I flip him the bird, because fuck him. I trip over my own fucking feet and crash down to my knees, the force of it reverberating through me.
“You will never get what you want.” The words are barely more than a whisper as I fight the nightshade in my system. “He will never want you, but he will kill you for this.”
He leans down and strokes a finger down my cheek, before pressing his lips to my ear and whispering, “He’d have to know it was me to kill me.”
Chapter Five
I groan as I open my eyes. Fuck my fucking life right now.
My head feels like it’s lined with lead and cotton wool. So fucking tired and fuzzy, but I push through my bleary-eyed state to take in my surroundings. I’m back in the room with Fallon. She’s still asleep, which I’m taking as a good thing. What isn’t so great, are the shackles back on my ankles and wrists, but also the new one around my throat.
He put me in a fucking leash.
I’ll disembowel him for that alone.
“Oh good, you’re awake.” Gabriel smiles at me from the doorway. What is with these dickheads and their stupid ass smiles? I get it, he won this round. But they won’t win this war. Even if it does kill me, I’ll make sure I take them with me.
“Yippee for me,” I snark as I sit up, the scrape of the metal on stone like nails on a chalkboard. “A little overkill, don’t you think?” I pull at the chain connected to my throat, and he just chuckles.
“I thought so, but Nevin is the one who has to deal with you, so who am I to object? As long as I get what I want, I don’t care how we get there.”
“What is it, exactly, that you want?” I ask him, and he saunters further into the room.
“Isn’t that just the million-dollar question?” He fucking winks at me before waving his hand and sitting opposite me in the chair that appears. “What I want is you and your abomination race wiped from existence. The magic and blood lines are so polluted, it’s fucking with everything. Your kind was never meant to exist, none of the factions outside of the witches were. Once I destroy you all, power will bounce back to where it was intended. A new world is coming.”
“You’re delusional.” I roll my eyes at him, which wipes the smile from his face. “Is that really what all of this was about? Power?”
“Delusional? Your grandfather certainly didn’t think so,” he says, pausing but I’m not giving him any kind of reaction to that right now, I just tuck it away for later. “Anyway, power is the best currency around. Always has been. When Leviathan ‘saved’ you, he fucked with everything. It was bad enough the Lycans and the Dracul had been created, but they would’ve destroyed themselves if they’d been left to it, disgusting animals, the lot of them, but when he created you, created the curse, it fueled the other factions, creating an entire planet of filth.”
“You really are insane. You think you can just wipe three races from existence, without repercussion? The fates aren’t so kind,” I tell him with a shrug and lean back against the wall. “All that will happen is a power vacuum, and something else will replace what was taken. It’s not just going to snap back to Avalon because you demand it.”
“I already broke the curse,” he grins. “The rest won’t be so hard. Admittedly, it would’ve been easier with the demons on our side still, but it’s going to happen regardless. You can’t stop it. The wheels are already in motion, the things that are happening out in the world right now, while you sit here like a caged bird… I don’t know that I could be any happier even if you were already dead.”
“You really think the Archangel council won’t intervene? That Michael won’t stop this?”
“That would require those that aren’t already on my side being aware, and most of them are so clueless and wrapped up in their own bullshit, they haven’t paid attention to what’s happening outside of their little bubble. By the time they notice, it’ll be too late. As for Michael, well, he has his hands full at the minute. A little chaos goes a long way.”
I swallow the rage that rises and bite my tongue. It’s like he gets off on every one of my words, like he wants to crush me and refute each syllable I utter. I can take that power away by simply not speaking or reacting.
He is truly certifiable. There is no way that he can kill everyone off, not all of the factions. Even if I wasn’t around, they’d rally together and fight back. He might be the Archangel of Chaos, but even he only has so much power.
I try not to worry about Michael, he’s always got a handful with Avalon, I just hope he can handle whatever the fuck it is this dickhead has thrown at him this time. Though, having his help right now wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing. I close my eyes and try to find some zen amongst the mess of thoughts in my mind.
“You can close your eyes, but you can’t escape this. You will die, and they will all see just what we do to filth. We will hunt them to the ends of the Earth, and extinguish every single one of you, and the factions you love so much. Earth will belong to the ones who help us.”
“And yet, you work with this filth you speak of.” I smile without opening my eyes.
“Every war has casualties.” He grins. “Friendly fire happens all the time.
The meek woman from before comes back more often, bringing regular food and water, I eat a little because if I don’t I’m never going to get out of here, but each time I do I regret it, because it knocks me the fuck out. I’ve never slept so much and still felt so fucking tired. I have exactly zero idea of how much time has passed since the day in the forest. Sometimes it only feels like a few days, and others it feels like lifetimes.
I assume they’re feeding us at random times to keep me off kilter. Nevin always did love mind fuckery, I just never thought I’d be on the other end of it. I’ve seen him toy with people before, so at this point, not much more could surprise me. I found the cameras he had hidden after Gabe left, I’m just glad the toilet seems to be out of their scope, and that my chains still allow me to reach it.
Leaning my head on my arms, I try to get comfortable as I lay down. The thin mattress Fallon is on is the only one in here, I don’t begrudge her having it, I’d rather she has it than me, but laying on a cold stone floor isn’t the most comfortable and my ass has gone numb, so I need to not be sitting for a little while.
The creak of the door alerts me to someone’s arrival, but I don’t even bother looking. I’m sick of Nevin and his bullshit. Gabriel too.
“They really do look like filthy rats.” The British accent fills the space and I clench my jaw. Lizzie and her coven have arrived. I look over to the door, and Lizzie is standing there, decked out in black, right down to the hooded robe that makes her look like every witch cliché I’ve ever seen, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Still look better than you do,” I snort, and she hisses at me.
“Oh, it’s going to be so much fun playing with the high and mighty Remington Bennett.” The glee in her voice is unmissable, though what she intends to do in here where magic doesn’t work right is beyond me.