Page 85 of Slay Me

Apollo grins and strokes a hand over my cheek. “Sweet Liv. It won’t kill him, Ernesto has far bigger plans for him than that. However, it’s going to hurt like a motherfucker once it’s in his body.”

“We’re getting off-topic,” Ernesto says then kneels in front of me. His hands go to my knees, and he smiles up at me. “I hear you have been keeping a dragon all to yourself.”

My blood pounds in my ears as I fight off the urge to argue with him, to insist that he’s wrong because, in doing so, I will only prove his point. So, I take a deep breath and continue to stare blankly at him.

“Come on, Liv, you never were a good liar.”

“A dragon? Seriously?” I look to Apollo then back to him. “There are no dragons in this world.”

He grins at me. “No? You sure about that? Because I can promise that you can spare yourself a lot of pain if you agree to help me capture your precious Ringmaster.”

I snort, all false bravado, but it’s my only chance at protecting Dante. I might be royally fucked, but he’s safe. For now. And that counts for something. “The Ringmaster? You think he’s a dragon?”

Apollo crosses his arms. “He’s strong, has power over fire. We both know he is.”

Shaking my head, I force out a laugh even as I’m consumed by terror. If they confirm what he is, if they manage to catch him, Dante will never be free again. He’ll be taken apart, scale by scale, until there is nothing left. “He’s a warlock, you jackass. A warlock hopped up on magic.”

Ernesto slaps me—hard. My teeth rattle, but even as blood drips from my lip, I look him straight in the face.

“You lie to me? Your dragon showed himself to me the night he delivered my men back to me—in pieces.”

My blood runs cold. Dante told me he’d taken care of it. That they’d been dealt with. He never said he’d revealed himself to the one man who could actually encase him.

Ernesto chuckles. “Tell me, Liv, have you enjoyed your time with him? Maybe I’ll let you have one more go before I rip every last scale from his body.”

“Leave him alone!” I scream, thrashing against the bindings keeping my arms behind my back. “I will never help you!” I spit in his face, and Ernesto’s grin fades.

He stands and crosses the room to a towel-covered tray. With a flourish only a sociopath like him can manage, he raises the towel and showcases a tray boasting a blade and stainless-steel tools. Tools I’ve seen him use more times than I care to count on people far stronger than I.

“You always fascinated me. Gorgeous, but in an understated way. Yet, your power—I’ve always been able to taste it, just out of reach. So fucking much of it. Our powers are both over nature. Me, earth, you, wind. We could have been the most powerful couple this entire world has seen yet you hid it from me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I insist as my gaze widens. He selects a letter opener from the tray and stalks back toward me. “I’ve never had a lot of power. You know that!”

“Do I?” He kneels before me then runs the blade over the top of my knee. Copper fills my mouth as I bite down on my cheek to keep from screaming. “Then why can I sense it, Liv? Why can I sense your power as though it’s right in front of me?” He slices the top of my other knee open, and I whimper.

“You’re wrong.”

“All you had to do was show it to me, and this could have all been avoided. I never would have encased you in stone, and you would have stood beside me as my queen.”

“Fuck you,” I choke out. Pain eats away at my resolve, and tears stream down my cheeks. “You’re crazy.”

He grins. “Oh, Liv. I haven’t shown you crazy. Not yet.”

Chapter28

Dante

Something is wrong.

Fear squirms in my gut—not mine—but Liv’s. She’s terrified, I can feel it, but I don’t fucking know why. I rip the door off the hinges and throw it to the side before stalking into the common room.

The berserker looks up first, icy blue eyes leveling on me as though she’s assessing a threat. If only she fucking knew. “Where is Liv?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t seen her all day.” She gets to her feet, palming the blade she always has with her. “What’s wrong?”

“If I fucking knew, I wouldn’t be here, would I?” I growl the words as the dragon within surges to the surface. A shift is near—and that will only bring more problems.

“She’s not here.” Killian stalks in, cheeks red.

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