Chapter 7

**Thyrion**


My footsteps echoed off the hollow stone walls of the tunnel as I marched towards the source of my aggravation. I could feel my dark energy thrashing in and around me as I barely thought to keep it in check.

As I reached the end of the tunnel system, I saw that the heavy metal door was bolted shut. This person had shoved me around for far too long, and he thought that a metal door could stop me?

I growled as I picked up my pace, and once I reached the door, I lifted my right leg, channeled my restless energy into it and propelled my boot smack in the middle of the smug shiny magic insignia. A resounding boom echoed off all the walls and the door caved in effortlessly, blown clean off of its hinges and crashing into a desk on the far side of the room. I felt the rebound of the defense spell trying to take hold of me, but shrugged it off.

“What in the blue blazes is going on?!” The target of my rage yelled out from a different room after I sidestepped another spell.

“You dirty son of a demonic whore! Come out here!” I yelled as I strode into the middle of the entryway.

The guy came shuffling out of the shadows wearing a silk bathrobe with his hair tousled and red lipstick smeared all over his face. He was as tall as me, but with brown hair and eyes. To a woman he was clearly fair to the eyes, heck it was probably the same for men. A statement propelled by the fact that I rarely ever stumbled into him being alone. Gender clearly didn’t matter.

“Is that really the way to talk to the person who holds the life of your beloved in his hands?” He had quickly gotten over his surprise, falling into a lazy drawl and shuffling over to his mini fridge.

I stomped over to him, grabbed him around the neck and shoved him up against the wall. His eyes widened in surprise but he didn’t seem too fazed, he had gotten mostly used to my bursts of rage by now. “Right now I am beyond caring about that. You promised that no harm would come to her if I did as you asked!”

He frowned down at me. “It excludes the instances of suicide where the victim harms themselves.” He grabbed hold of my hand and pushed it away from his throat. I fumed at his audacity and cursed the fact that this man had half of my power locked away in the same spell entrapping Merianna. If that weren’t the case, he would have been blown half way past the moon by now.

I shook my head. “That is not what happened.”

He cocked his head to the side frowning at me like he really had no clue what I was talking about.

“She was attacked!!!” I roared in his face. “Corrupted fae had gotten a lock on her somehow from somewhere and now they are hunting her around, trying to kill her! If I hadn’t jumped in today…” I made sure that he saw the fury in my eyes.

He shook his head and looked baffled for a moment. “The spell on her should be keeping her more than well-hidden and contained. No one should be able to pick up on her aura.” He thought for a minute as he ruffled through the fridge again and got a glass.

“Maybe your spell is wearing off.” I was thrilled at the idea of that fact. If his spell was wearing off, then Merianna would stand a better chance of having the spell permanently removed and live through it.

The warlock scowled darkly and I returned the scowl in kind. “There is no way that my spell would degrade, it’s perpetually self-sustaining.” He said, smiling darkly.
I growled, of course he was using her energy to keep the spell going. It was no secret that Merianna was a powerhouse of energy.

“Someone must have recognized her somehow. Someone that doesn’t like your wife very much at all.” He said pouring himself a glass of something that bubbled and looked like acid.

I struck my fist against a stone wall and felt it crack under the pressure. “The point is that you assured me that she will be protected! And since that point is clearly moot, I have no reason to bend to your whims anymore.” I glowered. Many times before had I thought that I just wanted to destroy his soul and be done with it all. It was not in my nature to be someone’s lapdog. If only Merianna’s soul wasn’t tied to this bastard’s as a failsafe.

The warlock shot me a glare and put his glass down without tasting it. He looked at me, scrutinizing me as he thought, then he walked over to his big leather chair and settled into it. “Fine, I relent that I have not foreseen someone actually coming out of the shadows to kill your lovely wife, not even mortals. It’s something that I had webbed into the original spell work, that no one would feel the need or urge to kill her or cause her harm.” Then his frown deepened. “The spellwork only influences humans and the like though.”

I blinked. That’s how! Someone got fae to do their dirty work for them since they couldn’t do it themselves, and fae had no bloodline relation to humans. I dragged my hand down my face and looked at him. “You sure are a shitty warlock. If anything happens to my wife, then bargaining chip or no, you will feel my wrath visited upon you a thousand fold. Not one inch of your soul will be spared.” I made sure that he knew I would do well on my threat. He might hold the cards, but he did not have a hold on my fury.

His expression did not change, but his face sure did get paler.

“You might, or might not have a visit from me again.” I threatened. Striding back out of that stupidly dank tunnel.

For what seemed like the hundredth time, I wished that that man had never shown up in our lives in the first place. That Merianna could remember me again like she was supposed to, without any pain. That we were still at the Order together with everyone else. That we didn’t have to sit on this side of the veil where magic barely makes a real appearance anymore.

For the hundredth time, I just wished that I hadn’t lost sight of her on that battlefield.