Page 14 of Death God

Going-gray’s face darkened.

“So you and your pals had a lot of fun prodding me,” I snorted. “Was it in that dark tower?”

I wanted the commander to hear this to further shatter his illusion of the Alpha King, as I knew this mage would cooperate. Dark mages and black witches were too twisted and arrogant to care about covering up their abhorrent practices.

If there was still an ounce of good inside Going-gray, he wouldn’t treat me as his alpha’s glorified prisoner once he learned what I’d gone through in this hellhole.

“Was Spartoi pissed that I escaped you impotent lot?” I asked.

“Blasphemy,” the dark mage hissed. “War is a god!”

“Not to me, not to my people, and not to the Earth residents who still hold on to humanity,” I said coldly. “He’s a fucking phony, and he should have crawled back into the hole where he came from.”

Meatball bristled in the driver’s seat, and the mark of a dark red horse and a black spear—the symbol of the horseman of war—turned a shade darker. I’d noticed that Spartoi’s followers all had the same mark.

The dark mage pulled the van over to the shoulder of the steep downward road, an army jeep behind us following suit. The shifter escorts didn’t come out of their vehicle to ask a question though. They just waited, watching from their jeep a dozen yards behind us.

On the other side of the road, the angry waves far beneath us crashed into the base of the castle.

“You put us in a bind, little bitch,” Meatball yelled, dark magic rolling off him. I recognized it as demonic power. He was a hybrid of a demon and a mage. His power was so dark and corrupted that he couldn’t rein in his rage when he was provoked. The only being that could suppress him and pump fear into him was Spartoi, but the horseman wasn’t here now.

So no one could stop this demonic mage from teaching me a lesson, especially when he knew very well that the cuffs were binding my power.

“My, my, you little piece of shit. So easy to make you lose your cool.” I chuckled. “And I ain’t a little bitch. I’m older than your stupid witch granny. I’m an immortal.”

“You never cooperated.” He spat. “You never made things easy. For a century, we couldn’t find the right triggers for you. We couldn’t find out what made you tick, no matter how much we cut you and inflicted pain that no other being could sustain. Then you ran away, and I was severely punished for failing to contain you. At the border of Nevada, you killed my brother. It’s time for you to remember your true place.”

I didn’t know who his brother was. It must be one of the dark mages who’d tried to stop Marlowe and me from crossing the border and riding into the sunset.

“He screamed, you know, like a pig,” I said with a smirk. “All of them screamed when I snuffed out their lives. I only hoped they’d scream longer, like I screamed when you vile bunch cut me open.”

“You dirty whore!” he yelled, his dark power slamming into me.

Going-gray cursed and rubbed his arm. He’d felt the pins and needles even though I was the target. There was nowhere to duck in such a tight space inside the van while the mage’s demonic magic sought me as a victim. I pulled out the small portion of my magic the cuffs couldn’t completely nullify and shielded myself. Still, the dark mage’s power clawed at me, making my stomach turn over and my chest burn with nausea.

“Fuck! Stop! I order you, Asmodeus!” Going-gray fumed. “You shall not harm her! She’s still the Alpha King’s mate. You’ll be tossed into the dungeon before facing a court-martial!”

Meatball watched me bend over in the seat and huff out a painful breath, a sadistic smile twisting his lips.

“Easy, Commander,” he said, raising his hands to calm Going-gray. “I was just having a little fun with her. There’s no harm in that, I promise. We did a hundred times worse to her when she was last here, and she’s still right as rain.”

“I won’t tolerate this!” Going-gray spat, his face reddening in anger. “You’re dismissed from guard duty. Get the fuck out before I have you arrested!”

“Not so fast, gentlemen,” I purred as I straightened up.

I lashed out, lunging forward.

Even with the cuffs binding my power, my hands turned to blade-like claws, the same claws that had slain the hound in the dark forest where I’d been hunted.

Going-gray turned to stare at me in shock.

“No, Pip girl! Don’t do it! I’ll seek justice for you the right way!”

Except my way was the only right way.

The enemy commander couldn’t stop me, not when I moved this damn fast. In a flash, I was on the dark mage, slashing my claws across his throat in a precise incision.

“Feel the pain, Meatball? Could you harvest your own agony?” I asked with a savage grin.

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