A dark voice whispered through the glass, the words muffled.
Kace touched his fingertips to the mirror, passing through with no resistance. His hand disappeared, and then his arm before the sensation of hooks piercing into his skin, pulling him through. Kace pulled, able to free himself from whatever had caught him. He landed into a crouch, the smell of ash and death tickling his nose.
“Turn around and put your hands up.”
Kace slowly raised to his full height, following the instructions to find Augustine standing there, one hand wrapped around his mate’s throat and another hidden from sight.
Mate.
“Well, if it isn’t the infamous Red.” Confusion flashed in Augustine’s obsidian eyes, quickly clouding over with rage. “Do you really believe I would trap myself so easily?” he said, gesturing to the mirror behind Kace. “It’s a waking glass, and you have no idea how many faeries I had to kill to get one.”
Kace let out a growl, taking a step forward before Eva’s face twisted with pain, her lips opening on a gasp. The bite on her throat had stopped bleeding, but he knew it was fresh.
“Careful,” Augustine warned, “there’s a stake perfectly placed against her heart. One wrong move and she’s nothing but dust. You wouldn’t cause her harm, would you, Red?”
Flames crackled, an orange blaze deep below the unsteady platform on which they stood. The sands of the Pits lay in ruins, much of the surrounding arena beyond recognition. Kace thought he would have grinned at the sight, except all he cared about was the woman in the master vampire’s grip.
“It was a mistake to hire only humans.”
“Breed generally cannot be trusted.” Augustine cocked his head, his grip tightening on Eva. “It took me a while, Red, but I finally recognised you.”
Kace waited, heart a heavy thump that he knew both could hear.
“You were such a weak, pathetic child. You sobbed when your grandfather left you with me, so much you puked.” Flames reflected in the darkness of his eyes, his smile a smirk. “But then you survived, a fucking artist on the sands.”
Kace reached for another blade, fingers finding nothing.Fuck.
“You were my star, a child able to take out men three times his size.” Augustine continued. “It all makes sense now, why you would be sponsored by Riley Storm. It was his father, Mason who bought your freedom. Offered me more money than you could ever have made me. Everything dies, and you would have fallen eventually.”
Fur brushed beneath tight skin, Kace’s eyes sweeping up to meet Eva’s, her own calm and as blue as the ocean.
“Looks like that was a big fucking mistake,” Augustine chuckled. “Together we could make the undercity bow at our feet.”
“The only thing you’re bowing to is death.” Kace let his beast shadow his features, his irises shifting to liquid silver.
Doubt glistened in Augustine’s dark eyes. “What are you?”
Kace tried to keep a stoic face. “I’m the monster who eats monsters.”
Chapter34
Eva
Heat licked across her skin, Augustine’s grip ice in comparison.
“Just couldn’t stand to be away from me,” he whispered against her ear, and she fought his hold as he pulled her further towards the edge.
Eva scratched down his arm, but his hand only strengthened, the other wrapping around her hair to pin her neck at a painful angle. Fangs pierced, and her scream echoed in the carnivorous room.
His head shifted to the side, only for his tongue to tease the edge of the wound. “Who are the friends you’ve invited to their deaths?”
The surface of the mirror rippled, and Eva shook as Kace fell into a crouch.
“Turn around and put your hands up.” Augustine stiffened behind her as Kace rose to stand. “Well, if it isn’t the infamous Red.”
Pressure on her back, a sharp tip piercing her skin to radiate a shock of pain across her muscles. She let out a gasp, unable to keep it inside before she breathed through the burning ache, regaining her composure long enough to meet Kace’s tightly hidden violence.
“What are you?” Augustine asked, his voice losing its authority.
