things he saw, he could barely make out. His eyes were blurred from his sleep, and for a second he swore he was still with Jamie, but at a hotel or something.
Except, they weren’t even in a room with a bed. Or a naked Jamie.
He searched with frantic eyes for her. There was no one around him, not even the woman who had called to him. The ground he was laying on was cold and hard, like marble but rough. There wasn’t enough light for him to see past his feet, and the more focused he became, the more de ja vu ran over him like a semi-truck.
He moved his arms, trying to stop the wave of coldness that ran over him.
When he heard the shackles, though, he froze. And almost screamed with inhuman rage. Wrapped around his ankles was familiar chains that linked to were linked to the wall behind him. A small, barred window was placed neatly in the center of the room, with not even the light of the moon to show him much.
A frost had shrouded the room, and specks of snow were lightly dancing their way in front of his face. Only the light of the stars gave him a sliver of vision, and even that was barely enough.
There was a weight around his neck…his bare neck.
Chains rung with a metallic clang as he brought his arms up to his chest, feeling for clothing.
There was none.
For possibly the second time in his life, tears stung his eyes and he realized that, once again, he was trapped. His head fell back as his roar of fury echoed through the room, completely desperation. He couldn’t be here, not again. Not again.
“Auro,” he shouted, body flinging into the air, straining against the chains that were wound against his body. “Get the fuck in here! Face me, you coward,” he snarled, feeling a rage so deep that his body became as hot as fire, blazing and destroying. A small, pleasurable pain came then, in his mouth. Fangs exposed, he bared his teeth in the direction of the door and roared again, helpless.
There was no response, not even a malicious chuckle. No, all he heard was his own ragged breathing and short, gasping sounds. He wondered what they were until he realized that it was him. Talon fell limply to the ground, eyes burning even worse until he felt the small trickle of the tear.
Jamie…
God, what had he done with her? If he had Talon, he sure as hell had Jamie. And because of his brother, he could only imagine what he was doing with her…
“God damn you, Auro!” he bellowed, punching his fist into the wall with helpless rage. When Talon got his hands around that bastard’s neck, he was going to kill him…
“I’m sorry to say this, but Auro is no longer with us,” came a smooth and golden voice from thin air. His head snapped up in the direction of the voice, chest tight with a painful burn.
“Where the fuck is Jamie,” he snarled to the voice, eyes flickering around to see where it had come from. Why did it sound so familiar? He knew he’d heard it before, and not just when it had called him to wake up.
“Right here, warrior.”
Suddenly, the room was washed in light and there they were.
Jamie, staring at him with terror in her eyes. Chris, her bastard ex-boyfriend, and…an image from the past. Amenia. Amena’s twin sister. She was in the robes that he had seen her in last, her hair was exactly as long as it had been before, and her eyes were a soulless black. Something that only happened when death was following her, ready to sink its greedy fangs into the next damned victim.
“Witch…” he breathed, and only a second later he was shouting, trying to break away from the wall. “I’m going to kill you, you fucking bitch. Let Jamie go!”
“And how are you going to kill me when you won’t even have the strength?”
Chris stared at him with one of the most pleased smiles in the world. He reached over and yanked her by her hair, causing her to cry out and fall against him. Talon stared at him, letting his hate flow between them. The cold stare was enough to make him back up, but he tightened his hold on her and once again yanked on her hair, pulling her farther back.
“The second I get my hands on you, I’m going to drain you dry