“All right, and say you grab the Grand Mage by the throat, tie him down in a chair, and interrogate him. What if he refuses to cooperate no matter what?”
“He won’t. He knows better than to cross me.”
“But crossing Apophis is just as dangerous. If you don’t kill him for withholding information, Apophis will for giving it away.”
“No one withstands properly conducted torture.”
“Properly conducted?” I roll onto my stomach, my eyes shooting daggers at him. “Are you serious? That is your plan? What if he truly doesn’t know where the Firestone is?”
“In that case he will give us the next best thing. If he doesn’t know where it is, he surely knows someone who does.”
“And you intend to torture that information out of him?”
He’s been avoiding my eyes, but now they pierce into mine. Normally, his glare alone would be enough for me to back off, but this time I’m too angry.
“It doesn’t have to be that way, you know. I’m certain intimidation will do the trick, why are you assuming the worst?” he says.
“Because I have to get down to the worst case scenario with you, I have to know what you’re capable of.”
“Why?” He snaps so close to me that the breath catches in my throat. His features sharpen so much, his cheekbones and his jaw could cut through stone. “I am the King of Flames, the villain you have been hiding from. I am the one who wanted to take over all the worlds, bring chaos and destruction to all of them, overthrow all leaders and even take Lucifer’s place on the throne of Hell. Don’t you already know I’m capable of the worst? Why probe into it like this?”
“Because I trust you despite all that, and I have to believe I’m not fooling myself.” I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand. I can’t believe it just slipped out like that. But his attitude pressed the truth right out of me like the juice from a fruit.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I didn’t mean it exactly like that.”
Xerxes
TRUST. CERYS DARK TRUSTS me. After I confirmed that I was all of the things the worlds hate me for. It’s true that I did it in a moment of blind rage, I was giving her what she needed in order to keep hating me. Her kind, people who believe themselves good, they love to hate my kind. But it’s me and others like me that keep real evil at bay. Apophis and Orion are only a couple of the many dark forces of the universe that keep trying to breach our system’s defenses, and it takes villains like me, monsters capable of the worst to keep them from cutting through the realms like knives through butter.
“Is it true?” Cerys whispers. “That you wanted to overthrow even Lucifer himself?”
I started down this road, and I can’t go back now. I give her the truth, but without the explanation.
“Yes.”
“Realms,” she breathes, covering her face with her hands.
I try, I really try to keep my eyes on her head, on the mess of blue-black hair, but they slip down her frame dressed in black latex.
What the fuck was I thinking, getting so close to her? Taking her in my arms, basically groping her body. Taking advantage of the first opportunity to touch her, to plaster her to me. To breathe in the scent of her skin. I wasn’t myself, I wasn’t thinking.
Maybe I’ve just been without a woman for too long, and lust overwhelmed me. It doesn’t help that she’s wearing that catsuit that molds to her perfectly shaped body. She might not be the most athletic woman, but she’s got perfectly round breasts, a tiny waist, and love handles that I’m burning to grab.
“Besides, getting to the Firestone isn’t the only reason we need the Grand Mage,” I say in an attempt to shift my attention away from my stiffening cock. “There’s the blood oath, too.”
“You know what, I actually thought I could make do without a blood oath. I really felt I could trust you, even Nazarean did, but I guess we were both wrong.” She strokes her soft-furred companion, who’s just jumped onto the bed. “It rarely happens with him, but it does.”
“You rely on the cat to choose who you trust?”
“Nazarean is my radar. He picks up people’s vibes, he knows when they mean well or harm. And it seemed like you meant well.” She sounds disappointed, but I try to ignore it.
“And I do. For the time being. But that doesn’t mean I’ll change my ways in order to accommodate your shallow views of the world.”
“Shallow views,” she says, baring her small, pearly white teeth. “You call shallow views—”
She stops short when the bolt moves in the lock. My ears shift as I adjust my hearing. Fuck. Completely engrossed in conversation with her, angry at my own lust, I forgot to keep my ears trained on the sounds outside.
We both hold our breath as the Grand Mage walks into the room. My entire body flexes. I’m ready to leap over and silence him before he can make a sound if he notices us, but he doesn’t. The door falls shut behind him, and no guards follow. Good, so Cerys won’t get to see me at my worst. Not that I care. Or I shouldn’t care. Let her hate me, make sure this connection doesn’t deepen, or better yet, that it dies soon.
We both wait, watching from the bed as the Grand Mage disrobes, remaining in a simple white underwear gown. He’s clearly eager to get to something, since he doesn’t even notice the mist covering the window. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this man, when he came to me with information about Lysander’s plans, and his allies. Lysander was already getting close to the Sea Queen, and he didn’t like it.
I could act right away, but I’m curious. Observing your opponent always comes with leverage. The man is in such a keen hurry to whatever he has planned that he doesn’t notice anything is different about his chamber. The temperature returned to normal since I patched the window with mist, otherwise the cold would have been a dead giveaway, but without it, the Grand Mage doesn’t realize anything is wrong.
He walks to his wardrobe that is apparently filled with shiny robes, and retrieves something from the very back, probably a hidden stash, something made of leather. As he drapes the outfit on the back of his desk chair, my lips draw in a grin—it’s a kink leather outfit. Ripped pants, and a studded vest. When he opens a drawer and retrieves a whip, Cerys can’t hold back a gasp.
The man spins around with the whip in his hand.
Now he sees the shadow shimmering on his bed, and his eyes widen. Damn it. He won’t take a step toward us before he calls the guards, but the moment I read the intention in his eyes, I leap from the bed. The shadow shielding Cerys and me dissipates, and the Grand Mage shrinks back as I come down on him like lightning.
He opens his mouth to scream, but before he gets to even inhale, I’ve got him by his throat. I let him have a good look at my face.
“At last, we meet again,” I say through my teeth as sweat breaks out all over him, coating his livid face. It’s an exhilarating feeling, having the Grand Mage in my hands stripped of his robes and jewels, as parahuman as anyone else. He’s got long, lined cheeks, a prominent nose, small lips, and eyes as dark as the night. His irises are liquid like clouds moving in the sky, the only natural status symbol for a powerful mage.