Page 68 of Trapped for Her Blood
Ryker shakes his head as if puzzle pieces are falling together in his mind.
“Looks like she found more people to punish. Shit.” He rakes back his hair, now lushly full again. “Suddenly I feel lucky I haven’t been down here for fifty or sixty years.”
“Explain.” Zuben says sharply.
Ryker adjusts his sitting position and pulls me in beside him, wrapping his arm over my shoulders. Zuben frowns slightly, but doesn’t intervene.
“Like I said, Octavia and I used to fuck. A lot. But she got too attached. Wanted more from me than I can give.” He shoots me a sheepish look. “Never been the kind to settle down.”
“Will you get past this bloody history lesson?” Zuben says, with more emotion in his voice than I’ve heard before. “What happened in her office? I lost your voices once the guards started beating me.” He looks away.
“Sorry, mate,” Ryker snaps. “But the history’s relevant. Do you want to hear my story or not?”
Zuben’s eyes narrow, but he gestures with his elegant hand, indicating that Ryker should continue.
“As I was trying to tell you,” Ryker says. “After I refused to be her mate and moved on, seems she found five others who took the bait. And she gained a shit ton of power somehow.” He shakes his head. “Must be from one of them.”
“I have reached a similar conclusion,” Zuben says, starting to pace. “Continue.”
Ryker glares at him. “We barely kept in touch. I knew about her promotion, and she got me out of a couple of scrapes. But I had no idea she’d gotten so powerful. I had barely seen her for years, and probably never would have, if you hadn’t had me fucking arrested.” He glares at Zuben.
“The night we were captured,” I add.
Ryker shakes his head. “Before that. This asshole had me brought in for questioningbeforethat auction.”
“Oh.” I absorb this new information. The night of the gala, it was clear that Zuben and Ryker already knew and disliked each other. At least now I better understand why.
“So you are claiming that this is my fault?” Zuben says. “Typical pirate.”
“Hey.” Ryker says. “You want to hear this story or not?”
“Continue,” Zuben says, his voice clipped.
“When you and I were in her office,” he says. “Yeah. It was hella clear she’s still into me.” He shrugs as if that’s understandable. “I figured I could use her feelings to my advantage. Manipulate her into releasing Ember.”
“Did you tell her about Ember?” Zuben lunges forward, stopping just ahead of us. “I know that you have at leastsomeunderstanding of what Ember’s blood can do.”
“No.” Ryker makes a face. “I’m not a fucking idiot.”
Zuben’s shoulders relax.
“I was trying to work out a way to tell Octavia that her guys had mistakenly captured a human, without her figuring outhowthat happened.” Looking down, he shakes his head. “It all went sideways.”
“How?” Zuben asks.
“Tavi wanted to fuck—which I thought I could use to my advantage—but she insisted we become mates first. She brought in a priest, started the ceremony.” His eyes close as if this is bringing back bad memories.
My heart squeezes, wondering what else he went through, and if he’s now married.
“Octavia’s always been strong willed,” Ryker continues, his voice hard. “Quick to anger. But there’s something else in her now. Something not only powerful but cruel. Something’s changed her.”
Zuben nods. “I too find it most mysterious that she gained so much power at such a young age.”
“Witchcraft,” Axe says from the side of the cave, drawing all our attention.
He walks slowly toward us, his strong, beautiful body graceful, even given his size.
“What do you know of Octavia and magic?” Zuben asks.
