and vibrant and never grow old. She has a purpose to drive her. And when she comes face-to-face with death, she gets another chance. How many people are so lucky?" Armina said. "Did you know my Tobias was only thirty-four when he died at Julian Alcott's hands?"

He wanted to scream in her face I don't give a fuck about your man, but she looked younger somehow, her eyes distant. It was rare that she was so personable with him. "I didn't."

"He used to tell me that we could have a normal life when the Auberon were gone. But he couldn't rest while they were hurting people," she said, her jaw tightening. "We were supposed to have a normal life together when it was all over. And they took that from him. From me."

"But Scarlett didn't take it from you," Kova said quietly. Nor did my Lucia.

"It doesn't matter. I am not punishing her. If I wanted to punish her, I would turn her into a vampire and torture her for the next century. She lives a comfortable life with me, does she not? You of all people know that I could give her suffering that would shatter her mind," she said. He remained silent. "I want him to suffer. I want every second of his existence to be steeped in pain, for those wounds to run deep and fester until he cannot stand it.I want him to suffer for all of eternity, and if that means that Scarlett dies, then she dies. And I will be here to pluck her up from the ground and nurture her until full bloom again and again. As long as I breathe, I will never give him a moment of peace."

"Armina," he said, trying to keep his fury from his voice. "Please don't send that man after them. He's dangerous."

There was nothing Shoshanna York could say that would elicit mercy from Carrigan Shea. And once she was dead, the older vampire would happily tear through all of Kova's brothers and everyone they loved.

The thought of that bastard touching Lucia made Kova's blood run cold. He had to get the hell out of here. Until then, he could only pray that his brothers would keep her safe.

"I know he is. And unlike you, he'll finish what he starts," she said. "I'm counting on it."