“Then why did you bring me here?” I made certain that Bahmet couldfeelthe joy that radiated from me as I added, “My educated guess tells me that Hector frightens you. That’s why you don’t want to go to him, isn’t it?”
The demon’s pause spoke volumes.“No. I brought you here because you were trying to escape the clutches of your father, not return to them.”
My blood turned to ice in my veins, the room swaying as though I stood on the bows of a ship. “What has that got to do with Hector’s location?”
It was Bahmet’s turn to highlight just how he was the one who had won this small battle.“Because your father currently is holding Hector as his captive. I think the correct term he not long ago used was ‘bait’. So, Arwyn, what will your next request be, knowing this information?”
I didn’t even need to speak it aloud before the shadows swallowed me up.
Bahmet might not be in control of me, but without him I would be powerless to save the people I truly loved. Bahmet knew that… I sensed the emotion in him. And the demon was right.
I needed him.
15
HECTOR
The shackles around my wrists dug into the skin, severing blood circulation until the tips of my fingers turned blue. I learned, quickly, that every time I moved the bindings got tighter, so I did my best to keep as still as I possibly could.
Harsh hands pushed me down. My knees were forced into the stone floor, tearing skin. I glowered at my captors as they wrapped the chain connecting my wrists to the large metal ring on the floor in front of me, eliminating any movement.
“Who guessed my kink was chains then?” I said to a silent crowd.
Comfort was an impossibility in the basement of the White Tower. I’d been placed in the shadows of the grand stone archway that had become a doorway to the Witch Trials during my first visit here. I was almost one-hundred-percent confident that Tomin had locked me here because it was the same place I’d killed Jonathan Bailey.
It was almost poetic, at least on Tomin’s behalf. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was highlighting some unspoken homoerotic history between the men.
“Tough crowd. I’m all for whips and chains, but is this really necessary?” My sarcasm echoed around the dark room, fillingthe few corners that weren’t filled with Witch Hunters poised and ready to greet the predator they’d been trying to catch.
It didn’t take me long to work out that I was the bait.
Poor, powerless Hector Briar on his knees to wait for a demon-possessed ex-lover to come and rescue him. It was so tragic someone could’ve written a book about my life. A bestseller no doubt. Personally, I thought it would’ve done better as a musical.
“Fuck me, do you all have your tongues cut out?—”
“Quiet.” Tomin’s sharp tone cut through the gloom.
“Oh sure,” I said, eyes rolling into my head to the enjoyment of a couple of loose-tongued Witch Hunters. “It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.”
“I saidquiet.”
The chains rattled as I shifted my position, trying to ease the ache in my torn-up knees. “Listen, I’m all for following commands every now and then, but surely you want me to scream or something? If you want a show, I can put one on. I took drama for GCSEs and I can play a really convincing ‘damsel in distress’ part. I think that would really convince Arwyn to come and?—”
I was silenced by the crack of a bullet. It hit against the stone slabs to my right, chipping it into shrapnel and dust. I flinched to the side, pinching my eyes closed as a piece of disturbed stone sliced my cheek.
A gargled cry clogged up my throat, so thick and ferocious I couldn’t breathe properly for a few seconds.
“There you go. Much better,” Tomin sang from the dark shadows of the room, gun still drawn. “You wanted to scream, and you have. Now quiet, or the next bullet will hit your thigh.”
Aware that an entire room of forty-plus Witch Hunters had just witnessed my momentary lapse in confidence, I tried toregain my composure and pride before they could use it against me.
Glowering out across the barren room, I fixed my eyes on Tomin as the barrel of his gun hissed with smoke.
“I don’t like being threatened,” I said.
“And I don’t like listening to your voice,” Tomin replied, full lips quirking into a smile. “You know, I’m almost surprised that you are a Briar. I seem to remember your parents were not as… vocal when they were faced with death.”
I jolted forwards, pulling at the chains whilst willing my blood to evict the thistlebane, just so I couldwitchmyself out of this predicament. Every time I looked at Tomin it was a reminder that he’d died and come back to life before my eyes.
