Sixty-Four
Him
“Thirty seconds,”
I drawl as I pull out the needle that I got from Terra. “This is a nasty little disease. It targets the magic in one’s blood, eating it until it’s gone, and do you know what that does to a witch?” The magic is a part of them, woven into every atom of their being. “His death will not be quick,” I say. “Or pleasant.”
It gives me great pleasure to see the pain on Varius’ face as he struggles to give me an answer. I might have Siome back, but his family is the reason I lost her in the first place. I used to think a child shouldn’t be punished for the sins of their parents, but then I held my mate in my arms as she died, and I changed my fucking mind – at least when it comes to the Shadow family.
They’re all as vile as the disease I’m holding.
“Nine seconds…
“Eight.
“Seven.”
He screams, so much delightful pain in that sound. His mother took my mate from me, and he thought he could take her again. But once I tell her he picked her best friend to die – regardless of who he actually chooses, she’ll hate him forever. Siome always could hold a grudge, especially against those who hurt the people she loved.
“Three.
“Two.”
“Rudy!”
Varius shouts, then screams again, so much pure agony erupting from his soul.
I smile as I step up to his brother. I wish I could drag this out more, but Terra told me Rudy’s magic was becoming unstable. She’s been taking blood samples from him every week to keep an eye on his chaos magic. If I don’t kill him today, he could take out this entire ship. Enemies and allies alike.
I stab the needle into Rudy’s neck.
Varius screams, raw rage and terror ripping out of his lungs. He will blame himself for his brother’s death, but in truth, this was never about him having a choice. I merely want him to suffer. Rudy would’ve died either way – either as a choice or as a punishment for Varius having chosen Dayne. But Dayne would’ve lived because my mate likes him, and I would never hurt her.
“Have fun watching him die,”
I say. “He will ooze from every orifice, but it won’t be blood that comes out. He’ll be melting from the inside, the disease destroying every organ and bone, every tendon and muscle he has, and all that goo will slosh out of his mouth and ears and eyes.”
Varius struggles to get free so fiercely that he manages to rip both his arms off the bed. The nails are embedded in his skin, into his bone.
I look over at Eduardo. “Heal him. I don’t want him dying anytime soon.”
The witch pales as he looks at me.
“He’s tied down with witch’s snares. Stop being a pussy and get over there.”
Eduardo gulps, but he does as he’s told.
I turn to Dayne. “Thank you for playing along.”
I speak loud enough for Varius to hear me even over his screams, knowing this will destroy him even more. He chose to save a traitor, and because of his decision, his brother is melting from the inside out. “Your acting was fantastic,” I say.
He smiles back at me. “I learned from the best.”
I undo his binds. He hops off the chair. “Where is she?”
Micha told me how much he mattered to her a couple weeks ago, that he and her sister were the two she wanted to save from the Shadow Domain. So I tracked him down, then brought him here as a surprise. I’m looking forward to seeing her eyes light up like they used to.
Her sister is being harder to get to, but I will save her in time. I will be Micha’s god in every prayer she directs at me. “In our room.”
I turn for the door to lead him to her.
Rudy convulses with a gurgle of blood pouring down his lips. Varius cries, and I stop for a moment just to enjoy it.
“That’s some serious shit,”
Dayne says. “Is it infectious?”
“No. It’d be too dangerous then.”
“So it’s safe for me to get a closer look?”
I smile, able to see why Micha likes him. Gallows humor is something we always shared. As much as I want to trust him simply because she does though, I keep my senses well tuned to him. If he even tries to sign a spell into existence, I will have to bind his hands.
Then I will work on convincing him he wants to stay here, just like I did Micha. What my mate wants, she’ll get.
I nod at Rudy. “Be my guest.”
He steps up to him, moving around to the side of his chair. “Fascinating,”
he murmurs as he places both his hands on Rudy’s head, one on each side, and tilts it up so he can get a better look.
“I’m going to kill you!”
Varius screams. He’s trying to rip the witch’s snare off his neck, but nothing can break that golden chain.
Eduardo jumps back nervously. “What if he gets free –”
“He can’t,”
I say. His fear is so fucking annoying. But I don’t need him for much longer. After I find the recipe for Greek fire –still wanting to venture into the Underworld so I can check Micha is really Siome. Though I know she is deep in my soul, I would never be able to forgive myself if I got duped by a Shadow whore– I will be taking Micha into Blo?dyrio? and never coming back. There, we will make a life together. Or I will kill her if she isn’t Siome.
But I know she is.
I can feel it in my bones.
Can see it in so many aspects of her now that I know to look.
“Come on,”
I tell Dayne. “Micha is –
My eyes widen as the chain at Varius’ neck shatters, as does the two around his feet. He scrambles up and lunges for me. Eduardo screams. I start to shift –
Only to find I can’t.
“Help me!”
Dayne screams. “I can’t move!”
Rudy’s magic is breaking free. Terra warned me she did not know how chaos magic would react to hers.
Cursing, I pivot out of the way.
But my legs are nightmarishly heavy. I move too slow.
He rams into me, shoving me off balance. As I fall to the floor, he snaps off one of the metal torture instruments that is attached to Rudy’s chair. Eduardo screams once more like a little bitch, then throws up a ward around him.
Only to have it instantly flicker out.
Scrambling for the door, he tries to run, but his feet sink into the ground. Then the wood solidifies around his ankles. Blood seeps up and out of the floorboard, and he falls to his hands. They sink in too, up to his wrists. More blood. More pain. The floor looks like it’s rippling towards me.
Cursing, I roll away from both it and Varius, then jump to my feet – and get kicked in the chest. I stagger back, my feet moving as if they’re encased in lead blocks. I need to kill Rudy. Free Dayne from his grip.
I try to shift again, but Artemis’ gift doesn’t come.
Knowing I can’t move fast enough to keep dodging with my limbs affected by Rudy’s magic, I let Varius come to me. He’ll try to stab me with the weapon he has – a metal rod with a pair of pincers at the end, meaning I can get away with focusing on only one thing, and I don’t need to hold out long, I don’t think – No. I hope.
Chaos magic is a different breed. The shot I gave Varius was of the same disease though, just a much weaker strain, so we know it eats magic. It was created from Micha’s blood after all.
He jabs the weapon into my side. I knew I wasn’t fast enough to block it, so I didn’t bother. I left myself open in the place I wanted him to hit. Then I grab his wrist and wrench him to me. I smash my head into his, and his eye glazes over for just a moment.
Eduardo screams as a monstrous spider appears behind him. Human faces line its bulbous back, their mouths open as they shriek in horror. I try to not get distracted by it, but a massive dong swings from underneath it, large enough to drag on the floor. It mounts Eduardo, its dick sharp enough to pierce through his clothes. I don’t think it cares about finding a hole. Wrapping its front legs around him, it pins him down as it fucks him hard and fast. The faces shriek. So does Eduardo, and Dayne yells, a deep roar of pain.
I don’t know what Rudy’s magic is doing to him, but I don’t want him to die. It’ll devastate my mate.
But I can’t help him until I deal with Varius first.
I try once more to shift.
And this time, my werewolf form ripples up my left arm.
Rudy’s magic is weakening as he dies.
Varius is fighting as hard as he can, but he’s suffering from blood loss, months of torture, and the disease in his blood. He isn’t thinking as straight or moving as fast as he otherwise would be. I slice my claws towards him, holding him with my human hand, locking him to me.
He jumps up with both feet and kicks me in the chest. I stumble back, releasing him, and my claws rip through the air. He lands on his back. I trip over something behind me, but as I stumble, I yank out the metal rod he shoved into me and then shift completely into my werewolf form.
The spider starts to shrivel up. Rudy’s not far from death. But before it dies, it bites off the top of Eduardo’s head. His brain’s now exposed to the air, but he doesn’t die; the chaos magic has wrapped itself around him tightly. The spider’s dick is still inside him, and he screams in utter agony.
Dayne’s legs give out, and he collapses to the ground, blood pouring out of his eyes and lips. But it’s pinker than it should be, almost the color of brain matter, and I wonder if Terra didn’t screw me over. If the disease is infectious after all. Then again, chaos magic is called so for a reason.
But with its effect on me greatly reduced, Varius doesn’t stand a chance, not in his condition.
Grabbing him off the floor with a burst of speed he can’t match, I slam him into a wall. His head cracks, and I hit him again until his eye rolls back and he falls limp. Dropping him to the floor, I run over to Dayne. Check his pulse.
Nothing.
Closing my eyes briefly, I curse.
Maybe I can hide his body from her. She doesn’t have to know he’s dead until I venture into the Underworld and get him back –
“Antonio?”
Micha shouts from down the hall, her voice alarmed yet courageous. She must’ve heard all the fighting and run down here from our bedroom. Varius’ room is one of the furthest away from ours as with them being blood bonded, I didn’t want him close enough to affect her. There isn’t much known about how the bond works, even inside witch communities, but I seem to have made the right call. Terror squeezes my lungs at the thought of her being close enough to be affected by Rudy’s magic.
I run for the door to see her quicker and make sure she’s okay. I catch her right as she’s about to enter. Standing inside the door, I gather her in my arms. “I’m so sorry,”
I say. “Rudy killed Dayne.”
“What?”
Her voice is high-pitched with shock. “Dayne? How did he get here? I don’t – I don’t understand?”
“I brought him here to see you,”
I murmur. “I wanted it to be a surprise, but he wanted to help me torture the Shadow brothers first for what they did to you. They killed him.”
She pulls back, shaking her head. “No! No! That isn’t true.”
“I would never lie to you, love.”
“No!”
She screams in my arms, soul-wrenching, heart-breaking. I want nothing more than to gather her up and take her away from all this pain, but I gave my blood oath, and so I will honor it.
I lead her into the room, and she runs to Dayne. She sits beside him, then lies across his chest, holding him to her in her grief. But she no longer cries. Now she shakes with rage.
Walking over to Varius, I kick him in the stomach, then haul him to his feet. His eye is glazed, but he tries to focus it on me.
“I gave you a blood oath,”
I say. I turn to look at my mate to ask her the question I have to. “Do you wish to go with him?”
“No,”
she says, her eyes flashing with Siome’s fire as she climbs to her feet. “I want to kill him.” Her voice drips with a cobra’s venom. “I need to hurt him like he’s hurt me. He needs to pay.”
Smiling at my reincarnated mate, I say, “Tell me how you want him.”