4/1-10:55am -  Changed names in one of the paragraphs.  If you read prior to this point there are NO MAJOR CHANGES.   

I was half dragged through the doorway and into a hall. The door sealed behind me and it looked like a regular wall. You couldn't tell where it was. The traitors to the pack and clan walked ahead of us with Drake directly behind them. Amaryllis walked behind the ogre and I, sniffling as we went. 

Fuck her. I wished I could have done more magic. When I cast the curse on her, I felt my mana pool down to zero. Whether it was temporary or not I didn't know.  As a healer I had more mana reserves than a normal incubus but with this magic dampening effect, I couldn't be sure of anything. 

The hall seemed to stretch on forever.  We stopped in front of another wall. Looking around, I noticed there weren't any doors or windows. It was just one long corridor. Drake muttered something and a stainless steel door appeared. Carlotta pushed down on the handle and the door swung open. We made our way into a room that was dark and ten degrees cooler than where we'd come from.  A light came on overhead illuminating the room.  

I rubbed my arms as I looked around what appeared to be some sort of doctor's office.  There was a wall of cabinetry behind where we entered.  In the center of the room was a steel slab gurney with a thin green blanket.  Against a concrete wall were wrist and ankle chains hanging from a wall stained with red.

"What is this?" I asked.

Everyone but Drake laughed. Mentally I prayed that each of them suffered cruelly before death. My former bestie turned to me and smiled.

"Surely you know a medical torture room when you see it, Daniel."

"No. I don't. That's not really my thing," I snipped at him.

He hummed to himself then inclined his head ever so slightly. The ogre yanked me over to the cuffs and began chaining me up. I glared at the cluster of ex-clansmen.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked Carlotta.

She tapped her chin with one pointy-tipped nail as if she were seriously considering my question. "Because you're simply in the way."

"Zander made it clear he didn't want you whether he was with me and Sabian or not."

She sucked her teeth. "Silly boy. I've gotten over that and raised my sights higher." Her eyes flashed with glee. "Why settle for being the co-ruler of something when you can be the only ruler?"

I frowned. "What the hell are you on about?"

"With you gone, Zander will fall. I'll step in and take over the clan when he does."

It was my turn to laugh.  She was forgetting one little thing.  Actually, she was forgetting several little things called Zander's kin.  There is a reason vampires are feared.  "Seriously? You're forgetting the whole clan council. Isabella is not about to let you take over shit."

Her eyes turned blood red and her lips pulled back into a snarl. "You think that bloodless bitch can stop me?! Soon enough those in the clan that have stood against vampires claiming their rightful place at the top of the food chain, will find themselves buried at the bottom with the rest of the trash."

I scoffed.  Did she forget that she was also a bloodless vampire bitch? "It's a pipedream but whatever."

There was a low tinkling sound and a cloud of black smoke filled the room. When the smoke cleared, the antideluvian vampire stood in the middle of the room with two others. A growl ripped out of me before I could stop it.

"Now now, Daniel," Drake chided. "I thought you'd be glad to see your dear old daddies. I went out of my way to get you this reunion."

"Fuck you and them!" I spat. Devin had a blank look on his face but I noticed a slight twitch of his eye at my words. Stephan stepped forward with a cocky smirk on his face. If I had my hands free, I'd have clawed it right off his fucking face.

"Hello, pretty boy. It's been a long time."

"Not nearly long enough," I seethed.  He cupped my chin in his hand.  I tried to turn my head but he gripped harder. His nails dug into my cheeks as he leaned down so we were eye to eye.

"No kiss for daddy?"

I wanted to headbutt him but he had my face in his larger hand. I settled for spitting in his face instead. A smirk spread on my face as he cursed and wiped his face. Take that, fucker.

Bright colors exploded behind my eyes and my head slammed back into the wall.  Stephan backhanded me again, snapping my head in the other direction. Rusted iron filled my mouth.  Stephan's nails grew and bore into my cheeks. I grit my teeth against the pain and I blinked away the tears in my eyes.

Devin took a step forward and put his hands on his hips. "That's enough, Stephan. We don't want to damage him."

Drake chuckled. "Not too much anyway."

Stephan's tongue flicked over my bloody lips before he pulled away. My stomach roiled and I wanted to vomit. He tasted like meat and onions. A line of saliva connected our lips before it broke and dripped down my chin.

"Always knew you'd be sweet."

Too bad the reverse wasn't true.  I wanted to scrub my tongue with a Brillo pad and bleach.  Devin must have known I was going to say something. He grabbed Stephan's arm and pulled him back. "That's enough for now."

Drake walked over to the counter and uncovered a tray that I hadn't noticed. My eyes widened at the assortment of knives and clamps. My mouth dried up when he pulled out a large knife that looked like a cleaver.  He twirled it in his hand a few times as if debating on using it.  I heard muffled giggles coming from the peanut gallery in the corner by the door.  Devin started to say something but stopped. 

"Jumping right in, I see."

Half the room jumped in surprise, myself included. My heart nearly flew out of my chest and my voice froze in my throat. In the center of the room stood Eligor. He was even more massive than I thought. There was a pop in my neck as my head angled up to take him all in.

His head nearly scraped the top of the ceiling. He was half as broad as the room. Devin and Stephan were as tall as Zander and Sabian but they looked like dwarves in comparison. His arms were crossed over his muscular chest and he had a smirk on his face. If I wasn't so frozen with fear, I'd say he was attractive.

"Lord Eligor," Stephan said with a bow. Everyone else bowed and muttered their greetings. I narrowed my eyes.

"Is this the child?" Eligor's voice was just as deep and powerful as it had been at the gathering.  Every word felt like it was infused with mana tingling in the air.  A slight shiver went through me at the sound.  

Stephan nodded and leaned against the counter. "We believe so."  He was entirely too relaxed in the presence of a high-level devil lord. 

"And the spirit?"

"We haven't found it."

I noticed Devin tense ever so slightly.  Drake's eyes widened and he held his hand out as if to ward off a punishment. "We were getting ready to start questioning him, my lord."

A light flashed in Eligor's eyes as he looked at me. An oppressive weight  pressed me into the wall and I couldn't breathe. Thread-like tendrils tickled through my head and covered my brain like a web. I closed my eyes against the heavy pressure and tried to breathe through.

What was he doing? Was he in my mind? Why? Was he looking for information?  

Balling my hands into fists, I imagined a wall slamming down in my mind and pushed back. The tendrils and the weight retreated. A booming laugh filled the room and I opened my eyes. Eligor smiled as he looked at me.

"This one is spirited. I'm interested in seeing this." He snapped his fingers and Amaryllis, the ogre, and the vampires all disappeared. Devin's eyes widened and Drake frowned. Stephan just cocked a brow.

"My lord, why did you send them away?" Drake's voice bordered on a whine and a growl.

Eligor turned his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at Drake. "This isn't entertainment for peons."

Stephan chuckled. "You don't want them to have any fun?"

"They are unworthy."

Drake clasped his hands together in a pleading motion.  "We didn't mean to offend you, lord."

"No."  Eligor smirked and looked over his shoulder. "They are unworthy of watching him break."