Page 6 of Villains and Vengeance
Dante.The name still strikes fear into many on the outside even though the King in the Mountain has been locked up for years now. I don’t even remember what charge they got him on in the end. He had his fingers in a lot of pies on the outside both in the supe realms and in the human one. He’s smart and violent, a powerful supe that embodies the old stereotype of what a real monster from the depths of hell looks like. He’s an original demon who hasn’t been tempered by his time outside the darkest realm where he was spawned. He has friends who’ll do anything not to become enemies and enemies who’ll do anything to become friends. Even after the years he’s spent in this place, his influence on the outside hasn’t waned. We need him to know who we are and then we need to become his friends too.
For now.
Myfirst step will be finding out everything I can about this place and the inmates so thatwebecome the authority here because there is no fucking way I’m about to live the rest of my life under that demon’s heel no matter how powerful he is. Being second to Maddox is enough and I only tolerate that because he’s earned my loyalty.
As we walk these shadowy passages, I’m already committing them to memory. My training makes me a great lieutenant in this clan and that’s without even considering my size and other skills.
My nose, though, doesn’t work so great. When they were talking about scenting a female earlier, I didn’t smell her myself, and I didn’t give Maddox’s words much thought. So, when I catch a whiff of a tantalizingly sweet female, I almost stumble, my nostrils flaring. It’s followed by the shocking realization that it’s familiar.
I know that scent.
Victoria Styles.
I look up sharply at Maddox’s profile. Did he notice it’s her? He must have.
As impossible as this scenario is, I’ll take it. I don’t even care how she came to be in the Mountain. It’s been a while since I had anything to smile about but knowing that somehow she’s stuck in here with us, that we’re going to have our revenge on that deceptive, manipulative, human bitch … Yep. That’ll do it. The ghost of a dark grin makes my lips turn upwards.
I’m still imagining all the ways I’m going to make her hurt when the vampire leads us into a large, round cavern. The ceiling is high and riddled with clusters of holes that would make a trypophobe freak the hell out.
The room itself is pretty bare except for a platform at the back with a door … leading to another cavern, I guess. There’s an empty, wooden chair in front of it and I belatedly notice the battered body of a pixie hanging high on the wall from its wrists.
A low moan comes from it and I realize the poor bastard is still alive. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.
‘Wait here,’ the vampire says.
He walks across the room, his gait unhurried, and he scratches at the entrance like a rat.
Jayce is practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. ‘Did you smell—’
‘Yes,’ Maddox says under his breath. ‘We’ll talk about it later.’
‘But it’s—’
‘He knows,’ I growl low, side-eyeing him and willing him to shut the hell up and act half-way sane for a minute.
I try to cut him some slack. I know he’s hurting. We all are, but we’re new here and we can’t afford to be seen as a threat. Not until it’s time.
The human in this prison is worth her weight in orc stones, maybe more to Dante since he’ll own her when she’s found. He has the most to gain … and the most to lose. We can use her to our advantage in multiple ways and I know Maddox will see that too.
Jayce persists. ‘But—’
I hear a thud and Jayce’s muffled grunt of pain, and I give Daemon a reluctant nod as he steps back from shutting Jayce up. Daemon’s only been back with us a few weeks. We were never all that close when he was part of the clan before. Then, Maddox had to kick him to the curb for his part in what happened two years ago. It occurs to me that Daemon likely blamesherforthat too. We might not see eye to eye on most things, but he’d be well within his rights to be seeking revenge too. I’ll bet he wants to get even just as much as the rest of us do.
I thought being in here was going to be boring, but we’re about to get the sweetest payback if we can keep the bitch alive long enough to suffer.
CHAPTER2
JULES
Iwent back for my shoes and the flashlight I dropped. I can’t afford to lose things like that in here. But, while I was outside Siggy’s tunnels, I saw another patrol. They were looking for their lost guys, not me, but this is bad. That’s three.
In twenty-four hours.
Dante is getting desperate, and I know what he wants – besides what most of the deprived guys in here would want from a lone female. He wants to learn how I got here because he’s pretty sure I didn’t sneak in with the other prisoners. He’s not wrong. I did get here another way. I found it by accident, but I’m not about to tell him or anyone anything about it unless I don’t have any alternative. It’s my little secret and I’m keeping it. It might turn out to be my only leverage if I’m captured.
I’m back in Siggy’s web now. In fact, I’m in the bunker of thick silk she made for me and, with the flashlight on, it’s actually really luminous. The light bounces off the white walls and it’s nice. Cozy. I have my pilfered food and the few belongings I brought to the Mountain in here with me too.
I’d pretty much decided a couple of minutes ago that I wasn’t going to leave the web bubble for a few days, wait until things had calmed down a little. But I can’t. I need to go to Dante’s throne room and eavesdrop from the cavern roof. Knowledge is power here and I need to know what’s going on.
