Page 40 of Cosmic Power

Luther reigned in his temper and locked it down tight. “Do you remember any of their names?”

Ryker frowned slightly. “The-the two who kidnapped me made me call them Master Vernon and Mistress Avalita.”

Luther knew those names. They were co-owners of a sex club calledBlood and Sin. As Vampire Regent of Australia, Luther knew all the big players in the country. It was his job to discipline the vampires who had a propensity to cause trouble.

Vernon and Avalita were some of those vampires.

They were both avid pain lovers, he true definition of sadists—and they thrived on inflicting as much pain as possible to those under their control.

Luther was aware they were into some dark and twisted shit, but using children? He had no idea about that. If he had, he would have strung them up and made an example out of them centuries ago.

Well, there is still time.

“Explain to me what happened with Night Flare,” Luther said, rolling his shoulders back.

Ryker licked his lips nervously. “She would bring me vampires, bleed them out in front of me and tell me to enchant their blood to make it viable outside of the body. When I couldn’t do it, she’d punish me.”

“How?” Luther questioned.

“She would—” he looked away, as if ashamed of what he had to say next. “She would rent me out for the night. Let other vampires t-touch me.”

Luther clenched his jaw, rage flooding his veins, but he didn’t act on it. He let Ryker finish.

“I can’t remember how many vampires, but eventually I was able to do it. Rape can be the perfect motivator. It was my job to enchant it, bottle it and sell it. She was afraid her boss would find out it was her, so she had me pin it on the shifters. I concealed the identities of her vampire dealers with a spell so others would think the shifters were the ones responsible. I protected their homes with Wards and used my magic to do whatever Ophelia asked. I was her own personal mage, bound to do as she commanded until she released me.” His eyes landed on Thaddeus. “Or, until someone saved me.”

“I can’t believe Ophelia would do this!” Margaret hissed, her eyes burning red and shooting sparks.

Neither could Luther. He always thought he knew Ophelia. For 1,500 years she had been by his side, and this whole time he didn’t realise she had such a dark and vicious side.

“Darius, take Ophelia to the warehouse where Maddox is. Lock her up. I’ll deal with her later. Hurry, before she wakes.”

Darius bowed. “Yes, my Lord.” He picked up Ophelia’s limp body and blurred away.

Once she was out of the room, Ryker visibly relaxed, letting out a deep breath. He wiped sweat from his brow and cleared his throat. “I’m-I’m sorry for the role I played in hurting your people. I n-never wanted to hurt anyone,” Ryker said, his voice a little stronger. “Even though I knew it was wrong, I was too scared to stand up to her.”

Luther nodded. He threaded a hand through his dark hair. “It’s not your fault,” he sighed. He looked at Thaddeus. “How long have you known about this?”

“Not long,” he replied, steering Ryker to the kitchen bench. He pushed him to sit on the bar stool.

Margaret rushed to Ryker’s side and the young mage couldn’t help but flinch away. Guilt flashed across Margaret’s face and she slowed her movements, deliberately taking her time as she raised her hands in an innocent gesture.

“I don’t mean to scare you, child,” she said softly. “Are you hungry? Can I get you anything to eat?”

Ryker looked at Thaddeus for guidance and he nodded supportively.

“Yes please,” Ryker replied, his voice shaking slightly.

“What would you like dear? I can make you a sandwich, or if you want something more filling, I make a wonderful fettuccine pasta. Or did you want something sweet? We have cookies, chocolate, lollies, cake. Whatever you want.”

Luther chuckled softly. Margaret couldn’t help but dote on others, especially children. Hearing Ryker’s sad story about his life, about the horrors he endured, would have made the vampire overwhelmed with an incredible need to try and make things better for him, to smother him with love and affection.

Ryker blinked, shocked. “Uhm, a-a sandwich, please.”

Margaret blurred to the fridge, peeked inside and blurred back in under a second, hands filled with the ingredients for a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich.

As Margaret prepared the sandwich, Void walked over and leaned his elbows on the kitchen bench. “The last time I saw you, you were trying to electrocute me to death,” Void said, eyeing Ryker warily.

“I was?” the dark mage frowned. “I’ve never met you before.”

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