Page 25 of Bite of Vengeance

His lie didn’t ease my growing panic. Amaros had the ability to entrance all three of them. All it would take was one question to know what we were really talking about. I glanced at Pax, and like his two brothers, his expression was giving nothing away.

“Is that so?” Amaros murmured, his eyes halting on me. “Having cravings, Kali?”

“I’m—I’m not sure,” I stumbled out, not sure how I should answer.

His stare pierced through me, and even if he couldn’t get in my head, I had a feeling he was trying. I caught Zan clenching his fists before Amaros’s next words pulled my attention back to him.

“Come with me, Kali.”

“To go where?” I asked, not moving a muscle.

“You’ll find out.”

Chapter 11

Zan

We descended the steps, my nerves already going haywire. I was next to Kali while my brothers were behind us. Amaros led the way, and he hadn’t said a word since we left his office. There was only one thing down in the basement, and I had no idea what my father had planned. At the bottom of the steps, it opened up to a massive room. While my brothers and I had spent time in the basement growing up, we usually avoided this room unless our father wanted us here.

Kali sucked in a breath, her eyes widening as she looked around. Her nostrils flared, and her nose wrinkled in disgust as she inhaled the smell that was overwhelming for our vampire senses.Death. This room was smothered with the stench.

In the middle of the room was a huge square cage. It nearly reached the ceiling, and the cement floor inside was stained a dark red from all the blood that had been spilled in the past. There were no windows, the only light coming from the few bare bulbs that were hanging from the ceiling.

My guard rose when I spotted four vampires in the back of the room. They all straightened up when they spotted Amaros. Pax cursed under his breath, his eyes lingering on the cage.

“What is this?” Kali asked tightly, staying close to my side.

“Your birthday was over a month ago,” Amaros answered. “I want to see where you are in your transition.”

“What does that mean?” I snapped, my pulse hammering.

“Her strength.” His gaze met mine. “I want to test it.”

The knots in my stomach turned painful. She was strong, much stronger than when she first transitioned. Last night I’d only been holding back slightly when I challenged her to get out of my hold. It wouldn’t be long until she would be able to match my strength. But she wasn’t there yet.

“Get in the cage, Kali,” Amaros ordered. “I want to see you fight.”

“No,” I snarled, stepping in front of her. “She’s not ready.”

“Stand down, Zan.” His voice was calm, but the threat was easy to hear. “This is going to happen whether you’re here or not.”

“She doesn’t heal as fast yet,” Pax spoke up. “You want her training with the Shadows. She can’t do that if she’s hurt.”

While Pax was trying to keep his emotions locked down, he couldn’t hide how much hefuckinghated this room. Viggo and I did too, but Pax always had it the worst when we were down here. Before we transitioned, our father brought us down here to learn how to fight. Against humans. Vampires. A couple times he even brought in a Shadow. Until one nearly killed Pax. Back then, we only had human strength.

Amaros didn’t care.

He wanted his sons to be the best and started our training when we were ten. I was sure half of that dried blood on the concrete was ours.

“Enough,” Amaros roared, his patience snapping as he focused on me. “I can make you stand down. Now move.”

When I didn’t budge, he let out a growl before grabbing my jaw, backing me up until my spine slammed into the bars of thefighting cage. His grip on my chin tightened causing me to grunt in pain as he forced me to look at him.

“I’ll do it,” Kali shrieked, coming into sight as she snatched his arm, trying to tug him off me. “You want me to fight, I’ll do it.”

Amaros locked eyes with me, and I glared when understanding flared in his gaze. I wondered how much my father actually loved me. Enough to keep me alive? Because he just realized that Warner wasn’t the only soul who Kali cared about. She was protecting me. That was something he could leverage.

My hands curled into fists when his entrancement filtered through my mind. This time I didn’t even try to fight it. The invisible bands held me hostage as his command filtered through.

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