by Anna Zaires
Saige held his gaze and backed away, full of mixed feelings. Trust him.
He was her only hope.
And if he hadn’t calculated right, he could die here.
Tears pricked her eyes and she hurried away. She focused on getting to her room, on the gray door with no lock, and ignored the heinous words lobbed at her from the men.
She flung the door open and ducked inside, slamming it behind her. “Logan.”
He dropped the book he’d been reading and got off his bed, meeting her in two steps. “Are you okay? Let’s get you sitting down.”
“No, I’ll be okay. I won’t black out. Logan, oh my gods.” She led him into the tiny bathroom. They’d searched the room for bugs and hadn’t found any, but still, she didn’t want to have this conversation right by the door. “I met a Watcher today.”
“Whoa.” Logan’s eyes widened. “And you brought him here?”
She nodded.
“So he’s locked up like all the rest? How…wait. You didn’t use your power to get him here?”
“No. He’s going to help us.” She recounted all of the day’s events as Logan studied her, hope in his eyes. “I don’t know what they have planned, but…I trust him.”
“You smell like him,” Logan said, not judging her but also not letting her off the hook. “You smelled the same way after you brought in the dark elves too, the other night.”
She ran a hand through her hair. ‘I met him at Hades that night. He remembered me, recognized me today.” She glanced up at him. He was four years younger than she but had passed her in height years ago. He was also an adult, and being imprisoned during the solstice was agony. “I…had to. You know how things get. Are you mad?”
“No, I get it,” he gritted. “You have to do what you need to, to follow their fucking orders. Play their fucked up game.”
“I hate it as much as you do.”
“I know.” He rubbed a hand over his eyebrows. “This sucks. I’m ready to kill those assholes. But all this shit we’re going through? We need to stick together. We’re all we have left.”
She reached up to give him a quick hug. “I hope we’re at the end of our nightmare.”
“Me too, sis.”
“Look, I don’t know what’ll happen. If a hundred warriors will blast in here with spells and fire or something.”
His brown eyes flared with gold and his fists clenched. “Bring it.”
She frowned. “I just want us to get out alive. And the Watchers, and any males I brought in who are innocent.” A sudden thought hit her. “And don’t you dare jump into the fray. I know you want to get back at them, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. If we see a door, we head for it, okay?”
He shot her a sideways look. “Got it. But if I can get my hands on a weapon and a Viper walks into my path, I can’t promise I won’t take a shot.”
“Fine.” They walked back to the main room and plunked on their respective beds. “Now we sit and wait.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Saige had counted the pockmarks in the stone walls fifty times. Logan alternated between pushups and pacing. Three hours had passed, and she was antsy, torn between anticipation and worry.
Did the Watchers need to organize a hundred soldiers? Did they need to prepare a bunch of special spells? They had a group of staff who did that, she recalled. What about anti-venom to protect against the Vipers’ fangs? Had the Lash healers and scientists created anything like that?
Or had Tanner’s superiors nixed the rescue?
No. Not possible. Innocent Lash males, plus now one of their own were held captive. They had to come.
But only the normal banging and shouting reached through the door, accompanied by the guards’ footsteps. No one came to talk to her and Logan, and they had long ago learned that was a best case scenario.
She glanced around the room, not planning on missing this tiny pocket of hell. All she had were a few changes of clothes, stolen by the Vipers. She’d insisted she’d have more luck getting close enough to males if she didn’t stink to high heaven or look like a homeless demoness.
She sighed as Logan started a set of jump squats. His agitation filled the room as he pushed himself into as many exercises as a person could do without equipment and in a small space. “Save some energy for when we get out,” she murmured.
“Saige, I have enough energy for a goddamn decade.” He huffed out a harsh breath. “I gotta do something.”
Boom!
The building shook and an explosion echoed through the concrete walls. “They’re here!” Saige’s eyes locked with Logan’s. “And it doesn’t sound like they’re taking the subtle approach.”
More shouting, more footsteps running outside the door. Saige darted to the door and cracked it open as another blast shook the walls. Vipers tore up the stairs. The males in the cells all clutched at their bars, yelling.
Tanner. His cell was too far down the corridor for her to see him. Could she unlock his cell? The keys were carried by two Viper guards. She’d never seen either one of them without the huge keyrings jangling at their hips. Crap.
“You!” A guard bellowed, looming in the doorway, and seized her wrist. “You brought in that Watcher today. If you and he have anything to do with this, you’re gonna regret it.”
“I—” Saige let out a yelp as a ball of fire flew past in the air beyond the guard. It smacked into the wall, leaving a blackened mark. Demonfire.
The guard barked a command to a comrade, then yanked Saige out into the hall. His friend grabbed Logan. “You’re coming with us.”
The guard’s fingers crushed tightly around her forearm. “If you planned this, we’ll kill your goddamn precious brother. Bitch!” Rough hands jerked her down another concrete corridor, different from the one that housed the males.
This one she’d glimpsed once or twice, as a male was led down its length.
This one led to the fighting arena.
***
Tanner gritted his teeth as explosive spell charges rocked the building. Every nerve itched for him to get Saige and her brother out of here and far away. But the Vipers’ dampening spell made that impossible.
He willed his team to get down here faster. Vipers were vicious predators, dipping arrows in the venom that dripped from their fangs. A strong dose was one of the few things that could incapacitate a Lash demon. The Watchers knew that and prepared for it.
Hurry. He flexed his fingers around the bars. Across the corridor a young Lash male paced, eyes wide with panic. He caught Tanner’s eyes.
“Can you help get me out? I don’t even know how I ended up in here. Fuck.”
“Help is on the way. Hear that noise? That’s the good guys,” Tanner said. The captives would need to be freed, then the innocent ones sorted from the criminals, all hopefully before the building collapsed from the blasts. He was a fan of the spell charges, but shit. That should be enough, guys.
A familiar face loomed on the other side of his bars. Raul.
“Took you long enough,” Tanner muttered.
“Shut it. Your estimate on the number of Vipers here was a little on the…” Raul grunted as he grabbed the bars and wrenched them off their hinges. “…on the low side.”
“Sorry.” Tanner stepped into the corridor, taking a breath of fresh, unspelled air, and instinctively searched for Saige’s scent. “I gotta find Saige.”
He bolted down the passageway, to the door he’d glimpsed when they’d brought him in. It hung wide open, revealing a small room with two beds. Her scent was thick in the air, along with a male Lash—but neither was there. Fuck.
Ian and Gabriel charged down the stairs, each tackling a Viper to the ground. Ian managed to stab his opponent in the belly while Gabe was forced into a roll, deftly avoiding dripping fangs. Aleksai vaulted from the top step, landing next to Ian, and cutting a thick ring of metal keys loose from the Viper’s belt.
“Nice to see you’re still in one piece. We’re on prisoner duty,”
Aleksai said.
Tanner forced his mind to think logically. “They’ve taken Saige and her brother, but I’m betting they haven’t gotten far.”
“There’s a brother?” Aleksai flung a ball of demonfire at an approaching Viper. “Ian! Go with Tanner. Find the civilians.”
Ian handed Tanner a dagger and joined him in following the sweet jasmine scent down a different corridor.
This one was lined with rough concrete, but had no cells or distinguishing features. A few widely spaced fire bulbs hovered along the ceiling. He ran, drawn by her scent and creeping dread of where this might lead. Up ahead, an arched opening gaped.
Shouting and thudding, the scrape of metal and the thick sound of flesh on wet flesh met his ears. Tanner barreled to the doorway and into a huge high-ceilinged open space.
The ring.
New and old blood covered the dirt surface. The place was filled with Vipers and Watchers, battling. Fireballs shot through the air, along with arrows that had to be tipped with venom.
He scanned the arena. Clusters of fire bulbs were suspended overhead, giving a brilliant glow to the macabre spectacle. Blood sprayed and bodies swerved. Where the hell was Saige?
A huge Viper went down, courtesy of a Watcher named Caine, and then he saw a group of Vipers in a circle, with something hidden and moving in the center.
He stalked closer, drawn with unexplainable knowledge that something sick was going on. Behind thick Viper legs, he caught a flash of blond on the ground.
“They have her.” A roar burst from his throat as he hurled a fire ball at the nearest Viper. The male laughed—and ducked. Tanner’s fire shot into the protected circular space.
Shit!
A clump of dirt kicked up, but that was all. No scent of singed Lash flesh.
An arrow shot toward him and he darted to the side, but not in time. The tip sliced through the skin above his bicep, unleashing a flare of burning pain. Tanner growled. It was a surface wound, but it would hurt like a bitch for a while. And fuck. They were going to need a coordinated attack to get Saige out of that circle.
“We need to—” Ian’s words died at a sudden flurry of activity. The circle broke up, giving Tanner his first glimpse of Saige and her brother.
Bloody, bruised, barely able to walk. Rage ignited every cell in his body. “No!” Lethal fury exploded at seeing her forcibly taken into a predatory male’s grip and dragged away from him. “They’re taking them!”
“Go. I’ll cover you and catch up.” Ian grinned as he flung fireballs left and right, no longer impeded by the chance of hitting an innocent.
Four Vipers dragged their captives back toward a door in the wall opposite where Tanner had come into the ring. The fuckers probably wouldn’t hesitate to use Saige and Logan as shields. Tanner ground his molars. Ian needed to hurry.
The doorway led to a dark passage, and Tanner’s night vision had no trouble making out the details. A few rats. Crumbling concrete. The scent of death. Dried blood streaked the floor. Was this the passage used to remove those who had died in the ring?
“Stop!” Tanner yelled at the group ahead.
Surprisingly, they did. And that meant trouble.
The tiny scratch of wood against wood was Tanner’s only warning. He ducked the arrow that flew over his head. The Vipers could see as well at night as he could. “Let them go.”
“Or what, Watcher?” one Viper sneered. “You’re outnumbered.”
“You can fight for us. We’ll start up somewhere else, since we have our little star recruiter. Don’t we?” another one hissed. He gestured to Saige, whose arms were gripped tightly by a Viper behind her. Her eyes, wild with fear and pain, latched on to Tanner.
“She’s done enough for you. Time to let her go home. Both of them.” Tanner stepped closer.
“Female,” the first Viper said to Saige. “Use your power on him. Now! Make him fight for us.”
Saige’s eyes hardened. “Never,” she gritted.
Crack!
The Viper’s clawed hand connected with her jaw and her head swung to the side. A yelp of agony escaped her lips. Fresh blood trickled down her chin.
“No!” Tanner roared. The last of his restraint snapped. He threw his one and only dagger at the Viper, hitting him squarely in the huge artery that ran down his neck. Tanner raced forward as the male stumbled, clutching his throat. Tanner grabbed the Viper’s green scaly head between his hands and wrenched hard, twisting his neck.
“Ah, you’d be so good in our arena,” another Viper went on, as if Tanner hadn’t just killed one of their own for the same suggestion. “We’ll make you a partner. The money is good, very good.”
“Never, asshole.” Tanner shook with anger at the sight of Saige’s head hanging down. He couldn’t tell if she was still conscious. A Viper held her tightly, and another held Logan. Both males could drip venom on them at any second. Hurry up, Ian.
The Viper shrugged. “Forcing you will be easy. She’ll do it the same way she got you here. You, female.” He gripped Saige’s hair, pulling her head up. The whole left side of her face was swollen and turning purple. “Use your power on this Watcher. I’m ordering you. Or else, we’ll take it out on your brother. One organ at a time.”
Saige blinked, eyes glazed. “Please don’t hurt him.”
Tanner couldn’t tell if she truly was close to losing consciousness or not. His fists clenched. “Stop this.” His voice was low with menace. “Fight me, not someone half your goddam size.”
The Viper threw back his head and laughed. “How noble of y—”
Thunk! An arrow sailed through the dark passage and sunk into his neck, followed by another into his heart.
Ian. Thank fuck.
The other two Vipers shrank back, dragging Saige and Logan farther down the corridor. But Ian, plus Gabe and Raul, charged forward. Watcher training involved all kind of hostage situations, including ones like this. With several rapid and well-thrown daggers, plus another arrow, the Vipers went down.
Tanner sprinted forward to catch Saige before she collapsed. He gathered her in his arms, cradling her to his chest. “Saige. It’s over. You’re safe.”
Soft brown eyes gazed up at him, shining with relief and something else he couldn’t name. But hell, he didn’t care, as long as she was out of danger. “Tanner,” she whispered, digging her fingers into his shirt like she’d done in the library. “You did it.” She nuzzled his chest, and the tiny gesture sent his heart into overdrive. It was familiar and possessive, and he liked it.
“We all did. Things are still kinda chaotic.”
Her head jerked up and she looked around. “Logan?”
“I’m okay, sis.” Her brother’s voice rumbled from the other side of the corridor. He stepped forward to grab her hand. “I’m okay. We’re getting out of this.”
“You’re hurt!” She reached up, hand hovering but not touching the massive bruising around his eye.
Black eyes would heal quickly, but Tanner wasn’t taking any chances. “You both need to see a healer. I want to take you back to Watcher HQ.”
Saige turned back to him and nodded. “Whatever you think is best.”
I think it’s best if you stay with me. Tanner looked down at her sweet, marred face and wanted to kill the Vipers, over and over again. But the noise from the arena had died down. He had no clue how many teams Arawn had sent, but it had been a lot. “You were so brave today,” he murmured.
“I don’t feel brave,” she whispered. “What about the Lash males I lured in here?”
“We’re getting all the captives out. The innocent ones, like them, will go back home tonight. The rest, if they’re known criminals…” he shrugged. “Depends. We’ll deal with them on a case-by-case basis.”
Logan stalked back over to the wall and sat down. Saige flicked a glance to him, then turned those doe eyes on Tanner. She didn’t speak, just looked at him like he made the sun come up every morning. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He mo
ved to set her down, but she shook her head. “Can you…just hold on to me for a bit?”
Hell. He had the sudden feeling he needed to hold her for eternity, but that feeling was out of the blue and too soon. They barely knew each other. She’d been through a living nightmare. But he grinned, loving the feel of her against him. “Might be a little longer than a bit.”
“That’s okay,” she said shyly.
Shy. His heart melted a bit more. After they’d fucked against a wall at Hades, of all things, she had the sweetness to be shy. But she was so young. An adult, but so damn young. Another reason not to rush her.
Ian paced the hall, talking on his phone. Actually doing more listening than talking, so Tanner guessed he was talking to Aleksai. Ian shot a glance at him, then Saige and Logan. “Any broken bones?”
Saige and Logan both shook their heads.
“Good.” Ian went back to his call.
If bones had been broken in the scuffle, getting home sooner was essential. Lash demons healed so quickly, if their bones started to set incorrectly, the healers needed to re-break them in order to allow correct restoration of motion. Not fun for any of them.
Ian returned, shoving his phone in a pocket. “Okay, Aleksai needs us to help transport the missing Lash back to HQ. They match up with the names and photos of the ones we’ve been looking for. Families are being called now.” He gave a chin lift to Tanner. “Can you take both of them?”
“Yeah, but I need an amulet.” The Vipers had taken that, along with his weapons.
Ian handed him one. “I’m sure someone has extras. Take mine.”
Tanner took it and the rest of his team departed back toward the arena. He shifted Saige higher in his arms and glanced at Logan. “You two travel much by portal?”
“No,” they said in unison.
He hadn’t thought so. “Logan, stand next to me and hold my arm. I’ll hold Saige. It can be disorienting, and you may feel sick for a minute afterward. It’s all totally normal.”
Logan nodded and stood close. “Let’s get out of here.”
Saige wrapped her arms around his neck. Tanner recited the Demonish words to a spell that would open a portal, and in seconds the shimmering ring appeared. Logan grabbed on, Tanner counted down from three, and they all stepped in.
