Unraveled

“I will tell her,” he said through gritted teeth. “She will accept. The match will be set for sometime next week.”

For the first time, Draven frowned. “I wish to get this done today.”

“No. You will wait until next week. If those terms are unacceptable, you will have to forfeit. The king can choose the time of the match, and will insist on watching. This I know, as well. He won’t be available until next week.”

“Very well. Accepted.” Draven inclined her head, her smug satisfaction as strong as Riley’s fury. She tossed a quick sneer at Mary A

The vampire pair floated away, talking and laughing now, as if the bombshell they’d just dropped on Riley was insignificant, without consequence.

“Is Victoria a decent fighter?” Mary A

“Yes. I trained her myself.”

“Is Draven?”

“Yes. Regrettably, I trained her, too.”

“Who’s better?”

His jaw clenched.

Mary A

“They won’t fight to the death, but until one of them admits defeat. The wi

“Own. How? He’s king!”

“Yes, but he is also human, and there’s the loophole Draven is using. We’ve never had a human king before, and our laws regarding humans were designed with blood-slaves in mind. And blood-slaves may be passed around like baseball cards. Aden will have to change the law, but Draven was right. He ca

“And be condemned. But what does that mean, really?”

“It means that everyone will see her as easy pickings and challenge her for every single thing she owns. For the rest of her eternal life, until she has nothing left. No guardian, no clothes. No room, no furniture. No food. Until she’s forced to strike out on her own to survive.”

What a harsh reality these vampires and werewolves lived in. “And what happens if Draven loses? Seems unfair that if she wins, Victoria will lose everything she owns on top of losing Aden. Yet if Draven loses…”

“She will become Victoria’s property. Which is why this kind of challenge isn’t issued often. No one wants to chance such an outcome.”

Draven was utterly confident of her success, then. Great. Another worry. Would they never stop piling up?

“Come on, pick up the pace. We have a task to complete.” Down the winding stairs they finally pounded.

Several other vampires passed them along the way, grouped in twos and threes. Each group was discussing Aden and his taming of the beasts. They were clearly awed, shocked and a little frightened. Thankfully, though, no one else stopped Riley for a chat.

Outside, the air was colder than it had been that morning, and a dreary mist dampened her hair. She was immediately grateful for Riley’s coat. There were no vampires out here, no wolves either. Too cold and wet for them? Riley didn’t seem to mind the weather. He wasn’t wearing a coat, just a thin T-shirt, but he wasn’t shivering. Or were they too busy? If so, what were they doing? For that matter, what did they usually do during these daylight hours?

She might never know.

You weren’t going to think like that, remember? Nothing else seemed relevant, though.

Mary A

If Aden had made no progress with the witch, that’s what she was going to do. In that order.

“You’re not going to die tomorrow,” Riley said.

“How did you—never mind.” He’d read her aura again.

He stopped in the center of a large winding circle, placing his feet in…concrete grooves? He pulled her flush against him, his body heat seeping into her, and wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting atop her head.

When the ground began moving, she yelped, floundering.

“I’ve got you,” he said, gentling her. “We’ll descend and start spi

“Spi

“Slowly. Promise.”

She relaxed. And sure enough, they began to slowly spin and inch downward, into a wide chasm that formed even as the concrete or metal or whatever it was rearranged itself at their feet. The lower they went, the more the scent of dust and—her nose wrinkled—old pe

“That smell… I would have bet… I can’t believe…human death,” Riley finally finished, grave. “And very recent.” He very gently, but very quickly moved Mary A

“But you will?” she asked on a trembling breath.

“Yes.”

The foundation jolted as they hit bottom, jarring her, and all that darkness Riley had promised enveloped her instantly. His strong hands gripped her waist and shoved her backward, until something hard and cold met her back. Then the comfort of his hands vanished, and she was left alone. With the darkness.

She heard the drip of water, the shuffle of feet, a frustrated curse from Riley. Several curses, actually, and her tremors intensified. Would Vlad, if he truly was alive, really attack a favored wolf? Would Tucker really ambush him? Tucker would never hurt Mary A

A scrape of stone against stone, followed by another curse from Riley, tugged her from her thoughts.

“He’s gone,” he croaked. “Vlad’s gone. Unless his body was snatched, which no one here would have done, he’s out there. And like Tucker told you, he’s probably pla

TWENTY-EIGHT

ADEN GAVE HIMSELF A PEP talk as he tugged the witch, Je

She was still blindfolded, her arms still tied behind her back, and demanding to know what he was doing with her. So far, he’d ignored her, but finally they were far enough away from the cabin that no one, even a wolf with supersonic hearing, would pick up on the conversation.

“What am I doing?” he responded, still chugging forward. “I’m letting you go.”

“I don’t believe you!” She stumbled over a twig, his grip the only thing holding her up. “Otherwise you’d cut the rope. I mean, really. Your Drainer used up most of my powers, so I’m pretty helpless now. You don’t have to worry about my casting a spell or anything like that.”

“You’ve said that before, about the Drainer, but as I told you, I don’t know what that is.”

She laughed without humor. “Whatever. Just untie me. Please. We’ll go our separate ways and pretend this never happened.”

As if. She’d never forget. Neither would he, for that matter.

Now or never, Caleb said, determined.

He’s right. This is the spot. Elijah sounded solemn. Something will happen here, I can feel it.

With a sigh, Aden stopped. Je