Page 72 of Death Bringer
“While you’re safely contained, there’s something else I need to tell you. The other night, cygnet gave me a message for his family that if you were a victim of Adam’s, he would personally spill their blood.”
“So that’s why they’re so desperate to keep me away from him and all chained up.”
“Not exactly. The thing is—they agreed to do what he demanded. I took their message back to cygnet last night, but he’d already disappeared.”
“And what about Adam?”
“He was supposed to agree to it as well.”
Ella pictured her last sight of Vadim, the contemptuous smile sure to rile her before he’d disappeared. “The complete idiot!”
“Who?”
“Morosov of course! He must have…” She glared at Rossa. “Just get me out of here, please!”
“Don’t be daft.” His smile was sly. “I don’t need to help you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re mated to cygnet. You work it out.”
And he was gone again. Ella shot to her feet and screamed just for the hell of it. This was why she hated Otherworld so much. Everyone talked in fucking riddles. She glanced down at the manacles around her ankles.
“Hold on a minute. I’m mated to Vadim, and he is the biggest, baddest dude in Otherworld, so…”
She stared down at the chain and focused her thoughts on it. With a strange noise, it shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Holy shit,” she breathed. “Icando this!”
She blasted the other one and picked up her backpack. If Adam couldn’t sense her inside the dungeon, she’d probably not pick up his trail either. Her first goal was to find him and get her face back.
Her reunion with the lying bastard could wait.
* * *
“Welcome to my domain,cygnet, or should I call you Death Bringer?”
As the massive door swung open, Adam stood back and bowed, allowing Vadim his first glimpse of the stronghold of the Otherworld sect. It was as impressive as he’d suspected it would be—high towering ceilings, magnificent mosaics and paintings so beautiful they would make one weep. The sect’s arrogance would demand a cathedral-like setting to worship the sordid achievements of a group of Fae who’d lived too long and lost all affinity for what was good and right.
He grimaced at the sanctimonious thought. And what was he? How many creatures had he killed in his egotistical assumption that his father’s word was law? Since arriving in Otherworld, he’d dropped his human shape completely to reveal his true form. There was nothing to hide anymore. Death Bringer was not only his given name, but his bloody legacy. Every time he had to look at Adam, that message was reinforced. Had the male chosen his face with that in mind?
Of course he had.
The door shut behind him, and Vadim turned to Adam.
“Are we to fight here?”
“Oh, we’re not fighting yet. I have something I need to do first.”
Vadim smiled to reveal sharp fangs. In Otherworld, the swan wasn’t the only creature he could shift into. In fact, he could become whatever species he wanted. “And if I don’t agree?”
“You don’t have a choice.”
He drew himself up and felt long-forgotten power flood his veins. He flexed his fingers, felt the visceral tug of his claws. It was like receiving a blood transfusion. He’d been transforming ever since he set foot back in Otherworld. He wasn’t quite at the full extent of his powers yet, but he was getting there. “I think you’ve forgotten whom you are dealing with.”
“You won’t want to destroy me just yet.” Adam drew something out of his pocket, which hovered over his palm.
Rage coalesced in Vadim’s chest, black feathers swirled in the air into a screaming tornado and the building began to shake.
