Page 100 of A Trial By Blood

He lifted the latch and opened the door.

I slid off my jacket, tossed it to Relic, and walked into the cell.

Azel stood on the other side of the room, his back to me. He turned at the sound of the door closing and locking behind me. “Ronan, where have you been? I’ve been calling for you.”

He looked the same. As if no time had passed, and I guess for him, maybe it felt as if it hadn’t.

The look in his eyes instantly turned calculating. He looked at me and saw someone he could manipulate. A plaything. Power, and a way to increase his own—if he still had any. He’d looked at me like that all my life, and I hadn’t seen it, hadn’t been capable of seeing it.

“You finally came for me,” he said.

I didn’t reply.

“I grow weary of this place, take me home.” He took a step toward me.

I lifted a hand, warning him to stay back. “No.”

He paused, his head tilting to the side, anger instantly lining his face. He hated being disobeyed. “Ronan, come to me. Now,” he ordered.

“No.”

“You refuse me?” The calculation turned sadistic. “You want to feed, don’t you?” He began to circle me slowly, his gaze sliding over me, making me sick to my stomach. He still believed he was the mighty predator, that he was powerful, that he held power over me. “You must be weak, starved for my blood. Take off your clothes and come to Sir,” he said huskily.

Yeah, he was definitely confused. Warrick was right, time was lost to him, and he didn’t seem to understand the situation he was in or where he was.

“I’m not starved, Azel.” He flinched at my using his real name.

“You dare call me that?” His face was a mask of rage. “When you address me, you call me Sir,” he roared.

“No, I will not,” I said, turning as well, following him as he circled me.

His face grew red, his body vibrating with fury. “You think I’ll feed you now?”

I could see his hands flexing, the tendons in his throat sticking out. He was trying to use his power on me, even though he’d been stripped of it completely. “I don’t need your blood, Azel. My mate sustains me, she gives me everything I need.”

He froze, confusion filling his dark eyes. “What?” He laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“Look around you, where do you think you are?”

He glanced around the room and frowned. “I’m at the…I’m—”

“You’re in Hell.”

He spun back to me. “No, I’m not. I’m—”

“You’re dead. Luna killed you.”

The confusion grew, fear joining his rage now. I recognized it all, and I relished every moment of his growing horror. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No,” he roared.

I took him in now. He was pathetic. Nothing. I didn’t need to make him bleed, this was enough. Seeing him like this gave me all the peace I needed.

“You are mine!” he screamed. “Mine!”

“I am not. And I never was,” I growled out.