Hunt the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #11)(60)

Damn. Sally had been right to fear his people. He’d suspected that they would be angry with her for forcing a bond with him, but he’d never believed they’d actually harm her.

“I’ll destroy anyone who puts so much as a mark on her,” he warned, the merciless sincerity in his tone making Dyson pale in fear.

Zoe licked her lips, not entirely impervious to his fury. “You’re not thinking clearly, Roke.”

“Tell me what you’ve done to her,” he hissed.

“She’s being held in the mines.”

“Oh, shit.” His eyes squeezed shut. They couldn’t have found a better way to torture Sally if they tried. After being locked in Styx’s dungeon, she’d become terrified of being trapped in a cell. She had to be freaked out of her mind. “Get her out.” He sent a blast of power that made both vampires stumble. “That is a command.”

Zoe glanced toward the ceiling that threatened to collapse on them. “You must relax.”

“Release Sally and we’ll discuss this rationally,” he ordered.

“There will be no need for discussion,” Zoe informed him. “The witch has created the fake mating, with the proper persuasion she’ll end it.”

Oh, hell.

Sally.

He had to get to her now.

“No,” he snarled. “It has nothing to do with a spell. It was her demon blood.”

Zoe tilted her chin. “Either way, we’ll force her to free you.”

“She can’t.” His fury shattered the windows. “Goddammit. She can’t.”

Zoe refused to back down. “Dyson can be very persuasive.”

Roke bared his fangs. “No.”

The male vampire rushed forward as the entire building shook in reaction to Roke’s fury. Trapped by the enchanted chain, Roke could do nothing as the massive fist connected with his jaw with enough force to knock him out.

Chapter Fifteen

Sally crouched in the corner of the barren cell, her arms wrapped around her bent knees as she forced herself to breathe.

She didn’t know how long she’d been locked in the darkness that was so thick she couldn’t see beyond the tip of her nose. Or even how much time had passed since the large male vampire had left after using a whip to strip the flesh from her back.

It had to be several hours since her skin had grown back, although it remained tender to the touch, and she was so hungry her belly was beginning to cramp.

Where was Roke?

She knew he wasn’t dead. She could still feel their bond, although it was oddly muffled.

At first the knowledge he’d survived the journey from Canada to his lair had trumped her fear at being tossed into a cell at the bottom of an abandoned gold mine.

Then, as the hours had passed, and she’d been shackled to the wall and beaten like a piñata, her relief had altered to a confused fury.

Where the hell was her supposed mate?

And why was he allowing his people to treat her like an enemy?

Was it possible that he was too ill to insist she be freed?

Or even being held as a captive until the mating could be broken?

She tried to hold on to the belief that any second Roke was going to appear and release her from the prison. It was that or tumbling into madness.

She abruptly stiffened. Wait. Was that . . . roast beef she was smelling? Maybe she’d tumbled into madness after all.

The disjointed thoughts had barely passed through her mind when the candles set outside the cell flared to life and a tiny, golden-haired vampire appeared from a side tunnel.

Sally grimly rose to her feet, wrapping the blanket that she’d found on the narrow bed around her naked body.

Dyson had forced her to strip before beginning his whipping. It was a customary technique intended to amplify her humiliation.

It worked.

But as she watched the female vampire glide toward the cell, sliding a large tray of food underneath the door, she managed to gather the remnants of her tattered pride.

There was something so freaking annoying about the china blue eyes and too-pretty face.

It made Sally want to lob a spell that would splat all over that pale beauty.

Petty?

Yep. But who the hell cared?

“So soon?” she forced herself to drawl, ignoring the delicious scents wafting on the air. God. She wanted to fall on her hands and knees and devour the entire tray like an animal. “A trained torturer knows that you give your prey time to recover before resuming the pain. Otherwise it loses its effectiveness.”

“I’m not here to hurt you,” the female protested, pointing toward the tray. “I’ve brought you dinner.”

“Ah.” She managed a mocking smile. “It’s the good cop/bad cop routine.”

“I’m not a good enough actress to pull off the role,” the female protested, smiling to show a hint of fang. “If I had my preference, you’d be staked in the middle of the desert and left for the vultures to feed on. Unfortunately, Roke refuses to allow you to be put to death.”

Sally struggled not to react, her fingers digging into the rough wool of the blanket.

“He’s . . . awake?”

The vampire shrugged. “Our healers have managed to save his life, but he remains weak.”

Sally swallowed the lump in her throat, still caught between her fierce concern for Roke and the growing anger that he hadn’t rescued her yet.