Page 86 of Villains and Vengeance
I’m trapped in my own body. All I’m able to do is slowly blink. Maddox will have given Jules to Dante by now. He lied to my face when he told me that he believed us and would do everything he could to ensure Jules’ safety. I’ll never forgive him for this.
I hear something in the darkness, scuffling through the passage. I’d tense if I could, but my body won’t even do that.
A figure comes into view and a light shines on me.
‘It’s just me,’ Maddox says. He slides down next to me.
‘I know you can both see and hear me,’ he says. ‘I’m sorry for what I had to do, but I’m not sorry that I did it. When we get out of this and you come to your senses, you’ll thank me. By then, with the rate that Dante’s going, Jules will be dead either by his hand or another’s. The portal opens in less than ten hours. Neither of you will be able to move before then … just in case you were whiling away your time planning a heroic rescue.’
He stands up again, brushing off his shirt. ‘I know what you’re thinking, that Dante will get the portal location out of her, but, you see, as usual I’ve thought through all the possibilities. I made a deal with her. If she doesn’t tell the King in the Mountain anything and we escape, I don’t tell him about her pet arania.’ Maddox shakes his head. ‘She really does care about that thing. You should have seen her face when I told her I’d make sure it died if we didn’t get out of here. I’d never have believed anyone could get under her skin …. and I was right. It took a giant spider of all things to bring the bitch down.’
I want to tell him that he’s wrong about all of it. It’s killing me that I’m powerless and that Maddox has this whole thing so skewed. He’s so twisted by grief and anger, by his bruised ego.
I know Jules won’t say a thing. She’ll hold out as long as she can, but everyone breaks sooner or later, and I can only imagine what the demon king is putting her through.
‘I also let her steal the rest of the arania venom,’ he continues. ‘Once she takes it, we’ll be long gone before shecantell him anything however much his torture makes her wish otherwise.’
In that moment, I hate Maddox for what he’s done. The position he’s put her in. Dante will still get out the next time the portal opens, but Jules will die in here alone and afraid because we’ve abandoned her.
Maddox stoops down, gives us each a pat on the shoulder, and rises. ‘See you in a few hours. I won’t be able to return until then. Dante’s having a dinner to mark our alliance, and at least some of us have to attend or it’ll raise suspicions.
He leaves without a backwards look, and we’re left in the dark again. I find if I concentrate, I can see with my demon eyes and a few minutes later when I hear something from the other side of the cavern, I use them to see an arania coming down from the ceiling. At first, I think it’s a random one that’s got lucky finding a couple of easy meals, but as she comes closer and her short legs at the front run over me, I realize it’s Siggy. She’s probably looking for Jules.
Maddox didn’t smell of her when he was here, which means that Iron is still blocking her scent. Siggy won’t be able to find her and the arania might be her only hope now.
I open my mouth and take a breath, forcing one word out through my mouth and am able to move my tongue just enough to say ‘Dante.’
It’s garbled, but she turns and scurries into the dark, climbing the wall and disappearing.
I’ve done all I can, but it’s nowhere near enough. I look at Jayce again. If Jules doesn’t make it through this, there’s no point in us getting out of here. Our lives are over. If the madness doesn’t take us, our own hands might. The loss of a mate isn’t something anyone ever really gets over.
I try to move again, but my body just won’t cooperate. Maybe if I keep trying, the venom will leave my system more quickly, so that’s what I do if only todo somethingbesides sit here and go crazy.
CHAPTER19
JULES
The demon king has been pretty much ignoring me.
I’m glad.
I watch from my vantage point, tied up in the corner. I try to move, but the knots are too tight. This is my punishment for trying to run when Dante brought me back into his room after letting those assholes touch me. His guards were gone, and he was turned away after he threw his shirt at me. I fled into the storeroom, climbing the piled-up boxes frantically to try and get into the ceiling.
It was a last-ditch effort, and it was never going to work because the holes are way too high. He gave chase and pulled the boxes out from under me. I fell into his waiting arms, and he laughed, giving me a hard smack on the rump and then tying me up, throwing me in the corner and then ignoring me.
The blood I’m covered in is dry and beginning to flake off and I errantly worry about blood-borne viruses and diseases even though that problem doesn’t even make it into my top five dilemmas right now.
The King in the Mountain is back in human form. The bloodand piecesdisappeared off his skin when his glamor came back down and I keep wondering if it’ll still be there the next time he demons-up, or if it just goes away completely.
Guess I’ll find out soon.
He glances at me and notices my perusal, giving me one in return.
‘You’ll be excited to know that we’ll be having a celebratory dinner for you, Victoria. It’ll be a chance for you to meet a few of my higher generals. I hope you’ll be on your best behavior, my little pet.’
I don’t say anything, but I frown at him when he turns back to his table. I have a feeling that this isn’t going to be the sort of soiree I’m used to, the kind with canapes and champagne.
Dante has asked me a couple more times how I got here, and I thought he was going to start the torture immediately when I spewed the same dumb answers I gave to Maddox and the others. But he didn’t. Instead, he smiled indulgently and didn’t ask me anything else.
