I shook my head and he let out an exasperated sigh. "The Blood are the first three vampires, the ones who begat our race, the origin of our lives."

"Are they dead?"

He barked a laugh and a glimmer of humor sparkled in his eyes. "Well, no more than I am. But they have been interred in a prison to keep them from the world. We have to find their prison so I can drink their blood and seal my life as the new Emperor. Now quit stalling, speak your oath."

Every G.o.ds-be-d.a.m.ned word I spoke burned through to the core of me, acid eating me out from the inside. "I swear to you on the redemption of every soul I've ever loved that I will Track the Blood for you, that I will-" G.o.ds, it stuck in my mouth. I swallowed hard. "That I will hold to my oath to kill the Child Empress, done within the time frame you dictate."

"Well done, Rylee." He threw Alex toward me, and the werewolf's two hundred pound frame crashed into mine, taking us to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Alex sorry," he whispered, lips turning down at the edges, as he scrambled off me.

"Not your fault, buddy." I stood slowly, dusted my clothes off. Alex pressed himself into my leg, and I dropped a hand to the back of his neck. My fingers came away sticky with blood. Anger, hot and sweet, raged through me. Faris would be dead the second I had the chance.

Faris moved to a side table and poured what I knew wasn't a gla.s.s of red wine, though it surely looked like it in the crystal gla.s.s. "Now, let us discuss how this will work, our little business arrangement."

I had to get close to him if I was going to kill him. That was the only way I could nullify my oaths and avoid this whole situation. Killing him was not going to be easy with his speed, but maybe he wouldn't expect an a.s.sault so quickly. I took a step toward him, keeping my breathing slow and even.

"Remove all your weapons. I'm not so easily fooled. I know you, Rylee." He lifted his eyes to mine as he took a deep drink from his cup. "I do realize you will take any chance you get to try and kill me, so from now on, you drop your weapons when you are close to me unless otherwise directed."

"f.u.c.k you. That wasn't part of the oath." To prove my point, I raised my sword and pulled my second sword from my back. "My oath was to find the Blood you seek, and kill the Child Empress. Nothing in there about not slicing your head in half."

He let out a sigh and his shoulders slumped. "I realize this is the only way to do things with you, but I'd really prefer to be civil. After all, I've done my best to keep you, and your little pack, alive. But, be that as it may, we can do this the hard way. And you will learn to do what I say, when I say it, like the well-trained b.i.t.c.h you will become for me."

With a flash of movement, he was gone. "The b.a.s.t.a.r.d jumped the veil. Where the h.e.l.l does he think he's going?" I muttered, as I lowered my swords.

"Alex wants to go." He limped toward me and tugged on the end of my shirt. "Really wants to go."

"Yeah, I agree." I walked to where the long black curtains hung closed and jerked them open. A blank, grey cement wall stared back at me. Of course, there wouldn't be an actual window. What was I thinking? I snorted to myself. Faris would go to extremes to keep himself safe. The old tales of sunlight killing vampires was more than true, but most of them were so savvy they would never allow themselves to be caught off guard by daylight.

"Let's get the h.e.l.l out of here," I muttered, as I strode toward the only other exit, a simple black door with a tarnished silver k.n.o.b that turned smoothly in my hand. At least it was unlocked.

I opened it and found myself staring at a cement-f.u.c.king-wall. I swallowed hard, the realization settling over me as heavy as the four walls and roof I had no doubt were also cement.

Faris had put me in a box of his making, one that didn't require doors, or windows or a way out, because the b.a.s.t.a.r.d could jump the veil and leave whenever he d.a.m.n well pleased.

Alex poked at the wall with the tip of his claw. "Hmm. Tough s.h.i.t."

I stepped back from the wall, unable to take my eyes from it. That was one way of putting it.

SEARCHING THE ROOM proved Faris was savvy, indeed. There was no alternate exit, nothing I could use to break out. The walls were thick enough that wherever we were, there was no way I was getting through them. But it was Alex who coined it best.

"Coffin."

I turned and looked at him, his lips trembling as he said it again.

"Alex is in a coffin."

f.u.c.k it all, he was right, we were in a giant coffin. Which meant we were, most likely, underground. My stomach flopped and sweat popped out on my forehead. I wouldn't have said I was claustrophobic before, but I'd never been somewhere where there wasn't even a possibility of escape. I dug my hands into my hair, as the air around us shifted and I spun to see Faris slip through the veil, a squirming sack in his hands.

His blue eyes were cold, and they bored into mine. "I do not think you believe me or my threats. In that, I have done you a disservice. I won't kill you; we both know that, so I need to make this very clear. You will do as I say, when I say, or your people will begin to die off. I'd use Alex as an example, except I think your friends might notice if he goes missing. But this one, no one except you will notice his loss."

From the bag came a m.u.f.fled, "Yous be taking yours hands off the la.s.sie."

Charlie!

I made a move toward them and Faris lifted the bag high, twisted the veil, and I could see through the opening into a bubbling, spitting pit of lava.

"Faris, don't do this." I held my hands open to him, dropping my sword to the heavy carpet at my feet. There was no choice here. "I get it, you're the boss; you don't need to prove the point." A whiff of sulfur curled through the veil, and a vision of the red ogre going under the rushing lava rose to the front of my mind.

Faris tipped his head to one side. "Since you activated this particular volcano, I think this is fitting." He paused and shifted his stance so he stood sideways to me, his hand that held Charlie dipping ever so slightly. "Do you understand me now? I own you, Rylee. You will do what I say, when I say it. There will be no questions; there will be nothing you do unless I will it until your two oaths are completed. At anytime I can s.n.a.t.c.h one of your loved ones and destroy them. Up until now I have been ... gracious."

Bile rose in my throat and I forced it back down, counting in my head the thousands of ways I would chop Faris up and feed him to the fishes, how I would make him regret this day.

He, of course, was oblivious. "And you will breathe a word of this to no one. This will be our little secret. Not even your wolf will know of this."

"Yous thinks I won't be telling on your a.s.s?" Charlie mouthed off from in the bag.

"Shut it, Charlie," I snapped, my eyes pleading with Faris. "He won't say anything."

Faris shrugged. "Well, I can't be sure, and you need to never forget this."

"I'll give you something else," I sputtered, thinking only to get Charlie out of this in one piece. To make sure another person I cared for didn't die on my behalf.

The vampire's eyebrows rose slowly. "And what would you offer me for his life?"

The bag squirmed and shifted. "Don't yous do it, Rylee. Not a thing do yous give this b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

I licked my lips. "What do you want?" f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k. How did we get to this point and, more importantly, how the h.e.l.l was I going to get out of here with all three of us intact?

Faris smiled, his lips lifting so I could see his teeth easily. "Well, there is something your wolf has that I would like very much."

I glanced down at Alex.

Faris chuckled. "Not that wolf. The one you are f.u.c.king."

The term 'blood running cold' finally made sense to me. There seemed to be no heat left in me as Faris' eyes drifted up and down my body. I shivered involuntarily.

Charlie screamed. "Don't yous dare. Nothing yous can say will shut me up, vampire. I be screaming yous deception from the rooftops. Rylee, don't yous f.u.c.k him!"

With a casual flick of his wrist, Faris tossed Charlie through the veil toward the lava. Before I could even move, Faris snapped his fingers, and I could no longer see through to the lava. Just the other side of the room. Shaking, I fought to comprehend what had truly just happened. What Faris had done. That Charlie was gone.

"Do you understand, Rylee? Up until now, I have been kind. I am running out of time. I do not think kindness will work with you. Even for your body, I couldn't have your brownie friend blabbing."

Charlie was gone, killed because Faris wanted to make a point. That he could destroy those I loved while barely lifting a finger.

From cold to hot, my blood raged with fury, but I could do nothing.

Faris walked toward me and at my side, Alex bristled, stepping in front of me.

"No hurts Rylee," he growled through bared teeth.

I put myself between them, pushing Alex away with my knee, more than cognizant of just what Faris could do. On our own, we couldn't face him. So I was left with bargaining.

"I need to make sure things are settled before I do your Tracking." I crossed my arms over my chest, struggled to keep my voice even when I wanted to rage at him, slice his head open like a rotten melon, and rip his dead heart from his chest, feed it to Blaz, and laugh when the dragon s.h.i.t out pieces of the undead blood sucker.

Yeah, I was a little p.i.s.sed.

"One week is all you get. One week and I will come for you, you and the wolf." He pointed at Alex.

Alex snapped his teeth, chattering them together before he spoke. "Piece of s.h.i.t fang head."

I lifted a hand to him. "Why Alex?"

"Because he's the weakest link of your pack, but he will make for a great motivator." Faris winked at me, twisted the veil and stepped through leaving us alone once more.

"How the f.u.c.k are we supposed to get out of here?" I yelled, my voice bouncing back to me in the small s.p.a.ce.

How the f.u.c.k indeed.

There was a major flaw in their plan as far as Liam could see.

"You can't go after her without me," he snarled, tension rising in the air like a fog he could almost see and could surely scent.

Milly put her hands on her hips. "It's not my fault you can't jump the veil. I don't understand why, but you can't."

Pamela glanced at him, but he shook his head slightly. The less Milly understood, the better.

Jack poked at Liam with his cane. "You'll just have to wait here, wolf. We'll bring her back to you."

That was just it, he didn't want to wait, but he also knew he was inadvertently stalling them from rescuing her. Stopping them from doing his job. d.a.m.n it all.

"I can stay with you." Pamela moved to his side, concern rolling off her. He shook it off, all of the c.r.a.p going through his mind.

"Just go." He turned his back so he wouldn't have to see them leave without him. Wouldn't have to see Will, and worse, Milly, rescue Rylee.

They left, jumping the veil back to London, and he paced, his mind churning with all the things he should have done. All the things he had done and shouldn't have. Like getting after Alex. There was nothing wrong with the submissive wolf; he'd been a better friend to Rylee than almost anyone else. When no one else was there, Alex had been her-albeit squishy-rock.

Things would be different when they came back. He would make things right with Rylee and Alex. First, they had to come back, and he had to believe they would come back.

That for once Milly wouldn't f.u.c.k them over and would do the right thing.

That he could trust the witch.

He let out a groan. Of all the people he had to put his faith in, Milly was dead last on the list.

Yet here he was, betting the life of his mate on her.

Sliding his hands over his face, he tried to focus on the good. Rylee would come back, things would be okay.

They had to be.

I paced the small room, AKA padded cell, Faris had left us in. An hour, maybe more had pa.s.sed since he'd left, and I still didn't know how to get out.

With little thought, I yanked my sword out and swung it toward the chaise lounge, cracking through the bones of the chair as if they were matchsticks.

"Wrecking stuff?" Alex poked at a vase that stood on top of a side table.

"Yup, wreck it all." I took another swing, this time toward the paneling that covered the cement walls. Somewhere, there had to be another way out.

Alex let out a howl of excitement and ran in circles three times before laying into things. With his claws, and my sword, we demolished the room. The clatter of porcelain and wood clattering to the floor was a grim satisfaction I clung to. Maybe I couldn't kill Faris, but I could destroy the f.u.c.king gilded cage he put us in.

Fifteen minutes later, we stood in the middle of the room, and I inspected the damage. Destroying the old paintings, expensive material and furniture had been a drop in the bucket as far as soothing my rage. The room looked like an explosion had ripped through it. Bits of feather clung to Alex's grinning mouth as he smiled up at me.

"Fun, yupppy doody. Alex likes breaking s.h.i.t."

I dropped to a crouch beside him, sliding to my a.s.s on the hardwood floor. He lay down beside me and put his head on my thigh.

"Rylee sad." His long tongue lolled out as he panted.

"Not sad, just-" I didn't even know how to put it into words. Frustrated, angry, stymied. All those and so much more; guilt over Charlie's senseless death, fear for the deal I'd been forced into with Faris. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against a chunk of broken furniture. Charlie had been a good friend, one who deserved so much more than a death at the hands of that G.o.ds be d.a.m.ned two-faced vampire. But, like always, there really wasn't time to grieve. Later, always later, right now I had to figure out a way to get the h.e.l.l out of here. A week, I wasn't sure I could last a week in here.

We sat there long enough that Alex fell asleep. Twitching and mumbling, he let out a fart that made me gag.

"d.a.m.n it all, what have you been eating?" I muttered, waving my hands in front of my face. He just snorted and rolled over, oblivious to the trouble we were in. That we were at the mercy of a vampire who was no longer trying to play nice. That we were well and truly trapped until said vampire decided to let us go, if he ever chose to.

Ignorance is bliss, and all that s.h.i.t, I guess.

A twist in the air, a feeling of pressure, and the veil split in front of us. I expected Faris, and was shocked as s.h.i.t at who stepped into the room.

I could have almost expected Pamela, Jack, or Will. But not Milly.

Pamela ran to me and threw her arms around my waist, a sob escaping her. "You're okay."

I put one hand on her back as I made eye contact with my ex-best friend. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Her green eyes met mine, but I couldn't read them and that made me nervous. "We need to go, before Faris comes back."

I pushed myself to my feet and nudged Alex with my foot. "Come on, buddy, the rescue party is here."

With a snort, he scrambled to all fours, blinking sleepily. "Pamie!" He leapt toward the young witch, bowling her over in his excitement, until he saw Milly.

His big golden eyes narrowed and his lips peeled back over his teeth. "Milly bad witch."

Milly's jaw tightened. "Behave yourself, Alex."

Pamela moved between them. "You behave yourself. You're the one who can't be trusted."

Okay, enough of this. "Pull it in, people, we've got to go."