Page 72 of Vampire Visions

Steam rose from my body as I slowly digested Grim’s words. Hannibal wanted Papi, but he’d really fucked up in the process. “You might get your wish after all, Grim,” I stated to the reaper, a savage grin slipping into place.

“The Devil is coming out to play?” He questioned me, his voice cold and his smile cruel.

I nodded my head. “And she’s feeling like a vengeful bitch right now.”

Epilogue

Jack

I knew who was dragging me to the Underworld as soon as that magic circle appeared under me. I’d felt him calling me for weeks, but I was never sure if I was being paranoid or not. The male had killed my mother in front of me and countless other demons. He’d thought having his wife murdered in cold blood would gain him sympathy, and it did, until all the evidence began pointing at him.

My mother, Vixen, had been Amelia King’s best friend, and I’d never been happier than when the Kings took me in. The one thought that had sat at the back of my mind all these years was Hannibal’s threat. He’d said he would come back for me when the time was right, and he’d want all their secrets.

“Hello, Son.” Hannibal sat in a small metal chair in front of me, his right ankle resting on his left knee with his hands folded in his lap.

I spat on the ground, unable and unwilling to hide my hatred for the man that was my biological father. “I am not your son,” I snarled.

“Oh, Jack, my dear boy.” He smiled viciously as he ambled toward me. My hands were tied and strung above my head, the toes of my shoes barely scraping the ground. “You will respect your father in his own house.”

I huffed out a rumbling chuckle. “You are not my father. You were a sperm donor at best. The Kings are my family now, as they’ve been for two decades. You are nothing-” My cheek burned from his sudden strike, but I’d expected it and braced my body for the punishment to come. I wouldn’t take the beatings like the quiet little boy I was the last time he’d seen me. The last time he’d put his hands on me.

I felt the trickle of Sloane’s anger and almost sighed in relief. If I could still feel her, then she could find me. The sooner, the better. Hannibal was already going to beat the shit out of me, I knew that much. I just had to endure it and save my strength to call out to her as soon as she was close enough. When she reached the Underworld, I could make my escape, knowing backup was on the flaming horizon.

“I’m hoping the Kings come for you, Jack,” he whispered into my ear before wrenching my head back by my hair. “I’m betting on it.”

I should have kept my mouth shut, but I never claimed to be intelligent. Mouthy? Yes. Tactful? Absolutely not. “You’ve placed the wrong bet, old man. They’ll bring you a fight, but it won’t be the one you wanted. You’d better have an army stashed in this shitty cave somewhere, because you’re going to need it.”

The next blow struck my ribs, knocking the breath from my lungs. It wouldn’t keep me quiet for long, though. I intended to wear him down mentally while he tried to do the same to me physically. Growing up with Lucifer as a grandfather had taught me many things, mental warfare being one of them. I’d have Hannibal second-guessing himself in no time at all.

Sloane and I had both spent years training against physical torture. My new parents had known Hannibal would come back eventually, and they’d wanted us as prepared as possible. My sperm donor, on the other hand… he had no idea what he’d just gotten himself into. Not only was Lo going to come, but Grim would be by her side.

Grim didn’t believe in fighting fair, and he wouldn’t hold back. Lo and Grim were a more volatile combination than any I’d ever seen before. I was incredibly thankful that when they’d first met each other, they’d become fast friends. But when those two fought? Like really fought? They could make gods tremble and drop before them.

As Hannibal rambled on about who even knew what, I thought about that one time Lo and Grim had really butted heads. It made me smile, and that resulted in another slap to my already tender cheek.

“Why are you smiling?” Hannibal screamed in my face, spittle flying out of his twisted mouth. “You’re my pawn now. I’ll get what I want, or I’ll kill you to break them down even further. Kings always fall, and the Devil is no different.”

“Does your dress match your shoes?” I asked him cryptically, knowing he’d never understand the chess reference.

He paused, eyeing me suspiciously. Confusion was written all over the jagged lines of his face. His scars pulled taunt against his lips and eyebrows as he tried to figure me out. “What does that mean?”

I threw my head back, a raucous belly laugh bursting from my mouth. “No one ever thinks of the endgame,” I responded conversationally then followed it up with a heavy sigh. “They only look at what’s in front of them. Maybe you can see the next two moves clearly, but I doubt you can play the whole board. Use me as your pawn, Hannibal, but don’t forget... the pawns can be queened.”

“Two slaps to the face and you’re already spewing nonsense.” He scoffed at me. “My boy, I’ll have you telling me real secrets in no time.”

The next three hits were back to back. He was done playing, but I wasn’t done running my mouth. “You’ll have to hit me harder than that, old man. Feels like you’ve gotten soft while you’ve been sitting on you ass.”

He only grew angrier with every punch, kick, and slap he delivered to my body. I didn’t grunt, groan, or cry out, and he hated every second of it. The pain was temporary, it always had been. I knew all his old tactics. I knew which buttons to push, too. He’d beat the shit out of me today, give me a day of rest, and then come back.

“I’ve stirred up a rebellion here in the Underworld,” he bragged, causing me to second-guess my escape. “If you think I can’t break you, then you’re sadly mistaken, boy. You should have given me what I wanted. We could have avoided all this mess.” He waved his hand over my body, emphasizing the mess he was talking about.

“You never said what you wanted from me.” I smiled again, flashing bloodied teeth. “You ripped me from my home, tied me up, and started the punishment. Old habits die hard, huh?”

“I want to know their secrets,” he told me with absolute sincerity.

“Nahhh. I’m not feeling very keen on sharing right now.”

He growled, taking another step closer to me. “Tell me their secrets,” he bellowed, making my ears ring after all the blows to my head and face.