When I woke I didn’t dare open my eyes at first. Not while the pounding in my head and the scent of seared flesh turned my stomach.

The good thing was, with the pain, I knew I still lived. Still had a chance for revenge.

Opening my eyes I blinked a few times, to clear my sight. I was in a cage. Bars made of pure energy that flickered in odd shades of brown and green. Earth energy, not that of the daemons, Guardian energy.

“Thank the Goddess you’re awake,” Sylvia said, drawing my attention to her. Something charred and battered lay on the ground before her…Pater?

“What happened to Pater?” I asked, drawing myself to a sitting position. I didn’t stand, I wasn’t steady enough yet.

“He managed to kill Marcus, after he betrayed us,” Sylvia explained. “But Pater was injured in the fight, plus…” Sylvia looked as if she was going to be sick. ”...the, others, overpowered him.”

“Others?”

“She means us,” Lucio laughed, stepping up to the cage, Stavro behind him. “The new emperors of Xanadu.”