63. Rain

**Rain**

Two vampires drag me to a cold empty cell and throw me in before locking the silver door behind me. I fall on my knees and hands, and I bite my cheeks to keep a yelp from leaving my mouth. Luckily—if I can call it luck—the handcuffs have been replaced with a small collar around my neck, and I don’t land on my face.

The vampires walk away laughing.

My knees hurt, not only from the fall but also from when Sinn dragged me out of the van. But that pain is nothing compared to the one I feel for Caleb. I know the Leech Bitch will hurt Caleb and force him to do things. She lied when she told him she would let me go. While he had the hope that I would walk away from here unharmed, Caleb would do anything to keep me safe. But Caleb and I are not safe in this Palace. We must escape before they hurt Caleb and use my blood for the portal.

Dim light enters through a small window, and I look around the cell. Not even the werewolves from Crescent Moon Pack, as cruel as they had been with me, have locked me in a cell. Only in the basement during the night in the first years after my parents died.

An old mattress covered in blood is in one of the far-off corners, while in another corner, some bones that still have some flesh on them are slowly rotting, and the smell makes me gag.

While I look around the cell, hoping to find something I can use to open the door, I put my hands around the collar. The silver burns my neck, and I know I will be scarred. The manacles Alpha Ben put around my wrists have left some ugly scars, but I try not to think about them.

The collar has a lock on the back of my neck, and unfortunately, I can’t open it.

Frustrated, I sit on the floor, close to the mattress, put my head between my knees, and while I breathe through my mouth, I try to reach for my Fire. Before I was taken to the cell, more gas was used on me, making me dizzier than before. I try to call my magic to me because Caleb—the one I once saw as my enemy but has become my best friend and soulmate—needs me.

I claw the door that stops me from entering my tunnel of magic, but no matter how much I try, I can’t open it. Still breathing through my mouth, I turn my attention to the wall that separates me from Safia, but it is impossible to tear it down.

I close my eyes, lean my head against the wall, and I try to feel Caleb through the bond. He is angry, but some time later, that anger turns into disgust, and I know the Evil Bitch is about to do something to him. A minute passes, and my right shoulder, where Caleb marked me, starts to burn. If I wasn’t sitting, I am sure my knees would have given in, and I would have collapsed to the floor.

The pain in my shoulder stops, only to be replaced with another type of pain. Not only my body hurts, but my soul as well, and I know the Leech Bitch is touching Caleb, forcing him to do things. Through our bond, his self-loathing and disgust add to the agony I feel. I want to tell him it is not his fault, that he should not hate himself.

At some point, a sharp throbbing starts in my lower belly, and I worry for the baby, but my Fire wraps tight around that tiny life, keeping him safe. I try to think of our house, with that little stupid white fence, Sky, and the little pup Caleb and I will have. I think of all those beautiful moments I spent with Caleb and Raven to keep my mind off the pain, but hours pass and the pain only grows stronger, and I no longer can contain my sobs.

At some point, I start to shiver, and I don’t know if it is from the cold or the pain. The throbbing in my lower stomach grows stronger, and for the first time in a long time, I find myself praying to the Goddess, hoping she will listen to me this time. Slowly, the pain diminishes.

I am not sure how much time passes before the pain stops completely, and three vampires come to take me out of the cell, but I am so weak from the pain and lack of sleep, food, or water that I don’t try to fight them. As I am dragged away, my eyes go to the little window, and I see it is close to dawn. Oh, Goddess! For how many hours have they assaulted and tortured Caleb if it is almost morning and I am still in pain?

The vampires take me back to the Vampire Court, and something breaks inside me when I see Caleb. He is wearing a pair of pants, and he is full of bruises, cuts, and blood, and the Leech Bitch has him kneeling next to her throne. His head hangs down, and he doesn’t even sense me. The Soon-to-be-burned-alive Leech Bitch runs her long nails through Caleb’s hair, and my Fire rebels, wanting to get free and harm everyone. I push my pain to the back of my mind and concentrate on the hate I feel for the vampires.

The vampires force me to kneel before the Leech Bitch. I grit my teeth.

Sinn sits on his throne with a female on his lap.

I glare at the Evil Bitch. “Take your hands off of him!” My voice is hoarse.

She ignores me and keeps touching Caleb, showing me she can do whatever she wants with my soulmate. I bare my teeth at her, and Safia claws the wall, wanting to get out and kill the Vampire Bitch for torturing Caleb.

Caleb lifts his head, and while he doesn’t say a word, I can feel him. His disgust and self-hatred grow stronger.

“I love you,” I say as low as possible, hoping Caleb will understand me.

Caleb doesn’t make a sound, but I can feel his eyes on me. I want to tell him so many things while I hold him tight in my arms, but now is not the time. I turn my attention to the Vampire Queen. For what she did to Caleb and all the pain and suffering she made him endure, I will kill her. Slowly. The vampires forgot to use the gas on me this morning, and the effects are gone, but I still can’t access my magic because of the silver collar. If I could find a way to take it off...

The Leech Bitch stands and looks at the Vampire Court. “The time has come for us to be the new masters of the world! All the preparations have been made. The Queen of the Black Witches is here and will bring forth the portal.” She yanks my hair—Caleb snarls and tries to grab her hand, but a knight hits him, making him fall—and forces me to face the Court. “Her blood will open the portal, and the Demon King will return to this world. Together with him, we will rule the human realm!”

“You promised to let her go!” Caleb roars. Sinn and the Leech Bitch laugh.

“I lied!” she says nonchalantly, and lets go of my hair, pushes me to the side, and goes to a female with white hair that reeks of evil—probably the Queen of the Dark Witches.

I inch closer to Caleb. “Red, I am so sorry,” he says, his voice shaking. “The pain I’ve caused you. I will never forgive myself!” He stops talking for a moment. “I will get you out before they harm you or the baby!”

My fingers find his hand, and we touch, just for a second, before a knight pulls him away from me. “I love you!” I say again, hoping he will understand that I don’t blame him.

I try to go after Caleb, but someone grabs me and takes me away from him. I thrash and try to kick, but I am too weak to fight. Caleb pushes the knights, trying to get to me, and they start hitting him with their fists and feet. He fights back while I am forced to stand next to the two Evil Queens. The Leech Queen snaps her fingers. “Bring in the other pets!”

Some vampires rush to obey the Leech Queen’s orders while the Black Witch goes to the middle of the room, takes something out of her robe’s pocket, and starts drawing a big pentagram on the stone floor. While she adds some strange symbols to the pentagram, an Angel—his wings are cut off—a fay, a dragon shifter, and another werewolf are brought in. All of them are wearing black collars around their necks.

The Angel stands next to me, and I wonder how the vampires caught him. Ancient spells protect the city they live in. The Angel stares back and makes a subtle sign with his head toward me. I would have missed it, had I not been looking at him. Invisible fingers start to work on the silver collar I am wearing. I try to stay as still as possible while letting the Angel work on the collar.

Angels’ magic is one of the strongest that exists, but they can use it rarely because it drains them. As I look at the Angel, I wonder why he is not trying to free himself. My eyes go to his back, and I know why. Without his wings, he lost his will to live. I am sure he is weak from everything that has been done to him, but he keeps working silently on my collar. Maybe this is his last act of rebellion against the vampires.

I mouth the words, ‘Thank you!’, hoping he will read my lips.

*‘Burn them all!’* he says in my head.

When the pentagram is done, the Black Witch looks at me. “Put her in the middle of the portal!”

The vampires make me stand in the middle of the pentagram, and Caleb fights even harder, trying to free himself from the knights.

I try to move, wanting to help Caleb, but invisible chains keep me in place.

The black witch takes out a dagger made of silver and gets closer to me. I smell the evil spells that have been used on the dagger, and I pull on the magic chains. She grabs my hands, one by one, and cuts my wrists. My heart beats fast, and I hope that if I die, I can see Caleb’s face. Just once.

My blood falls on the pentagram, and the Black Witch speaks in Latin. The strange symbols start to glow, and the Angel works harder on my collar. Blood keeps falling from my wrists.

Caleb keeps fighting. Sinn pushes the female out of his lap, goes over to Caleb, and hits him with his boots.

When the Black Witch finishes saying the spell or whatever she was saying, she moves to the dragon and says more words in Latin while cutting his throat. I don’t need to see his face to know he is dying. The fay is next, followed by the werewolf.

The symbols glow even stronger, and the floor starts to vibrate.

The Angel is still working on my collar when the Black Witch cuts his throat and keeps talking in Latin. As his life drains from his body, I hear a faint clicking sound before I feel the collar falling to the ground while a black portal appears in front of me and opens.

My Fire unleashes from within me and heals my wrists before breaking the invisible chains, and I get free.

I move away from the portal just as a big male, wearing a pair of pants and a tunic, emerges from it. In his hands, he has a big ass sword, and with a swift flick of his wrist, he decapitates the Black Witch. Someone gasps.

I don’t need anyone to tell me who the male is because I already know—the Demon King!

He swings the sword at me next, and someone pushes me to the side—Caleb. The blade cuts Caleb’s right arm, and my Fire goes wild. I let it free, and it burns everything in its path.

**Hi! Sorry for the delay! Next update will be Sunday!**