Chapter 58
AVA
Valen’s grip on me tightens, and my heart stutters. A chill works its way through the room, and I shudder at the malevolent energy it holds.
“What’s happening? Can you spot anyone?” I ask and try to look around. It’s so dark I can’t see shit, but Valen should be able to.
Valen hisses through his teeth, and I feel the swish of his body as he looks side to side. The thudding of feet and screams have made things more than a little disorienting.
“Too hard to tell right now. Stay close to me,” Valen says as he attempts to pull me toward the outskirts of the ballroom.
“Wait!” I yell above the chaos. “What about the others?” In my initial shock, I forgot we weren’t near them since we were dancing.
“They can take care of themselves. We planned for something like this and agreed to protect our respective mates,” Valen explains. I stop resisting and allow him to pull me away, but not without worry.
I almost trip over a fallen hors d’oeuvres tray, based on the clinking sound and the squish of food beneath my feet, but Valen keeps me upright.
The urgency in which he pulls me isn’t typical, and I know he’s trying to be careful while getting me out of harm’s way.
The problem is, we don’t know exactly what danger we’re fleeing from or where it’s even coming from.
“I see Zav and Celine. Come on,” Valen urges and I follow blindly.
“Ava, is that you?” Celine calls and I use my arms to feel out in front of me. I hit the pearls along her sleeves and sigh in relief.
“Are you okay?” Zav asks in a tone that’s the most serious I’ve ever heard from him.
I nod and Valen grunts in reply. “You?”
“We’re good. For now,” Celine answers. “But I can’t see shit.”
“And neither can I,” Zav grumbles. “Stupid, no good, shitty eyesight.”
I feel her shaking slightly beneath me and my heart goes out to her. She and Valen must be terrified right now, more so than us, due to trauma of their kidnapping.
“Run!” someone screams and a stampede of feet head our way.
I squeak as we’re run through by them and hold tight to Valen. Unfortunately, the strength of those running, flying, and zipping by rips up apart and I’m quickly separated from him.
“Fuck, Ava!” is the last thing I hear before darkness meets me.
A pounding headache rouses me, and I groan, picking my torso up off the floor.
I blink a few times to clear my eyesight and jolt at the unfamiliar surroundings.
It looks to be a row of jail cells, and I’m cuffed by a set of metal chains that meet the wall.
Yanking on the restraint, I only succeed in scraping skin off my wrist and hiss in pain.
“Valen?” I call, not seeing him with me. “Is anyone there?”
The room isn’t as musty as one might think, but it’s giving me flashbacks to underneath the club.
A groan sounds from my right, and I pull forward as much as I can with the chains to peek out of my cell.
“Who’s there?”
A mumbled curse word is the reply, followed by my name. “Ava?”
Relief fills my chest at the familiar voice. “Zav! Is Celine with you? What about Valen?” I cross my fingers my mate is at least with them, knowing the four of us were together before we were separated.
A feminine whine of pain tells me Celine is with him, at least.
“Celine is here but Valen isn’t. He’s not with you?” Zav calls out.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“No.” I stifle the urge to cry. “It’s just me in here.” My cuffs clang as I attempt to find some sort of relief for the tension in my arms. “What the hell happened? All I remember is the stampede of people and then passing out.” I rack my brain for any clues.
Shifting echoes through the room as Zav and Celine must try to stand. I hear clanking and a thud that tell me they’re tied up like I am.
“I wish I knew. I held Celine to me for protection before passing out,” Zav growls and yanks against his chains. “What are these made of? I should be able to break them no problem!” He screams out in frustration.
Celine manages to peek around the wall between us so I can barely see her face. Her hair is a frizzy mess around her forehead and her cheeks flushed.
“Are you okay, Aves?”
Tears well up in my eyes at not knowing where Valen is.
“I’m so scared for him, Celine. Who did this to us and why did they take him?
Is it his original captors? I don’t like this one bit and I knew something was going to happen.
” I bite down on my lip in an attempt to hold a sob inside.
It’s not like I could have predicted this exact scenario, but it felt like we were prepared enough to keep something like this from happening.
Nothing can go according to plan for any of us, it seems. “Where were Levi and Luna? I didn’t see them after the chaos started. ”
“We have to hope they can take care of themselves. I’m sure Levi has it under control, wherever they are,” Zav huffs and keeps trying to undo their restraints.
I’m not sure how long this continues, but time seems to stretch uncomfortably. I attempt to pull on my magic to see if I can get it to at least loosen the cuffs, but for some reason it refuses to cooperate every time.
What good am I as a witch if I can’t use my magic when I need it most?
It’s like the well of power within me won’t flow out. I remember Jade saying high emotion can both help and hinder. It seems like this situation is the latter, as much as it pisses me off. I attempt to mediate in an effort to calm down, but it doesn’t help.
“Ugh!” I shout, frustrated at myself. “I can’t believe he’s out there somewhere and we can’t get out of these cells.”
Please be okay.
Like I summoned him, I hear the voice of an angel … well, fallen angel.
“Ava!”
“Valen!” I call back, relieved. My cuffs clang against the bars as I attempt to peer out. I’m not sure why I keep trying, as if my range of motion will somehow magically change.
He appears before me looking flustered and manic but otherwise okay. I don’t spot any injuries, but that doesn’t mean anything. Seeing his hair and tux out of place makes me feel extremely violent. Whoever touched him will beg for death once I’m through with them.
“Stand back,” he warns.
I do just that.
With a powerful kick, he sends the door to my cell flying and I marvel at his strength. He then rips my cuffs from where they circle my wrists.
“Man, I totally could’ve done that,” Zav whines and I snort. “Stupid ancient vampires with their super special powers.”
In the next second, the air is whooshed from my lungs when Valen runs in and pulls me to his chest. He cradles my head like something precious, and mumbles thank goodness over and over again.
I clutch him just as tightly and fight the tears that want to spill over.
I’m so fucking glad he’s okay that I don’t have time to question why we’re locked up and he’s not.
Pulling back, I inspect his body and poke and prod for injuries I can’t see.
“What are you doing?” Valen laughs and I harrumph in response.
“Checking. Don’t bother me,” I scold and he laughs again. Once I’m satisfied, I pull him back in and snuggle into his chest. His soothing scent helps calm me down.
“Uh, guys?” Celine calls.
“Truly a touching reunion, but a little help here?” Zav adds.
We head over to their cell, and he tells them to step back. As Valen heads in to rid them of their cuffs, a chuckle sounds through the room.
“Ah, just who I was hoping to see. Actually, a few someones.”
We all freeze and look at each other. Pure, unadulterated terror lines Valen’s body, and he resembles prey much more than the predator he actually is. If he’s this scared, we’re fucked.
Slowly turning around, I frown at a familiar man. Despite his familiarity, I have trouble placing how I know him.
“Damien,” Valen growls, crouching protectively in front of me.
The man cocks his head to the side, and a strand of silvery blond hair falls over his forehead. “Glad to see you remember me, Valentine.” His grin is nothing but pure evil. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten.”
Valen is frozen in fear in front of me, and I wrap my fingers around his arm.
The man—Damien—leans around Valen and eyes me up and down. “Dear Valen, aren’t you going to introduce me to your mate? It would be a shame if I forgot my manners like you so clearly have yours. I’d hate for my hand to slip around her throat. Humans are such delicate creatures. They die so easily.”
Valen moves to shield me more fully. “Don’t fucking look at her.”
Damien’s eyes narrow. “You don’t give me orders, fallen one.” His words are said in an even tone, but there’s an iciness there that dares Valen to overstep.
Who the hell is the man exactly?
He doesn’t seem like a vampire or a warlock. There’s something about him that feels different, but in a way I can’t pinpoint. Like he’s been altered somehow.
“Grab them,” Damien orders. “All four of them.”
And that’s when the shadows that have been clinging to the walls pull away and come to life.