RW1 Ravyn's blood (20 page)

* * * *

“Do you really need to know?” he whispered. The memories of hundreds of pairs of lips caressing his body, the slave master’s meaty fist as it collided with his stomach when he’d done something to displease him or his clients, the ice cold of the north, murder, death, hunger, and finally salvation and brotherhood flashed through his mind. He swallowed convulsively.

“Yes,” Alex murmured quietly.

Dageus sighed and began to speak. “Do you remember the night I told you to meet me at the theater at midnight? It was the night we were going to go to Damian and tell him we were wed. The night we were going to declare ourselves before Santiago and Maddeline, petition them to allow me to join the clan.”

Alex nodded. “Yes, of course I remember,” he said, taking Dageus’s hand. “Go on.”

Dageus sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, squeezing Alex’s hand as well. “Well, I was overly anxious to get to the theater that night. I was so damn excited…” He paused, and his breath hitched as memory overcame him. “I took the alleyway by 84
^th
and Lexington. There is a gate to Demontia there. Slavers come through all the time to collect foreign slaves.” He swallowed. “Humans are very popular in Demontia. They make excellent love slaves.” He said the last bitterly. “I just happened to be racing down the alley at the same time a slaver was coming through the gate. He said I was the prettiest slave he’d ever caught in this realm. I begged him to let me go. I called out to you endlessly, but I was just a human, and he had demon power on his side. He took me back to the slave blocks in Demontia.

“A slave master bought me at auction for a brothel to the ice cities in the northern sections of the realm. I was cold all the time. I don’t remember a night that I wasn’t freezing. I fought at first. I vomited every time he touched me.” Dageus paused, trying to force back tears that were threatening over come him. He could feel Alex’s penetrating stare but couldn’t muster up enough courage to look back at him for fear of what he might see on his face.

“He cast so many spells that eventually I became just a receptacle for his will. He—the slave master—he taught me”—he paused, swallowing hard—“how to please him.” He felt like he was choking on the past. He tried again. “He taught me how to please him in every godforsaken way to give and receive pleasure. There were men and women from all over Demontia that came to his brothel. He was famous for the beauty of his slaves. I was his favored slave for years. I don’t know how long, time passes differently there. All his top clients preferred me. Alex,” he said, his stomach rolling, “I betrayed you a hundred times or more. Any demon who had the gold to pay my fee took me. I let them…” He started to breathe heavily, nearly hyperventilating from the memory. Alex squeezed his hand again, giving him courage to continue. “I let them take pleasure from my body. I received pleasure if they willed it. There were days in which all I did was lay around and serve client after client. I’d break down after a while, and the Master would hold me. I’d let him comfort me. After a while, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I– I killed him. I pleasured him, and then I poisoned him to dampen his powers, and finally, I stabbed him to death. The rest is pretty simple. I ended up in southern Demontia, fought for my place as a Ravyn, not knowing that they would erase my memory when I won the spot. All I could think about was getting back to you. You have to believe me…” He sniffled, trying not to erupt into full hysterics. Alex made a noise that sounded painful and jerked Kal to his chest.

“Goddess, boy! I love you. Whatever happened in that godforsaken place is over. You’re back now. That’s what counts. You’re my heart, the breath in my lungs. You’re my Bride. My soul mate. You’re the best dancer in this troupe in a hundred years. That’s who you are, baby. You’re a Ravyn, for God’s sake! An elite warrior! Don’t buckle under the weight of your past. You belong to me forever and always.” Dageus tried to muffle a sob against his chest. “Easy, lover. Easy.” He petted Dageus’s auburn hair as he wept for the loss of his innocence. Alex whispered promises to the Ravyn of eternity, soothingly petting and kissing his love.

After what seemed like hours later, Dageus drifted into a deep, healing sleep. He surfaced long enough to hear Alex’s whispered devotion as he carried them into the vampire’s bedroom. “I love you, Kal, my sweet Dageus, I love you.” He kissed his temple. The Ravyn murmured something incomprehensible as they fell into the silken sheets of their marriage bed. They were both emotionally and physically exhausted. Alex yawned and pulled Dageus’s phone out of his pocket as he stripped them both for bed. It had a couple missed calls from the Ravyns.

“Want me to turn your phone off?” Alex asked. Dageus stirred weakly, petting the bed beside him.

“Ringer’s off. Doesn’t matter. I’ll call them back.” Alex slipped into bed behind him and wrapped his arm around Dageus’s middle. The warrior sighed in contentment as he started drifting back to sleep. If anything major happened he’d feel the distress of his brothers through their bond. A couple missed calls were nothing to worry about, right?

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Where is the Prince?” the shifter demanded for the fourth time. Tony met his eyes unflinchingly. The shifter sighed and made a signal to one of the much-larger males that were partially shifted behind him. Germany screamed as they took their razor-sharp claws through his still-healing wounds. Tony strained against his bonds, but they were made of a type of demonic alloy only found in Demontia. More specifically, they were only found in the dungeons of Desmond’s palace.

“I’ll only ask once more, Anthony. You’re the leader of the Ravyns. I know what it’s like to lose one of my own. Don’t let them die in the name of a monarch that was overthrown hundreds of years ago. Now, tell me where Prince Salvatore is.”

Tony lowered his eyes to the ground, gritting his teeth. These men knew that if they hurt him, they’d never get answers. Attacking his brothers was the best possible method to wear down his control. The shifter thug sighed.

“Fine then. Have it your way. Joey, slit that one’s throat, and bring me the next one.” Tony made a keening sound of protest. The shifter raised an eyebrow. “I have three more to go, Tony, and I have all night to get this answer from you.” He grinned sardonically. “In fact, I have days and days to get this before Desmond arrives.”

Tony struggled against his bonds, seeing red. Anger poured off the Ravyn in sick waves. If he could just tap the power of their supernatural bond, he would bury this fucking shape-shifting punk. The other shifters cackled at Tony’s helplessness like the hyenas that they shifted into.

“Don’t give him anything, Tony!” Allasandro yelled from somewhere behind him. “These fuckers don’t know what they’re talking about!”

Tony’s eyes clouded with tears as Germany started to scream. Oh, God. Please let me be strong,
Tony prayed. Please let Salvatore be safe. Please. It was his sacred duty to protect him at all costs. The Gods knew that the costs were too high to bear. He centered himself as the screams grew louder. Hold on, Germany
,
he whispered through their bond. Dageus will be here soon.

* * * *

Dageus jerked awake with a scream. The brothers needed him.

“What is it?” Alex asked, startled. Dageus shook his head at the visceral memory.

“The Ravyns need me.” Alex’s sleepy voice rose in question as Dageus pulled himself from Alex’s grasp and began to dress.

“What do you mean they need you?” he demanded. “What in the bloody hell are you talking about?” Dageus searched for his cell phone in the mess surrounding the bed. “Darling, answer me!”

Dageus found what he was looking for and turned it on. The chime from his cell phone signaled the phone’s power-up. He hit star 86 to go to his voicemail, and what he heard chilled him.

“Dageus, it’s Allasandro! Damnit, answer the phone! We’re under attack, the same shifters that attacked Germany and me. Desmond sent them. He’s found us. We’re moving the Prince, and then we’re going to lead them away. Find the Prince, you know where. Get him to your vampire’s house. We’ll lead them out of town. Follow our power trail. I love you, my brother. Hopefully be talking to you soon.”

Beep
.

“Hey, Dageus, Tony. We’re outside Haven at a bar near Sweetings. Hurry up and call us back, man. We need to—” The sound of a gunshot made his heart skip.

“
Oh fuck
!” Allasandro screamed in the background. More cursing followed heavy footsteps. More gunshots.

“Grab Germany! Grab him!” Tony screamed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Stop the bleeding, Ally. Apply pressure to the wound!”
Click
.

“End of new messages,” an automated voice claimed cheerily.

“I have to go,” Dageus said. Panic infused him with a nervous frantic energy. Every muscle in his body was tensed. Alex grabbed him and pulled him into his embrace, holding him tightly.

“What do you need me to do?” Alex asked. Vampire hearing was excellent, and the Ravyn knew he’d heard every word. Dageus sighed and clutched his mate, burying his face in his chest.

“I love you,” he whispered. “Can you prepare a room for Salvatore here? Get a couple bodyguards ready. I’m going after him. I’ll bring him back here before going after the guys. Can you watch him for us? He’s our Prince. It’d mean everything to me.” Alex nodded and kissed his Bride.

“Of course, my love,” he answered, gently rubbing his lover’s back. His own heart took on a sick rhythm. His Kal hadn’t been a warrior, and the thought of letting him go into the night to fight enemies now left him chilled. Alex struggled to deal with his insane urge to protect his mate no matter what. This was his lover’s job, his other life, and his destiny. “Please be careful. Please. I can’t lose you again.”

Dageus kissed him with all the pent up passion he had within him, leaving the Master of Haven gasping for air.

“I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Salvatore paced the length of the room in agony. His Ravyns should have been back to get him by now. For the first time in a good hundred years he was completely alone, and he hated it. He was used to his overprotective Ravyns. The easy humor that they employed to keep their Prince content eased him in times of great danger. He still didn’t understand why their powers had been ineffective against the shifters and why they couldn’t call out to Dageus. He was bound to Salvatore. It shouldn’t have been an issue. He sighed and continued to wait.

Salvatore tensed as he heard the familiar chime of the elevator as it opened to the penthouse level of the Marriott hotel. He barely breathed. Was it his Ravyns or the enemy? How would he know either way? He swallowed. He wasn’t used to being in the middle of so much potential combat. He gripped the jeweled dagger in his fist tighter. “Salvatore?” A very-familiar tone called once down the hallway, his movements graceful and silent. Salvatore’s head snapped up at the voice.

“Dageus!” he cried, flinging open the door to his room and barreling out the door. Dageus jumped, and his sword swung in a dangerous arch, barely missing the Prince’s head. “Well, that was unexpected. You going to hurt me with that?” the Prince joked. Dageus chuckled as well, but the sound was strained. The years of training with the demonic sword, which was shaped similarly to a scimitar, had served him well in the past. That training enabled him to handle a weapon that literally bent light. Most enemies couldn’t even see the blade because of the way it bent light around it. The type of demonic alloy it was made of was unheard of in most realms. It still wasn’t a good idea to swing it at a monarch’s head. Salvatore was very grateful that Dageus was practiced with the thing.

“Just wanted to make sure it was you. I’d never hurt you,” Dageus murmured. He clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s get you to Alex’s house.”

“Have you heard anything from the others?” Salvatore asked, his red eyes colored in fear. Dageus hesitated.

“Nothing yet, my lord,” he said swallowing hard. A determined look passed over Salvatore’s face. He would not lose his Ravyns this way.

“I have faith in you, Dageus. You’ll find them.”

Dageus bowed before his Prince. “Thank you, my lord. Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven