Isadora (Masters Among Monsters Book 2) by Ella Frank

me.”
    “Very well.” He glanced down the line of figures standing stock-still, and when his eyes fastened on Vasilios, he stated in a voice so cold that it was a miracle the room didn’t form icicles, “Have him taken to the Adjudication Room. We will deal with him when we are ready.”
    Vasilios gave a slow nod and then looked to his yielding. Was he… No . Vasilios would never seek approval from a human. But the Ancient seemed to want some kind of reaction from the man. When the blond turned to the oldest of them all with a grim expression, Diomêdês wondered what had just been pushed into his mind.
    “Alasdair, secure the human in the proper locale and then come find Leonidas and me. We will be in my chambers. We have much to discuss.”
    “And what of the one by the door?” Alasdair inquired.
    Vasilios faced him.
    Diomêdês shrugged. “I do not care one way or another.”
    “Take him with you. We have no use for him.”
    ‘Wait,” Leo spoke up.
    “Leonidas,” Vasilios reprimanded. “Not now.”
    “But he’s done nothing wrong.”
    “He knows too much.”
    “So do I.”
    Vasilios stepped in front of his brand-new plaything and told him, “You will stop fighting me this instant. Do you understand?” His tone brokered no arguments.
    The human was smart enough to heed the warning. He stayed silent, his jaw set and his cheeks flushed.  
    “Good boy,” Vasilios praised. Then he issued the final order to Alasdair. “Take them away.”

DIOMÊDÊS WATCHED ALASDAIR leave the Chamber several minutes later with both men in iron chains. The one who’d taken Isadora, the one known as Elias, hadn’t taken his odd-colored eyes from them as he’d been dragged out of the hall. Diomêdês knew this for a fact because he hadn’t taken his own eyes off the man. It had been a stalemate of sorts. A direct challenge to come and get him, one he was more than willing to accept.
    “Brother.” Vasilios’s voice broke through the roiling rage festering within. “You need to feed Isadora. The human, he will wait. And, when you are well, you will have your revenge.”
    Diomêdês looked at the female he was cradling and gave a swift nod. “You are correct. We will be in my bedchambers.”
    Vasilios glanced over his shoulder at his yielding and then back to him with a salacious grin. “And I will be in mine.”
    Diomêdês frowned and then faded Isadora and himself from the Chamber.
    When they reappeared in his chambers, Diomêdês made his way over to the large framed bed enclosed by a thick, black canopy. He pushed the heavy drapery aside and climbed onto the mattress, where he lay down with Isadora atop him.  
    He settled his head against the pillow and parted his legs to cushion her body against his. As her hair flirted against his chin, he closed his eyes and sighed. He’d almost lost her tonight, and that thought was more terrifying than the thought of losing his own life.  
    He wrapped his arms around her waist. Her body tensed, and then her head rose ever so slightly. Her nose brushed the skin of his neck and she burrowed in closer, if that were possible, her hands clutching at the fabric of his shirt as her cool lips kissed his neck.  
    Then she murmured, “My knight. My protector.”
    He smoothed a hand down her tousled hair and disagreed, just as he had many times before. “I am not a knight, nor anything as fanciful. I am the monster in those tales, agapi mou.”
    “You are wrong. I saw my monster tonight. His face is always the same. Dimitri. But not you. Never you. You have always protected me, watched over me, even when I did not know. Now is no different.”
    “Shh…” He kissed her forehead. “You need to feed and heal.”
    She nuzzled her nose up the line of his neck and whispered, “Take me there. Take me back before the monster. Back to the beauty that was. The beauty you saw when you found us that first day…”
    Diomêdês closed his eyes as her words washed over him. He knew what