Pretty in the Dark (Dark and Wild #2)

Chapter 26

26

JUNIPER

T he darkness didn’t last long as a faint glow illuminated from a panel which the woman had placed her palm against, as a hidden door slid open silently, revealing a long corridor. The woman waved us through and the moment we stepped into the hall, the door slid closed once more behind us, and with it, the sounds of the club and party-goers behind us disappeared. It was as if Club Eros no longer existed, and I realized that anyone who might stick their curious heads through the curtains would not understand what the alcove was hiding.

We followed silently behind the nameless woman with only the sounds of our heels clicking on the tiled floor, echoing off the walls until we reached the end of the hall where an elevator awaited us. She pushed a button and stood back as the doors slid open, revealing a luxurious interior complete with gilded and mirrored paneling. Bowing once more, she spoke to Kade, not once looking at me. “Master Salerno is waiting for you. You are kindly asked to remember the rules of the Elysium, and not to stray from the path. Please enjoy your evening, Mr. Diovolo.”

Then she pushed a button once more and the door closed, sealing us inside. I turned to Kage. “What the fuck is this place? I feel like I’ve stepped into the Twilight Zone.” The elevator started its descent and my stomach dropped. Kage’s face remained a stone facade.

“Just remember what I said and stick to the plan. When we get to Salerno’s suite, let me do the talking. Cade should be in place by now if we need a quick way out. And for fuck's sake, Juniper…” He slid those glittering, obsidian orbs my way. “... whatever you do, don’t stray from the path. No matter what you see.”

I put my hands up defensively. “I got it, I got it! I know how to stick to a plan. Sheesh.” Kage’s brows furrowed further as he silently conveyed that somehow he didn’t believe me, but I ignored him because in that instant, the elevator came to a slow stop. We both turned to face the doors and my gasp of shock was audible. Whatever I’d mentally prepared myself to expect to see, it was nothing compared to the scene that was laid out before me.

I suddenly understood why this place was called the Elysium. Because like the Greek underworld it was named after, the giant room we entered was crafted to look like something straight out of the myths. Lush carpets of grass and vibrant flowers filled the room. Trees—actual trees with roots going down into the earth, filled the chamber. Birds chirped sweetly as they flew from tree to tree, while butterflies flitted from flower to flower.

A path led from the elevator through the rolling fields, and I stumbled as we stepped out onto it, with Kage quickly reaching out to catch my arm and steady me.

“When I first came here, it wasn’t called Elysium .” He murmured as he began to lead me along the path. “They’d modeled it after Tartarus that night. And instead of flowers and trees, there were pits of boiling lava, and I’m pretty sure blood.”

“You mean they brought all of this down here for just one night?” I gaped in disbelief. “Who the hell are these people?”

“Maybe not one night. I haven’t quite figured out if it’s on a schedule or if it’s purely by whim, but they change up the scene every so often. As for who? Very rich, very bored, very dangerous people who want to believe they can achieve godhood just by roleplaying it.”

“You mean like the Infernals?” We continued down the path, but movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I craned my head to look, and in that moment I realized that not everything in the room was real. We were in-fact in a room that couldn’t have been much larger than a ballroom, but well placed screens with images projected onto them made it seem much bigger. The details were so grand and well done that I was sure that anyone drugged, or drunk enough to stumble up here would have a hard time determining illusion from reality.

“No. Not the Infernals, although some of their group frequent this place.” Kage continued along, lecturing as he went. “They call the main club area the Asphodel, and keep it restricted to the common people, but this area…” He waved a hand to encompass our surroundings. “...is the land of the gods. Occasionally they will bring someone who catches their eye into their realm and elevate them.”

“Is that what they were going to do to me?” A flash of white amongst the green had me slowing down to process whatever it was I was seeing. Was that a satyr ? I blinked, thinking that the scenery and Kage’s explanation were giving me hallucinations. Another flash of fur and a bare chest smacked the reality back into me. Nope. That was indeed a man dressed up as a satyr. Complete with the horns, lute, and several half-naked women writhing on the surrounding ground.

A low moan reached my ears, and I whipped my head back around to stare at the path directly ahead of me. Correction, those totally naked women writhing on the ground with him .

“No,” Kage answered. “They thought you were a sacrifice.”

“A what?!” My shriek had Kage turning to look back at me with a disapproving frown.

“What the hell do you mean by sacrifice ?” I hissed, quieter now, hoping that the fake satyr sandwich on the hill next to us had not been disturbed by my outburst.

Kage cleared his throat. “It doesn’t matter. They know you aren’t to be touched.” He spoke as if by his will alone, he could make that statement a reality.

“Okay, but it does matter, brother dear. What if they decide I’m a good sacrifice anyway and don’t care that I’m your sister? And why did they think you were bringing someone to them, anyway?” It was at that precise moment when we made a sharp turn that I realized—we were gradually nearing a grand, white canvas tent that had been expertly assembled right in the center of the fake field.

“They won’t touch you, so stop worrying. And it’s because the last time I was here, I stole their selected sacrifice.” He stopped a few feet from the tent and glared at me as if he was annoyed that he’d revealed that much to me.

I cocked a brow. “You mean the incident?” I said, mimicking the bouncer from earlier.

He said nothing, but shot me a warning look before striding forward and entering the tent. I had no choice but to follow behind him.

Another scene greeted us, once more mimicking Greek mythology and what I assumed was supposed to represent the heavens. Half-dressed women and men lounged around on silken cushions talking and laughing, while others congregated on a small dance floor. To the back of the tent was a raised platform with a large gilded, ornate couch on it. Behind that was a wall of one-way windows that looked down upon the main club below.

Now I knew why the ceiling was painted like it was. We were literally in the heavens while the writhing crowd languished in euphoria below us.

Kage came to a stop before the couch and I got a good look at the man who sprawled across it. Dressed in a golden toga revealing a broad chest above a barrel belly, was a heavy set man with a crown of laurel leaves resting on his salt and pepper head. Two women—wearing strips of cloth that someone might call dresses, except that they were so sheer that I could make out every inch of their naked bodies— were draped across him. Their hands wandered over his hairy chest in a slow and languid way that made me take a closer look at their too-made-up faces and glossy eyes. They were probably not even old enough to legally drink, and appeared to be heavily drugged. Bile rose in the back of my throat. The lounge he was occupying dipped under his weight, the gold legs bowed outward from the strain. This had to be Salerno.

Beady eyes narrowed at Kage as a sardonic grin split his lips revealing too-white teeth. “Mr. Diavolo, I must say I’m surprised to see you here again, given the last time you joined the festivities. I believe I told you never to come back. I wasn’t under the impression that you had a death wish.” There was a biting edge to his voice that betrayed the smile. Salerno wasn’t happy to see Kage at all, and I had a sinking feeling that we were already starting off on a bad foot. Whatever Kage had done the last time he’d been here, whatever sacrifice he’d stolen, Salerno wasn’t going to let it go so easily. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. We had to convince Salerno to help us. I had to save Stacy.

“I don’t. I’m here as an ambassador of good will. And I come with an offer for you.” Kage’s voice was dark and smooth as he stared down Salerno, his dark gaze never blinking.

Salerno leaned forward, his eyes burning brightly as they flickered in my direction, and I saw something slither in their depths that made my skin crawl. “Ahhh…” His head cocked toward me, predator-like and assessing as his gaze traveled up and down my body, not even bothering to hide as he lingered over the swell of my breasts and the exposed skin of my legs. “You’ve brought me a new offering. And a tempting one at that.” His gaze swiveled back to Kage. “But I'm afraid simply replacing one sacrifice with another isn’t how it’s done. You stole from me, Kage Diovolo. Do you have any idea what the repercussions were because of your insolence?” He licked his lips and turned his gaze back toward me once more. “Sampling the goods, before accepting your peace offering, would convince me to overlook the slight.”

Kage's jaw muscles flexed just once, and I knew that only our mission here prevented him from pulverizing the fat pervert and splattering his guts across the chaise that Salerno was sprawled across.

“I think you have a bad habit of misunderstanding situations, Master Salerno. Exactly the way you misunderstood what was happening the last time I was here.” The way he drawled out “Master” left no doubt that he didn’t consider the man a master of anything, other than stupidity perhaps. “I’m not here to offer that kind of offering, or any other type of offering to you ever again.”

Salerno’s gaze snapped back to Kage’s with a glare and a lip curled in disdain. “Then it appears you have a death wish, after all. Pity. I was hoping you’d see the error of your ways once you tired of that little devil's pussy. Tell me, where is the girl now? Getting passed around like a Sunday dinner with your Diablos? Or did you actually think you could tame the whore and make her respectable?”

I thought Kage would snap. I had no idea who this girl was that Salerno was referring to, but it didn’t take much to guess that it was the sacrifice my brother had stolen away and apparently forfeited his membership into this club for. ‘She-devil’, he’d called her. A whore. I spared a glance at Kage wondering who this woman was that he’d set aside his ruthless nature to safeguard.

Kage’s voice dripped pure venom, a contrast to the hardened, emotionless mask of his face. “The only death on the table is yours, Salerno. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

I gasped as a shadow peeled away from the wall and approached Salerno from behind. A soft click , barely audible under the sound of music from the dance floor, sent a chill across my skin.

I saw the glint of the barrel first, then my eyes flew upward to the figure, who cast a lazy wink in my direction and my heart fluttered. Cade.