THE DUNGEON WAS dark, where no light shone through, rats squeaking along the grungy cement walls. Even though his role as commander of the army placed him in a high position in the High Court, Tensley knew that even he would have to talk the guards into letting him get through to the prisoners. And with Fallen and the prince’s growing suspicion of possible treason, time he did not have.
He needed to get in and get out of there as fast as possible.
Without thinking, Tensley pushed Molly behind him, grabbed the first guard, one hand on the shoulder, the other tight in the man’s hair, and twisted roughly. A crack echoed in the darkness, and the guard fell limply to the ground. Tensley heard Molly as her breath hitched slightly with surprise, but he didn’t have the time to ask if she was well, as the other guard was already starting to run toward the bell that would sing the alarm throughout the castle.
Tensley didn’t let the man get very far as he grabbed the man’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks, and whirling him around toward him. A vicious, dark smile appeared on Tensley’s lips. A promise of death and destruction—a beast to be reckoned with. The man went to scream for help, but Tensley shook his head slowly, deliberately, the evil glint still present in his gaze.
At the guard’s confused expression, Tensley laughed bitterly. “Never let your opponent distract you,” he began as if giving the man a lecture, “for it might be the fraction of a moment he needs to kill you,” he finished, and with that, plunged his hand deep into the man’s chest, his fingers tightening around the warm, dewy flesh of his wildly pumping heart.
In the next breath, Tensley’s hand retracted, still holding the man’s heart in his hand. The guard’s breath seemed to leave his body completely, his hand running wild over the deep, dark hole of his chest.
Without a second thought, Tensley dropped the heart to the ground, grabbed the man’s neck, and a crack resounded.
The second man was down, and their way to the prisoners was now opened wide.
He kneeled over the man, searching his body with his bloody hands for the key that would unlock the cells. His fingers brushed against something hard and cold near the man’s chest. Grabbing the key, he straightened and turned to Molly. Her eyes widened, but she swallowed and gathered herself.
When he reached her, she linked her fingers with his bloody ones, a small and nervous smile at the corners of her luscious lips.
If they had the time, he would devour that mouth right here and now.
The sound of men moaning in pain brought them both out of their reverie. Together, they started walking toward the sound, walking deeper and deeper into the dark abyss of the dungeons.
The air was cold and smelled of mold and desperation.
Tensley considered himself a tough man, a feared demon, but even he knew no man could spend more than a few days in this sort of hell without growing completely insane.
The hole was designed to have even the toughest males begging for death.
They came to a bronze door, and Tensley reached for the key he had retrieved from the guard. He inserted it in the keyhole, twisted, and the door opened, squeaking loudly as it did.
Inside, darkness swarmed the room.
“Hello?” Molly called as Tensley squinted into the black room.
The silence stretched, water dripping into a metal bowl somewhere in the darkness.
Then a dark, raspy voice spoke. “Leave me.”
Tensley followed the voice to a corner and moved forward, slowly letting his eyes adjust to the darkness to see Seto’s frame, bent over, his legs stretched out in front of him.
The proud, strong guard he had been only a few days ago had now completely vanished, replaced by a man blinded by self-hatred and deep-rooted sadness. Despair.
His head was bowed, and when Tensley bent down in front of him, he didn’t budge.
“Seto,” Tensley said. “We need your help.”
Seto laughed thickly, but he ended up coughing. “I’m a dead man.” His head lifted, a fire burning in his eyes. He breathed in, the sound shaky and weak. “I killed her,” he whispered more to himself than to Tensley, the words so broken and low, he almost had to lean forward to hear them. “With my own hands.” He stared down at his hands, shaking violently. In the shadows, Tensley saw a tear escape from the corner of Seto’s eye, but the man didn’t rub it away. He let it slide down his face as if pride had left him completely.
Tensley could not remember seeing a man, a demon, filled with so much sorrow. It was foreign to him. And surprisingly, he did not think of Seto as weak for showing so much emotion. He felt like a part of himself understood the man’s emotions.
Seto’s shaking hands rose from his lap, the tips of his fingers skinned and raw from clawing at the walls. “The king told me she died of blood loss and infection—died because of my own hands!”
He roared, pounding his fists into the dirt floor he sat on. “If I could cut my own hands off for what I did. If I could let myself bleed out, on this cold, hard floor as she did, I would. I deserve to die. I deserve to be left alone until I rot like the monster I am,” he seethed, the harsh, determined words contrasting with the soft, fragile tears that kept running down his face.
He stood suddenly, his fists hitting the wall repeatedly, pieces of cement falling from the impact.
As the sound of bones being crushed, and the sight of fresh blood dripping down Seto’s palms, Tensley realized the man was trying to harm himself the only way he could, trapped in this deep, dark hole.
Tensley stood in front of Molly, watching the beast taking control of the king’s guard. He didn’t pity the man, but he understood his pain. If Tensley had harmed Molly in any way, he would have lost it.
“Then make the king pay for what he asked of you,” Tensley hissed lowly, edging toward the untamed animal that was Seto. “He is the one who demanded you to whip Prim,” he breathed in roughly, “which then caused her death. He’s the one who made all these damn laws, making it a crime for a guard to choose a woman. To have a family.” He raised his chin, his voice unwavering, the sound carrying over the pounding of Seto’s fists on the cement wall. If he continued much longer, there would be nothing left of his hands. Only a dust of bones and pool of blood and ruined flesh. “He is the one to blame for all of this. For Prim’s death, for the way she died,” he continued in the same tone. “Together, we can make this kingdom burn at our feet. We can get revenge on what he asked of both of us. All I need is your help and patience.”
Seto’s fists paused, his pants filling the tiny room of darkness.
Slowly, Seto turned, glaring at the two of them.
“You said you’re a dead man—you have nothing to live for but avenging Prim,” Tensley added.
The man stared at them for a long time. Unmoving. So still, Tensley feared he had stopped breathing. The cloud of sadness was back in Seto’s gaze, the despair he was in earlier coming back stronger.
Then he spoke, his voice scratchy and raw, “I want the king’s neck between my teeth.” He took a threatening step toward Tensley. “I want his blood dripping down my chin and his flesh trapped in the creases of my teeth.” His entire body vibrated with anger.
Tensley nodded. “It’s yours.”
Molly held her middle and edged closer to Seto. Tensley wanted to pull her back, but he trusted her. She knew what she was doing. “We need your help, Seto,” she said calmly, soothingly.
Seto glanced at her, eyeing her tiny frame. She didn’t appear a threat, but Seto knew what power boiled within her veins.
“We need to go back to Manhattan. Ares attacked Scorpios, and Tensley’s family needs him,” she explained softly. “Please, we need your help. We need to get out of here, and you’re the only one who knows how to do it.”
“Go back to Manhattan? Why would I help you get away from this place, when I need you here, to kill the king?” he snapped, almost voicing word for word the prince’s earlier words.
“Because my fucking people are getting attacked,” Tensley bit out. “My head is not in the right place. I need to go back, help my people so that I can come back here stronger.” Seeing this was escalating too fast, and he needed Seto has an ally, not an enemy, he sighed loudly, calming himself. “I said I needed your patience. And I do. I’ll give you what you want. I just need time. And I need to save Scorpios first.”
Seto’s face was pure stone, giving nothing away. The well-trained, impassive king’s guard poked through his features.
But Tensley needed the man, the one who had been crying minutes ago for his deceased love. That was the man who would help them. Not the guard. Tensley looked back at Molly, and with just a glance, she seemed to understand what he needed, what he was trying to do.
She approached Seto calmly, carefully. “You loved Prim, didn’t you? You would have done anything to protect her from this fate, to save her the night she was punished. I’m terribly sorry for what happened to her, Seto. I had the chance to speak with her a few times. She was a lovely girl. And she loved you dearly. I could see it in the way she talked about you.” Her eyes fixed on Seto’s empty ones. “And she did not deserve to die, but she did,” she added her voice soft, understanding. There was no trace of malice there, only honesty. “Because of some barbaric king and his stupid laws. Back in Manhattan, we have family. Tensley has a sweet little niece who was born only a few weeks ago, a nephew who looks up to him. He has a mother, who lost her husband not long ago, and brothers and sisters who need his help. But this is just Tensley’s family. There are a lot of people forming Scorpios. Many families, who as we speak, are being torn apart by war. Innocents are being attacked. Children are losing their parents. And Tensley is not there to help them. Just like you were not there when Prim was dying.” Her voice softened. “She was just as innocent as these people are. So, I beg you, Seto. Please, please help us get back to Manhattan. Please help us save innocents from dying.”
Seto stared at Molly for a long time. With only a quick glance, he seemed perfectly unaffected, but upon closer examination, Tensley could see his hands shaking and the pulse of his heart beating wildly through the thick vein of his neck. His eyes closed suddenly, a deep sigh breaking through his slightly parted lips. Neither Molly nor he missed the fresh tear that fell down from the corner of his eye. This was the man. Molly had managed to bring back the man in him.
Seto’s next breath sounded heavy and broken. “It’s what she would have wanted, I suppose.” He looked at neither of them, gaze unfocused. “She wouldn’t want innocents dying. She had a great heart. A tender heart.” Then he looked up, straight into Molly’s eyes. “I have nothing to lose. I have lost everything already. Everything that mattered. I will help you escape, so you can save your people. You have my word,” he finished solemnly.
Tensley’s shoulders relaxed, and Molly glanced back at him, a ghost of a smile to her mouth.
“Let’s go,” Tensley said and took Molly’s hand, gesturing for Seto to follow. “We don’t have much time. The prince is already suspicious, and there’s a chance Fallen is too.” He handed Seto his own jacket, watching as the man shrugged it on silently.
They walked up the steep, narrow steps of concrete, edging their way back above ground, the windows shining in the light.
Seto shut his eyes, raising a forearm to shield himself.
As soon as they hit the main floor, Tensley tugged Molly close.
“Where’s the dagger you used to open the veil between both worlds when we first arrived?” Tensley asked, maneuvering through the hallways.
“In the armory room,” Seto said, bowing his head. In the light, his bruised face was gaunt and unshaven, a dark unruly beard coating his jaw and mouth. Streaks of past tears could be seen in the dirt coating the skin of his face. Exhaustion consumed his expression, but the rage in his eyes fueled his body to keep moving.
The armory room was across the castle, where he trained, so they would have to be quick. Once they had the dagger, though, Seto would be able to do it there and then.
“Stay close,” Tensley said, pressing his mouth to Molly’s ear.
A few men glanced over at them, and then looked to Seto, their brows rising in question, but thankfully, no one stopped them.
The grand balcony was in sight, and Tensley knew if they made it to there, they could jog to the armory and be done.
His pace quickened, and Molly tried to catch up.
Seto’s long strides stretched further.
The light spilled onto the marble floors, the shadows edging back, battling for dominance.
But a chilling voice halted all three of them to stop.
“Disobeying the crown, Lord Tensley?”