Passion Untamed (Feral Warriors #3)(74)

"No way in hell." He tested the chains, struggling against them as he'd done a hundred times the last time he was here, but as before, they didn't budge.

Being chained like this, with two others, brought back memories of those days in Ancreta's dungeon. Vhyper, or Vincent, as he'd known him then, and Frederick, had kept up a steady stream of patter - most of it black humor. Paenther had never joined in - his personality had always been more serious - but they'd sometimes made him smile with their antics, which in turn had made them chortle with glee.

Frederick shouldn't have died.

He looked at the two men with him now, Foxx, whom he'd known a couple of years, and Jag, whom he'd known almost the entire time he'd been a Feral. Sometimes he wondered if he knew Jag at all.

Yet they were his brothers.

His only goal was to save their lives and Vhyper's, and to get Skye to safety. To get them all out of this cavern alive. If he were able to reclaim the Daemon blade while he was at it, all the better. But the men were his reason for being here. Especially Vhyper.

"How'd the Mage get you?" he asked his companions.

Jag scowled. "The cub turned on me!"

"I did not!" Foxx shot back.

Paenther's brows lowered as he looked from one to the other. "What happened?"

Jag frowned. "We were running to the grocery for Pink when Mr. Intuition here got a feeling there were Mage in the neighborhood. Of course, he didn't tell me why we were driving down Jefferson until we were on them. Two Mage. I called it in, we shifted and took them on. As we were taking care of them, two more showed up. Then suddenly fox-face forgot who he was supposed to be fighting, upped his size until he was bigger than my jaguar, and went for my neck. The Mage slapped shackles on both of us while Foxx had me pinned, and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"I didn't attack you," Foxx said sullenly.

Jag's jaw dropped. "Are you trying to say your fangs accidentally went through my neck? Do you think I'm a f**king moron?"

Paenther's gaze went from one to the other, not liking what he was hearing. Not liking it at all. "What do you remember, Cub?"

The kid met his gaze, a mix of anger and confusion in his eyes. "I wouldn't have attacked him!"

"But you don't remember."

Foxx looked away. "No."

Paenther looked at Jag and saw the same disquiet in his eyes as he felt himself. "They enthralled you, Foxx. That's the only explanation for it."

The cub's head swung around. "In my animal form? Without ever touching me?" He scoffed. "That's impossible."

"Do you have a better explanation for what happened?"

Foxx struggled against his bonds, the chains rattling on the stone. "No! But how? The Mage can't enthrall us through our animals. Everyone knows that."

"The Mage can do f**king anything they want these days," Jag grumbled.

"Maybe not." Paenther looked at Jag. "They didn't enthrall you."

Foxx scowled. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying Zaphene's control over you may have extended beyond what we realized."

"I'm their puppet, now?"

"I don't know, Cub." Paenther and Jag exchanged a look of foreboding. If they could no longer trust Foxx, they were in deep shit.

Chapter Twenty-three

Paenther wasn't sure how much time had passed when Vhyper walked into the small cell, grinning the old Vhyper grin, his bald head gleaming. But no warmth lurked in his eyes.

No humanity.

"Looks like old home week. Nice of you to join us, B.P. I told Birik to set a place at the ritual table for you, so to speak. I knew all he had to do was let you know we'd all be losing our heads tonight, and you'd come riding to the rescue. Do I know my friend, or what?"

"You f**king turncoat," Jag snarled.

"He's not Vhyper," Paenther said evenly. "Vhyper is as trapped by the evil as we are."

Vhyper snorted. "You wish. I'm who I always was, but changed." He lifted one ironic brow. "In a good way, of course."

"You're wrong. The man I would give my life for is still inside you. And he isn't going to let us die."

"Right." The word was dry, Vhyper's eyes hard. "Even if you were correct, and I could be saved, it wouldn't be enough to get you out of here. I'm not the only Feral weapon in the Mage arsenal."

Paenther glanced at the cub. "We're aware Birik can control Foxx."

"Oh, he's doing a lot more than controlling him, B.P."

Foxx made a sound of disbelief. "What do you mean by that?"

"That's the beauty of it, Cub." Vhyper tugged on his earring. "Even you don't know what you've become. Which is what made you such a powerful weapon."

Paenther's blood turned cold.

"What have I become?"

"Zaphene's pawn that Birik claimed once she was dead. Zaphene carved out your soul but left your conscience and personality in place so none of us knew. Not even you. Your youth combined with your intuitive talent made you especially malleable. You killed Beatrice, then switched the Daemon blade for the ritual blade that night on the goddess stone when we called the power of the lion. I lost my own soul that night thanks to that blade.