“Right now, Javad, you need to worry about yourself,” Vynom warned.
“Where is she?” he stubbornly repeated.
Vynom’s blunt features twisted as if angered by Javad’s concern for the female.
“Safe. For now.” Vynom crouched down, studying Javad with an expression of contempt. “Such a disappointment.”
“I could say the same.”
The older male ignored Javad’s insult. “The one thing I admired about you was your ruthless ability to concentrate on your goals. Nothing ever distracted you. Not greed. Not friends. Not even females. It made you the perfect fighter.”
“I’m not interested in history,” Javad snapped. He never thought about his time in the pits. It had been a dull, painful existence that wasn’t worth remembering.
“I just have one question,” Vynom pressed.
“What?”
“Why her?”
“Her?”
“The Seraf,” Vynom clarified. “Why was she your Achilles heel?”
Javad shook his head, realizing that the male truly believed that Terra had been a curse to Javad. No doubt because his rotten, corrupt heart couldn’t imagine the beauty of caring for another being.
“You’re wrong,” Javad said.
“About what?”
“You believe Terra was a weakness.”
“She was,” Vynom insisted. “She destroyed you.”
“She gave me the courage that eventually set me free.” Javad held the male’s gaze. “Without her, I would still be a prisoner because of my twisted sense of loyalty.”
Vynom surged upright, his icy fury frosting the air. “I made you.”
Javad remained on the floor. He sensed he was going to need every ounce of strength he could muster.
“You used me.”
“You think that Viper would have taken you in if it weren’t for the fact that I was your sire?” Vynom snarled.
Javad arched a brow. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s been trying to punish me for centuries. You were just another tool to bring about my destruction.”
“Why would he want to punish you?”
Vynom shrugged, his eyes smoldering with a toxic brew of emotions. “Jealousy, obviously.”
Javad swallowed a laugh. The male was unhinged if he thought Viper was jealous. The clan chief of Chicago ran an empire of demon clubs around the world, while Vynom had barely been able to manage a small-time fighting pit.
Then a sudden suspicion niggled at the back of his mind. There was no way Viper was jealous of Vynom, but the clan chief might have decided the male needed to be punished. Not only for how he’d treated Javad, but the other fighters as well. It was no secret that Viper detested bullies. That might very well be the reason for Vynom’s downfall.
A strange warmth flowed through Javad at the thought.
“Viper respects me,” he said, his pride unmistakable. “Just as I respect him.”
Vynom muttered a foul curse. “Let’s hope he respects his next manager just as much,” he sneered. From above them, the strike of a gong resounded, echoing and expanding as the sound traveled through the tunnels. “It’s time.”
“Time for what?” Javad asked.
“Your grand finale.”
Icy dread shot down Javad’s spine. “I thought I was going to be given time to prepare.”
Vynom’s lips twisted. “I may be down on my luck, but I’m not stupid. Even though I wanted to get as much buzz as possible for the fight, I’m not going to risk having you escape. I’m cashing in while I can.”
Javad grimaced as Vynom spun on his heel and marched out of the cave. Cashing in? Grand finale?
Neither sounded good for him.
Chapter 7
Javad had been right.
There was nothing good about being forced into a pair of black leather pants and thigh-high boots with his hair pulled into a tight braid. He looked like a stripper in a cheap Vegas club. And there was definitely nothing good about being led up the stairs to enter the enormous chamber now filled with cheering demons.
In the center of the space stood a large cage, constructed of iron bars and a canvas mat. It was attached to a foundation of stones so it could tower over the crowd. Javad was led past the bleachers and up a ramp by two goblins who were directly behind him with silver daggers pressed against his back.
With his head held high, Javad entered the cage and heard the door clang shut behind him. It was a familiar sound. Just like the shouts from the gathered demons were familiar. And…
And that scent.
Terra.
Javad tilted back his head, gazing to the top of the cage where Terra was standing next to a huge troll, who was tightly gripping her arm.
Javad’s fury at seeing her being manhandled by the oversized brute was tempered by the relief that she was alive and seemingly unharmed. The sheer intensity of his response revealed the depth of his fear that she’d been hurt.
Their gazes locked, and he watched her desperately shake her head as if she were pleading with him not to fight. He sent her a smile that he hoped was reassuring before turning his attention to the orc across the wide canvas mat.
Frack was a monster. Not a fairy tale creature with blue fur and googly eyes. He was a seven-foot mountain of pure muscle, thick hide, claws, six-inch tusks protruding from his lower jaw, and crimson eyes. He was naked, although various spots were covered by armor that had been magically embedded in his skin.
It left way too much hanging in the breeze for Javad’s taste.
“Hello, Frack. Long time no see,” he drawled. “Although I’d like to see a lot less. Did you forget your pants? I’ll wait if you want to go and find them.”
As expected, Frack bellowed in fury and recklessly charged. The orc’s sense of humor was as lacking as any amount of intelligence. It was depressingly easy to provoke him.
Javad stood still
