“She made me see the life I’m supposed to live. And I saw my mate.”
“How is that possible? That isn’t one of her abilities. How do you feel?”
Damian stopped at the end of the hall right at the foot of the stairs, which was the direction Nicolono had to go.
“Incomplete,” Damian said and continued on his way as if Nicolono was any other vampire.
Yes, that was it exactly. Nicolono felt incomplete and his bitch of a wife was to blame. Nicolono walked up the stairs quickly and almost ran down the hall to the fancy door.
He turned the knob and stood in front of the cell. There was a blond human lying on the straw in the corner of the room and a shifter sitting in front of him. “Well, well. Two for the price of one.”
“Fuck you.” His eyes turned reptilian and his tongue flicked out when he hissed.
“Aahh, little snake.” Nicolono smiled. “You will make a nice snack for my coven.”
He hissed again and drew nearer to the witch, sleeping on his stomach.
Nicolono laughed. “Not to worry, snake. I didn’t come to visit with him just yet.”
He walked over to the next cell, where his wife sat in the middle of the floor. She had her legs crossed and her eyes were closed as if she meditated. He knew she wasn’t because she had never practiced that before.
“What do you want, Nicolono? I’m busy.”
“I want to know what kind of curse you put on Angel and Damian.”
She opened her eyes and laughed. “It was no curse. Thomas helped me make you all see your very own truth. Is it hard to swallow, Nicolono? Witches working with Warlocks.”
“No. I have my connections.”
“You aren’t the center of your followers’ universe. Pretty soon you will be nothing to them at all, just like you are nothing to me. I know about the curse that little warlock put on you.”
Nicolono swore and Silvia cackled. “You will pay for this. I wanted that boy as my very own.”
“I know,” Silvia said around her laughter. “And now you want me. Let me out, Nicolono and I’ll wait for you to go to sleep before I plunge a knife in your heart.” Silvia had tears in her eyes she was laughing so hard.
“Prison life has made you crazy.”
She sobered instantly. He left the room when she started chanting.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lucas gained consciousness slowly. He tried to sit up, but his head hurt so bad he could barely see. His hands came up to grip at the pain because it felt as if his brain was going to fall out through his ears. He touched a spot in the back that had him crying out. He pulled away immediately.
“Shh... Still bleeding.” Someone touched his back, rubbing it. Lucas knew it wasn’t Bennett, he would have smelled him by now. Then that hand stopped rubbing and he lost consciousness again. It didn’t feel as if he lost large chunks of time. Maybe just a few minutes, and no one touched him. He must have been dreaming.
He lay there for several minutes, concentrating on his breathing, needing the air to work through his lungs to lessen the pain enough so he could open his eyes. Even the migraines he used to have weren’t as bad. Nothing felt like the kind of pain he had. Childbirth, maybe. Not that he would know anything about giving birth but based onwhat his mother used to say about his own birth, he could guess it was pretty awful.
His thoughts were scattered enough that he couldn’t focus on anything but the pain.
Headache.
He lay there for long minutes on his stomach. There was straw underneath him, as if he were a goat in a zoo. Still, it did alleviate some of the hardness of the cement beneath.
Headache.
He thought about his light and tried to focus it through his body going to the spot on the back of his head. It was a gradual process, but the pain started to lessen little by little. It was as if a group of tiny surgeons was in there sewing him back together. Thank God he was a witch and not a human, or he would have been in a lot more pain for a lot longer.
When he could focus enough on his surroundings, he felt Bennett in his mind. The worry Bennett felt turned Lucas’ stomach. He dry-heaved, his eyes watering. The tears ran down his cheeks as the pain in his head worsened.
