The Usurper's Throne

51

"We outran him last time. I think we can outrun him again," Elijah mused. "We'll go to the garage."

"Can't we go in the dark realm?"

Elijah shook his head. "We've been trapping his guards in the dark realm. I can open a portal under their feet and they're good and stuck unless they have a flashlight and know what to do with it. The dark realm, except for Damien, is the most dangerous place at the moment."

I nodded. I really hated this place.

We made our way down to the garage. Reid wasn't with us, but one of the other people tried a code. "Not working; they've changed it."

"Who locks a garage?" Elijah mused. "We could phase through it in the dark realm. I'll make the portal and head in first. Daniel, Naomi is your responsibility. She'll go in after I give the all-clear, understood?"

Daniel nodded and stepped closer to me. He was so close, I could smell him. He had clearly been running all day. He set a hand on my shoulder.

Elijah opened a portal and jumped through. I could see through to the garage. It appeared empty. I heard Daniel's phone buzz. Why did he have his phone? I thought they were supposed to leave them back at Redwood?

"All clear," Elijah called.

"Go," Daniel said to the other people there.

"I thought—" one started.

"Go! Quickly!" Daniel urged, looking around. They began pouring through the portal until just Daniel and I were left.

"Daniel!" I heard Elijah yell.

Suddenly, a bright light shone behind me. I blinked and almost passed out.

Damien was stepping out of the dark realm.

He smirked.

I turned to dive through the portal Elijah made, but a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and threw me onto the ground.

Daniel.

He stood over me and grinned at his brother. "All yours," he said.

"Thank you, brother," Damien said, eyes focused on me. He looked up at Elijah's portal, and I saw Elijah was slumping to the ground. He had been shot with a tranquilizer. How?

I frantically tried to scramble to my feet, but Daniel brought his foot down on my back, hard. Crap. Crap. Crap. I could feel Damien's eyes locked on me.

The door opened to the garage and Roy stepped out. All of Elijah's team was laying down on the ground. "Very easy," Roy said. "All I had to do was transform their leader into you, Damien, and they turned on him like a pack of ravenous...wolves."

Roy looked down at me and waved. "Hello, dear. I will admit, this was far easier than I originally thought. Your boyfriend needs to brush up on his elemental power," he said.

Damien growled. "She doesn't have a boyfriend. She had a mate—me."

I waited for him to use a command, but he didn't. My heart was beating out my chest. I was shaking, hard.

"Get your foot off of her," Damien said harshly.

I felt the boot lift off my back. "Sorry, brother. Does this fulfill my end of the agreement? You'll give me my wolf back?" he asked.

Damien waved his hand dismissively. "Of course, of course. Not yet, though. I had something—someone—else who requires my attention."

I felt his hand reached down and pull me up. I stood up, staring daggers at him. He saw my hatred and sighed.

"Sorry," he said. Then his eyebrow furrowed in worry. "Are you okay?"

"No," I said sharply. I looked around for an escape. He saw my eyes.

"You have one chance," he said, yanking my focus back to him. "If you step out of bounds once, it's back to the commands. I'd really rather you didn't."

I nodded slowly. If I had one chance, I had to make it count.

He pulled me into a hug, and it took everything within me not to draw back in horror.

Horror.

He pulled back and slung an arm over my shoulder. "I missed you so much. Roy told me that you got to experience your magic ball for a bit. What did you think?"

"I hated it," I spit out honestly.

"Why?" he asked worriedly.

"Because I'm not your prize," I said. "I'm a person." My eyes roved down the hallway.

I had to kill him. That was my only escape. Before I knew it, he grabbed my shoulders and stared at me intently. "I didn't know you thought that way," he said. "You are beautiful. I want to show you off, but not if you don't want it."

My heartbeat sped up. It was all fake, I reminded myself. It was all fake.

"I don't," I said quietly.

He nodded. "Okay. Would you like a throne like mine?"

"That would be better."

He nodded. "Then that is what I'll do."

His hand moved from around my shoulder and grabbed mine, interlacing his fingers. I wanted to puke. He noticed I was shaking.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"No. I'm scared," I said.

He tilted his head. "Why?"

"Because the last time I was here, you almost killed me," I said lowly.

He shook his head. "Me?" he asked in astonishment.

I nodded.

He shook his head. "You must be thinking of Elijah. He was torturing you. He had you chained to a wall, choking yourself."

"You did that!" I exclaimed, yanking my hands back.

Damien's hand came down hard on my face. I gasped at the pain that radiated across my face. He backhanded me. Crap.

"I did no such thing," he said sharply. He grabbed my hand again, more aggressively this time. "One more vicious lie out of you and I will make you tell the truth."

A tear escaped my eye. I nodded. I just needed a moment. One moment to take him out. I had to.

"We are going to my room," Damien said. "Of you give me a single reason to doubt you, I will go back to the commands."

I nod. "Okay."