Chaos ensued.

I took the steps two at the time up to my room, almost tripping if not for Irene's firm grip on my arm.

I pushed open the bathroom door, it crashed against the wall. Irene held my hair while I emptied my stomach in the toilet. The ground shook beneath me, and the walls trembled from a small earthquake.

The food burned on its way up. Was it the food, or the venom? The cold fingers of fear reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart. Fear that the venom would fulfill the promise of insanity in my blood.

I forced myself to throw up until I heaved blood.

Irene rubbed my back. "Enough, Elle. You're just hurting yourself."

Fear clogged my breath. I had to get rid of the venom. I shook my head, my fingers tightening against the cold toilet.

The bathroom was suddenly too quiet. Irene stood up. The silence before the storm. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I lifted my gaze to the door. Arthur stood there, the white t-shirt and cargo pants did nothing to hide the roar of his power. His magic twisted, stretched, snapped like a wild animal.

"Leave." His voice was cold, low, calculated. Irene fled the bathroom.

I sat down on the floor, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. "I don't appreciate you scaring my friend," I rasped. I wrinkled my nose at the stench of my breath.

Arthur knelt on the tile before me, his fingers gripped my chin. Darkness swallowed his eyes. "You're fine."

Was he asking or stating a fact? I nodded and pushed to my feet. Arthur hovered, watching me through the mirror as I rinsed my mouth over and over. Arthur's hand closed on mine. For once, his skin was colder than mine.

"Your temperature is elevated," he said. "That's a good sign."

I frowned.

"Your body is burning through the venom," he explained.

"Oh." I felt odd. As if I was in a dream. Leaning on the counter, I stared at my reflection. My eyes looked huge in my pale face, haunted. Strands of hair stuck to my damp forehead and cheeks.

"You closed off the bond," Arthur said.

"Did I?" I looked inward. The bond was still, inert. Nothing went in or out. "Not on purpose."

He nodded and pulled my head to his chest. My heart slowly went back to normal, and I could think past the fog of dread. Taking deep, slow breaths, I focused on the bond and pushed my emotions and thoughts through, the only way I knew how to open it.

Arthur's hand on my neck tightened. He brushed his lips on my head as the bond settled into place.

Darkness swallowed the bond, flowing through until it touched my heart with possessive fingers. Death, pain, darkness. I raised my head and looked at Arthur. He reciprocated my gaze, steadily.

"You didn't close the bond," I said, aware how difficult it was for him to let me see the twisted side of him. His desire to ravage and kill and torture was a fiery desire in his heart.

"I gave you my word." He cocked his head to the side. "You're not unsettled."

I rolled my eyes and pushed off of him. Opening the faucet, I splashed water on my face. "Of course I'm not. What do you take me for?"

His eyes slowly came back, their usual dark brown flecked with gold I could only see up close.

"The venom..." I trailed off.

Arthur handed me a towel. "Noah acted quickly. You might have ingested a small amount of it, but it will not affect you as much."

I wiped my face. I felt much better after I threw up, but I was still a little off. We walked out to the bedroom. It was empty.

"We got the waiters," Arthur said.

"Right. The guy who brought me the drinks."

"Why don't you rest?" Arthur said, watching me as I stepped into the closet and changed my top.

"You know that's not going to happen, so why are you bothering?" I called out. If I didn't show my face around, people might start talking. Rumors spread like wildfire among immortals. They gossiped more than old ladies in knitting circles. "Showing weakness now would be like bleeding in a pool of sharks. Everyone is just waiting for an excuse to jump me."

When I walked out, I checked my weapons. "So, you found the waiters?"

"Yes," he replied, his eyes assessing my movements. He looked calm. Too calm. "Charles hunted them down."

I sighed. I knew what had to happen next. "So I guess we'll have to talk to them."

Arthur picked up a bottle of water from the table near the fireplace, uncapped it and gave it to me. "Drink as much as you can. We need to flush it out of your system."

My throat felt scratchy. I gulped down the water, but the thirst didn't abate. I sighed. I guess I needed more than water. Arthur gave me a knowing look, but I ignored it for now.

He put his hand on my back as we moved to the door. "Your father is already there with the others."

I paused with my hand on the doorknob, surprised. Arthur's knuckles grazed my cheek.

"Your father might not show it, but he cares in his own way."

We went down the stairs. My head still felt a little foggy, and my muscles spasmed every few seconds. But I walked on my own, my back straight, my hand on my sword.

The entire castle must have heard about the incident by now. But those who wanted me gone would be sorely disappointed. Fear twisted my insides, fueling my fury. Fear and anger were a deadly combination.

Arthur led the way down several twisting corridors, then down more steps. The light turned dimmer as we went underground.

"Dungeons?" I asked, feeling a spark of amusement slice through my dark mood. The steps continued down, and the walls turned darker, the smell of blood and death hung in the stale air.

The steps ended in an endless, dark corridor. I blinked, adjusting my eyes to the gloom. Our steps mingled with a faint sound of moaning. A shiver ran down my spine. Was this place cold or was I imagining it?

The doors on either side of us had a small, barred opening; a square barely the size of my palm.

My heart rate picked up, and my breath shallowed. The effects of the venom? I shook my head. The walls closed in on me. I wanted to get the hell out of here into the light and fresh air.

I gritted my teeth against the memory of burning silver and sharp teeth biting into my flesh. Damn it.

Arthur's hand closed on mine. His touch anchored me to the present and I was once again aware of his imposing presence beside me, his roaring magic and his warm body. It was difficult to get lost in the past when he was so strong and formidable next to me.

I squeezed his hand back and we continued our trek.

The cells we passed weren't empty. Rustling clothes and skittering rodents. The faint odor of unwashed bodies and waste. This truly was a dungeon.

It was difficult to believe that only a floor above was the extravagant castle of the royal family, with crystal chandeliers and silk and gold.

"I never knew this could be here," I mumbled. "So close."

Arthur hummed in acknowledgement. I glanced at him. "Don't tell me you have a dungeon of your own?"

"My dungeons are very rarely occupied," he said, completely serious. "There are worse punishments than to be locked up."

A hand appeared through the bars of a cell in our way. I stopped.

A rough whisper. "Help..."

The fingers were wrinkled and black with grime, burnt in spots from the silver on the bars. Arthur's hand pushed my back.

"Come on."

I forced my feet to move past the cell without looking. I knew if I saw the person on the other side of the door, the chances of me moving on were slim.

I wondered about that person's crime. Was he even guilty of anything? Maybe he just did something that pissed off my uncle. After his little speech about the rules last night, I wouldn't put it past him.

"This is fae business, Elle. Don't get involved."

"Even if they're innocent?" I whispered.

"Yes."

I looked at his harsh profile. He was serious. I knew that the vampires didn't get involved in other races' business. Just like the fae and the witches didn't get involved in theirs. It was one of the rules that kept the delicate peace of our world; the only way to guarantee the immortals didn't cause a war that would ravage the world.

It was a rule I wanted to break right now. I gave a humorless smile. What do you know? Maybe my uncle's philosophy had some truth to it, in a way.

The longer we walked down the corridor, the darker it got. I was starting to believe it was actually endless when my father's voice and a faint glow seeped out of a cell a few doors down. Two fae guards stood on either side of the door.

Arthur pushed the door open. The room was bigger than I expected, holding a cot on one side, a sink and a small toilet seat in the other corner. A lone candle flickered on the sink. Shadows swayed on the stone floor and walls.

A man was chained to a chair right in the middle of the room. His head hung down, dark hair damp and his body, bare from the waist up, glistening with sweat.

Noah, Irene and Charles leaned against the wall next to the door. Marianno crouched in front of the fae, and my father stood behind the prisoner, his arms crossed and his eyes dark. He lifted his eyes when we walked in, scanning me from head to toe. His shoulders lost some of their tension and he gave me a firm nod.

"Any luck, Marianno?" Arthur asked in a low voice. The fae tensed.

Marianno stood to his feet and shook his head. His face was scrunched up when he looked back at us. "The fae's natural defenses are too strong. He's resisting. I know someone gave him the venom and put him up to it, but I can't get the name or the face out of his head."

"Can't you just force your way through?" Charles asked.

"I could, but I might damage the information in his brain," Marianno said.

"We don't want to risk that," Arthur said.

My father nodded, rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. "We'll have to break him the old fashioned way, then."

I pursed my lips and moved to the fae. Arthur's arm shot in front of me, keeping me in place. "No."

"I'll just have a word with him," I said.

Arthur's control was hanging by a thread. His eyes were bottomless pits, darker than the shadows around us. And his end of the bond was still twisting like a blood hungry monster. But I held his eyes. "I'll be fine. You're here."

His face tightened, but he dropped his arm. His magic stretched until it filled the room and pressed against the walls. Everyone in the cell froze, and my father watched Arthur like he was a ticking bomb.

Marianno stepped aside. I crouched in front of the fae. His breathing was ragged, and the smell of scorched flesh burned my nose.

"Why did you do it?" I asked.

He lifted his head a fraction, brown eyes hazy with pain. The candle glow sharpened the shadows on his face. His lips tightened.

I sighed. "I'm not asking you the name of the person who put you to it. I just want to know why you did it. You can at least tell me that, right?"

His eyes flickered behind me, where Arthur was probably ready to crush his throat the moment he blinked wrong.

"They're going to get the information out of you," I told him softly. "I'm not trying to scare you. I'm stating facts. But if you tell me why you did it, I'll stop them."

He frowned, looking doubtful. Understandably so. My father and Arthur looked like they'd enjoy torturing the man to death. I didn't want that on my conscience.

The fae obviously had enough reason to protect the master mind, if even the threat of Arthur and Orion's torture didn't loosen his lips.

I was about to stand up when the fae whispered something.

"What was that?" I asked.

"He has her," he rasped out, his chin falling to his chest again.

"He has who?"

He swallowed. "My daughter."

I sucked in a sharp breath. Understanding dawned. "Someone took your daughter hostage to force you to poison me."

It took him a few seconds, but he gave a short nod. Anger turned my vision red. My gums ached, and a new throb developed in my fingertips. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The smell of blood didn't do anything to my mood.

When I find that bastard, I'm going to kick his ass.

The fae was looking at me when I opened my eyes. I touched his hand fleetingly. Arthur's magic shook the walls. I sent him a glare over my shoulder.

Damn him. Did he have to make things difficult? He leaned against the wall with crossed arms, looking as relaxed as a striking cobra.

My eyes found the fae again. A father worried for his child. If I was in his place, I probably would've done the same. "If you tell me who it is, I promise you we'll get your daughter back and you'll walk away unscathed."

He glanced over my shoulder again, doubt written all over his face.

"You have my word," I told him.

He flickered his eyes away. He was softening. I smiled. "Arthur might look like a scary bastard, and he is, but I have him wrapped around my little finger."

Arthur would probably want to kill the fae, but I would do my best to keep it from happening. And I knew he wouldn't make me break my word.

"Also, my father won't deny me a favor. As compensation for the two and a half decades he wasn't in my life." I looked at my father. "Right?"

His jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Right."

"See?" I smiled. "Your daughter will be safe. The longer you delay, the more time she spends with that asshole."

His resolution broke. His shoulders lumped and his eyes turned suspiciously bright. "Sir- Sir Nicholas Doyle. He had her since yesterday. Please, please. If he knew I told you..."

My father cursed. I squeezed the fae's shoulder and straightened. "You know him?"

"Unfortunately."

Good. I couldn't wait to get my hands on that asshole. 

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Two updates in one day! Who am I?!

I hope you like it! Vote and comment, guys. I appreciate it.

Much love <3 

M.B.