Benny ignored the question. Still holding Seth in midair, he turned to face Riley, giving him a beaming smile. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care that Riley’s eyes were solid black, fangs poking out between his lips. “Hey. Are you the ass-eating guy?”
“Yeah.” Riley nodded. “I’m the boyfriend.”
“Cool. Nice to meet you.”
Seth wiggled in Benny’s arms, trying to get gracefully to the ground and failing miserably. “Um, Benny, do you think Helio could handle them? The soldiers?”
Benny looked over his shoulder at Helio, and Helio heaved a sigh, waving his hand again. Instantly, the soldiers disappeared from view. Completely. Zero sign of them or their guns.
That…was not what Seth had been expecting. “Where did they go?”
Helio shrugged a careless shoulder. “Scattered throughout the fae realm.”
“You can do that?” the vampire Riley had arrived with asked sharply. He was eyeing Helio like he was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. Seth was suddenly a little concerned this guy was going to commandeer one of the cells and lock Helio in there for his own experiments.
“This dreary hellhole is full of broken promises, false hopes, and dirty tricks. There’s quite a bit of power for me to draw from.”Helio gave Mr. Perkins a condescending nod. “My compliments to the chef.”
Mr. Perkins only stood there, wide-eyed and frozen. Without the soldiers holding her hostage, Violet had already run over to their side, standing tall with their faction. Good girl.
Seth knocked gently on Benny’s chest until Benny released him to the ground again, where Riley quickly tugged Seth back to his side. “Will they be okay?” Seth asked. “The soldiers?”
“It depends on which of the fae find them first,” Helio told him, already sounding bored with the topic of conversation. “Nowcan we go?”
Benny scratched his chest, shrugging at Seth. “We’re having island time. He gets cranky if we’re interrupted. Are you good here?”
Seth was still a little hung up on the approximately dozen humans Helio had just relocated toanother fucking realm, but that was kind of Seth’s fault for being vague with his instructions, wasn’t it? And if this was a sort of tiny, one-hallway version of war, those soldiers had been fighting on the wrong side, right? They’d lost. Now they were facing the consequences.
They were going to take Riley. They were never going to let him go.
“We’re good,” he told his cousin. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, bud.” Benny nodded to Riley and gave Violet a little one-sided fist bump. “Sick boots.”
He leaned down to press a kiss to Seth’s head, but before it landed, he and Helio were already gone again, almost as if they’d never been there at all.
“I love him,” Violet whispered in their wake.
Seth didn’t know if she was talking about Benny or Helio. Hopefully Benny. Helio was kind of terrifying and definitely not fit for teenage crushes.
Riley’s vampire friend gave Seth a considering look. “You have a fae in your arsenal. I thought they were a myth.”
Seth shrugged, hoping he gave off the impression of having had even a bit of control of that entire, confusing interaction. He turned to Mr. Perkins. “I told you, didn’t I?”
Mr. Perkins bolted.
The other vampire was on him in a second, one arm securing Mr. Perkins around the chest, the other hand tugging his head to the side in a very deliberate manner. “Riley,” he offered in a lazy drawl.
Mr. Perkins let out a horrible, high-pitched laugh. “Do you really think it ends with me? You think this is the only facility of its kind?”
The other vampire tightened his hold until Mr. Perkins groaned. “Sometimes it’s not for closure,” the vampire crooned. “Sometimes it’s just for fun.” He bent Mr. Perkins’s neck at an even harsher angle. “Riley,” he offered again.
Riley stepped forward with a low growl.
Before Seth had even made a conscious decision, he was placing a restraining hand on Riley’s arm. Riley stopped immediately, cocking his head at Seth. Riley was still united, Seth thought. Still whole and present and in charge of his own autonomy.
Seth knew he didn’t have much time. He tried to get his thoughts in order. “I understand you want vengeance,” he said slowly. “I know he planned horrible things for you.”
“Hetookyou,” Riley said fiercely, as if that was all that mattered. Not the trap itself, but the bait that had been used.
