“It has something to do with you. It always does!” he barks at me.
Well, I can’t argue with that. “Sorry.” I bleat again. “I will get us out of here.” How? How?
“How?” he sneers at me, jangling his chains at me.
“I'm working on it,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Thia,” I whisper, feeling ridiculous. Then I clamp my lips shut. Bringing her here to me is the last thing I want. And she has no concept of needing to rescue us. She's a baby for fuck's sake. But I can't deny her powers are already great and the Vampire community seems to be concerned about that. But, no. Absolutely not. I can't use her to try and Astral me out of here.
I sit down heavily and cross my legs.
“Great,” Cade mutters. “I know defeatist when I see it.”
“Not defeatist, just…thinking,” I retort.
“Well, think harder,” he growls. “If you go, I am a dead man.”
I glare at him in annoyance at his selfishness. I'm the one that has to go on trial here. “I know,” I mutter, the guilt of getting him into this predicament, doing precisely what the Hunters, or Clementine, had hoped it would.
I am just about to open my mouth to spout out something vaguely placating, when a familiar figure makes an appearance.
“Dmitri?” I ask in surprise. I leap up, hoping he is here to rescue me, but no such luck. The look of absolute delight on his face makes my blood run cold.
“Right where we want you,” he says, giving me a piercing look. “And no sire, or ex-sire, here to save you.”
“Damn you!” I growl at him. “What did I ever do to you?”
“Why nothing at all,” he comments blandly with a shrug, before the look in his eye turns evil. “Your husband, however, is a whole other issue. This must just be killing him.” His chuckle almost stops my heart.
“You are doing this to punish him?” I squeal. “Consider it a success. Now let me go!” I grab the bars of my cage, only to be thrown back by the force of whatever the Hell magick is keeping me in this damn thing.
“Sorry, it’s too late for that. Besides, while you have never affronted me personally, there are those who seek your own punishment for your crimes against Vampires. A Rogue being one of them.”
“I thought you were pro-Rogue,” I argue, trying to get him to see that this makes no sense.
Again, he shrugs. “Perhaps, but the law is the law,” he states levelly. “Just ask your husband.”
“Damn you,” I spit at him. “You know they will kill me.” I try to appeal to his kinder side. I know he has one.
“There is nothing I can do about that,” he says, his eyes showing some compassion. “One life for the greater good and all that.”
“Greater good? How is me dying for something I couldn’t help for the greater good?” I yell at him. I am way past panicked now and entering downright terrified territory. I am doomed.
“Your death will accomplish many things, Aefre. There are many Vampires who wish to get back at your sire, sorry, ex-sire, and this will unite them against the new regime. Also, it goes a long way to show that no matter who you are, you are not above the laws that have been set.”
“Even if you despise that very law?” I add. “If you were so dead set against Remiel and Constantine taking over, why did you agree to it?”
He snorts in derision. “Like we had a choice?” he hisses at me. “You had us over a barrel, not to mention that new sire of yours could possibly wipe the floor with us with his hands tied behind his back. I am not above self-preservation.”
“No, just angering your own sire to the point where he will hunt you down and kill you!” I hiss back. “You know he won’t let this go.”
“I know,” he says dryly, but I can see the worry etched on his face. Okay, he is scared of repercussions. I can work with that. “Unfortunately, this isn’t up to me. It has taken on a life of its own.”
“No one will know if you let me go,” I whisper.
“I just cannot do that, Aefre,” he says, shaking his head. And then to my surprise, he Teleports into the cage with me. I step back in shock that he can get in and yet I can’t get out. “This isn’t personal,” he says kindly, reaching out to brush my hair off my face.
I pull back like I have been stung.