Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

60. Choices

RILEY

Two days. The cambion had my mates for two days already, and I didn't even realise it because time passed slower in Selene and Sol's realm.

The bastard had the audacity to reach out to me via my adoptive parents. Sure, the fact that they were warlocks made it easier for him to get in touch with them, but he even dared to demand that they teleported me to the location where I was to meet him.

My poor parents were out of their minds worried for my safety, yet he forced them to comply with his demands. I had to ask them to teleport me to the meeting point directly instead of going back to Blackwood first because I did not want to waste any time and I did not want to have more people on my back trying to stop me. Getting my parents to agree to let me do this was already hard enough.

The moment they left, my calmness was gone though. I was livid and set more than ever now to destroy Markolf. My hand squeezed the glamoured angel blade as I stood in front of the front gate of the castle where he had requested to meet. I twisted my hair into a high bun until it coiled around itself and then secured it with the disguised blade, pretending that it was a genuine hairpin. It was going to stay there until I had the perfect opportunity to end Markolf once and for all.

Relax, release, ease.

I kept on repeating that until finally managed to calm down. I knew what Markolf's abilities were capable of. Even though I was now marked and protected from having my lust used in his favour, any anger on my part provided the cambion with an opportunity to control me- something that I wanted to avoid at all costs.

Markolf appeared out of thin air, smirking at the sight of me waiting there for him.

"Riley, how nice of you to accept my invitation." He opened the gate and motioned for me to follow him.

"Invitation? Goodness, you really don't understand the meaning of words, do you?" I snorted. "You would benefit from the use of a thesaurus- I would recommend looking up the meanings of "threat" and "psychopath". The anger inside me was growing just at the mere sight of him.

Relax, release, ease. Keep it cool, Riley- keep it cool.

"Where are my mates, Markolf?"

"Call me Mark, please." He smiled at me like we were on good terms. This guy was more delusional than I thought.

"Hold up. You don't actually think that we are friends, do you?" Examining his expression, I saw a muscle twitch on his face as he tried to maintain his smile. Wow, he genuinely thought that there was a bond between us.

"Oh my, you actually do," I burst into laughter. "I think that you have been taking notes from the wrong book- it's "How to make friends and influence people", not "How to make enemies and alienate your friends"."

We walked quickly through the garden and entered the castle while I remained amazed by the fact that the cambion had no clue that this was not the way to win me over to his side. Not that there was any way for him to do so anyway.

"I get that your father is a demon- so most likely a prick- but sure you must have come across some good people in your life that taught you basic social skills," I continued as we walked along various corridors. Pissing him off was probably a risky strategy on my part but at least in doing so, I did not have time to think about my anger, so that was certainly a good thing. "Your mother was human, after all."

He came to a halt and turned around to face me. His jaw stiffened. There was something angry but also sad in his eyes.

"Do not mention my mother again," he snarled before he smiled again and kept on speaking politely, "This would be so much easier if you are a bit more cooperative, Riley. You know I can just persuade you to join me by using my demonic persuasion and you would not be able to say no."