She scratched under the wolf’s jaw finding no trace of Vaughn in the animal’s eyes. “You’re not turning into one of the Forgotten on me I hope.”
The wolf merely held her gaze.
Despite the injuries and poison, he hadn’t gone to stone. Maybe intentionally? She knew gargoyles were less vulnerable to some magic in animal form. Maybe the wolf could handle the toxins that the man couldn’t?
The wolf turned away, facing the cell door.
“Trust and slumber,” the feminine voice whispered.
The wolf’s growl wasn’t as menacing this time, but he wasn’t happy about whoever was hanging out across the hall.
Feeling marginally stronger, Elena rose. How long had they been here? Hours? Days? Unfortunately the wolf wasn’t talking.
She made it to the door without face-planting. A small victory, but she’d take what she could get at this point. Across the hall, a woman stood in the cell opposite theirs. Her long blonde hair was dirty and matted, her face smudged with sooty grime. Near-shredded clothes hung in tatters on her painfully-thin body.
The other woman had been here much longer than they had. Had she wronged Alrick the way Elena had or was she guilty of some other perceived crime?
Elena wasn’t surprised that Alrick had finally caught up with her. He hadn’t made it a secret that he held her accountable for his daughter’s death, and he wasn’t wrong. But what was this woman’s crime? She appeared human, her expression almost vacant as she stared around her cell. Was she blind?
“Trust and slumber,” she repeated, quiet at first, then louder.
Blind and possibly crazy. “What does that mean?”
The monster growled.
“Shhhhh, pretty kitty,” the woman crooned.
Elena had to press her face to the bars to see into the cell next to the woman. A shadow passed by the bars, but it was too dark to make anything out aside from the sheer size of the beast.
The wolf brushed Elena’s leg. He’d stopped growling but didn’t take his eyes off the other cell.
“What’s your name?” Elena asked the woman.
“He’s coming.”
“Who’s coming?” Alrick?
“Even when the world burns, he’ll come for me. He always comes for me.” She gripped the bars, fear trickling into her voice.
The monster roared again, and the woman cringed. “He never meant to betray you. My fault. Always my fault. Always—”
The beast next to her launched itself against its cage, the animal’s massive paws making the bars shudder.
Sweet Avalon. Constantine.
The former knight and Arthur’s heir had vanished more than a thousand years ago, right after he forged the daggers that would supposedly lead to Excalibur. Rumors abounded that he’d been killed by Morgana a lifetime ago, though she’d never claimed responsibility for it.
Then he’d turned up briefly during the Gauntlet, his human form unstable, a monstrous tiger left in his place that hadn’t recognized even his once closest friends.
At the end of the final round of the games, Morgana had left with him in chains.
What the hell was he doing here with Alrick?
A dark-haired man covered in Fae glyphs that resembled tribal markings stepped into the narrow opening between cells. “Shut up.”
“Fire and might, fire and might.” The blonde sank to the dirt floor of her cell. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked herself. “He comes for me. Always for me.”
“I said, shut up.”
The monster threw itself at the bars and the whole dungeon trembled.
The guard glared at the beast, pulling a sword from the scabbard at his side.
“Ever hear the expression don’t poke the tiger?” Elena drawled.
The guard looked at her, eyes narrowed.
“No? That’s because the people who do usually don’t live to talk about it.”
The guard strode toward her.
“Unless you’re a sorceress playing with fire,” a deep voice boomed, stopping the guard in his tracks.
Alrick.
She’d been surprised when he hadn’t approached her at Mac’s party. Had he been planning on abducting her then? Was he connected to the Iron Brotherhood and arranged the deal?
As convenient as that was, it didn’t quite fit. If he’d planned to exchange Piper for her, he wouldn’t have attacked them. He would have threatened Piper to ensure Vaughn intended to hold to the deal.
No this was personal—as personal as it got. More than likely it had nothing to do with Vaughn’s sister or the crown. Just a whole lot of shitty timing that he’d come for her now.
If they were lucky, though, Alrick had been too preoccupied with finally getting his hands on her to realize the significance of what was in the box they’d taken from Dare. How long did they have before he sensed it and tried to harness the magic?
The wolf lunged at the bars, recognizing the threat. Elena ran her hand along the wolf’s back, strengthened by his presence.
“You should never have interfered,” Alrick said to her, dismissing the guard with a nod.
Elena scraped her nail the length of the bar, refusing to display a hint of concern over their current predicament.
“My daughter was alive before you fucked everything up.”
Even though she’d known it was coming, her stomach twisted painfully. His daughter had barely been alive by the time Elena got to her, but he was right that she’d screwed up. Badly. And the younger sorceress had paid the ultimate price.
“Morgana was going to give my daughter back.”
On that they definitely disagreed. Morgana had been steadily consolidating her power by snatching weaker members of her race and feeding off their magic, and no one had been doing a damn thing about it.
Ever since Rutger recruited her, Elena had been working behind the scenes to release those Morgana had been collecting. Best case scenario, Morgana would have laid off Alrick’s daughter long enough to let her regain some strength, and then would have started leeching her magic all over again.
“My daughter—”
“Was going to waste away to nothing, because that’s what Morgana does.” Elena had witnessed it time and again, had seen families crushed by the loss. “She takes the weak and uses them up until there is nothing left. She was never going to release her.”
“And now she’s dead.” The pained words echoed in the small chamber. “So I guess we’ll never know if I could have reasoned with Morgana. If you and the rebellion hadn’t been working against Morgana, my daughter wouldn’t have been taken in the first place. Your constant sabotage forced her to take action, to gather more power.”
“Defending Morgana now? That must be a proud papa moment.”
Alrick gripped the bars, his face red with rage. “You know nothing of the sacrifices required to protect family. But you will,” the sorcerer vowed darkly. “I will make sure you know the pain your treachery caused.” He walked away, calling over his shoulder, “Do enjoy your stay, Shadow’s Angel. That is the silly name they gave you, isn’t it?”
No longer feeling the wolf next to her, Elena turned to find a very stunned, very human Vaughn.
***
His mate was Bruce Wayne.
Vaughn could practically hear Dare’s voice in his head and knew that’s exactly what the pup would say to him.
All of Dare’s recent cryptic comments about not underestimating Elena, that she could be trusted made sense now. Dare must have figured it out at some point, and that had to be why he resisted the idea of handing Elena over.
The Shadow’s Angel had been in front of him the whole time and he hadn’t realized it.
Dare was right. He really was an idiot.
All the pieces fell into place. The way she let everyone believe she was only there for a good time, how she didn’t rely entirely on her magic and learned to defend herself, maybe a little too well. And how she’d been scared she wouldn’t be able to save th
em all.
For as long as he could remember they’d all thought the Shadow’s Angel was some rogue badass with a death wish, and all this time it had been the fiery sorceress in front of him. Still a badass with a death wish, though, given all the risks she’d taken.
Risks his mate had taken.
Frustration warred with a pride so fierce it had him by the throat. If he hadn’t deserved her before...
Elena met his eyes, chin angled in that devil-may-care way that warned him she’d braced herself for battle. “Speak, Barkley.”
“The dog jokes never get old with you, do they?”
“I like to stick with what works.” Her expression remained guarded.
“You could have told me. You must have known it would have mattered.”
She didn’t say anything.
“If you think—”
She took a wary step back.
So, he’d finally made the mighty Elena nervous. He’d make sure to point that out to her later, but now wasn’t the time.
“If you think,” he tried again, slowing the steps he took to close the distance between them, “that I would have agonized over sacrificing the infamous Shadow’s Angel, you’d be right. But it doesn’t come close to the thought of losing my m—.”
Emotion tightened his throat. Gods, how many times had he heard Rutger boast about the Shadow’s Angel missions and close calls? And all that time it had been his mate in harm’s way. “You should know that just as soon as I stop wanting to strangle you, I’m going kiss the hell out of you.”
A heavy thump rattled the ground above them, bits of earth breaking from the ceiling.
Elena held up her hands before he said a word. “Wasn’t me.”
Another thump shook the whole damn place.
“Fire and might. Fire and might. Trust and slumber. Trust and slumber.” The woman in the opposite cell was on her feet again, hands wrapped around the bars. Her voice grew louder as she continued to chant the confusing phrases over and over.
The beast in the cell next to her had grown eerily silent.
Constantine. Vaughn had met the fierce warrior once when he’d been tagging along with Briana and her older brothers. He’d been awed by the warrior, even contemplated joining the Gargoyle Guard for a brief time always wanting to be part of the effort to bring Morgana down.
Did the man in beast form know what was going on? Or was he just another one of the Forgotten after whatever transformed the former knight into a monstrous tiger?
He reached for Elena, drawing her closer as their surroundings continued to rock.
Chunks of the ceiling rained down on them, muffled screams of agony echoed down the corridor. Their guard bolted into the opposite direction, vanishing deeper into the dungeon. The other immortal either knew another way out or wasn’t afraid of being crushed if the whole dungeon came down on their heads.
As quickly it began, everything went quiet. Too quiet. The smell of smoke and ash reached Vaughn, setting the wolf he’d had to fight for control, back on edge. His animal half wasn’t willing to sacrifice its mate for anything, reminding Vaughn that fighting the instinct to protect her at all costs would destroy them both.
He’d been in denial about that for far too long. Dare had been right that Elena was family now, and the wolf would do whatever it took to enforce that, even cut himself off from Vaughn.
“Fire and might,” the blonde whispered. “He comes for me.”
Another scream echoed, this one from just beyond the dungeon. Another guard they hadn’t seen?
“Fire and might,” she whimpered.
A soot-covered shadow emerged from the doorway.
Kellagh the Black.
The dragon shifter was Arthur’s ultimate betrayer and the source of a thousand bedtime stories meant to scare the young into never following in the dragon’s treacherous footsteps. If he and the rest of the dragons hadn’t left the Battle of Camlann that day, Arthur might not have been killed.
Vaughn hadn’t seen the black dragon since the final round of the Gauntlet, when they’d discovered Constantine was alive.
Kel didn’t so much as glance in their direction, striding directly toward the blonde’s cell door. She glanced unseeing at the cell door and scrambled back, slamming into the rock wall behind her.
Kel ripped the door off its hinges and tossed it aside.
The dragon had always been strong, but nothing like this.
“Bet you’re wishing you could get your hands on whatever magic-crack the dragon is taking, huh?”
Kel whipped around at the sound of Elena’s voice, taking notice of them for the first time. The corner of his lips kicked up. “Wasn’t expecting to see Witch Barbie and Gargoyle Ken down here.”
She shot Vaughn a sideways glance. “I’m starting to see why you keep commenting on the dog jokes.”
“Two witch references in a day too much for you, Angel?”
She cocked her head, her expression amused. “You really want to get into that now?”
Across the dungeon, Constantine growled threatening.
Kel tensed at the sound.
“Bet you weren’t expecting to find your former BFF down here either,” Elena quipped, probably enjoying the confrontation a little too much.
Kel approached Constantine’s cell, the room so heavy with tension Vaughn could feel it weigh on his skin. The blonde started rocking again, whatever she chanted too quiet to make out.
Kel gripped the bars, peering inside the cell. The beast threw itself at the door, his claws just missing the dragon’s fingers. Kel looked at the blonde, then back at Constantine’s cell. He grunted and tore the door off as if he wasn’t putting himself in the path of the one immortal who hated him more than Lucan.
Vaughn couldn’t decide if that made Kel brave or a complete idiot. One look at his mate’s face and he knew which opinion she would voice.
With nothing separating the dangerous predators, the tiger prowled out of the cell, baring its teeth, looking ready to tear Kel to pieces.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Instead of preparing to defend himself, the dragon sank to his knees in front of the beast.
The tiger went still except for its snapping tail, muscles coiling to pounce.
Definitely an idiot. “Get up,” Vaughn said quietly. “Move, now.”
Kel ignored him.
The tiger launched himself forward, sailing right over Kel’s head and disappearing down the passageway.
Elena whistled. “Well if Morgana wasn’t pissed at the world before, heads are gonna roll when she finds out Constantine flew the coup.”
Without responding, Kel rose and entered the blonde’s cell. The woman shuddered, sobs wracking her shoulders.
“Hey!” Elena called out, gripping the bars like she could channel the dragon’s strength.
The dragon carefully scooped the woman into his arms as if she might break at any moment.
“Put her down,” Elena snapped.
A flash of iridescent scales layered in oily black darkened Kel’s skin and then vanished. His eyes burned with a need that Vaughn recognized all too well.
He caught Elena’s hand. “It’s okay.”
“I don’t—”
“She’s his mate,” he interrupted.
Elena blew out a breath, tossing him a look. For real?
He nodded.
“And I thought Briana had her hands full.”
The blonde’s arms didn’t look strong enough to hold on, but she wrapped them around Kel’s neck, staring blankly in their direction.
“Trust and slumber,” she said.
“Wait a second,” Elena hollered after them. “How about a little help here?”
Kel laughed and kept walking, the pair vanishing from view.
His sorceress stepped back from the bars. “Fair enough. I would have left him here, too.”
Alone, the events of the past day caught up with Vaughn. The attack at the library, Elena’s alter ego, their surprise
visitor. And now they were trapped with no signs of movement from above or below. He hoped like hell someone was left alive somewhere, or they might be waiting a while for someone to find them.
“We should have at least asked him to get you some pants,” Elena mused, crossing to the bench carved into the back wall of their cell.
“I do think better when I’m wearing them.” He grinned and sat next to her, looking her over. “Are you okay?”
It was the first time he’d gotten a good look at her after the fight in the library. “Did he hurt you?” Vaughn was torn between hoping Kel had roasted the bastard he recognized from Mac’s party and wishing he’d get the chance to tear the asshole in half himself.
She shook her head. “No, but I have had better days.”
“Like when you’re sneaking around undermining Morgana?”
“Something like that.” A shy smile that he doubted few people ever saw curved her lips. It slowed his heart in his chest, right before it twisted painfully at the thought of anything happening to her.
“Hey.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “I promise I’m good. All in one piece.”
And how many days had she gone home when that probably hadn’t been the case? He knew the job, knew how many close calls there were for people like them, how often they almost didn’t make it home at all.
There were too many active Shadows to know everyone, but damn it, he should have known about her. The fucking Shadow’s Angel.
Someone should have said something. Dare. Or Elena. She’d been teasing him about being a Shadow since Vegas and the whole time she’d been a part of the rebellion.
And then there was Rutger. What had the leader of the rebellion been thinking signing off on her abduction in the first place, even if he hadn’t known she was Vaughn’s mate? It didn’t make any sense.
“I wouldn’t want to be whoever you’re thinking about killing right now,” Elena said, reading his mood better than ever. “So… How about we get back to the part where you were going to going to kiss the hell out of me.” She slid into his lap.
The moment her arms wrapped around him, he buried his face against her throat, breathing her in. “You should know that if this is just a tactic meant to distract me—” he leaned back to stare into his mate’s stunning gray eyes “—it has a high probability of success.”
Primal Bounty_Pendragon Gargoyles Page 27
