Page 116 of Vengeful Mates

I blinked away the haze, and more color, contrast, and features sharpened into view. Tall ceilings. Gray. Metal, maybe. Holes in the roof punctuated by sunlight streaming through them.

Where the fuck was I?

My slowly awakening brain permitted more thought. Separation from Mia and my mates. Screaming for them in the chaos. Sound blocked by my helmet. Enemies kidnapping me and knocking me out.

Utter defeat settled into my bones. Cold penetrated my soul as if I were on death’s doorstep and the king of the Underworld greeted me. And he did. I just knew it. He was here. The man who spoke to me. Colton fucking Raine had me in his possession, and today he enacted his ultimate revenge. On me.

Pigeons cooed and fluttered from the rafters. The hum of traffic in the distance suggested somewhere remote, far away from the safety of my men. Abandoned processing facility by the look of it. Decrepit and obsolete cranes and structures. Colton chose the place well. No one around to hear me scream.

Adrenaline and fear poured into my veins, burning away the grogginess and dizziness of the anesthesia. I had to fight back. Save myself and our babies. Get back to my child and mates before this crazy bastard hurt me.

It took all my strength to lift my head. Zip ties bound my wrists to a table, tightening at my effort to examine them. Cold steel table. A mortician’s table.

Castor mentioned Colton’s infamous steel table where he cut up his enemies and sent their organs to their relatives.

Oh, goddess, I was fucked.

Colton leaned on the end of it. Straight lines. Crisp suit. Malignant and sharp as a blade. Ruthless and relentless in his pursuit of revenge.

My goddess and connection to my magick felt distant. Dull. Dead. Like Colton killed it. I didn’t let that hinder me and summoned my power and let it loose. Pain cracked through my temples at the application of my magick.

“Don’t try to use your magick,” Colton warned, gesturing to the hieroglyphs painted on the warehouse’s ceiling. “It won’t work.”

Darkness and death dissolved my strength and power.

I tested the movement range of my neck, finding that left unbound. “Why does the magick affect me and not you?”

He laughed, mocking me. I amused him. “You’re about to die and that’s what you’re curious about?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Goddess of magick.”

I had to glean what I could from the situation. Learn something to get me out of this predicament. Exploit a weakness. Although, he was too clever, too adept, and I doubted he would give me the information to do it.

Colton smiled, the motion transforming his face from cruelty and darkness to a devastatingly handsome grin. Cold as ice. Heart as black as space.

“All right, Dark Sorceress.” The name felt dirty dripping from his malevolent mouth. “I’ll indulge a woman going to my kingdom.”

His icy eyes burned me alive. Fear took root in the pit of my stomach, telling me I wasn’t going to make it out of here.

“Your kingdom?” I swallowed at the swelling lump in my throat.

Osiris and Zethan ruled the Underworld, not Anubis and Colton.

Colton sneered as if I were nothing more than a bug crushed beneath his shoe. “It belonged to Anubis before Osiris usurped it.”

Superiority complex at play. Sounded like the reason he sought revenge. I had to manipulate that somehow.

Using my cunning, I redirected him. “I don’t need a history lesson. I want a magick lesson.”

Ice cracked at his bitter laugh. “Anubis created dark magick.” Sparks crackled from the hieroglyphs, responding to his words. “This is its most ancient form and belongs to him. Only I know how to wield it.”

Damn. Magick my goddess most likely didn’t know. Even if she did, she couldn’t help me unless she descended from the heavens to save me.

Colton’s forefinger traced the line of sweaty hair plastered to my forehead. “So your Thoth mate won’t be able to save you. Nor will he get here in time to avoid your untimely expiration.”

The fear in my stomach spread like growing tree roots.

I wriggled my hips, testing my dress. Fuck, he took my phone from my skirt pocket. Probably tossed it somewhere to lead my men to a dead end. The fear trapping my chest constricted and I whimpered at the ache in it.

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