Burn the Bone: Book Two of the Newborn City Series

By RE Johnson

It's just ashes everywhere. Just ash...

Life's all sunshine and roses now that Marcus is dead, right? Wrong. Demons are disappearing left and right, and Dimitri Romanov is struggling to identify the pattern of the kidnappings and murders. Just to complicate things, a mysterious guest shows up at t

• Language: English
• Publisher: RE Johnson Books
• Release date: Mar 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987891117

RE Johnson

Lover of dark, decadent, and deadly romances, RE Johnson has been a passionate storyteller and fantasy fan since they were in elementary school. In fact, they wrote their first novel in fifth grade.Now, they use their Creative Writing degree to create stories that profess love, respect, and triumph over evil and contain strong female characters who are always ready to throw down - both in and out of the bedroom.Currently, they reside in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they spend their free time playing Dungeons and Dragons, wrangling their two rambunctious children, and reading all the smut, fantasy, sci-fi, and mythology they can get their hands on.

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Burn the Bone

Burn the Bone

Burn the Bone

Book Two of the Newborn City Series

RE Johnson

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RE Johnson Books

Copyright © 2023 by RE Johnson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No part of this publication may be altered, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including, but not limited to, scanning, duplicating, uploading, hosting, distributing, or reselling, without the express prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of reasonable quotations in features such as reviews, interviews, and certain other noncommercial uses currently permitted by copyright law.

First Printing, 2023

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters, locations, and businesses are purely products of the author’s imagination and are entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, places, or events is completely coincidental

Author’s Note:  All characters in the book are 18 years or older, and this work is intended for mature audiences. For a full list of triggers, you may proceed to the content warnings section or visit www.rejohnsonbooks.com/affinity-for-pain-trigger-warnings.

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Content Warnings

Playlist

PROLOGUE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SEVEN

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY ONE

TWENTY TWO

TWENTY THREE

EPILOGUE

BONUS EPILOGUE

GLOSSARY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BOOKS BY RE JOHNSON

STALK ME

To the people who are brave enough to fight for 

what they want through the flames and the fear.

Acknowledgments

Thank you. You, the person reading this, mean the absolute world to me. It seems I can’t publish a book without just a little drama, and I am just so thrilled this book is in your hands.

The community I’ve grown around me through this incredible, sometimes exhausting journey has been something I can’t quite wrap my brain around. There are people who want to read my books, purchase them, and take them home to sit on their full shelves. I will be forever grateful.

As always, this book also wouldn’t have come to fruition without the help of some truly skilled people. My proofreader, my betas, and, of course, my ARC readers. A special shout-out to my Patrons— Kayla, Brittany, Jessica, Luna, Tori, and Denis. You all rock and keep my creativity and passion flowing like never before.

To my ride-or-dies, Ally and Rachel, your belief in me keeps me going on days when it gets rough. To family and buddies who have helped me form a support system I know I can count on.

And to my hubs, Ryan. What can I say that I haven’t already tried and failed to articulate? You are the love of my life, the Ciaran to my Hope, the Dimitri to my Red, and someone who has always been standing behind me cheering me on— even if that meant discussing my smut with your co-workers. I love you.

Next, you’ll find the content warnings. If you don’t want anything remotely spoiler-y, skip these.

Content Warnings

Burn the Bone is a dark paranormal romance with mature themes and sexual situations. This book is meant for adult readers. It is also the second book in an ongoing series. Please see the following trigger warnings, and please note that they may contain spoilers.

You’ll find Dual POV, a slow burn to high heat, second chance romance, explicit sex, forced proximity, Hurt/Comfort, morally grey MCs, cum play, praise kink, first time (MMC), unsafe sex, a female-female scene (FMC prior to meeting MMC), oral sex, dirty talk, necklaces, lots of cursing, mentions of attempted sexual assault, discussion of past trauma related to sexual assault, alcoholism and unmedicated withdrawal, self-hatred, death of a sibling, mentions of death of family members, including parents, torture, kidnapping & captivity, general violence, and combat and gun fights.

If any of that sounds like a no for you, this book may not be for you. If that all sounds good, then welcome to book two.

Playlist

This is the abridged Burn the Bone playlist. The songs are not present in a particular order. Instead, they fit the vibe of the entire story, and some in particular I truly believe were written about Dimitri.

For the full playlist on Amazon Music, check out https://tinyurl.com/yc2fjwh9.

The Wretched- Nine Inch Nails   

Something I Can Never Have- Nine Inch Nails

Burn- In This Moment

Gasoline- Halsey

Weak and Powerless- A Perfect Circle

Let It Burn- ZZ Ward

Moments- Tove Lo

Love Is Madness- Thirty Seconds to Mars (feat. Halsey)

Until We Go Down- Ruelle

Mr. Self-Destruct- Nine Inch Nails

Crave- Ruth B.

Homesick- Dua Lipa

It Will Come Back- Hozier

Devil Side- Foxes

Carried Away- H.E.R.

Stupid Deep- Jon Bellion

Out Of Mind- Tove Lo

World In Flames- In This Moment

Now Or Never- Halsey

Burn- Nine Inch Nails

Everybody Gets High- MISSIO

Play With Fire- Sam Tinnesz (feat. Yacht Money)

Man or a Monster- Sam Tinnesz (feat. Zayde Wolf)

The Beginning of the End- Klegy & Valerie Broussard

I Love You- Sarah McLachlan

lovely- Billie Eilish

feel something- Bea Miller

Light a Fire- Rachel Taylor

Say You Love Me- Jessie Ware

Do What You Have To Do- Sarah McLachlan

Fire- Jack Garratt

PROLOGUE

Dimitri

Months after Marcus Dentry was dead, two things happened, Hope and Ciaran welcomed their daughter into the world, and Interim formed. The baby was a physical manifestation of how much the couple had grown. Still, Interim was proof that the world around them hadn’t changed. And Dimitri couldn’t stand thinking about either of them.

None of them could’ve seen it coming. Roger van Statton just up and seized power after Hope killed Marcus. The strangest discovery was that Roger was, in fact, a demon, but Dimitri and Hope were still stumped as to what type. Worse, Interim, under the guise of being human enforcers, was doing Gods knew what to their fellow demons. It abducted them off the street, more and more disappearing every day. Nothing tracked either. The demons were all from different clans, different parts of the world. The only thing they had in common was the vanishing act. There was absolutely nothing to go on.

Fuck.

Dimitri stared down at the book. The Winterhold Encyclopedia of Daemons. The highlight of his days was sitting in Ciaran’s stuffy-ass library reading descriptions of ancient demon types that garbled together like alphabet soup. And it wasn’t just this book. There was Rupert’s Guide to Otherworldly Hellspawn, Rosenberg’s Compendium of Magicks and Magickal Creatures, and his favorite Angelaw’s Field Guide to Nightwalkers; at least that one had pictures.

Research turned up a big fat nothing unless you counted the elimination of species, which Dimitri didn’t. The problem was they hadn’t seen enough of his powers, and by enough, Dimitri meant anything. They’d seen Jack-shit, and Roger looked human, and aside from his smell, that was all they had to go on. So, Dimitri plugged away and tried to narrow the vast number of demons by scent. Time dragged on, and the streets got more violent while he was sitting on his ass. Dimitri went out nearly every night to stop some of Stratton’s minions, and every day he sat in a brown leather chair in the library following his nose. Fight, read, fight, read. Sometimes sleep and eating found their way in.

Yup, still fuck. He sighed.

***

Red

If Marcus was dead, everything would be different. Finally, Newborn City News was actually a useful subscription. Killed in home was the line that stuck out to Red. Also, the police had no leads, and the primary detective had turned the case cold after only a few months. She hadn’t been there, but she highly doubted the bastard met a quiet end.

Worse, the only way to learn the truth was to go back. New York, Newborn City, it all sounded like a pain to Red. Could it really be worse than being on the run from the cops, though? Gods, that was a helluva comparison. Running was her only option, however. Her clan was a no-go because Red was promised back there. Even though she’d been AWOL and had royally fucked up their camp last time, they wouldn’t hesitate to scoop Red up and take her to the performa.

Red heard her cousin’s words in her head. It’s tradition. Don’t betray the clan.

She set the paper down and started her car. The trip would take a few hours, so Red hit up a convenience store door for snacks. Inside, the news was playing, a reporter rattling on about a rash of disappearances in Newborn City. They’d all occurred at night and near the local bars. No leads.

Red set her bag of flaming hot Cheetos with lime, spicy beef jerky, and spicy peanuts down on the counter. The clerk stared at her, and Red just smiled. As she turned to leave the store, she heard the woman’s voice spout out another headline.

In another tragic turn of events, a body was found badly burned in a motel room. The owner of Sunnyside Motel off Route 15 stated to the authorities that the room was most likely held by a woman. Police have gathered evidence and pursued what they believe is a serial arsonist. The lead investigator suggested that those traveling along Route 15 show caution when checking into local motels. You heard it here first, folks. Stay clear of those motels unless you want to run into the Woman Torch.

Woman Torch, it’s not even clever. Red sighed and took her bag to the car. She buckled up and turned right onto the highway. As she passed a sign advocating fair treatment for demons, it occurred to her that the clerk probably wasn’t looking at her food choices. Red sometimes forgot how different she looked. I should stick to demon cities. After a few minutes, Red passed a sign that read 359 miles to Newborn City.

ONE

Dimitri

Black chunks. Always black chunks. Dimitri patted the residue off his hands and waited for the feeling to return to his fingers. The sound of blows landing on bone rang out from the street that led into the alley. Dimitri jogged out and found Ciaran taking care of the second thug Dimitri planned to dust next.

What are you doing here? Dimitri ran up to the asshat, who Ciaran had in a headlock, and punched him square in the jaw. He passed out. Ciaran dropped the guy and brushed off his shirt, scowling.

Looking for my best friend. What are you doing out in an alley heavily patrolled by Interim?

Ciaran, drop it, buddy. I’m taking care of some riff-raff. You were passed out with Ciona. Dimitri winked and knew the kid would take some of the wind out of his sails.

Dimitri, I’m thrilled that you’re so diligent in taking care of Roger, but you’re freaking us out with this going out at night shite. Especially when you don’t tell us. Ciaran assumed what Dimitri referred to as his big-bad-papa stance.

Well, next time, I’ll wake you up when you’re holding your young, that way, you’ll drop her, and Hope will kill you before I have to listen to this speech.

Ciaran, who Dimitri should’ve realized was right next to him, punched him in the arm but couldn’t hide the smile. Come home. We’ll get the bastard but not like this.

Marriage and therapy have mellowed you out. It’s weird.

I can still kick your arse, so move it.

Alright, alright. Buzzkill.

The truth was, however, that Dimitri was happy to go back. He had to go out and make a dent in Roger’s horde of money-grubbing mercenaries, but using his gift made him think of Elaina.

***

There were ashes everywhere. Dimitri was still unsure what had happened. A boy had tried to take his belongings. They fought. Dimitri remembered that. Then his sister showed up. Elaina was always showing up to keep other boys from stomping on him. She’d tousle his hair and smile at him for getting in trouble again.

But this was different. Elaina had tried to pull him off the boy. Dimitri had been so angry, and his hands had glowed white-blue. She had grabbed them.

Then ash.

Elaina was gone, and there was just ash. The glow receded, and Dimitri could see black chunks sticking to his fingers. His hands were numb, but the feeling came back as his skin returned to its normal peach color. The black fragments of what was once Elaina were all over his fingers.

They weren’t hot or rough but smooth, room-temperature pieces of what seemed like glass. If Dimitri didn’t know what they were, they would have been lovely. What had he done?

***

Dimitri bullshited with Ciaran on the drive, but as soon as they got to the house, he beat feet to his room. He meant no offense to the guy, but Dimitri just couldn’t watch him with Hope and Ciona. The glowworm trick exhausted him, and Dimitri barely made it up the stairs. He shuffled into his room and closed the door with his foot. His hands were stiff and sort of fuzzy, so pulling his shirt over his head was like a blind guy driving. With the cotton horror finally off him, Dimitri found the bed and flicked on the small lamp on the table. He really didn’t want a lot of light. He ached like he had a hangover without all the fun.

Bless Ciaran’s rich-ass heart, the bed was so comfy. Dimitri let his shoulders relax and smiled. It was a good fight, and he fucking took out four Polgar demons on his own. Damn pricks, how could they turn on their own kind? Probably bought some line Roger spouted. Fuck ‘em. Roger was no savior or commander of order. He was in it for himself, seizing the residual power remaining after Marcus’s death.

Dimitri’s head sank, the two halves of the down-filled pillow surrounding his face. He loved Hope, really, but all this puffy, not to mention expensive, crap was insane. Ever since the baby, she’d gone a little overboard on the maternal instincts. But you didn’t hear it from him. She’d kick the ever-loving shit out of anyone who said dick about her momming it up.

Dimitri threw the pillow onto the floor and let his head fall on the mattress. It was a king, and he loved the big room, but it seemed empty on a night like this. Dimitri saw the black chunks on the ground and smelled the burn of skin turning to char as he closed his eyes. Bile rose in his throat, and that flavor needed to go. Dimitri dragged himself onto his side and reached into his nightstand drawer. The bottle of Green Mark he pulled out was half empty. Leaning up to drink was a bitch on his shoulder, but whatever, right? It was the only way he could sleep, drunk.

It took a lot now. After chugging on the liquid burn for a good while, Dimitri put the bottle back. His brain got fuzzy, and killing that guy didn’t matter so much now. Goddamn, alcohol sure was great. Turned your brain to putty so you could PTFO and be less of a fuck around people.

A fuck for sure, but less of one. Dimitri focused on the flame that was setting up shop in his belly. He hoped it was enough to burn away the deep freeze his gift always caused. It kind of worked. At least his stomach felt something. Rest of him? Nope.

Dimitri stared at the red stain on the ceiling. He’d put it there when he’d started juggling sample paint cans in a drunken stupor. Dimitri threw the red way too high, and it exploded all over the ceiling. Sure, he could’ve gotten it off or painted over it, but it was fun to look at when he couldn’t sleep. The red blob spaced out on the ceiling like a sentient being trying to consume the walls.

The color could’ve been better. It reminded Dimitri of too many things. Sure, things were different now. He’d actually mended some shit with Ciaran, but looking at the guy all settled and happy was kinda like getting stabbed. What do you do? Life sucks. Seriously, disgusting balls, in fact. Nothing could change that.

Ugh. Dimitri exhaled, nausea crawling through his stomach, probably too much booze.

The red stain stared back. Dimitri’s vision blurred, and he begged for sleep. No such luck. The glossy color pulsed with his heartbeat, spreading across the ceiling and devouring the white expanse. It bled down the walls and flooded the floor in maddeningly slow waves. Red, red was everywhere, up to his eyeballs. As the color invaded his lungs and forced out his breath, it burned. It was flames, endless, ever-growing flames that fisted his heart and squeezed. Dimitri’s flesh sizzled, and the muscles on his bones charred off.

He couldn’t scream. His lungs and esophagus had melted away. He was all but a corpse now, but the fire changed. Orange, gold, and sanguine swirls of heat and pain coalesced into a human form. No, it wasn’t human. It was the flame. It was a demon.

It was Red.

Her voice burned like acid in his skull, I needed you.

Dimitri tried to push away the voice.

I needed you. You can’t let me down. Help. Help me.

Dimitri gasped and shot up in his bed. It was dark and quiet. The only sound was his ragged breaths. Sweat covered his chest, and he gripped the sheets with white knuckles. It was always the same, the nightmare of Red’s anger and sadness consuming him. Tonight though, she’d asked for help, and she’d never spoken before. Red was a silent figure of hatred, eyes burning with the hurt of betrayal. Somewhere, wherever she was, Red was in trouble.

Okay, that’s insane. But Dimitri knew it was real. He sensed her presence, her danger like she was in the cell next to him again.

Dimitri leaned over and looked at the glowing red numbers of his alarm clock. Four in the morning. Why is everything in this damn room RED?!

It was everywhere, the damn stain, the numbers, his boxers. Damn that fire demon.

Dimitri could hear the wails of one baby Ciona who was probably hungry downstairs. It was feeding time, after all. Well, he wasn’t sleeping, might as well annoy his bro when he’s already up. He opened the door quietly and went to the main kitchen, where the baby was fussing up a storm.

Warm milk flooded his overdeveloped senses and made Dimitri kind of hungry. He rounded the corner into the giant, chef-worthy kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. It wasn’t Ciaran, and he was always the one up with the baby on weekends, but apparently, Hope decided it was her turn.

She was singing. When Hope first got pregnant, her healing factor shot through the roof, and all her old, however slight, scars healed up. A bullet graze to the throat had always kept her from singing. During one of the first weeks after the pregnancy, she had Gallo remove it because it’d moved closer to the surface. Her singing abilities returned once it was gone.

And weirdly, Hope was a soprano, and with all the kills under her belt, you’d assume her voice would be deep, that she’d sing something dark, but she didn’t. It wasn’t even really words. She was just mumbling and humming in a rhythmic pattern. Dimitri still stood at the edge of the kitchen.

Shh. You’re okay. Oh, Ciona, you’re going to wake the whole house. Shh. Hope turned and caught Dimitri staring. She jumped.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. I thought it would be Ciaran. Dimitri turned to leave, but Hope stopped him.

Hey. Could you hold her for a second? This would be so much easier with two hands. Hope walked toward him like it was no big deal. She held her daughter out to him, smiling. Dimitri heard his heart pounding in his ears.

She’s not going to bite. Well, maybe, but she doesn’t have any teeth, so it shouldn’t hurt. Hope smiled again, and Dimitri tried desperately to swallow.

Umm, I don’t think— It was too late. The tiny bundle was in Dimitri’s arms and staring boldly into his eyes.

Okay, stay calm. It’s just a baby. Oh, gods. Calm down. Don’t burn her to a crisp.

She likes you. Hope went to the counter and took a bottle from a strange device, testing the milk on her wrist. Nope. Not ready yet.

Ciona wasn’t screaming anymore, and she wasn’t steaming, so that was good. She was just staring up at him and rubbing her tiny hand across his.

Did you have a nightmare?

Dimitri thought Hope was asking the baby, but he met her eyes when the quiet hung in the kitchen. Ugh. How could you tell?

I can’t. Ciona can. It’s another one of her amazing tricks.

That’s not common in your clan?

"No. Ciona ended up with so much more than we could have ever dreamed or predicted. That whole purebred demon thing is such a joke. Ciona is more powerful because of her human side, and this connection we have is unheard of."

Dimitri thought back to his own clan. They hated humans and only bred with other demons. And only those whose gifts wouldn’t interfere with their own. He looked down at Ciona’s tiny face. She’d grown so quickly and was already so smart. What would it be like to watch my own d’yagha grow?

Was it about your clan?

Hope lifted her daughter into her arms and sat across from Dimitri at the table to feed the baby. Ciona gulped the milk like she’d never tasted anything so amazing. ‘Come to think of it. She hasn’t,’ Dimitri thought.

No.

Well, what was it? Believe it or not, I do care if you're upset about something. Hope was patient, and the milk monster had already downed half the bottle.

It’s a long story, but essentially, it was about a woman I knew at the Inferno. I think she’s in trouble. Dimitri heard Red’s voice. Saw the fear and anger on her face. It was hard to breathe all of a sudden.

It’d been years since they saw each other. Maybe lifetimes. All that time trapped in Marcus’s horrible club was bearable because of two things, Ciaran and Red. He had Ciaran, and Dimitri was grateful every day. Still, he regretted not fighting harder to make Red stay that day. But there was nothing he could do about it. Dimitri had no idea where she was or how to find her. Which meant this anxious dread would haunt him until it killed him.

Gods, the first time he saw her.

***

Come on, guy. Try to calm down.

Dimitri’s hands were glowing so blue, so bright, the whole fucking cell was like a neon sign.

Fuck you, demon. I don’t even know you! What the hell is this place?! What is happening?!

His vision was clouding over with black, and he could smell the humans and demons in the spaces around him. Black chunks…I’m going to be surrounded by black chunks.

No, you don’t. But I promise you, if you don’t calm down, they’re gonna be pissed.

Who’s they?! I’ve been here for all of five minutes, and you’re telling me to calm down! What the fuck! Why am I here?! What are you?!

The demon in the cell barely registered to his black eyes. He just saw movement, a heartbeat that his gift wanted to extinguish.

Please, try to control your gift. The guards are just going to shock you.

The guards better not come near me.

The demon scoffed, And they won’t need to if you relax. Try to take a breath.

Dimitri couldn’t think, let alone attempt to focus on breathing. Everything was too much, too many sights, sounds, too many questions. And his gift roared in his ears to kill something. Now.

Shuffling cut through the chaos in his head, and Dimitri saw two men in black approach his cell.

Get the fuck away from me!

Dimitri held up his hands, the blue glow bursting out of his flesh and radiating power.

Demon, calm down! Ugh. The demon approached the bars, Look at me. Come on, just do it.

For whatever reason, Dimitri listened. He looked over at what he believed was a female demon and met her eyes.

Good, now just breathe.

Dimitri focused everything he had on taking slow breaths. It was starting to work, and the black over his vision was receding. However, his hands still wanted to grip tight around a neck and disintegrate it.

Stay where you are. I just want to hold something.

Dimitri’s voice was quiet but forceful. The demon just stared at him.

He walked to the bars that separated them and gripped them tight. In moments, the metal was red hot and melting under his palms. They were warping, and they might even break.

Oh shit, buddy, I don’t think-

It was the last thing he heard. Dimitri fell unconscious to the floor.

***

When he woke, the ground was cold and bit into his ass. Fuck everything. How could this happen? Dimitri sagged against the back wall and waited for his skin to get used to the cold cement. He’d tried to grab the men that were attacking him, but someone off to the side shot something into his arm, and a sharp tube squirted a pale liquid deep inside his veins. He passed out.

When he woke up, Dimitri tracked his surroundings a bit slower. The panic hadn’t helped. Looking around, he saw several other cells in rows containing other demons locked behind their doors. Dimitri knew some of the races well, spending time with them during his D’bahativash. These Krugendu demons seemed different. They were cold and hard, not the chatty species he knew. So many types he’d never seen, too. No one made eye contact.

Most of the inhabitants were covered in scars, and all of them were wearing the same attire, an inexpensive-looking, white t-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants. It was then Dimitri realized he was dressed in the same manner. He was barefoot, and the ground was filthy as he looked down. His stomach clenched.

Quickly Dimitri searched his cell for a place to retch. There was a dirty toilet in the corner and his sluggish steps made it near impossible to get to the bowl on time. He was empty, and the acidic bile that came up burned his throat and tonsils.

It’s the drugs. It doesn’t sit well in any of our systems. A feminine yet deep voice broke the silence of his prison. Dimitri recognized the voice and looked up.

The face he saw was nothing he expected. Dimitri was tutored, and his elders had paid particular attention to identifying other demons. Now, after all his studying, he was actually looking at a fire demon. She wasn’t at all how his Gran had described. She was…beautiful.

Dimitri forgot how to talk, forgot how to breathe, and even forgot how to think. The eyes that looked at him were magnificent, the deep yellow glowing in the prison’s light. Of course, her skin was red, but when his tutor had described it, he expected the color to be startling or off-putting. As his gaze fell upon his neighbor’s flesh, all he wanted was to touch her flame-kissed cheeks and lips, to run his fingers across her smooth, scarlet skin.

You alright?

She was talking. Had she asked Dimitri a question? He was staring. He couldn’t stop himself. He even reached out his hand in an unconscious effort to touch the amazing hair that fell long down her back. It was an ocean of flame-colored waves. How it could possibly have grown the way it did was miraculous, fading from a deep black-red to bright, golden yellow. If the locks had grown upward, they would have looked like shafts of fire streaming out of her glorious head.

Demon?

There it was again, her amazing voice. Dimitri really should answer this time.

Yes. I’m off right now. I’ve never been kidnapped before.

Strictly speaking, not kidnapped. That implies our captor wants a ransom or something. And it’s not too common in my clan, either. Not this kind, anyway. She cocked a half-smile at him, and Dimitri nearly melted into a puddle.

What is this place? Despite being wholly infatuated with quite possibly the most astoundingly beautiful woman he had ever seen, Dimitri hadn’t forgotten what was happening.

The Inferno. A prick named Marcus owns the place.

What does he want? Dimitri approached the door and grabbed the bars. He could feel the tell-tale tingle in his palms as his gift bubbled to the surface since frustration was one of many triggers.

To watch us kill each other.

What?

Have you studied early human history? She stepped closer, mere feet away from him.

Yes.

Well, if you remember their Greece and Rome, the rich watched the poor fight for sport, and they took bets and enslaved the fighters. This, my new friend, is the modern-day equivalent, and you are its newest gladiator.

Dimitri swallowed hard. He could remember learning about that particularly gruesome time and stifled a shudder. He’d never been very violent, but it appeared that was going to change.

How long have you been here? Dimitri wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

Almost a year. It’s nice to have a change in scenery. She gestured to him.

What happened to the previous occupant?

I killed him. She smiled, Name’s Red. Hope you aren’t here long.

Red smirked, and it was both terrifying and gorgeous.

Dimitri.

***

He blinked and saw wood planks that were nailed together staring back at him. He looked up and met Hope’s concerned stare. Holy shit, he was still in the kitchen. Hope’s eyebrows raised