Things would be different when they came back. He would make things right with Rylee and Alex. First, they had to come back, and he had to believe they would come back.
That for once Milly wouldn’t fuck them over and would do the right thing.
That he could trust the witch.
He let out a groan. Of all the people he had to put his faith in, Milly was dead last on the list.
Yet here he was, betting the life of his mate on her.
Sliding his hands over his face, he tried to focus on the good. Rylee would come back, things would be okay.
They had to be.
I paced the small room, AKA padded cell, Faris had left us in. An hour, maybe more had passed since he’d left, and I still didn’t know how to get out.
With little thought, I yanked my sword out and swung it toward the chaise lounge, cracking through the bones of the chair as if they were matchsticks.
“Wrecking stuff?” Alex poked at a vase that stood on top of a side table.
“Yup, wreck it all.” I took another swing, this time toward the paneling that covered the cement walls. Somewhere, there had to be another way out.
Alex let out a howl of excitement and ran in circles three times before laying into things. With his claws, and my sword, we demolished the room. The clatter of porcelain and wood clattering to the floor was a grim satisfaction I clung to. Maybe I couldn’t kill Faris, but I could destroy the fucking gilded cage he put us in.
Fifteen minutes later, we stood in the middle of the room, and I inspected the damage. Destroying the old paintings, expensive material and furniture had been a drop in the bucket as far as soothing my rage. The room looked like an explosion had ripped through it. Bits of feather clung to Alex’s grinning mouth as he smiled up at me.
“Fun, yupppy doody. Alex likes breaking shit.”
I dropped to a crouch beside him, sliding to my ass on the hardwood floor. He lay down beside me and put his head on my thigh.
“Rylee sad.” His long tongue lolled out as he panted.
“Not sad, just—” I didn’t even know how to put it into words. Frustrated, angry, stymied. All those and so much more; guilt over Charlie’s senseless death, fear for the deal I’d been forced into with Faris. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against a chunk of broken furniture. Charlie had been a good friend, one who deserved so much more than a death at the hands of that gods be damned two-faced vampire. But, like always, there really wasn’t time to grieve. Later, always later, right now I had to figure out a way to get the hell out of here. A week, I wasn’t sure I could last a week in here.
We sat there long enough that Alex fell asleep. Twitching and mumbling, he let out a fart that made me gag.
“Damn it all, what have you been eating?” I muttered, waving my hands in front of my face. He just snorted and rolled over, oblivious to the trouble we were in. That we were at the mercy of a vampire who was no longer trying to play nice. That we were well and truly trapped until said vampire decided to let us go, if he ever chose to.
Ignorance is bliss, and all that shit, I guess.
A twist in the air, a feeling of pressure, and the veil split in front of us. I expected Faris, and was shocked as shit at who stepped into the room.
I could have almost expected Pamela, Jack, or Will. But not Milly.
Pamela ran to me and threw her arms around my waist, a sob escaping her. “You’re okay.”
I put one hand on her back as I made eye contact with my ex-best friend. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
Her green eyes met mine, but I couldn’t read them and that made me nervous. “We need to go, before Faris comes back.”
I pushed myself to my feet and nudged Alex with my foot. “Come on, buddy, the rescue party is here.”
With a snort, he scrambled to all fours, blinking sleepily. “Pamie!” He leapt toward the young witch, bowling her over in his excitement, until he saw Milly.
His big golden eyes narrowed and his lips peeled back over his teeth. “Milly bad witch.”
Milly’s jaw tightened. “Behave yourself, Alex.”
Pamela moved between them. “You behave yourself. You’re the one who can’t be trusted.”
Okay, enough of this. “Pull it in, people, we’ve got to go.”
Milly wasted no time in opening the veil. On the other side was a pacing Liam, and my heart gave a lurch. Yup, definitely in love with him, if there had been any doubt, it was erased when I saw the look on his face.
For once, I got to be the first one out of the ‘fire’ and Liam grabbed me, pulled me tight to his chest. The public display of affection was not something we did, but I tucked my head against the crook of his neck, breathing him in for a moment before pulling back so I could look into his face.