“I’m not playing a fucking game,” Roger snarled.
“Oh, but games are wonderfuldistractions.”
Damn it, I’ve been focusing on the wrong thing.Roger had missed when the snips of wire had stopped. Sounds of scuffle in the hallway told him that combat was going on there as well. The blast of a shotgun roared from farther away.
That fractional slide of his attention gave Anton the opportunity to rear back and headbutt him. The blow stunnedRoger for less than a second, but between creatures who could move quickly, it was too long. Anton slammed his free hand against the center of Roger’s chest and knocked him against the opposing wall, snapping wires as he went.
Dmitri wailed like an animal in pain, and his bloody tears now coursed down from his cheeks to his chest.
Roger landed beside Amber. She had drawn her dagger, but it had slipped her grasp and fallen to the floor. Tendrils of shadow held her pinned to the wall despite her attempts to yank herself free. One of them was locked around her neck, and another was over her mouth. As Roger watched, the one on her mouth thickened to block her nose. Her cheeks flushed pink from exertion, and terror filled her eyes.
With a growl, Roger snatched her dagger from the floor and pulled his silver-plated one from his belt. “Let her go.”
“Oh, but she is marvelous,” Anton said smoothly. He made a small hand motion with his right hand, but his left continued to move as if orchestrating strings. “You can feel it, can’t you? That first primal terror. She’s never been overpowered like this before. Her blood would be rich, Roger.”
“If she dies,” Roger said, “no corner on this Earth will be able to hide you from the suffering I will bring you before sending your soul to rot in Hell where it belongs.”
And, unsurprisingly to Roger, Anton’s smile only grew. “I must say, once again, how absolutely fuckinghotyou are right now.”
“Anton!”
“I would have thought that you cared more about Zack’s well-being than hers. Or his.” As Anton threaded his way to Dmitri through the remaining wires, he plucked them. He put a hand on Dmitri’s chest, and the sound that came out of Dmitri was unnaturally high. “I heard your little threat to the older hunter. I know you still care about our poor, sad Dmitri.”
Anton mimicked a pout. His eyes still sparkled with a joke.
“If you’re going to talk, let her breathe,” Roger demanded.
“Fine,” Anton said with a roll of his eyes. He gestured with his right hand, and the tendril blocking Amber’s nose thinned to cover only her mouth, and the one on her throat eased. His left had stopped moving, but sounds of combat were still going on in the hall.
What else was Anton doing? Was he bringing Seamus here? Stalling for his arrival? Torturing someone else? Roger hated not knowing, but asking would lead him nowhere. Everyone else’s lives were games to Anton.
And though the games changed, some of the basics remained the same. Roger had played through other versions of this. If he used that knowledge, he might be able to maneuver out of this. Roger asked lightly, “Did Seamus drag you out of the mansion so you couldn’t play while he was gone?”
Anton narrowed his eyes.
“He considers Zack and Takashi treasures, and he’s warned you not to spoil them,” Roger replied. “Let me walk out of here with them, and you’ll have his full attention again.”
“This attempt at being clever is making you quite dull,” Anton said with a sigh. He stroked Dmitri’s chest. “However, I am prepared to make you a deal.”
Roger’s heart dropped like a stone. Anton always kept his deals, but he’d once seen him offer a man that he wouldn’t harm a hair on his head and then promptly use a spell that made the man lose all his hair. Then the torture had started.
But he had to do something. Sooner or later, Seamus would come home.
“I’m listening,” Roger said.
“I can let you leave with your little band of hunters, and I’ll even give you Dmitri. Or—” Anton’s eyes glittered, and his smilereturned. “—I can keep everyone but you, and I’ll tell you where Zack and Takashi are.”
Callum Wright was worth nothing. Thomas would be a loss, but Zack would survive it.
But Amber? No. Roger couldn’t let her suffer. He had sworn no more innocents would come to harm because of him, and she was only in danger because he’d failed to prepare for this. He couldn’t abandon the others, not if he wanted to be able to meet his lovers’ gazes again.
And then there was Dmitri, for whom his heart would always ache.
Without hesitation, he said, “I’ll take the hunters and Dmitri.”
“What an interesting choice!” Anton declared. “I must say, Ilovethis new side of you, Roger. You’re finally something close to fascinating.”
Anton snapped his fingers, and the shadowy tendrils gripping Amber melted away. She started to fall, but Roger caught her. Still fighting for air, her first instinct was to snatch her blade back from him, and he let her have it. The runes glowed with bright white light, and she fought for her balance to face Anton.
