Something on the floor caught my attention lines drawn in what looked like white chalk, creating intricate patterns that surrounded my chair in a perfect circle. They glowed faintly in the dim light, a subtle phosphorescence that pulsed in rhythm like a heartbeat.
My stomach lurched as I realized what they were. Wards similar to what Magnur had described protecting his penthouse. But these weren’t for protection, they were for isolation.
For cutting a demon’s mate off from her connection. This was why I couldn’t feel Magnur anymore. Whatever Trevor had done, the knowledge he’d somehow acquired, he’d used it to sever the thread between us.
I closed my eye again, breathing through the wave of nausea that rolled through me. I needed to think. I tried once more to free my hands, straining against the ropes until they cut into my wrists, feeling warm wetness that could only be blood. The pain cleared my head a little, helped me focus through the throbbing at my temple where he’d struck me. I twisted and pulled and contorted my hands, trying to find some slack, some weakness in the binding.
Nothing. Just more pain, more blood slicking my fingers, making my efforts even more futile. I slumped back in the chair, exhaustion and lingering disorientation washing over me. How long had I been unconscious? Hours? A day? Magnur must be frantic. If he could even sense that something was wrong through our severed connection.
A new fear gripped me, what if he thought I’d simply abandoned him? What if the sudden disappearance of our bond felt like rejection on his end? No. He would know that I’d never willingly leave him.
I stared at the glowing lines, hatred burning in my chest for the man who’d put them there.
“You really did all this...” I muttered, disbelief mixing with disgust as I took in the elaborate setup around me. “For me?”
The universe, unsurprisingly, offered no response, I was on my own, at least for now. The echo of footsteps broke the warehouse silence, I straightened in my chair, refusing to be found slumped over like some defeated victim in a horror movie. If Trevor wanted to play kidnapper, fine, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me broken. The steps grew louder, accompanied by the soft whistling of a tune I recognizedfrom our shared past—“Yellow” by Coldplay, the song he’d once claimed was “our song” despite my repeated insistence that I hated it.
Trevor stepped into the pool of light surrounding my chair, looking refreshed and composed. He’d changed into a crisp button-down shirt and dark jeans, his hair neatly combed, face freshly shaved except for the three angry red welts my nails had left across his cheek. He looked like he was dressed for a casual dinner date rather than a kidnapping.
“You‘re awake,” he observed, his voice carrying that infuriating calm I’d come to recognize as his most dangerous mood. “Good. I was getting tired of waiting.”
There was something different about him now, a confidence that hadn‘t been there in the garage, or even during our relationship. He was no longer bothering to maintain the facade of the reasonable, misunderstood ex-boyfriend. This was Trevor without the mask, finally showing his true self now that we were alone and I was securely bound.
I noticed my phone in his hand as he circled my chair like a shark.
“Free me,” I demanded, making it a command rather than a plea. My voice came out harder than I expected, anger overriding the fear that coiled in my stomach. “Now, Trevor.”
He glanced at me, a flicker of annoyance crossing his features before settling back into that eerie calm. “Always so demanding,” he said, continuing his slow circuit around my chair. “That’s one of the things I’m going to help you work on, Jade. Your tone. Your attitude. We have time.”
“We don’t have anything,” I spat. “Whatever sick game you’re playing, it ends now. People know where I am. They’ll be looking for me.”
Trevor’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “By ‘people,’ you mean the demon?” He held up my phone, screen facing me so I could seeMagnur’s contact open. “Don‘t worry. He knows exactly where you are. Or he will, very soon.”
My blood ran cold. “What did you do?”
“I sent him our location,” Trevor said simply, as if commenting on the weather. “Along with a few choice photos of you.” He turned the phone toward me again, showing me an image I hadn’t been conscious for, me bound to the chair, head lolling to one side, a trickle of blood running from my temple down my cheek.
“You’re insane,” I whispered. “You want him to come here? You’ve seen what he is.”
Trevor’s expression hardened. “I’ve seen a lot more than you think, Jade. I’ve been watching you, watching him. Learning.” He gestured to the glowing circle around me. “Did you think this was random? That I just happened to know how to create wards that could block a mate bond?”
He paced the perimeter of the circle again, his fingers trailing just above the glowing lines. “My family has a history with his kind. Did he tell you that? Of course not.” Trevor laughed, a bitter sound that echoed off the warehouse walls. “Demons, warlocks, mate bonds, I grew up hearing the stories, but I never believed them. Not until I saw him with you on that rooftop.”
I stared at him, pieces falling into place. “You’re a warlock,” I said, the words feeling strange on my tongue.
Trevor’s smile widened. “Not quite. Not yet. But I’m learning.” He gestured to the circle surrounding me. “This was difficult to set up, but necessary. I couldn’t have you warning him mentally through that disgusting connection you share.”
He walked away from me toward the center of the warehouse, where I now noticed an even larger circle drawn on the floor.
“Do you know how hard it is to create something that can handle a being like him?” Trevor continued, pride evident in his voice. “My ancestors managed it for centuries, but theknowledge was nearly lost. I had to piece it together from family journals, from fragments of spells.”
My mind raced, connecting what Trevor was saying with the story Magnur had told me.
“Your ancestors were the ones who tortured him,” I said, horror and revulsion washing through me.
Trevor turned back to me, surprise momentarily replacing his smug expression. “He told you about that? Interesting.” He seemed genuinely curious. “What else did he say about my family?”
“That they were monsters,” I spat. “That they used him before he finally broke free.”
