Caged in Darkness (Caged #1)(18)

His face changed then. One moment he was divinely beautiful and seconds later I watched as his veins blackened to a cryptic maze of inscriptions across his body. I recognized him as a predator and felt something pulse from within him. I was fairly sure that made me the prey.

In that moment, while he was distracted by his burning hand, I made my move. I reached across to his wing, and pulled feathers, while pushing with all my strength to get past him. I toppled furniture behind me as I ran. When I reached the library, I pulled the lever to close the passage and screamed for Maye at the top of my lungs.





Liam





I spent my childhood bowing to my mother’s every whim. As teenager, I grew a pair and rebelled against her. The last straw had been when my mother’s domination over every aspect of my father’s life, led to him abandoning us.

When I turned 18, I moved out and took a year off from school. At 19, I was home schooling myself to make up my last year of high school. My education began my escape from my mother. There were some members of the coven I couldn’t bring myself to shun. My aunt who had taken over my dark arts training was one of them.

I had some anxiety about my mother’s request involving the witch prodigy. I wasn’t sure how to make someone fall in love with me; my specialty was convincing women to fall into bed with me. I wasn’t anxious to try that with the Cross girl.

My mother had a skewed view of the world and the people in it. She thought that whatever she wanted was hers for the taking, but didn’t understand that it was merely that way within the coven.

Most witches were born into a coven and it became their only choice. However, the Cross girl was descended from a royal line. The Cross family was known for splitting hairs where magic was concerned. They had been the founding members of both the Sacred Moon and Meadow Falls covens. This gave the Cross girl an advantage because she could choose her destiny. Her blood flowed towards two separate paths and it was her choice that would decide which vein to clamp. Once in place, it was unlikely that she could remove the clot and regain that choice.

My earlier assumptions involving the Cross girl, Savannah were wrong. My mother provided all the information I would need to insert myself into Savannah’s life, but given her childhood I wasn’t confident in my skills. She was raised to despise black magic. She would probably choose to be initiated into the coven who took her in. I didn’t see how I could pull her away from her family within a few weeks. It would be better for her if she stayed far away from my mother’s manipulations.

I reached my apartment door to find that it was unlocked, which wasn’t a surprise. I opened the door to reveal the three women I enjoyed earlier that morning. They were in a similar state to the one I left them in; barely clothed and tangled in sheets on the living room floor.

That morning they begged me to stay. Considering their current activities, they obviously found adequate comfort in each other. It was a sight most men would salivate over, but had begun to bore me lately. They didn’t look up, when I tossed my jacket on the couch and walked past them towards the bedroom.

I unbuttoned and tugged off my shirt as I walked into the room, and directly into the closet.

“I wasn’t sure you would make it past them. I almost found them too tempting to pass up, myself.” A familiar voice sounded from my room.

My shirt still off, I peeked my head around the door and smiled at the sight that greeted me. On the bed lay a seductive creature. Ordinarily, I limited my bed partners to ordinary humans, but occasionally found myself making exceptions.

Kali was one female I couldn’t help giving in to. She was wild, impulsive, and a Hellhound. She wasn’t the distorted perception of a Hellhound that humans had, but an actual Hellhound. Most of her race was extinct, but there were five left; five gorgeous, powerful, and terrifying females.

Death itself created the Hellhounds from tainted souls. They were the guardians of the afterlife, the takers of souls, and the dispensers of justice. In the case of a wicked soul, who escaped death, the Hellhounds would embark on the “Wild Hunt.” Their punishment was far worse than the sentences death would distribute.

Hellhounds could shift at will into enormous beasts that resembled a wolf or dog, but far more terrifying. They were considered harbingers of death and could visit it upon a person merely by meeting their eyes.

“Another five minutes and I would have given up waiting for you.” She said, while playing with the necklace that hung between her breasts.

“If I knew you were waiting for me, I would have been back sooner.”

“Then why are you standing all the way over there? It’s cold in here. I think I need you to warm me up.” She purred, and turned onto her belly facing me.

I looked her over; she was wearing a black lace corset with a matching garter belt, and a g-string. Her blazing red hair hung down in a mass of waves. I cursed my slowness, and strode to the bed.

Smiling, Kali sat up and kneeled at the edge of the mattress. “Mmmm… I missed you.” She said, and grabbed me by the waist band, and pulled me on top of her.





Savannah





I fidgeted in the rocking chair, waiting for Maye to return from the passageway. I shouldn’t have let her go in there alone, but I couldn’t bring myself to go back. The idea of it sent chills across my spine.

“Darling, there isn’t anyone in there.”