Twenty minutes later the tears came, and with them the stark, reminder that she had absolutely nowhere to go and no one she could safely approach without alerting Cyrus, or the people he worked with that she still lived. Apart from Alden, everyone she’d considered her family had died at the Spokane Guild.
The one small comfort she had, if Ristan was telling her the truth—she prayed to Hecate that he was—was that the children she had hidden in the music room were alive and would be sent to their parents. She still wondered what would happen to the little ones who didn’t have parents. The ones that weren’t lucky enough to have an advocate to fight for them. She’d been one of those children, and she hoped that Synthia and Adam would look out for those children and do the right thing where they were concerned.
She silently wiped away the tears and turned the music on as she drove past nameless towns and country houses, through the sprawling, snow-covered countryside. She passed cows, horses and other animals as she made her way back to I-90 and onto the interstate, which ended up taking her back to Spokane and the Guild.
Huddled in the blankets she’d found in the Land Rover, she waited across the street from the ruins of the Guild until midnight had passed, and then the dawn bloomed on the horizon. It was serene, but as she fought the courage to get out of the safety of the SUV, she considered the facts.
She had nowhere else to go. Sad, since this wasn’t much of anything anymore. It was a pile of rubble that sat above extensive catacombs that ran underneath most of the city.
She had no one. Not even her cat, since it was left behind at the mansion in the mountains. At least if Ristan kicked it out, she knew Kit would survive, unless she got eaten by a bear, which would suck.
She had nothing. Not even a spare change of clothing should she slip and fall in the mud. She could just imagine the things that Demon had packed in that bag, and was willing to bet nothing in it would be suitable to wear in public. His tastes in clothes were more in the range of kinky to downright inappropriate. Although, she had looked okay in some of them, considering she never would have worn anything like those clothes if he hadn’t glamoured them on her.
She was homeless. She was hungry, and the chill from outside was beginning to soak through to her bones.
She blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and eyed the rubble as she exited the Land Rover, leaving the keys in the vehicle since technically she couldn’t keep it. She didn’t own it. A very sexy, probably very angry Demon did. She stood in the early morning haze and watched as the sun rose before she finally moved toward the Guild.
She had to go in through the back wall, climbing over piles of stones, and carefully made her way down broken, teetering stairs as she headed into one of the secret entrances to the library and catacombs. She wasn’t even sure why she’d come back here. Probably because it was familiar, not to mention the Land Rover wasn’t going to go anywhere else right now. The little gas light was on and she didn’t have a penny to her name. If she tried to pull money from her bank, it would alert those within the Guild that she was still alive, and she preferred them to believe she had been killed by her captor or taken to Faery. Everyone knew that Humans didn’t return from there.
Her foot slipped and she hit the rocky floor of the tunnel hard; her palms burned as she pushed herself off the floor and stood back up. Her arm stung and as she could feel blood as it slid down the back of her forearm where she’d banged her elbow on the stair as she fell.
“Why the hell can’t I sift? That shit is so much easier,” she screamed at the empty room.
She moved into the soot-covered library and stood in silence, as if she was holding a silent vigil in it. Most of the library had collapsed at the entrance to the catacombs. All that she could see from this side was charred remains and soot. She reached a breaking point and screamed as loud as she could. Birds flew from within, trying to escape the Banshee wails. She moved to one of the desks that was half burned and half undamaged and kicked it.
“Ouch!” she shouted as she jumped around trying to hold her wounded foot. “Why me!?” she asked the sky that peeped through the ruined ceiling. “Why? I wasn’t bad, was I? Was I some major bitch in a past life, so you give me this one? Leave me abandoned and alone without a single person to care about me? Why me?” she whispered brokenly as she slid to the floor. “I don’t even kill spiders.”
She sat in the soot and dust, hugging her knees with her back against the desk.
“You don’t even kill spiders?” Ristan teased as he stepped around one of the pillars in the room.
She jumped and then groaned. “I’m not going to get close enough to one to kill it, so no.”
He laughed and, uncaring about his own attire, he sat on the floor beside her. “You stole my car and left me in the middle of fucking nowheresville.”
“I did,” she said as she rested her head on his shoulder. “I needed a moment of freedom.”
“Is that why you were shouting freedom in my Land Rover for twenty minutes, or my personal favorite moment was when you were singing at the top of your lungs to Fight Song?” he countered as he reached for her abraded palm and healed it before he gently did the same with the other, as well as her elbow.
“I like that song,” she whispered softly. “I have nothing left,” she surprised herself and him by saying. “I’ve got nowhere to go, and no one would even notice if I disappeared.” He’d been in the car with her the entire time! Mixed with the emotions that she was dealing with, and now knowing that she’d never been actually free of him, she expelled a breath and shook her head.
“That’s not true,” he said.
“It is; it’s sad, but it’s true.”
“I noticed you disappeared,” he clarified with a gentle grin.
Her eyes moved to him and she rolled them. “Of course you did, I stole your car, which is like a felony.”
“So I should find some handcuffs and a paddle and show you what it’s like to be really punished?” he asked as he lifted a brow, as if he was intrigued with the idea.
“I mean it,” she said. “This was my home, and I had nothing else. No backup plan. The Guild always wanted us to cleave to the safety of the Guild, although Marie used to encourage us to think beyond the Guild, to a life outside. I thought I had more time. I thought I’d save up and move out someday, maybe plan a life and find a beefy Enforcer who had an obsession for dorky librarians who’d never been kissed.”
“You’re what, Olivia, twenty?” he asked as he rested his head back against the desk.
“Twenty-one,” she said, as if the one year meant something to him, which it didn’t.
“Most Humans don’t have shit figured out by twenty-one, the exception being which foods they like, and even that much is iffy. Had the Guild not fallen, you probably would have ended up stuck here way past your forties, married to some Warlock who went after younger girls when he went through his midlife chaos.”
“Crisis—and no, I’d have married a handsome one who only had eyes for me, who enjoyed cooking and pampering me. He would have wanted a big family and he’d be perfect. He’d be my mate in love and life,” she stated with dreamy enthusiasm.
“Lay off the books, damn. Who the hell did you plan on marrying? A male version of Mary Poppins?” he asked with a sideways glance.
She laughed and turned to look at him. “I guess my expectations were a little high. I just wanted to have a family and love them as they would love me. It sucks being alone, ya know? I had the Guild, but they’re not the same. I just never really fit in. Marie told me that when I was born, the Elders of Salem thought that my father was one of the more powerful Warlocks assigned to the Salem Guild. No one knows for sure because my mother died having me and didn’t tell anyone who he was and he didn’t come forward to claim me when she died. It put me at a bit of a disadvantage when I
came here.
“Anyway, once I was old enough to understand what was going on around me, I could see that other than being a girl, I didn’t have much in common with anyone here. Mary used to tease me about boys and how they viewed me more as a little sister and less like someone who they could date, and the men in my books were way better than the boys I was growing up with. I wanted to fit in, and I wanted to be normal. It just didn’t happen for me. I couldn’t even access my magic the way the other kids could. I have it, but I can’t channel it the same way so I had to find ways to make it work so I could blend in and not attract too much attention. Fin, one of the other librarians, could use his to send archives back without leaving his seat, but mine was weaker. I could return them quickly enough, and, of course, doing it manually ensured that it was without mistakes. I did create a system that worked, and had a few cheats thrown in so that I was as quick as the others. I didn’t party like the others did, though; that was my own fault because I was shyer than the others and I didn’t feel comfortable joining in. I just wanted someone who that made me feel normal.”
“You are normal, Olivia. You are as normal as someone who grew up inside a place like this could be. I get that you were sheltered within the Guild, and raised to follow orders, which makes you very naïve, but I know you have dreams, and you’re a good person. Other than stealing my car, you’ve probably never even broken the law.”
“I forgot to pay for a coffee once,” she admitted, and he smiled.
“And what did you do after you discovered you hadn’t paid?” he asked as he looked around the room.
“I went back and paid for the damn coffee. I was so unnoticeable, that the guy at the counter said he’d never seen me before and refused to take my money.”
“Ouch,” he said. “I doubt he failed to notice you; either he was trying to give a pretty girl a free cup of coffee, or it was because you were wearing one of those drab skirts that did nothing to show off those sexy-as-fuck legs. Still, if he failed to see the beauty on the outside, I know he couldn’t have missed the beauty you radiate from within.”
“Gosh, is this where you compliment me and then,” she stopped as she held her thumb up to her neck and dragged it over her throat dramatically, “off me?”
He laughed. “I should spank you; I didn’t enjoy you impulsively ditching me, but I did enjoy your driving.”
“Wait, back up. You…” She paused as she replayed what he’d said earlier. “I was watching for you; how the hell?”
“I think somewhere between screaming freedom, and crying your pretty little eyes out, you missed me sifting in and I was at a loss for the weirdness of the situation. I was also pretty sure you wanted some alone time.”
“I needed some time alone to think. A lot has happened, and I needed time to process it,” she admitted.
“And did you?” he asked carefully.
“Sort of. I am starting to think I have a serious case of Stockholm syndrome.”
“Stockholm what? What the hell is that?” he asked, giving her a curious look.
“It’s a psychological condition where a hostage or a kidnap victim forms an unnatural attachment to their captor,” she said with a lopsided grin as he grimaced.
“Let me guess; you think you have this because you like me and I turned out not to be the world’s biggest asshole? Ever consider that maybe I’m just addictive and habit forming?”
She rolled her eyes and elbowed him. “Nope. Now I’m starting to think you just suck.”
“No, but you do it pretty well,” he said as he pulled her close to him and kissed her cheek. “We have somewhere to be, and we need to get cleaned up. Vlad advised me to dress accordingly; and by dress, he meant nice evening wear, black tie and all of that. I can think of a few good things that tie could be used for afterwards, though.”
“Where are we going?” she asked curiously as he helped her up.
“To the Gates of Hell to meet a Demon about a box.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Once they were back in the Land Rover, he glamoured them both into clean clothing that would be more suitable for where they were going, or at least that was what he told her. He was hot in just a basic t-shirt and jeans, but decked out in an Armani suit with a crisp white dress shirt, silver tie, and matching cufflinks? Oh, Lord help her, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.
He’d dressed her in a little black dress that had long sleeves, a sweetheart neckline, and the back was left open in a dramatic low drape to mid-back. The short skirt had high slits up to her hips which thankfully made it more comfortable to sit in. Her shoes were black, peep-toe stiletto pumps, and he’d even created tiny crystal roses that embellished the top of them and softly sparkled at her in the dim interior lighting of the SUV. She had complained about her hair, and he’d wiggled his sexy fingers and her hair had been swept to the side and placed in a loosely braided bun on the side of her head. Soft tendrils of hair had been left free to frame her face, giving her a sensual look.
It wasn’t something she would have done herself, but paired with the red lipstick and heavy kohl eyeliner, she had to admit that overall, the combination made her look hot. From what she could see of herself in the tiny mirror, she looked like someone else. Of course, she’d never worn much makeup other than her normal dab of mascara and lip gloss, but she felt more beautiful tonight than she ever had before.
She wasn’t worried until they pulled up to a nightclub that seemed to materialize in the middle of nowhere. He sifted out of the car and opened her door before she could do it herself. He accepted her hand as she lowered herself from the Land Rover, kissing the inside of her palm gently before he released it. Her heart clenched at the courtly gesture and she couldn’t help but smile at him.
“Club Chaos?” she questioned as loud music sounded from within. “All sinners welcome?” she whispered as the door opened and a couple walked out with matching smiles.
“It’s an inside joke of the owner’s,” Ristan explained as he rounded to the open hatch and pulled out the bag with the box in it.
“That thing shouldn’t be given to anyone,” she said as she took an involuntary step backwards.
Ristan shook his head as he closed the hatch and held out his other hand for her. She accepted it begrudgingly, her eyes on the box-shaped bag. She had never been able to get close to it without feeling sick to her stomach, and that just made the curiosity of what was inside burn brighter for her.
She had never hidden her curiosity about the many sacred objects housed at the Guild, which the Elders had indulged to a certain degree. Some objects had been off-limits to touch or examine. She’d once been asked once to hold an ancient tome, which had given her the chills for an entire week afterwards.
They approached the door and she stumbled on the heels, but Ristan quickly held her up and gave her a curious look.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “This is a little out of my comfort zone.”
“You mean you never left your bedroom or those damn books long enough to go out to a nightclub?” he teased with a carefree smile.
“I didn’t have a lot of friends,” she admitted.
He paused at that and turned to look at her. “It might be better that you weren’t very close to those who died at the Guild,” he replied solemnly.
“It doesn’t make it easier that we weren’t good friends. It actually makes me feel worse. I had a hand in what happened. I have to live with it; even if they weren’t close to me, Ristan, they were my people.”
He didn’t get a chance to answer her, as the wide club doors were opened by a huge, intimidating man with an actual man-bun. It normally was a turn-off when a man had his hair up in a bun, but this guy was seriously pulling it off. He was heavily covered in tattoos up his arms and neck, and his eyes were a vibrant crystal blue.
; “What the fuck do you want?” he growled, his eyes raking over Olivia and then Ristan.
“To speak to your boss,” Ristan said without showing an ounce of fear, unlike Olivia who wanted to bolt back to the safety of the car.
“Is that so?” the hulking man asked as he snickered. “You got some balls, Demon. We thought for sure you’d send it in the mail.”
“Snail mail sucks and they lose half the shit they get paid to deliver. So, is he here or not?”
“He’s busy,” the man said, his eyes sliding back to Olivia and the low neckline of her dress. “In his office upstairs,” he finished. “Go on up, if you dare.”
Olivia perked up at that. If you dare? Was this guy serious?
Ristan placed his hand on the small of her back and pushed her past the man guarding the doors. Inside it looked like a lot of the clubs she’d seen in magazines or described in books, with gyrating bodies that pushed against each other as they danced to the beat of the music.
The room was large; black lights outlined the dance floor and colorful lights swirled and bathed the dancers, while the bar was lit up well enough for the bartender to pour drinks without mixing up the bottles. Not that it would have mattered if it hadn’t been, since the bar itself was glowing with bluish green light from beneath the mounted glass that topped the bar. There was also a wall of glowing lights spanned from one end of the bar to the other.
“Wow,” she shouted to be heard over the loud music.
“Darklands is better,” he shouted back as he moved her easily through the crowded room. It wasn’t until they reached a door that had the words ‘Sinners Lounge’ on it that he paused. He turned his head in her direction, smiling wickedly. “You’re going to see some freaky shit when we go through these doors. There are rules, Olivia. One, you belong to me,” he reminded her as he tugged lightly on the torque around her neck. “That should keep most away; however, if anyone should ask, I am your master, your lover, and no one else is to touch you. Two, don’t make eye contact with the men; it’s considered a challenge to most. Three, don’t leave my fucking side for any reason. We get in and we get out, understand?”