Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

61. Behind enemy lines

RILEY 

When I looked around, we were no longer surrounded by fire and smoke. The darkness of the burning room was gone. Instead, the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky.

We stood in front of a Cotswold stone English county mansion, flanked by Corinthian fluted columns and surrounded by lush green gardens. Everything around me looked colourful and vivid in the light, the whole place exuding serenity.

But inside me, there was a storm of fury raging. Fear and anger had wrapped themselves around my heart, painfully squeezing it every time I thought about my mates, and how Markolf had tricked me and had left them there to die. Heat burned my cheeks. The only thing that kept me from exploding and destroying him right now was the gut feeling I had that they were still alive. It was like every part in me knew that if they were dead, I would sense it and I could only hope that I was right.

Yet, I couldn't let Markolf know that there was even the slightest chance that they made it out of that burning inferno. If anything, this was to our advantage- he was hopefully not going to see them coming. Until then, I had to keep up appearances.

"You sick son of a bitch," I lunged forward and hit Markolf in the chest. "You fucking lied to me. You killed them."

I couldn't inflict any more harm on him because, as expected, he tapped into my anger and put me under his control. My arms and my legs froze, and I could do nothing but talk.

"Easy there, beautiful. Don't make me do this because you and I both know that we are a lot more fun when I let you be yourself."

"Then let me go and face me without your powers, you coward."

"I know you are upset. It will pass though, and soon enough, you will see that this was for your own good. Now, we should get you settled in- my assistant will help you out and then we can enjoy a nice dinner together later."

I wanted to hit him, slap him, hurt him. I wanted to shout and rage at him, but the control he had on me through my anger didn't allow me to do any of that. Instead, Markolf himself was trying to tone down my emotions. This was perhaps a good time to free myself from his control by playing along.

Relax, release, ease, Riley.

I calmed my breathing and cleared my mind enough to show Markolf that I was no longer any threat.

"You see," he said, "so much better."

His smug smile made me want to throw up every time I looked at his face. And to think that once upon a time I thought that Rafe was a conceited prick- Markolf made him look like a saint. Then again, I had grown to know Rafe and I knew by now that behind his cocky, arrogant exterior lay a complex man who had been living with so much pain and guilt that he hid his true self from most people.

"Where are we?" I muttered once I was finally calm.

He started walking towards the main entrance and I followed quickly behind him.

"My home. It's hidden with the help of the most powerful warlock magic out there, so it's nearly impossible to find it or to enter."

I heard footsteps nearing as we entered the mansion and a beautiful older woman stepped out from around the corner. She was in her fifties or so but looked stunning, even with her grey hair. Elegance and calm radiated from her. I carefully studied her face and noticed her magnificent blue eyes. They felt so familiar, so comforting. Good.

How had a woman like her ended up here with a crazy man like Markolf?

Was she also a supernatural servant to the cambion like Caleb or another victim entrapped in this place like me?