But now I knew what unconditional love was—I received it every day from Dad, Tan, and all of the family and friends I’d acquired since being set free from the Emissaries of Gepisha’s Iron cult.
I wasn’t sure when the last time I’d been down here was, but it had been a few months. All the auction victims were staying in condos toward the top of the tower, so I hadn’t had a reason.
I was so curious to know why the hell Tan sent me here.
I’d called Roman on the way here, but he hadn’t answered his phone.Ugh.
Nothing had changed. Each cell had a concrete bench built into the back wall with a cushion, blankets, and a pillow on it, a small sink and toilet in the corner, and that was pretty much it. Since they weren’t used often, there was no sense in doing anything more to them.
But the normally empty cells weren’t so empty anymore. Or at least, one wasn’t.
There was a figure lying on the bench in the back of the center cell on the right. I headed in that direction since that was obviously where Tan wanted me to go, and the closer I got, the more my brow furrowed.
Was that… no. No way.
Why in the fuck… why the hell would my dad… what the fuck was going on here?
Anton whispered to me, “I’ll wait by the elevator to give you two privacy.”
I nodded absently to him and stepped up to the cell, saying, “Roman?”
His head snapped over to me without getting up from where he lay on the bench. He took me in and groaned, rubbing his hands over his face.
“Rome? What the fuck? Why are you in there?”
He groaned again, not dropping his hands from his face. “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
“Like what? Wearing the same clothes you were wearing the last time I saw you like two hours ago?”
“Nooooo…” He let out a sound that was somehow a combination of a groan, a growl, and a whine. I’d give him credit where credit was due—it was a weird as hell noise. “Lockedup like a criminal and feeling like crap from being magically knocked out.”
My eyes widened. Who the hell would knock Roman out? And why? Why in the fuck was he in a cell in the first place?
I said, “Pretty sure you saw me locked up in one of these cells before. It was the first time we met, actually. Well, not counting when I was a baby.”
For some reason, that made him let out a strangled laugh that didn’t sound happy at all. He muttered, “A baby.”
When he went on with his groan-fest, I interrupted with, “What happened? Why are you in there? Who abracadabra-ed you?”
“Your dad’s pissed at me.”
“Why? What could you have possibly done in that short amount of time? And why the fuck would he throw you in a cell and magic-knock-out you?” I couldn’t imagine Roman ever doing anything bad enough for my dad to do this. What the hell?
“You don’t want to know.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Actually I do, and you’re gonna tell me if you want me to let you out.”
He finally dropped his hands and looked at me again. “You’re gonna let me out? But your dad’s gonna—”
“I don’t care. You’re not a criminal. You’re his best friend. You’re family. I’m not going to let him lock you up because you two got into an argument or something. I mean, how immature can he possibly be?”
He let out a sigh and pushed himself to sit up. “He’s upset, and I understand why. I mean, I thought he was going to try to strangle me or something, so I’ll take being thrown in this cell over that. I could’ve done without the magical knock-out glitter, though.”
My eyebrows rose. “He used the magic glitter on you?”
“How do you know about the magic glitter?”
I waved that off. “Tan makes me carry it around everywhere I go. I thought he gave you some too? Isn’t it a part of our normal arsenal?”
