"I want you alive, but I don't care how much you suffer. You will find I'm a reasonable…man. I offered you the easy way, you refused. Now that choice is forever gone. You are stuck with a way less comfortable for you. You're in complete control of how much I hurt you."
His calm words terrified her. She rubbed her neck, sensing the evil and determination in his tone. He paused a moment for the words to sink in. She caught her breath and waited. When he reached for her, she flinched but didn't fight him. He pulled her up and gripped her neck, pushing her head aside to expose the vulnerable skin.
She closed her eyes, telling herself she'd survive this and figure out how to get the hell out of there, even if it meant bartering with the monsters on her cell block. Her resolve to grit her teeth and bear it lasted until the pain.
He tore into her neck, and agony seared straight through her.
* * *
Rhyn's impotent frustration subsided some when they returned the human. He didn't know if Sasha would recognize her for what she was, or if only the immortal meant to mate with her would see.
She came back in the same shape as when she arrived: bloodied beyond recognition. He was surprised she came back at all --Sasha had no mercy and rarely left his victims alive.
Unless he wanted her for something else. What would Sasha want with her? What was her gift?
He slapped the wall of his cell, cursing Death again for not freeing him. He couldn't protect anyone from Sasha in Hell, and he itched to taste the woman meant to be his mate.
The robed man dropped her body on the bed, sealed the cage, and turned to Rhyn.
"Your master will see you now," he said.
Rhyn growled at the robed man, who hurried away. Sasha's servants wouldn't get within a foot of Rhyn; instead, they shaped the magic of Sasha's realm around him and gave him only one direction to go, that which Sasha wanted.
"Ooh, come out as something different!" Jared exclaimed.
He'd amused them and himself by emerging each time in some other shape. Today, however, he was more interested in seeing Sasha and hearing about the human than amusing the zoo creatures. He waited for the barrier before him to lift and then strode out.
"A half-breed! Worst one yet!" Jared exclaimed, hanging his hands through the bars in his cell.
"Fuck off, demon," Rhyn growled.
He made his way through the castle with the black stones as he had many times during his long stay. The twin moons of the outer banks of Hell were bright. It was always dark here, and the moons rose and set each day. The fresh air was welcome after the musty scents of prison. He found some of his wired energy dissipating at the long walk and change of scenery despite knowing nothing good had ever come from a meeting with Sasha.