Page 48 of The Devil After Dark
I move away from him, turning and looking for something to cover myself with. He snatched my wrist and pulled me back. “What is that?” he seethed as he grabbed my hip and turned me. “Cassio fucking branded you?” I pulled away from him and to my surprise he let me. “You’ll be lucky if they don’t cut that off you tomorrow night,” he said quietly.
“Did you not notice when you had me naked earlier? Why do you even care?” I shot back over my shoulder as I headed towards the bedroom to find a blanket or a towel or something to cover myself with.
“You let the Devil himself ink you with his name. It’s not that I care, it’s that I’m surprised,” Merrick said as he followed me.
“The Devil?” I stopped and turned slowly.
“The Devil. Cassio earned the nickname because he’s known fortaking souls … killing that is. All our magic has the capability to kill, but he has the kind of magic that wasmadefor killing. He has not been shy about using it either,” Merrick said as he leaned on the door frame and watched me. “I guess that’s why he named his club The Devil After Dark too. Probably to remind all of us of who he is.” I just swallowed and stared at him. I had no idea. Not that Cassio and I had the chance to discuss his magic, but Merrick was basically implying I had been with the worst of the worst.
“Wasn’t it stupid for you to take me then?” I asked. He must have a death wish. If Cassio was as bad as Merrick said, so bad they called him the Devil himself, Merrick was an idiot for taking me.
But Merrick just laughed. “He can’t find you here. We take great measures to keep our events hidden, even from our own kind.”
“But after?—”
“After tomorrow night you will belong to someone else and if Cassio retaliates in any way, you will be killed. It was part of the agreement for this Claiming,” Merrick interrupted. I sank onto the bed. What little hope I had just summoned that someone might save me was washed away in an instant.
fifty-two
LIANA
White.The dress Merrick put me in was white like a fucking bridal gown. The only difference was far too much of my skin was showing. He didn’t give me underwear to wear either and the small bits of fabric connecting the material to itself told me I should expect this dress to be torn from my body. He kept me in the room until the very last moment. I had begged him and tried to bargain for him to do anything other than take me down the lift to wherever this event was happening. When none of that had worked I had begged for some kind of drug so that I would be barely conscious for this. That didn’t work either.
Merrick escorted me down a dark hallway towards what sounded like a sporting event—it was a sporting event. In one final effort, I lashed out at him. I fought back. I thrashed and kicked and screamed and was quickly overpowered by magic and strong hands. Now all that stood between me and whatever I was about to face was a thick black curtain. I turned to look up at Merrick one last time. “Cassiowill kill you,” I breathed. I wanted to believe it. I prayed it would happen.
A smirk turned up the corner of Merrick’s lips. “He’s already been trying … and failing.” Then he reached forward and swept the curtain back, pushing me forward at the same time. The place was packed with bodies and a three foot wide walkway towards a raised chain link octagon was the only opening in front of me. The noise was deafening. This was like any other combat event I had glimpsed or heard about. My eyes followed the cleared pathway to the octagon and I saw the four men waiting. Unlike other combat sports, this one had no referee. These men would fight until only one was living. If I was lucky, none of them would try to hurt or kill me in the process … and I would be fucked senseless with three dead bodies around me. My stomach heaved and I doubled over. Tears streamed from my eyes and I retched. Nothing came up. Merrick had ensured there was nothing that would come up. He had fed me and given me pills to take that would only help me stay conscious and my stomach contents safely inside my stomach.
Merrick pushed me forward again and my feet moved involuntarily. Then his hand was opening the chain link door and shoving me inside. I heard the metal close behind me and my eyes flashed to each of the contestants. Each one was waiting, evenly spaced around the ring. All of them were watching me. “Let the Claiming begin in three …” They tore their eyes away from me and looked at each other. “Two …” I backed myself against the chain link. There was no way to defend myself in here. I was caged with monsters. “One …” The crowd erupted in a roar that deafened me. “Begin!” Each of the men sprung forward.
The tall thin one with the pointed teeth, who, it turns out, had sandy blonde hair and a tattoo of an eagle covering his entire back, was thefirst one to die. Oran ended his life with only a few quick movements. I was just praying they stayed focused on each other and far away from me. As they fought, I kept my back to the cage and scurried away from where they were, making circles around the edge. After my initial shock of watching the tall one die, my body had completely gone into survival mode. The screaming crowd was a distant sound in my ears as my thundering heart took over.
Gray metal looking spikes appeared in Meyer’s hands and he spun, slashing his way towards the only one of them who looked like a normal person. Finnick. His name was Finnick. And now I was watching their magic join the fight. I launched myself a few feet over as Meyer lunged, missing Finnick with his spikes, and slammed into the cage beside me. I scrambled away, putting space between us. With a blast of what I could only describe as wind, Finnick simultaneously slammed Meyer against the wall of the octagon and pushed Oran further away from all of us. I took the opportunity to put more distance between me and the contestants.
Metal spikes. Wind. What magic did Oran have? Had I missed it when he had ended the tall one so quickly? In the blink of an eye, Oran was across the octagon, a fist connecting with Meyer and sending him flying through the air. There it was. Speed and strength. My eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of my head as the three of them brawled and separated, flung magic and retreated. Then Finnick caught Meyer from behind, sending Meyer into the chain link for another time, but this time he launched himself at Meyer’s back. Meyer flung his spike behind him and Finnick dodged, using Meyer’s own momentum to snatch up the spike in his hand and bury it through the base of Meyer’s neck. Blood sprayed from the wound and Finnick slammed his hand on top of the spike, driving it deeper. Meyer’s body lurched forward. Then fell to the mats. Finnick’s head snapped up and immediately trained on Oran.
Oran looked at Finnick with a sick smirk on his face. Then he turned his head to look directly at me. My fingers wereclawed into the fencing—both trying to hold me up and ready to help propel me in a direction away from both of them if I needed to. My hands ached. I knew they were cut and bleeding from clinging onto the metal, but I didn’t dare let go or take the time to look at them. I also knew I had other small injuries from fleeing, but none of that mattered. Two men were left and one of them was staring his dark brown eyes right into mine. I tore my eyes away and looked at Finnick. Finnick’s eyes were darting between me and Oran. Were they going to come for me next? That could be a strategy. Try to kill me instead of directly going for their opponent. It was as if the entire building had gone silent—it hadn’t, the roar of the crowd was just as loud, but it felt even more distant as my senses narrowed in on the two lethal men staring at me. Who did I want to win? Could I tip the scale in their favor? Finnick. It had to be Finnick. He might be a horrible choice, but considering Oran had been here twice before and won? I certainly did not want to leave here with Oran. I would bet on Finnick.
Finnick bent slowly and yanked the spike from Meyer’s neck. I watched him weigh the blood covered metal in his hand as he kept his eyes trained on Oran. All three of us were frozen. Someone would have to move first.
fifty-three
CASSIO
I punchedthe button to roll down my window as Zac nearly skidded the tires of the car to a stop on the two lane wooded road next to a black SUV. The owner of the SUV stepped away from leaning against the hood and approached. He tossed a key card through the window at me and gave a single nod. I had not expected the message I received from Silas Sinclair containing nothing but location coordinate numbers. I certainly had not expected to find him parked on the side of the road. Silas cleaned money for many of the magic wielders in my province. Silas himself, as the patriarch of the family, was a kind man in the day to day, but his family also had a reputation of brutality. No one messed with the Sinclair family if they wanted to live. Before I could say anything, Silas hopped back into his SUV and sped off the direction we had just come from.
I looked back at Zac and a moment later we were speeding down the road again towards the coordinates Silas had sent. His secretary must have alerted him that Thea was looking for him. Thea had gotten the location of a nearby bed and breakfast from the womanand that set us in the right direction. Unfortunately, there were a few potential locations within a reasonable radius and we would have had to search them all had Silas not reached out. Did he know Liana? It was a small office, maybe he had recognized her at the Claiming and thought twice about the situation. It didn’t matter, he had given us his key card to enter the private event—if he had given us the right location. It was just as likely he was sending us into a trap.
We turned down a gravel drive and soon the six story stone building came into view. Of the buildings used for the games, most belonged to the old ruling families and had been passed down over the centuries. There were many and their use was rotated at random so those who did not purchase a ticket would not know where the event was being held. Disclosing a location was punishable by death and each of the most probable venues would be staged to appear like an event was taking place to avoid the true location being found. The Devil After Dark had been one of those buildings when the games were still held in my territory. I put an end to them when I took over ten years ago.
The building’s guards stepped forward from their posts as Zac stopped the car in front of the grand stairs that led to the entrance. The games would have started and no one would be allowed in or out at this hour. “You missed the entrance hour,” one of the guards called to us as we exited the car and strode towards the steps.
I took the stairs two at a time, both Zac and Jason on my heels, and two of the guards moved towards us to stop us. They were nothing but bloody mist a moment later and what was left of them rained down on the steps around me as I rushed to the door. Shouts cut into the cool night air, followed by the sound of rain. Blood rain. My magic broke bodies. Zac’s magic turned them to liquid. I slammed the key card Silas had given us onto the card reader next to the door. The light flashed green. I could only pray that Silas had been telling the truth and this was the right location. I heard the clickof the lock and felt the ripple of the wards that guarded the building retract as the doors opened in front of us.
LIANA
Oran lunged towards me and Finnick moved towards Oran. I yanked on the chain link and propelled myself to the right, out of Oran’s path. A deep growl of a scream cut the air behind me and I spun to keep my eyes on the two men. Finnick had sunk the spike into Oran’s shoulder. The smallest glimmer of hope filled me. Finnick might win. Oran was forced against the metal cage wall with a gust of wind as Finnick lept at him again. But Oran was faster this time. He spun and sent a kick right into Finnick’s chest.
The crushing blow to Finnick’s chest sent him flying across the octagon and into the cage wall. My knees buckled and I clung to the wire, trying to keep myself upright. Finnick was done. There was no way a man could survive a hit like that. His body slumped to the floor and blood trickled from his mouth as his chest heaved with each labored breath. I gasped for air and realized I had been screaming. I was still screaming. I took a staggering step forward, like I was going to do something to help him, but Oran moved too quickly. In a heartbeat he had lifted Finnick from the floor by his neck. Then he brought Finnick’s body down over his knee. Finnick’s back bent at an angle it shouldn’t and Oran tossed his limp body to the mats like it was a doll. A strangled cry left my throat and Oran turned to look at me.
