Bite of Vengeance (Shadows of War #3)

11. Zan

Chapter 11

Zan

W e descended the steps, my nerves already going haywire. I was next to Kali while my brothers were behind us. Amaros led the way, and he hadn’t said a word since we left his office. There was only one thing down in the basement, and I had no idea what my father had planned. At the bottom of the steps, it opened up to a massive room. While my brothers and I had spent time in the basement growing up, we usually avoided this room unless our father wanted us here.

Kali sucked in a breath, her eyes widening as she looked around. Her nostrils flared, and her nose wrinkled in disgust as she inhaled the smell that was overwhelming for our vampire senses. Death . This room was smothered with the stench.

In the middle of the room was a huge square cage. It nearly reached the ceiling, and the cement floor inside was stained a dark red from all the blood that had been spilled in the past. There were no windows, the only light coming from the few bare bulbs that were hanging from the ceiling.

My guard rose when I spotted four vampires in the back of the room. They all straightened up when they spotted Amaros. Pax cursed under his breath, his eyes lingering on the cage.

“What is this?” Kali asked tightly, staying close to my side.

“Your birthday was over a month ago,” Amaros answered. “I want to see where you are in your transition.”

“What does that mean?” I snapped, my pulse hammering.

“Her strength.” His gaze met mine. “I want to test it.”

The knots in my stomach turned painful. She was strong, much stronger than when she first transitioned. Last night I’d only been holding back slightly when I challenged her to get out of my hold. It wouldn’t be long until she would be able to match my strength. But she wasn’t there yet.

“Get in the cage, Kali,” Amaros ordered. “I want to see you fight.”

“No,” I snarled, stepping in front of her. “She’s not ready.”

“Stand down, Zan.” His voice was calm, but the threat was easy to hear. “This is going to happen whether you’re here or not.”

“She doesn’t heal as fast yet,” Pax spoke up. “You want her training with the Shadows. She can’t do that if she’s hurt.”

While Pax was trying to keep his emotions locked down, he couldn’t hide how much he fucking hated this room. Viggo and I did too, but Pax always had it the worst when we were down here. Before we transitioned, our father brought us down here to learn how to fight. Against humans. Vampires. A couple times he even brought in a Shadow. Until one nearly killed Pax. Back then, we only had human strength.

Amaros didn’t care.

He wanted his sons to be the best and started our training when we were ten. I was sure half of that dried blood on the concrete was ours.

“Enough,” Amaros roared, his patience snapping as he focused on me. “I can make you stand down. Now move.”

When I didn’t budge, he let out a growl before grabbing my jaw, backing me up until my spine slammed into the bars of the fighting cage. His grip on my chin tightened causing me to grunt in pain as he forced me to look at him.

“I’ll do it,” Kali shrieked, coming into sight as she snatched his arm, trying to tug him off me. “You want me to fight, I’ll do it.”

Amaros locked eyes with me, and I glared when understanding flared in his gaze. I wondered how much my father actually loved me. Enough to keep me alive? Because he just realized that Warner wasn’t the only soul who Kali cared about. She was protecting me. That was something he could leverage.

My hands curled into fists when his entrancement filtered through my mind. This time I didn’t even try to fight it. The invisible bands held me hostage as his command filtered through.

“You will not interfere. You will stand here and watch while she fights Lucio.” He paused for a moment. “What were you talking about in my office?”

Fear slithered through my chest as I ran through the conversation. I couldn’t lie, but I didn’t have to tell him everything if he didn’t ask specifically.

“Kali wants to save Warner.” My monotone voice echoed in my ears. “I told her he couldn’t leave the property.”

Amaros broke eye contact, and I slumped against the cage once he let go of my face. My brothers were staring at our father with anger in their eyes. We’d grown up believing he would never use entrancement on us, but that illusion was now shattered.

He turned his head to the side to look at Kali. “Go.”

Her jaw was clenched tight as she backed away, heading for the open door of the cage. I moved to go after her, only to freeze before I took a single step. My limbs were heavy, and I let out a curse when I physically could not go any farther.

“Watch, Zan,” my father ordered, his eyes staying on Kali as she entered the cage.

I gritted my teeth, not responding. He had mentioned before that he wanted to test her abilities, but I thought he would wait until her transition was complete. I’d been hoping I would have gotten her off the property before this happened.

“You.” Amaros pointed at the vampire with short brown hair. “In the cage. I want you to defeat her. But do not kill her. Understand?”

The vampire nodded, his brown eyes gleaming with cockiness as he strode to the cage. Rage slithered through me, my heart thrashing in my chest. Something I was sure my father could hear. Viggo stepped up beside me, his arms crossed as he watched the vampire enter the cage.

“Let’s see your strength, Kali,” Amaros demanded, slowly stalking around the cage.

“I don’t have a weapon.” Her eyes stayed on the vampire in front of her.

My father chuckled cruelly. “You don’t need one.”

“I don’t have fangs like all of you,” she ground out. “It’s not a fair fight.”

“You don’t have them, yet ,” he countered. “Maybe you need to find yourself in a difficult situation for some of your skills to transpire.”

Viggo blew out a breath, glancing at me. He didn’t need to say anything since we were both thinking the same thing. This wouldn’t be the last time he put Kali in the fighting cage. He’d keep doing it until Kali fully transitioned and he could see the extent of her strength. Like he did when we were kids.

“Go ahead, Lucio.” Amaros nodded at the vampire who was in the cage, standing about ten feet from Kali. “No killing her.”

I stayed right in front of the cage, inhaling a shaky breath. This type of entrancement was different. Being physically controlled was far worse than when he forced answers out of me. My pulse spiked when Lucio stalked closer to Kali. My feet dragged like cement, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move. It was fucking infuriating.

“She’ll be fine,” Viggo muttered under his breath. “She’s strong.”

“Not that strong—not yet,” I hissed. Her strength only came in spurts, and while I believed she could handle a regular vampire for a short period, there was no way she would last in the cage. Amaros would push her to her limit.

Kali lunged to the side when Lucio attacked. She lashed her arm out, smashing her fist into his throat. She crouched down, swinging her leg out with enough power to knock him down. He choked out breaths as he scrambled back to his feet, his eyes wide in shock at her quick moves. This didn’t have anything to do with her Shadow strength. I’d seen her fight like this before her birthday.

Amaros was watching intently, with his hands behind his back, slowly pacing around the cage. Pax was leaning against the wall, his body rigid as he stared at Kali. The other vampires were just as interested in the fight, looking impatient as if anticipating they’d have their turn in the cage.

Kali’s small cry had my eyes snapping back to her, and I grabbed the bars, my fingers curling around the cold metal until my knuckles were white. Lucio had hit her hard enough to knock her to the ground and was on top of her before she got to her knees. A growl vibrated in my chest when his fangs sank into her shoulder. Her face scrunched in both pain and disgust as she grabbed the sides of his face, attempting to rip him away.

My eyes darted to the cage opening until a heaviness slithered through my limbs, reminding me that I had no control over my body. I glanced back at Kali as she wrapped a hand around his throat, but her strength wasn’t enough to shove him back when he bit her again. Hot rage smothered me, my heart pounding in my ears. She wasn’t angry enough. If she wanted a chance to beat him, she needed to let anger take over.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, and I muttered a curse. No interfering. My father had chosen his words wisely. I couldn’t even say anything to help her.

“Maybe her transition will take longer,” Amaros murmured thoughtfully. “Her strength isn’t anything near where I thought it was. How disappointing.”