Divine couldn’t imagine the blood the man she’d thought of as her son, Damian, had on his hands. But she knew every drop of it was on her hands too. She’d failed him as a parent. She should have escaped Abaddon the moment they were out of the camp. She should have . . . Well, truly, she didn’t know what else she could have done to prevent this, but she was sure there was something.
Marcus stopped the rented sedan next to the SUV Divine had taken and surveyed the building ahead, wondering how many people there were inside. He was walking into the lion’s den, and doing so willingly. Why? Because the message left for him at the hotel had said that if he came and forfeited his life, Basha’s would be spared.
As far as Marcus was concerned, that had left him little choice. She was his life mate. It was that simple. He’d rather cut off his own head than see her hurt in any way. He just didn’t know if giving up his life would save hers in the end. He wasn’t foolish enough to trust that this Abaddon who had left the message would really let Divine walk away.
Marcus also didn’t know how long they had before Lucian and the others would track them down. They’d been expected back at the carnival last night. He’d called while in the taxi on the way to buy clothes last night to tell Vincent that they were going to be a little later than expected, that Divine had agreed to tell him everything, but it would take time. However, it was now noon of the following day and he hadn’t called again, nor had he answered any of the many calls from them this morning. First he’d been tied up and talking with Divine in the bedroom while his phone had been in the pocket of his jeans in the bathroom and he hadn’t heard the first of the calls, and then he’d been desperate to get to her so ignored the rest. Besides, he hadn’t known what to say, whether to call them in to help or not. Marcus wasn’t sure Divine was any safer in their hands than she was with the man she’d raised as her son.
The sound of a car drew his gaze to the rearview mirror. Marcus wasn’t terribly surprised to see the car that came to a halt behind his rental. It had followed him all the way from the hotel in Vegas. But now that it was no longer keeping a safe distance between them, he could see the two men inside. They could have been twins despite the fact that one had a shaved head and the other had long, stringy unkempt hair. They were definitely sons of Leonius Livius II. All his sons seemed to take after him in looks.
The men got out of their vehicle, but simply leaned against it, patiently waiting, both dressed in jeans and T-shirts. Neither looked too bothered by the fact that they were standing out under the noonday sun and would have to feed more because of it later. Marcus was though, because he knew they would feed on some poor mortal they snatched from her bed or off the street.
Mouth tightening, he got out of the car and headed for the main door of the building, not even bothering to glance around to see if the men were following. Marcus knew they were. He would have known even if he couldn’t hear the crunch of the sand and stone under their Doc Martens.
Twenty-three
“Ah, here you are. Thank you for coming so speedily.”
Divine pulled herself from her thoughts and glanced to the door as Abaddon said those words. Her heart leaped and then sank when she saw Marcus walking calmly into the room, two more of Damian’s sons on his heels.
Leonius, she corrected herself. They were Leonius’s sons. He might have been Damian as a boy, but he was no longer. He had chosen his path, and he had chosen his name. He was Leonius Livius II now, and she could never let herself forget that.
“Come, sit down,” Abaddon said jovially, gesturing to the chair he’d vacated just moments ago.
Marcus crossed to the chair, his eyes moving over Divine with concern as he settled across from her.
“I’m fine,” she whispered sadly, really wishing he hadn’t come.
“Of course she’s fine, Marcus. Do you mind if I call you Marcus,” Abaddon asked, gesturing to the men, who immediately retrieved more chain and began to padlock Marcus to the chair. “And you, of course, should call me Abaddon. Or Abby if you like.”
Marcus ignored him, as well as the men chaining him up, and merely stared into Divine’s eyes as if she was the only one there. She could see the silver swirling through the black of his eyes and was sure his emotions were a tumultuous mix of anger, worry, and some softer feeling she didn’t dare call love. But she didn’t know if he was angry at her or Abaddon. Probably both, she thought unhappily and then glanced toward Abaddon as he ordered the two newly arrived men to go out and keep an eye out for company. The two men left, leaving just Abaddon and the grandson who had stayed behind her all this time. He had remained leaning against the wall, looking bored, since she’d been chained to the chair.
“Well,” Abaddon said, settling into the seat at the end of the table. “We have just been sitting here chatting about the good old days.”
Marcus finally tore his eyes from Divine to acknowledge the other man by saying, “Divine told me you were one of the first Leonius’s men.”
“His friend,” Abaddon corrected. “We were great friends.”
“I’m surprised you had anything in common. You’re immortal, not no-fanger, aren’t you?” Marcus murmured, narrowing his eyes as he peered at the other man.
“Oh, yes, well that’s true, but despite that we had a lot in common,” Abaddon assured him.
“You like raping and torturing women too, do you?” Marcus asked grimly.
“I’m more of a watcher than a doer,” Abaddon admitted with a little laugh. “Leo liked to cut them up, and I liked to watch them scream and squirm. It worked out very nicely.”
Divine glanced at him sharply. She’d always thought she was alone with Leonius when he’d done the things he did. Now she wondered if Abaddon had been there somewhere, watching through a peephole the entire time. The thought just added to her humiliation.
“Only the first time,” Abaddon said suddenly, apparently reading her mind. “And he threw me out after the first few minutes, which he never did with any of the other women,” he added resentfully, and then forced a smile and said, “Leo was oddly jealous of you . . . which I can understand completely, of course,” he added, running a lascivious gaze down her body. “He and I always had similar taste in women.”
Despite his ogling her, all Divine felt was relief that Abaddon hadn’t witnessed her humiliation, at least not past the first few minutes of it. Although she supposed it was silly to feel that way when all he had to do was read her mind to enjoy every second of it.
“Enough of that though,” Abaddon said suddenly, sitting back in his chair and turning his gaze to Marcus. “Before you got here we were talking about Basha’s baby. I was telling her how pretty she was, and that she looked just like a mini version of her, but kind of plump and roundish as babies are.” His gaze shifted back to Divine. “You should have seen her, Basha. She really was adorable.”
“What happened to her?” Marcus growled.
Abaddon addressed the answer to Divine. “I cut off her head outside the tent while you were still inside panting from the exertion of birthing her. Leonius had no use for daughters.”
Divine closed her eyes, but Marcus growled and tugged uselessly at his chains. “You—”
“And you gave me Damian in her place?” Divine said quickly, interrupting Marcus. Abaddon might claim he enjoyed watching rather than doling out torture, but he was just as cruel in his way, and had been known to lash out. She wouldn’t have him lashing out at an incapacitated Marcus.