Page 53 of Something Worth Keeping
“Julian,” Cillian snarled. “You used him.”
“Used him? I don’t even know where he is.” Vane shrugged. “But I didn’t need to. You’re predictable. Ancient, powerful, but ultimately driven by simple instincts. Protect the territory. Eliminate the threat. And when one of you found a mate?” Vane’s smile turned cruel. “Even more predictable. You’d do anything to keep him safe, including rushing into an obvious trap.”
Thorn lunged forward, shadows manifesting into razor-sharp tendrils. They struck the circle’s boundary andscreamed, dissolving into smoke.
“The barrier is keyed to your specific resonance,” Vane continued, gesturing to the symbols. “Every time you try to breach it, the apparatus drains more of your essence to reinforce the containment. It’s very elegant when you think about it. How you become the power source for your own prison.”
“This technology hasn’t been viable for centuries,” Silas said, clearly thinking hard despite the pain. “The Church abandoned it because the ritual components…”
“Required a human sacrifice to initialize. Yes, I know.” Vane’s expression didn’t change. “That’s all right. I had a volunteer.”
Cillian suddenly realized the fourth heartbeat above them had stopped. His shadows reached up instinctively and found the body on the catwalk. It was cooling, and obviously freshly killed. The bloodhad been used to fuel the apparatus’s activation.
“You murdered someone to trap us,” Thorn’s voice dropped to a growl that resonated with ancient fury.
“I eliminated an asset who’d outlived his usefulness.” Vane checked his watch. “He was a former lieutenant and a very sloppy worker. He was going to talk to the police anyway. This way, his death contributed something valuable.”
Cillian tried to shift into his true form, to unleash the void-spawned horror that had shredded three men in an alley. His shadows writhed and twisted, but the apparatus compressed them, held them, drained them faster than he could regenerate.
“You can’t hold us indefinitely,” Cillian said. “We’ve broken stronger bindings.”
“Perhaps. But I don’t need indefinitely. I just need long enough to leverage you.” Vane pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. “You see, gentlemen, I’ve been building quite a collection of information about your kind. Abilities, weaknesses, dietary requirements. And most importantly, your connections to the human population.”
He turned the phone to show a photograph. It was Julian. Walking into the coffee shop where they’d first officially met.
Cillian’s world condensed to a single point of rage. “Touch him, and I will unmake reality itself to destroy you,” Cillian’s voice fractured, layered with the screaming void beneath his human façade.
“I’m sure you would. Which is why you’re going to cooperate.” Vane pocketed the phone. “Here’s what’sgoing to happen. You’re going to remain in this apparatus until I can find a way to relocate it to a more secure facility. Then you’re going to provide me with detailed information about your species. I want to know everything, including numbers, locations, and capabilities. In exchange, I’ll leave your little archivist alone.”
“You think we’ll bargain?” Thorn’s shadows thrashed against the containment, each impact draining visible essence from his form.
“I think you’re trapped. I think you’re weakening. And I think,” Vane glanced at Cillian, “that one of you just found a mate, which means you have an exploitable weakness you’ve never had before.”
Cillian felt the bond pulse with sudden alarm. Julian had felt his distress through their connection.
Stay at Shadow House,Cillian projected desperately.Stay with Rook. Don’t come here.
Vane watched Cillian’s expression change. “Ah. He felt that, didn’t he? The bond works both ways. That is useful to know. That means if I hurt you, he’ll know. And if I hurt him…” Vane smiled. “Well, I suspect you’d become very cooperative very quickly.”
“I will kill you,” Cillian said, each word vibrating with promise. “I will tear you apart piece by piece. I will make you beg for death and deny you. I will…”
“Yes, yes. Very threatening.” Vane waved dismissively as he headed toward the exit. “Save it. You have exactly one hour to decide if you want to cooperate or if you want me to go collect your mate and find out exactly how much pain you can feel through a bond.”
Cillian’s shadows reached desperately through the bond, trying to send a clear message to Julian:Trap. Captured. Don’t come.But the apparatus was interfering, scattering the message into a mass of emotions - fear, rage, pain, and beneath it all, the overwhelming need to keep Julian safe. Even if it meant Cillian’s destruction.
Chapter Nineteen
Julian felt the moment Cillian’s panic spiked through their bond. It was a sharp twist of fear wrapped around fury and pain.
“Something’s wrong.” Julian stood, abandoning his coffee. “They’re in trouble.”
Rook looked up from his phone, where he’d been scrolling recipes. “Thorn said to keep you here.”
“Thorn said a lot of things that turned out to be wrong.” Julian grabbed his jacket. “Cillian is hurt. I can feel it.”
“Jules, listen…”
“No. Either you take me to that industrial park right now, or I call a rideshare and go alone.” Julian met Rook’s amber-gold eyes. “Choose quickly.”
