Destiny Bewitched (21 page)

I’ll never see Nikki
or Geo again.

Where in hell did that
little witch go?

Almost an hour after
Geo had sent Samantha for breakfast, she still hadn’t returned.

“She should’ve been
back by now,” he said to Aedan as they headed through the mountain.
“Even if the lines were long.”

He nodded. “Maybe she
got caught up watching the fight.”

That didn’t seem like
her. But when he found her, they’d be having a long talk. In the
bedroom. With her tied to the bed. Then she’d learn the meaning of
punishment.

“She’s been through
here,” Geo said, following his nose through the arena corridor.
“And to the food stands.”

Aedan took a big whiff
of the air. Geo had forgotten the fae had the same sense of smell
as he – though he didn’t like the idea that Aedan was familiar with
her scent. He grunted, but reminded himself that any help was good
help.

Aedan turned toward the
south side of the arena. “She went that way.”

Geo nodded. He not only
scented her, but felt her too. Deep down inside, instinct sensed
her like a beacon to a lost ship.

He stomped through the
corridor, anger rising in his belly. If someone hurt her, there’d
be hell to pay. The crowd parted for him, sensing the danger
emanating off of him. Aedan followed behind.

The trail ended at the
farthest wall. They spun around, sniffing the air, studying the
ground. It just disappeared. Fear consumed him. He was no longer
convinced she’d been distracted. Something had happened.

Damn it!
He was supposed to be
protecting her. How had he let this happen? With a growl, he threw
his fist into the wall.

“Easy man,” Aedan said.
“We’ll find her.”

Yes, he would. And pity
the man who dared touch what was his.

Something tickled
Samantha’s neck where it throbbed. Where was she? Her eyes were too
heavy to open. Was that fur against her cheek? She tried to move.
Too sleepy. Oh, so sleepy.

She came to with a
throaty groan. Something furry shifted under her. Her eyes snapped
open. She was horizontal, draped over a soft lump. With a lot of
effort she managed to sit upright.

Not a lump. A thin beam
of light came through a crack between the door and the wall and
shone on Erebus’ large body. A dim memory of him licking her neck
wound came back to her. She put her fingers to the aching spot. The
blood was dry. How long had she been out?

She peered around her
cell. Only slightly larger than a closet, the floor was covered in
two inches of dirt and a steel door blocked the only exit. She felt
around for her satchel and sword but came up empty. Of course
they’d taken it.

Now what? She must’ve
been here long enough to worry Geo. Could he find her here?

Cold, alone, and
afraid, she clung to Erebus for comfort.

“Hey, boy,” she said,
stroking his fur. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of
Lassie.”

In answer, he licked
her neck.

“Can you go tell Geo,
Sammy’s stuck in a well?”

Erebus let out a long
sigh then flopped his head onto her lap.
Didn’t think so.
Though he still
smelled like shit, it was good to have him here. An extension of
Geo in a way. She patted the giant head in her lap.

This couldn’t be the
end. Failing her sister wasn’t an option. Someone would finally
open the door. At least to feed her, right? She’d have to
improvise, but she was good at that.

And then there was Geo.
She could count on him. He would smell her, or follow her trail, or
whatever it was demons did to hunt people down. No, this was
definitely not the end.

She watched the dust
dance in the beam of light until she dozed off again.

A loud bang startled
her awake. The door was open and a solid figure stood in the
doorway. Erebus flew to his feet and growled.

The guard stumbled
back. “What the –” Drawing a sword the sheath at his hip, he
regained composure. “You,” he said to Sam. “Call off your dog or
I’ll gut it.”

It wasn’t really her
dog but she doubted he cared. “Erebus, back down, boy. Come on.”
She did her best to sound calm, but her voice trembled. She had to
convince Erebus to leave. Her emotions were hanging by a thread.
She couldn’t handle him getting hurt again.

She shifted to her
knees and patted his head. “Go get Geo,” she whispered. “Please.”
Could he understand her? Sometimes he seemed to.

To her surprise, his
teeth closed onto the bottom of her pants and he pulled.

“Erebus!” She fell
backward. “Stop that!”

The guard stepped
forward, pointing his sword at Erebus. With a final tug, a piece of
leather ripped off. Then Erebus turned away and disappeared into
the shadows.

The guard stood stunned
for a moment then, seeing Erebus was truly gone, he looked at her.
“Out with you. Let’s go.”

He was taking her out?
Good. A chance to improvise an escape. She rose to her feet and
followed the guard into the tunnel hallway.

“Where are we going?”
she dared to ask.

“The Master wants to
see you.” The guard grinned and pointed the sword at her back. “He
has special plans for you. Now move.”

Special plans? Great.
That was just what all the movie villains said right before they
hung the prisoner upside down over a tank of hungry sharks.

Geo paced the
near-empty hallway upstairs after searching the bedroom for the
fifth time. A couple stragglers gave him a wary look and hugged the
railing as he passed by. He’d spent the last hours questioning
every last spectator in the arena. He would’ve felt if she’d broken
the blood oath and left the mountain. There were only so many
places she could be. And they’d already searched all of them. He’d
faced the most fearsome of enemies in his thousands of years, but
never had he been so afraid.

She could be dead. The
heart-wrenching thought popped up unbidden. He shook his head. No,
she was alive. She was smart and resourceful and strong. And, no
matter what, she was a survivor.

“Come on. Give me a
hint,” he said to no one in particular.

Erebus flew out of a
shadowy crevice just in front of Geo. He traipsed to his side,
carrying something in his mouth. Geo’s heart clenched when he saw
his fur matted with dried blood, reminding him of his heroics in
the last fight.

“Hey, there.” He bent
down to pet him. “Whatcha’ got?”

Erebus dropped a black
strip of leather into Geo’s hand.

“Where’d you get –” He
froze when he recognized Sam’s scent. The leather must’ve been a
piece of her clothing. He looked the shadow hound in the eye.
“You’ve seen her. Where is she?”

Footsteps pounded down
the hallway. Geo looked up. At the end of the corridor, Aedan ran
toward him. “Get your arse downstairs! I found your mate.”

The look Aedan gave him
was pure panic. And that was saying something for the laidback
fae.

Not this way. I can’t
lose her this way.

He sprinted after him,
Erebus at his side.

Thick, muggy air
clogged Geo’s lungs. He stood in front of another arena. This one
was outdoors, on the other side of the mountain and larger than the
indoor one. It contained layered stadium seating and a balcony up
high above the crowd. The last bits of sun sent red streaks across
the darkening sky. The seats were almost full, the crowd already
hungry for bloodshed. Erebus had disappeared into the shadows
again. Smart dog.

Geo searched for that
fiery orange hair, but the sea of excited spectators blocked his
view. He looked to Aedan. “You said you found her. Where is
she?”

Aedan pointed to the
chalkboard on the balcony in front of an elaborate throne. The
occupant of the throne – a winged incubus – sat serenely with a
grin in place, his hands steepled at his chin. The overseer. Next
to him, the board listed one name.

The Red Phoenix.

His chest tightened as
he skimmed over the fighting pit below. A pit, because the seating
was so much higher, it looked like a hole for tossing innocent
victims to vicious opponents. And the incubus prick thought to
throw
his
woman in there?
Over
my dead body.

“Where the fuck is
she?” he yelled.

A savage roar tore
through the arena. A gate at the other end of the pit opened and a
monster stepped out.

Four powerful legs,
scaled and clawed like a dragon, kicked up dirt as it stomped into
the ring. A long horned tail swished back and forth as it growled
again. Intimidating, yes, but that wasn’t the worst part. It was
the head of the beast that was most concerning. Make that
heads.

Geo counted – one, two,
three, four, five…

The beast swung them
around, snarling and hissing at the crowd.

…six, seven, eight,
nine.

Nine heads, each with
five spikes protecting it and mouths lined with pointed teeth.

A hydra.

Normally, hydras had a
pair of wings too, but this one’s had been cut off. And a thick
chain circled its back leg, attached to something behind the gate.
It was just as much of a prisoner as Sam’s sister.

Hydras were known for
growing back two heads in the place of each one cut off. But it had
one immortal head, which, when sliced through, killed the beast.
But it was impossible to know which head was the immortal one. You
might chop away at eight heads before hitting the immortal one, but
to reach it, you’d have to battle sixteen.

Yes, hydras were no
walk in the park.

And surely they didn’t
mean for Samantha to fight it?

Again, he searched for
her, panic making his heart thud like footsteps in a stampede. In
the pit, a few men poked and prodded the hydra with spears,
angering it.

Then he spotted her.
Two men, one holding each arm, pushed her into the ring, threw her
sword on the ground then scrambled out of the hydra’s reach. Geo’s
blood boiled. His fists were clenched so hard, his nails dug
painfully into his palms. A growl that rivaled the hydra’s grew in
his chest.

Samantha stood frozen
in the center of the ring, staring wide-eyed at the beast towering
over her. Geo sprinted down the stadium steps then leapt over the
barrier. He landed hard on his feet in the ring.

One of the hydra heads
dipped toward Samantha, snapping its teeth. She reached for her
sword on the ground. Geo grabbed her and the sword then pushed her
behind him.

“I offer myself in her
place!” he yelled to the overseer.

The incubus waved a
hand and a dozen animated stone statues filed out of the hydra’s
cave and marched toward them.

Fear tightened his
chest.
Must keep
Samantha safe. Think!
“What sport is there in sending a girl
armed with only a small sword into a pit with a hydra?” he said to
the crowd. “She won’t last more than a few seconds.”

“Geo, what are you
doing?” Samantha hissed from behind him.

Ignoring her, he went
on. “I’ll give you a better show. And I have a deal that will make
it worth your while.”

“No.” She tugged on his
arm. “You’re not taking my place!”

“Hush,” he snapped.
Addressing the overseer again, he made his offer. “I will fight the
hydra. If I win, you release the witch and the young girl you took
from her family.” He ignored Samantha’s protests. “But you keep me.
I’ll be your champion. I’ll fight anyone and anything whenever you
request it.”

“Stop! This isn’t
–”

Geo reached back and
squeezed her arm to silence her. “If I lose, you keep the girls.”
He gave the overseer a grim look. “And I’ll tell you now, I have no
intention of going down easy. You’ll have yourself a good
show.”

The whole arena seemed
to wait on bated breath for the response. Other than a few hushed
murmurs, it was silent. Even the hydra stood frozen in place, a
quiet rumbling his only sound.

Samantha gripped the
back of his shirt. He wanted to reassure her – to comfort and hold
her. But now was not the time to show any weakness.

Finally, the incubus
gave his answer. One subtle head nod.

The crowd shouted their
approval. Samantha’s hand moved to his arm, where her fingernails
dug into his skin.

Before she could get
one word out, he called up to the overseer. “I need to see the
girl.”

The incubus whispered
something to a guard and he disappeared. Moments later, he returned
with a pale slip of a thing, not much more than a child.

“Nikki!”

He caught Samantha as
she lunged forward.

“Soon,
matia mou
. Be patient.” Geo
nodded to the incubus then turned to face Sam.

“This is insane!” she
said, her eyes lit up with anger. “You’re going to die! I can’t
lose you that way.”

Nor I you
. He walked her to the
side of the ring. “I have no intention of dying today.” He looked
up in the stands to find Aedan. When their gazes locked, Aedan
nodded and made his way down. Geo’s plan depended on him.

“I’m not letting you do
this,” she insisted. “This is my fight. It’s my sister.” Tears
filled her eyes.

He wiped one with his
thumb when it fell. “Silly girl. Do you really think I’d let the
mortal I love fight a hydra?”

“But…” The tears fell
freely now, each one a painful tug on his heart. “But…I’ll never
see you again.”

I know. And it’s killing me inside.
“We knew this time would come.” He stroked her cheek, wiping her
tears away. “I’ll be at ease knowing you’ve returned home. You’ll
find love. You’ll have children and you’ll be happy.”

Her eyes turned to
fire. “Well I won’t be at ease! Not knowing you’re stuck fighting
in this ring forever. Because of me!” She stomped a foot in anger
but descended into sobs. “You’ll never get home. All of this for
nothing!”