Love Me to Death (Underveil, #1)(105)

“Hello? Mother?”

Sharp, stinging pain erupted on the back of his neck, like the time he was stung on the ear by a wasp when he was seven. He slapped his hand over it, plucking the insect off.

His uncle’s voice sounded far away. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist coming here.”

He opened his palm to find a feathered dart. Fuck. He’d been poisoned or drugged. The edges of his vision blurred. “Human tricks.”

“Yes.” Fydor moved closer, but not close enough to grab. Nik tried to lunge, but ended up face down on the floor.

The image of his uncle waved like ripples on the surface of a pond as he leaned down and pulled his father’s sword from his hand. “And shortly, I’ll have all of the human tricks, just as soon as we lift the Veil.”

Nikolai had never experienced helplessness like this. Unable to move or even talk, he could only listen as his uncle spoke from far away. “I’m so glad you dropped in. Your mother will be delighted to see you.”

Fucking bastard. He tried to lift his head, but couldn’t even open his eyes.

“Uncle Fydor! I have something for you,” Aleksi said from behind him somewhere.

Surely she’d see and help him. Any second now, she’d liberate Fydor’s head from his body.

“Oh. I see you found Niki.”

No.

“What is your surprise?” his uncle asked.

“You are going to love it.”

She sounded so far away. Using all of his strength, he cracked his eyes open to see her rubbing against him. Hands all over his body. She slid her hands into his front pockets, and he groaned.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

“I brought you the Uniter. She came in through my window.”

“Where is she?”

“Mihai has taken her to the dungeon.”

“I want her in the rec room.”

No…

“She can teleport. The dungeon was the only place secure enough.”

“Call one of the witches. I’ll arrange to get rid of this.”

Nikolai heard the thud and knew it was his uncle’s foot connecting with his rib cage, but he felt nothing other than the ache in his heart knowing he had failed. All his training and power couldn’t help him now. And he’d never see Elena again. Never hold his child. Never…



Elena brushed the hair from Nik’s forehead. “I have no idea what they drugged him with, but he seems to be coming around.” He groaned, and she took his hand. “Nik, I’m here. So is your mother.”

The oppressive darkness of the dungeon made it almost impossible to see the woman sitting on the other side of the tiny space. Unlike the wood elf in the next cell, they weren’t chained.

“What goes around comes around. You should have let me go,” the elf taunted through the darkness. “Then you wouldn’t be here as a prisoner, too.”

Actually, being a prisoner beat the hell out of the other possible scenarios. “Shut up.”

Nik groaned again and covered his mouth and nose. “The smell.”

“You’re in the dungeon,” she explained. “It appears you were drugged.”

He sat up with a groan and pulled her into his arms. “Never thought I’d…” She couldn’t make out his face well enough in the darkness, but it sounded like he’d choked up emotionally.

Knowing how Slayers admired the strong outer appearance, she took his face in her hands to ground him and bring him back. “Hey. You’re okay. We are all alive, and we need to hold it together to get out of this with our lives. Lie back and heal, because we’re going to need your strength soon.”

The door at the entrance to the dungeon creaked, and several sets of footsteps descended the stairs. The cellblock door flew open with a bang, and Elena squinted against the light of the torch carried by the big Slayer called Commander Mihai. With him was a hideous woman with tangled hair, wearing a filthy dress of sorts. It looked more like a burlap sack with armholes and a hole for the head.

He unlocked the door and grabbed Elena, yanking her out with him, then slamming the door shut. Nik tried to rise to his feet but couldn’t get past his knees. Having seen her memories from his perspective, she knew how hard this was for him to be helpless. It broke her heart to see him struggle.

“It’s okay, Nik. Recover. They are not going to kill me right now. I know what I’m talking about.” And she did. She’d seen his mother bound to a stake. What she hadn’t told him was that the point of view of the vision was from a stake right next to her. She’d at least live long enough to be burned alive.

The big Slayer pulled her into the cell where she’d first met Fee. He pointed to the stone bench at the back of the cell. All the surfaces undulated in the flickering light of the torch, giving the cell an eerie fluid quality. Not wanting to cause a scene and agitate Nik, she sat on the bench.

The old woman got right up in her face, but didn’t look directly at her. Her weird, cloudy eyes stared straight ahead. She ran her fingers over Elena’s face and grunted. Then she placed her palms flat over the markings on her chest and grunted again. It was all Elena could do to sit still while the old woman ran her hands over her breasts and down her ribs. She gasped when the woman shoved her hands under the front of the leather top, laying her palms on her belly. “No.” she said. “Not going to do it.”