The Silver Cage

by Mathilde Madden

  ‘Right,’ said Vikram. ‘Alfie’s line.’

  ‘Yeah. Maybe that’s part of her plan somehow. We know she has all the Sacred Silvers, and Alfie – the Ancient Beast. His line. All the other wolves outside. That cauldron must contain her potion. God. Maybe it’s too late.’

  While Iris said all this, she couldn’t stop looking at Alfie. He had a dirty piece of white cloth wrapped around his hips and his right hand was bandaged up to the elbow. The marks and scars she had seen on his body before were still there. His left hand was chained to the cage with one of the Silver Chains. He didn’t look too bad – not as damaged as he could have been – but seeing him was enough to make Iris feel weak and distracted.

  Iris looked from Alfie to Vikram, then back to Alfie and whispered, ‘I have no idea what to do now, really. I worked so hard to get here – not knowing I was just going to get pulled through anyway – and I never really thought about what I’d do.’

  ‘You’ve no plan?’

  ‘Well,’ said Iris, ‘I wouldn’t say I have no plan exactly. It’s just not a very good one. In fact, it might even be sort of fatal.’ She took a deep breath. ‘But I always knew that.’

  54

  IRIS BURST THROUGH the door into the cellar. Vikram was with her. She felt him at her heels and then by her side.

  She sprang and landed panting in front of the Divine and Sabrina.

  ‘Oh, God,’ said the Divine, her voice weary and sarcastic. ‘It’s you. You are alive, just like he thought. That’ll teach me to try an ironic death.’ Her features changed in realisation. ‘Oh, don’t tell me my magic pulled you through, wolf’s woman? How disgusting.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Iris, ‘I’m kind of hard to kill.’

  ‘Well,’ said the Divine, ‘let’s make it cleaner this time. Stick her in the cage.’

  Iris didn’t react. Sabrina made a noise like a soft laugh that somehow became a whirlwind of magic that picked Iris up and bowled her straight into Alfie’s cage. The door magically clanged open and then shut tight again.

  She landed on her hands and knees, only feet from where Alfie was chained to the bars.

  The Divine said, ‘There is still half an hour until moon rise. That’s always a fun thing to do to a wolf’s woman who’s starting to think she’s too important.’

  Iris looked over her shoulder at the Divine who was walking towards the cage.

  She started to walk around it, trailing a hand on the bars as she moved. ‘But we don’t need to wait for that with your wolf, do we, Iris? Although –’ the Divine paused, mugging as if in thought ‘– he won’t actually change while he’s caged, will he? But I don’t think that will be a problem.’

  The Divine was standing behind Alfie now, just the thick silver bars between them. She reached out and unlocked Alfie’s single manacle. Dumbly, Alfie lowered his unrestrained arm. The Divine bent down and pressed her lips close to his ear. But her words were clearly audible. ‘Kill her.’

  Blake had pulled half of the wires out of the high-end electronic console set into the dashboard and had finally managed to override all the security log-ins.

  He jabbed at the keys: Iris’s unique initials II – that must be enough to ID her on the system.

  A map flashed up on the screen in shades of winking green. GPS co-ords whirled. And then up it came: Iris’s location. Satisfied he could work the machine, Blake cross-referenced the position with Vikram’s.

  That was strange.

  Iris had never won a fight with Alfie. He was just too big, too strong and overwhelming. All the clever moves she knew, all her speed, all her sparky tricks – they counted for nothing up against Alfie’s sheer brawn. He could simply best her.

  Most of the time she thought that was incredibly hot.

  Not so much right now.

  As Alfie sprang from a crouch, heading right for her, Iris dived, her brain rushing with calculation about his injured hand. She rolled and clanged against the bars at one corner of the cage, as Alfie hit the opposite wall of the cage. He looked dazed as he stood up, awkwardly without the use of his right hand.

  Iris scanned the room for something that might help her. The cellar had one high window. And through it she could see the dark-blue crane from the building site high in the sky.

  Oh, Alfie, you could have told me about that. If I’d known you could see that crane . . .

  She looked at him. Alfie stared back at Iris, his eyes full of anger. And he moved.

  Iris locked eyes with him, inhaled and raised both her arms in surrender. Alfie charged into her, barrelling her back into the barred wall behind her. He landed on top of her and twisted her down to the floor. He got her arms locked under his big thighs and sat up straddling her.

  He cradled his injured right hand in his left, making a huge double fist. He raised his arms up above his head and looked down at Iris.

  ‘Alfie,’ she said and her voice sounded soft and weak. ‘Alfie, please. You could have told me about the crane.’

  ‘I didn’t want you to come here, Iris. This is why.’

  ‘I know. And I understand this time. The last time you were trapped by thrall and it made you betray me, I didn’t understand. But now I do. I know this isn’t you. Even after you left me to die in those caves, I still came for you. Hunted you down. Found you. I know this isn’t your fault.’

  In her head, then, Iris heard Cate’s voice. Cate saying, His feelings for you are still there. Even if the thrall has control of him. He still loves you or this connection wouldn’t work. Use your power. Use your love for him. The more you open your heart to him the stronger your connection will be.

  Iris said, ‘If you kill me now, Alfie, I forgive you. I still love you.’

  Alfie’s face changed. It happened quickly and so slowly. Anger became release, then love. Nothing but love. And he dropped down, covered and protected her with his big body and kissed her.

  Outside the cage, the Divine screamed in rage as Alfie’s lips met Iris’s.

  Alfie pulled back from the kiss and looked over his shoulder at her, laughing. ‘Oh shut up, Divinia.’

  Iris stared at him as he turned back. Her hands were still trapped under his arms. She wriggled them but couldn’t get free. Alfie made a low growling pleasure noise. ‘You’re not thralled to her?’ Iris whispered.

  ‘No. I think Lilith has decided to be uncharacteristically involved in this situation.’

  Alfie ducked down, pecking at her face in quick kisses. ‘Lilith?’ said Iris. ‘I thought Lilith was in a coma.’

  ‘Yeah. That kind of worked out for the best.’

  Through the kissing – the perfect moment – several things exploded all at once. The Divine screamed in rage again and raced around the cage, intent on the door. At almost the same moment, across the platform, Vikram who had been standing dumbfounded all this time, launched himself at Sabrina.

  The Divine stopped and turned.

  Iris pulled herself up from underneath Alfie into a sitting position and yelled, ‘Vikram! No! She’s a witch.’

  Vikram shouted something that Iris thought was probably, ‘I know!’

  Sabrina raised her hands and hit Vikram with a bolt of energy shouting, ‘Never mind what I am, you stupid girl, don’t you even know what he is?’

  The energy bolt bounced off Vikram, leaving him unscathed, and jetted across the platform. The Divine yelped and leapt out of the way and the energy fizzled and hit the door of the cage. The Divine snapped round. ‘Watch it, Sab,’ she screamed. ‘You just fused the door shut.’

  Sabrina groaned. ‘Give me some back up,’ she yelled, reaching out and looking like she was sucking something out of Divinia from across the room. Bolstered, suddenly looking almost taller, more imposing, she rolled her eyes, then whirled around in a ball of fierce energy. She hit Vikram with something Iris could tell was vicious strong magic. It bowled him up in the air and held him there, imprisoned in a ball of fizzing crackling power.

  ‘There,’ said Sabrina, visib
ly panting. ‘That should hold the little fucker for a while.’

  The Divine shook herself. ‘Fucking freak-cub. I don’t know what he’s even doing out.’

  ‘Didn’t you know?’ shouted Sabrina. ‘If he’s your cub, shouldn’t you be able to feel it if he’s out of his prison?’

  ‘Not with that one. He doesn’t work like a proper lycan, the little runt. He’s not even feeling an ounce of thrall. It’s disgusting.’

  Iris looked at the Divine. ‘What? He’s your cub. That’d make him an Ancient Beast. A cub of the Divine.’ She shook her head. ‘But he’s a vampire.’

  The Divine turned. ‘Yeah. That’s right. Don’t you know about him? You knew there was one missing, right? You only killed eleven Beasts. They had to use me to join the circle as the twelfth Beast, but that’s because of him being so, so wrong. He’s practically a myth. The Ancient Beast that was bitten by a vampire. Some kind of fucked-up experiment. He’s not supposed to be out and about, though. Seems witch-built prisons aren’t what they were.’

  Sabrina shrugged. ‘You can say that again.’

  The Divine turned back to the cage door. ‘Now get this open,’ she snapped at Sabrina. ‘Then you go in there and get him off her. Then kill her.’

  Sabrina poised herself to hit with another spell. Iris was reeling – almost nauseous – from the weight of the knowledge about Vikram, but somehow she managed to focus on the immediate danger. She pulled her gun from her shoulder holster and held it to Alfie’s head. ‘No.’

  The Divine cocked her head. ‘Oh, what?’

  ‘I’ll shoot him.’

  The Divine laughed. ‘No you won’t, baby. You’d be doing me a favour. He’s broken his thrall somehow. He’s useless. But if he dies Leon will inherit his power. Reform the links.’

  ‘Maybe. You sure? You sure the link won’t be too weak then? They get weaker every time they reknit, don’t they? You want to risk it? Zac’s dead. Your chain of power is already looking wobbly.’

  The Divine smiled a tight-lipped smile. ‘There is no way . . .’

  ‘She doesn’t need to,’ said Alfie. ‘I’ve still got something you need.’ With his uninjured left hand, he fisted his cock. ‘You need one more ejaculation, don’t you? The last splash.’ He drew his hand up and down his hardening cock. ‘You need me alive for the potion to be complete.

  Iris smiled. She twisted under Alfie and heaved him over on to his back. He was still holding his cock as she slipped down his body to nestle between his legs. ‘Or maybe, I can make sure the potion is never complete.’

  ‘No, you don’t, you bitch!’ As Iris closed her lips around Alfie’s hard hot cock, the whole cage reverberated as Sabrina threw a jolt of magic at the door.

  ‘Fuck,’ said Alfie. ‘This cage is magical. So it won’t be easy. But who knows how long it will hold?’

  Iris exhaled and let Alfie slip deeper into her throat. The feeling was amazing. After so long without him, it was perfect to possess his pleasure like this. To feel him pulse inside her. But this wasn’t about enjoyment. This was about one last mission. One last quest. One last race against the clock. Make him come.

  Alfie started to buck and gasp underneath her.

  Iris knew everything about his responses. Every gasp. He was close. So close. She tasted the precome, slippery salt on her tongue.

  The cage rocked with another zap from Sabrina and then another and the door clanged open. Iris sat bolt upright, sudden and instinctive. The Divine herself stalked into the cage. She grabbed Iris, lifting her right up into the air. Iris turned and kicked out, but the Divine just flung her, tossed her right up into the air through the cage door and down on to the floor near the open door into the next room.

  Then the Divine turned to Alfie. He was on his feet and gave her a defiant look, but the Divine grabbed him, her reactions super-lightning fast, and locked both fists around his injured hand. Iris winced to see it.

  Alfie bellowed in pain and dropped to his knees in front of her. ‘There’s more than one way to control you,’ the Divine said. Her voice was low and deep. Iris wondered if she could really hear her so clearly or if this was the morphial connector. The Divine squeezed Alfie again. ‘Finish it.’

  ‘No!’ Alfie screamed, half sobbing as she squeezed his ruined hand again.

  ‘Finish it,’ said the Divine, her voice deeper still. Alpha.

  Iris felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

  ‘No,’ Alfie sobbed, and Iris could hear his hand crunching.

  ‘Fine,’ said the Divine. She stepped over his body with one leg and straddled him. Taking one hand off his injured hand, she dug in her pocket for something which she seemed to slip over his cock. Then she lined herself up and began to lower herself on to him.

  ‘No!’ Alfie went to lash out at her with his left hand and Sabrina, blurry fast, took one hand from the magic holding Vikram and shot a bolt of power right through into the cage. It hit Alfie’s left wrist and slammed it up against the barred wall at his back, fixing it there. Alfie was helpless as the Divine took him.

  He was so close. Iris knew it. He screamed out again. This time: ‘No! No!’

  The Divine was starting to move on his cock. Up and down. Fast and cruel. Iris knew that move would make Alfie orgasm in moments.

  And in moments Alfie cried out and came. The Divine cried out too in pure triumph. And then Iris watched in horror as she stood up and removed the little pouch from Alfie. The last splash a white residue inside it.

  I’m the heir. I have to kill her. I have to kill her now while she’s in the cage.

  Iris was on the floor right next to the open door to the room beyond. She struggled to her feet, pulling her crossbow from her back.

  And then something tugged at her waist and pulled her back down to the ground.

  ‘Oh no, you don’t.’

  Iris turned. ‘Blake!’ He was crouched just on the other side of the door.

  ‘Hey, baby. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve got planned.’

  ‘Yeah, sure, you’re super smart. I have to kill her while she’s in the cage.’

  ‘No, you don’t, Iris. Not you.’

  ‘How did you even get here, Blake?’

  ‘You have a Cobalt coms. An MCD. I have a Cobalt van.’

  ‘I have to kill her, Blake. Now. She’s in the cage.’

  ‘It’ll kill you.’

  ‘I know. The heir will pay the price.’

  ‘I’m the heir,’ said Blake. ‘Not you. I’m the heir. The house in Summertown that Dr Tobias left me? I’m the heir.’

  ‘Blake, what? He just left you his house.’

  ‘You still wondering why he did that?’

  ‘Not really. Not right now.’

  ‘I’m his son, Iris. Dr Tobias is – was – my father.’

  ‘Oh for fuck’s sake,’ Iris said. ‘What?’

  Iris knew Blake. All the lies he’d ever told her. But she knew now he was telling her the truth. She was staring at Blake and she couldn’t think what to say.

  ‘You know it’s true, don’t you, Iris? It’s me. I’m his heir. I’m his son. I know I never told you. Should I have done? Where to begin?’ Blake shook his head. ‘That’s why he left me his house, left me everything. I’m his son. I’m the heir. I pay the price.

  Iris shook her head. ‘You can’t, Blake. You can’t be the one who kills her. You’ll die. You can’t die. You live.’ Iris was insistent. This was one thing she’d always believed in. The immortality of Blake. Blake forever. She’d accepted Jude dying. She could believe in Alfie’s death or even her own. But not Blake. Never Blake. Blake didn’t die.

  In the cage, the Divine was still crowing over Alfie. Iris turned back to Blake. ‘Blake. Fuck it. There isn’t time for us to argue about this.’

  ‘I know. That’s why it’s me, Iris. I’m the one around here who needs a redemption. And, besides, Lilith has me by the balls. I’m totally fucked.’

  ‘You’re not fucked. You’re just ma
rried to a witch.’

  ‘And that’s not fucked?’

  Blake started to get up. Iris grabbed his hand. He looked back at her. ‘Blake . . . Please?’

  Blake shook his head. ‘Just tell me, Iris, did you ever love me? Even for a minute.’

  ‘Blake . . .’

  ‘Was it always only ever him? Was there even a second when – when I could have been the one?’

  Iris started to shake her head.

  ‘Just a second, Iris.’

  Then Iris said softly. ‘Yes. Yes there was. I did love you once. I loved you when you said you’d kill it for me. When you said you’d kill the Beast.’

  Blake looked solemn. ‘I was lying when I said that, Iris. Dr Tobias – the Beast – was sitting right next to you. And I knew it. And I had no intention of killing him. He was my father.’

  ‘I know.’ Iris’s head still spun if she tried to think too hard about that.

  ‘So maybe after this you’ll forgive me,’ Blake said, turning away and pulling out of her grip. He ran for the cage.

  As Blake ran, not thinking, images flashed through his head. Women. Fucks. His life in fucks. Backwards. Iris on the bed in the Summertown house when he couldn’t touch her. Iris in the woods. Lilith handcuffed on the floor. Sabrina in the pack house. Iris and Alfie in the basement. Iris in South Park. Aurelia at the office, sucking him off under his desk. Pure. Then Iris. Iris, Iris, Iris. Iris cuffed to the bed. Him cuffed to the bed underneath her spread thighs. Lilith – that one time while he was married. Unfaithful doesn’t count if it’s with a witch. Then Iris. More Iris. The wedding night. Courting. The first time he’d fucked her. Jude that time. Other girls. Back and back.

  And then he was in the cage. The Divine was approached the cauldron of potion with Alfie’s last splash in her hand. Blake had his silver sword. Would it kill her? Of course it would – destiny – maybe it was the only thing that would do the job safely. He brandished it through the air with a swish and a flourish – smooth moves he knew would kill him – and the Divine’s head flew off and landed on the straw-covered floor.