Page 10 of Eternally Bound

“You kidnap us, lock us in rooms, and expect us not to try to escape? And who the fuck is your father?” Ok, I need to derail this train now.

“Emma?” Madeline beats me to it when she steps out from behind me and grabs her friend’s shoulders.

“Take a breath, honey. Where’s your inhaler?” It’s at that moment that I notice she wheezing.

It gets worse when the young woman panics, patting her pockets.

“For heaven’s sake. Move.” Gaius pushes my wife away and touches Emma’s chest.

“HEY! You can’t just…” Madeline stops protesting when his hand starts to glow, and Emma’s breathing returns to normal.

“What did you do?” Madeline asks slowly as Emma stares at Gaius.

“Heal her, but even my powers can’t fix this.” He throws his arms into the air and starts mumbling in Greek about Archimedes’s life work ending on our Persian rug.

I smirk at his woes as I keep an eye on the women in the room. They’ve started to whisper back and forth. I give them a moment to catch up, but then banging comes from a door to our left.

“If they ruin the Bernini in that room..” I hold up my hand to him.

“Mak! I’m opening the door. Please don’t hit me, ok?” Madeline yells through the door and then looks at me.

Gaius grumbles as he unlocks the door and stands back with his hands up in defense.

“Where the fuck are we, and why does this room smell like a wet dog?” I raise my eyebrow at my friend, who tries desperately not to laugh at her question.

He fails miserably.

“Nico was over a few nights ago. I haven’t gotten to the chance to gather the laundry.” I roll my eyes at his amusement and tune into the conversation the ladies are now having.

“May want to call him for reinforcements. We are slowly being outnumbered.” I point to the last two doors.

He unlocks them and then pulls his phone out of his pockets.

“Come, Nico.” He places the phone back and shrugs his shoulders at my look of disbelief.

“He’s going to rip your balls off one day.” His smirks grows.

“The dog is welcome to try.” The smell of brimstone fills the hall, and Makenzie sniffs the air.

“Interesting..” I rub my chin at her reaction.

Mortals shouldn’t be able to notice the fragrance of Hell.

“I’m not a fucking dog, Gaius.” Nico’s deep Italian voice comes from behind me, but I don’t bother turning to address him.

“And yet here you are, like a good boy.” Fucking hell, I didn’t have time for their normal bullshit.

“Why was a summoned when here with an unmated female in the manor?” Nico growls, trying to put Gaius’s taunts behind him.

“Well, that explains it.” I smile as I look at Mackenzie.

“Nico, may I introduce Lady Madeline Mathias, my wife.” Nico recoils as I gesture to Madeline with a frown.

“Claim her quickly, old friend.” Gaius coughs suddenly to hide his laughter, and I narrow my eyes at my friends.

“I’m not sure what the bloody hell is wrong with you two, but get it together.” I hiss and turn back to the five ladies watching us.

“So you’re a vampire, but what are you?” The one called Abigail steps up to Nico with a shy smile.

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