Chapter 63
3rd Person
“What do we do?” Chase exclaimed, his gaze ping ponging back and forth between the images on the security screens. The Beta was beside himself, unable to help Caspian and distracted by his mate’s antics all at once.
“I don’t know.” Marina fretted, her attention focused on Viviane and Caspian, divided by glass walls and completely at Damien’s mercy. Even as she watched them, she knew she couldn’t simply stand there and do nothing. “I’ll go help Kiera.” She suggested after a moment. The chances that she would be able to help her daughter were slim, but Chase could – assuming he was able to focus on doing so. “She’s not in imminent danger and the faster the other mermaids are freed, the better.”
“Thank you,” Chase breathed, anxiously following her movements on the black and white monitors.
Without another word, Marina careened out of the control room, dashing for the lower levels where the mermaids were trapped. Her heart pounded, blood rushing in her ears as she darted through the hallways, silently praying to reach her destination without meeting any nefarious shifters along the way.
When she finally found the dank cells where the brothel housed its newest slaves, she was surprised to see a pair of guards unconscious on the ground, their keys conveniently missing from their belts. She could only assume Kiera was responsible, though how the lynx had managed to overpower them, she did not know. Running inside, she quickly located her daughter’s friend, following the sounds of many frightened women and girls.
“Kiera what are you doing?” She cried.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Kiera demanded. “I was coming to help you all when I found them,” She explained, gesturing to the caged women. “I couldn’t just leave them!”
“I know,” Marina sighed, “but we have to move fast. Things aren’t going as planned.”
“What’s happened?” Kiera replied, her flushed skin paling.
“Damien bought Viviane at the auction,” Marina shared hoarsely. “And Caspian almost reached them, but now he’s trapped too.” She continued mournfully, “I don’t… I don’t know if we’re going to get out of this alive.”
Kiera stubbornly set her jaw, looking around at the shell-shocked mermaids. “We might not be able to – but they should.” She declared, tossing Marina a set of keys. “We have to save as many as we can.”
Marina nodded, moving to the nearest closed cell and beginning to test keys in the iron lock. Chase might not like it, but Kiera was right. Just because they might fail, didn’t mean they couldn’t do some good in the process. As cage after cage opened, the captured mermaids fled up the stairs, taking advantage of the cleared hallways and unlocked doors. They raced out into the cool night air, determined not to stop until they were free.
Many floors above the subterranean prison, Caspian stared around at the reinforced glass caging him. “What is this?” He snarled.
“You’re far from the first man who’s tried to kill me, pup.” Damien replied coolly. “I had this security system put in after an assassin snuck into my rooms last year.” He explained, “I wasn’t expecting to need it again so soon, but I can’t deny it’s come in handy.” The cruel Alpha surveyed Caspian closely, looking him up and down with avid curiosity. “How did you manage to get up here?”
“For a mad tyrant your security forces aren’t very well equipped to withstand infiltration.” Caspian drawled, near feral with rage and concern, but glad to take any opportunity to pull Damien’s attention from Viviane. His sweet mate was frantically looking around the room behind Damien, undoubtedly looking for some way to help Caspian. He wanted to yell at her to forget him and find an escape, but he couldn’t do so without further endangering her.
“And tell me, Caspian. Are you here alone?” Damien questioned slyly.
“Being alone won’t stop me from destroying you.” Caspian growled fiercely, “Now hand over my mate.”
“Why on earth would I do that?” Damien demanded with a scoff.
“Because I will get through this glass sooner or later.” Caspian assured him. “And because I have your son.”
“My son?” Damien repeated, laughing humorlessly. “Is that supposed to frighten me?”
“Do you not care for him at all?” Caspian asked, suddenly feeling an unexpected rush of sympathy for his half-brother.
“Perhaps if he’d been more like you, I would.” Damien observed thoughtfully, still eyeing the younger man with begrudging respect. “It makes me sick to think that runt sprung from my loins. I have no time for weak wolves.”
“Did it never occur to you that he might have turned out stronger if you’d ever invested a few minutes of your time on him? Taught him, trained him, guided him?” Caspian argued, still tracking Viviane in his periphery as she moved around behind Damien. He wasn’t sure what she was doing now, but she was clearly looking for something, peeking into drawers and cabinets.
“Why waste your time on useless pursuits?” Damien dismissed Caspian’s comment easily, “I knew from the moment I saw the boy that he’d never amount to anything.”
“Fine.” Caspian snarled, “If you’re so concerned with strength, why don’t you come out here and fight me like a real Alpha, rather than hiding behind your walls like a coward.”
“Because you’re already caught, and I have nothing to prove to you.” Damien smirked, “I’m not so easily baited pup, and I stand to gain everything as it is.” Viviane froze when the horrible man glanced over his shoulder at her. “I must say you have excellent taste. I can’t recall ever seeing such a lovely specimen.”
“Taste has nothing to do with it.” Caspian hissed. “We were fated.”
Meanwhile, Viviane was becoming more and more desperate, unable to find a weapon or escape route, she was now eyeing a vase on the coffee table with panicked interest, and Caspian had a bad feeling he knew what she intended. Sure enough, she carefully lifted it and began trying to sneak up behind Damien. Catching her eye, Caspian attempted to dissuade her from such a risky plan. She wasn’t strong enough to knock the big man out, and trying would only infuriate him. He shook his head imperceptibly, but Damien caught the movement anyway.
“Tut tut.” He scolded, turning and snatching the vase away from Viviane before she could raise it over her head to strike. “None of that little mermaid.” He pulled her small body flush against his, grinning at the way she thrashed to escape him, relishing Caspian’s ferocious growls. “You and I are going to put on a little show for your mate.”
Viviane froze in terror, “What are you talking about?”
“Well I planned for this night to remain between us,” Damien explained with a leer, “But I do love an audience.”
Caspian understood his meaning before Viviane did, throwing his huge body against the glass. “Get your hands off her!” He bounced off the wall as if it was made of rubber, and he realized with renewed horror that it must have been thoroughly reinforced to avoid someone breaking through it in precisely this manner.
Damien only laughed, capturing both of Viviane’s wrists in one of his large hands and backing her towards the bed while she squirmed and fought. The lights flickered on and off, and Caspian suspected Chase must be trying to override the system from the control room, but cutting the power didn’t seem to do anything to his glass prison.
Viviane’s frightened whimpers reached his ears, driving his wolf into a frenzy. Again he threw himself at the barrier, and again he managed to do nothing but earn himself a rash of bruises. Damian cackled, ripping away Viviane’s scant outfit and palming her breast as she fought tooth and nail. Her small feet kicked out, her knee thrust up towards his groin, her teeth snapped at his skin, but Damien was simply too large and too strong.
He overpowered her easily, throwing her onto the bed and groping her sensitive flesh with sadistic glee. Caspian was fully shifted now, beating himself bloody against the glass as he clamored to reach his mate. His blood was rushing in his ears in a dull whir, a wordless roar on his canine lips, punctuated only by the sounds of pain and laughter coming from the bedroom.
However the harder he strove, the further he seemed to drive Damien’s cruelty. The wretched man was stripping off his clothes, pinning down Viviane by straddling her waist. “Let’s see,” He purred, “how should we begin?” He taunted, “I usually like to make my girls pay me a bit of mouth service, but you seem to need some taming before I can trust you with that.”
“Go to hell!” Viviane spat, lashing out with one tiny fist. She was determined to fight until the very end, for Caspian’s sake if not her own. It was clear now there was no escape, but she wouldn’t just lie there and take it, not when her mate was killing himself to reach her.
Damien fisted his hand in her hair, yanking her head up and staring into her wide eyes. “You think this is bad?” He smirked, “wait until I mark you.” He continued, eyeing Caspian’s claim on her golden skin. “I’m going to erase your mate’s claim, and replace it with my own. Then you’ll be mine forever.”
