don’t have time to brace myself, so my face gets slammed against the metal bars of Toreon’s cage.
One second, my green-skinned demon is sitting down, watching warily, but the moment my cheekbone connects with the metal, he’s up and on his feet.
I cry out as a burst of pain flares in my mind, my face immediately throbbing. “Don’t fucking touch her!” Toreon growls, both hands shooting out between the bars to catch me before I fall.
I sag against his arms, blinking and carefully working my jaw to see if it’s broken. Aside from aching like hell, it’s okay, but the telling wetness I feel on my cheek speaks of a different story there.
“The mating pull already so strong,” Morax muses, rage in his eyes, even though it seems like another part of him enjoys Toreon’s protective display.
“We’ll do what you want. You don’t need to brutalize her!” he growls, his whole demeanor looking suddenly vicious.
“Of course she’ll do whatever I want,” Morax says while I struggle not to cry from the pain pulsing in my face. I don’t want to break down in front of this prick. “Everyone does what I want,” he reminds us cockily, as if we’d forgotten.
Toreon’s gold eyes move from looking at Morax to looking at me, his jaw muscle jumping as he grinds his teeth at the sight of me. I can feel blood dripping down my cheek, and my eye is swelling. “It’s okay, you’ll heal quickly,” he murmurs, trying to bolster me.
I’m grateful, not just for his anger on my behalf or for him catching me, but for the reminder that I’m strong, that I can handle this.
“You should be thanking me, Toreon,” he says conversationally as he moves to the bars and lets a flare of power emit from his palm. As soon as the doorway appears, Morax shoves me inside Toreon’s cage. Toreon’s arms come around me, securing me against his hard body before I even stumble.
His chains dig into me, but the rest of him is warm somehow and comforting. We both turn to look at Morax as he reseals us both in, and then his hand slips into his pocket and tosses something in the cage. My eyes follow the three black metal cuffs that land on the stone floor, skidding to a stop at our feet.
“Three cuffs for three sisters,” Morax says, and I tense as we look over at him. Toreon’s arms stay securely around me, pulling me even closer as if he wants to bury me beneath his chest to keep me safe.
“You want portals,” Toreon guesses, his tone hollow and his eyes enraged.
Morax smirks and nods. “Indeed. You will link them to me,” he says, tapping a thin, glowing ring that he’s wearing on his pinky finger as his voice emanates compulsion. I feel Toreon’s spine stiffen under the order. “When I press this ring to shift, the three wearers of those cuffs must be portaled to me.”
“That’s it then? You’ve kept me all this time just to drain and destroy me over three portals?” Toreon says with anger.
Morax’s lips tip up. “Of course not. What a waste that would be. You didn’t have a mate before, but now, apparently you do. Looks as though we’ll both reap the benefits of that, won’t we?” he jeers, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “You can remove your chains to create the cuffs, and then you will put them back on,” the Ophidian goes on, more power slipping out of his lips as he forces Toreon to bend to his will. “You have until Medley returns.”
He moves his creepy eyes over to me. “And you. You will give him your blood or your cunt or whatever else it is that he needs to see that the job gets done and he isn’t drained to the point of death. Be a good little mate and ensure that he still has plenty of power to create a full portal later.”
I’m caught off guard by the order. I should have been ready, but I was so shocked by what was happening that I didn’t have my mind protected. His compulsion crashes against my darkness, his words braiding vile knots into my mind. I waver, my head feeling heavy and my body suddenly boneless like I’m made of Jell-O. If it weren’t for the fact that Toreon was still holding me, I would’ve collapsed in my efforts to fight against the mental assault.
I stay perfectly still, terrified