Chapter Four
Thane
The Hounds were frantic, and I sensed their beasts pushing against their human shell.
I understood why. We were in the belly of the main Vault, having given up trying to get through the door which we had entered by.
I figured that there must be another way out and persuaded the rest of the men to follow me deeper into the maze.
Uncertainty prickled at my skin the deeper we went, and I wasn’t one to suffer regret, but there was a first time for everything.
Magnus was doing his best to keep the twins calm whilst Atticus kept provoking them with little snappish jibes. I was half tempted to kill the four of them just for a moment's peace. I wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t tempted.
“We’re lost,” Atticus said as we paused at yet another collection of artefacts.
They seemed to be catalogued by the type of creature they were associated with and then subdivided by type of object.
We’d been through a chamber of witchcraft, then a lesser demon one.
The chamber of angels had been interesting, but we seemed to have stumbled upon one pertaining to the Gods.
“We are not lost, Atticus. Lost implies that we had a direction to travel in in the first place,” I stated. “We are simply here.”
He rolled his eyes at me, and a surge of irritation travelled through our bond. He ran his hand through his midnight-blue hair, sending the strands in all different directions.
I walked over to him and brushed my hand over the dishevelled waves, flattening them back into some semblance of order. “I know you are frustrated and worried about Roux. We all are. But I need you to be focused on the task at hand. Angering the others isn’t helping anyone.”
Atticus looked up into my eyes, his nebula irises shifting between purple and blue, and leaned into my touch. “I know. I just want to know that she’s okay. The not knowing is driving me crazy.”
“Trust your bond with her. It’s more powerful than you can ever imagine.
” I traced my thumb over his Adam’s apple.
I had an unhealthy obsession with that part of his anatomy.
It was sharp and always seemed to pull my attention when he swallowed or spoke.
I wanted to bite it and watch it bob as he swallowed around my cock. Would his throat bulge around me?
“Whatever you’re thinking, you need to stop,” Atticus whispered as I stroked his throat, the vibrations of his voice tickling the pad of my thumb deliciously.
I smirked down at him, knowing exactly what he was getting at. I could feel his reaction through our connection as the hum of his desire flowed through my veins. It was rather… invigorating. “Really?”
He swallowed, the movement tight against my hand. “Yes. Now isn’t the time, and don’t we still need to find Prometheus’ key?”
I squeezed his throat, just a little, and enjoyed the way his eyes widened and his nostrils flared. “Spoil sport, but you’re right, and we will probably find it in here.”
I released him from my hold, immediately missing the feel of him beneath my skin. When I looked back at the others, I found them watching us with fascination. “What?”
Magnus grinned, his sharp little fangs showing behind his smile. “Just wondering if you’d let us watch.”
I cocked my head at the three of them, then flicked a glance at Atticus. Strangely, I didn’t get a sense of disgust or aversion through our bond. Only curiosity. Interesting…
“Perhaps,” I said with a shrug. I wasn’t averse to a bit of exhibitionism, but I was usually under someone else's control. Making Atticus submit was an intriguing desire and one I wanted to explore when we eventually found our way out of here. “Come on. Let’s see if this key is here while we make our way through this chamber.”
“What does it even look like?” Rayne grumbled before wandering off between the stacks.
“No idea,” I replied as I headed towards a glass display cabinet that had caught my attention. “Prometheus just said we would know it when we saw it.”
I had the feeling that the small triangle would provide some sort of reaction when I grew near the key. At least, I hoped it would; otherwise, we’d be wandering these halls for the next few centuries.
“Do you think it’s actually shaped like a key?” Magnus asked as he sifted through some trinket boxes with careless abandon. I frowned at him. He really should take more care.
“I’d be careful with those,” Rayne chuckled affectionately. “One of them might have belonged to Pandora.”
The vampire froze for a moment before returning the box he had in his hands with a lot more care than he’d shown it a moment before.
Atticus sniggered at him. “You really should brush up on your ancient history. There’s nothing left in the box apart from hope.”
“Still, we can’t be too careful,” I added. “These things are down here for a reason.”
I carried on past the cabinet full of cursed jewels and rounded the corner into the next aisle.
The first inkling of defeat crept into my bones.
There were shelves upon shelves and cases upon cases as far as my eyes could see.
They were all set neatly one behind the other, and I wondered who had organised everything.
Had he done it to keep himself occupied and his mind busy?
A sliver of pity sliced through my mind at the thought of him down here, all alone with only endless hours of emptiness for company. At the time, I’d thought we were doing the right thing, but now… Well, now I wasn’t so sure.
“What is it?” Atticus asked as he fell into step beside me.
“I think I feel regret.” I wasn’t sure since I’d never felt it before, but I think that’s what it was. This feeling of shame wrapped in dread. “I regret what we did to him.”
“To whom? Erebus?”
I turned to Atticus and lost myself in those pools of changing nebulas.
His emotions were swimming in his eyes, and I could feel them travelling through our connection.
It was a little overwhelming, and I couldn’t decipher them all.
It made me feel… confused, agitated and…
damn it. I couldn’t name them fast enough.
There were too many, all wrapping around each other, blurring the lines and making it impossible for me to make any kind of sense of them.
They were smothering me, pulling me down and burying me.
“Thane,” Atticus whispered softly as he wrapped a hand firmly around my arm. “It’s okay.”
“How is it okay?” I yelled, my voice ricocheting around the room. “He’s been down here on his own for centuries. How can anyone be okay with that?”
“Hey,” he snapped, shaking my arm. “Would speaking out all those years ago really have made a difference, or would it just make you feel better about yourself now?”
The infuriating man had a point.
“I get that you’re angry and scared and a million other things, Thane, but like it or not, Erebus would still have ended up down here. Even if everyone had spoken out against it, Zeus would have overruled you if this was where he wanted Erebus to be.”
I pulled my arm free and stepped away, running my hand through my hair. I knew Atticus was right, but somehow, it didn’t make me feel any better. I still felt… uncertain.
I didn’t like it one bit.
In fact, I think I hated it.
“Atticus, I—”
An electric charge hummed through the air, halting my words.
“Thane?”
“I can sense something.” Something that was calling to me. Something ancient. Something familiar.
Prometheus’ mark heated on my arm. “We’re close.”
I walked forwards, picking up pace the warmer the mark got.
I was aware of Atticus calling the others to follow us, but I was lost to the desperation of finding this key.
I didn’t stop until the mark burnt and seared my skin.
Until I thought the mark would melt through to my bones.
Until I stood facing a cabinet that was empty, except for one tiny, incongruous wooden box.
Plain, except for the small outline of a golden triangle inlaid in the lid.
There was nothing else around the box. No other artefacts. It sat alone in this small forgotten corner of the chamber, buried beneath years of dust and cobwebs.
“Is that it?” Rafe asked, his breath misting against the glass as he peered into the cabinet. “It’s so small.”
I pulled open the door and wrapped my fingers around the wooden box. The mark on my skin instantly cooled the moment I had the box in my possession. It was light, not that I’d expected anything different, but it barely felt like there was anything in the box at all.
There was no seam, no hinge, no obvious way of opening the box. I shook it, and something tumbled around in the bottom of it. At least it wasn’t empty.
I put the box into the folds of my coat and closed the cabinet. I didn't have to solve the puzzle; all I had to do was deliver it to Prometheus and I'd be free from my oath.
“I have to say, I was expecting more booby traps,” Magnus piped up from behind me. He wasn’t wrong. Apart from the never-ending corridors and endless stream of rooms, there hadn’t been anything more dangerous than the Lycaons earlier.
“Perhaps there will be more on the way out,” Magnus added rather ominously and with a waggle of his eyebrows. I swear that vampire never took anything seriously.
“You do know there is a chance that we may all die down here?” Rafe said with one of his dark brows arched.
Magnus shrugged. “I’m a vampire, love; I’m already dead. And besides, we have Death with us. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“I am right here, you know,” I grumbled. “I might be the God of Death, but that doesn’t mean you all get a free pass.”
“Atticus did,” Magnus quipped, his arms folded across his chest.
“That was different,” I bristled, snapping the lapel of my coat in frustration.
Atticus cocked his head to one side. “Was it?”
“You know it was.” I hit him with a hard stare, full of flint and fire, but the man just smirked back like he was amused by me.
“Sure thing, sugar,” he replied with a grin, and something inside me warmed at the term of endearment. “Whatever you say.”
“Well, I’m sure we will all survive this, and we’ll all be laughing about this when we get out of here,” Rafe drawled as he headed deeper into the chamber and into the shadows beyond.
“Come on, let’s find our girl, and then we can get out of here,” Atticus said as he followed the twins into the darkness.
I just hoped we made it out of here before Zeus found out we’d even entered the Vault. I didn’t want to discover what kind of punishment he’d serve us for this intrusion. It would probably be as creative as it was cruel.