"Where is he?! " Asher roared approaching Dan who simply directed him towards the torture room that had no torture equipments whatsoever- just a bed and a dressing table.

This secret prison cells were hidden underground and a stranger finding it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack ; Asher specifically designed it that way.

Earlier, he had been so distracted with all this crazy events that he almost got caught by Trevor but thankfully, he had put his agility and reflexes into good use.

Asher knew if his heart was still beating, he would've suffered a heart attack the moment he saw Raphael in his mate's room.

He thought Raphael had relived history by doing to Lia the same thing his own father Antonio had done to Raphael's mother , which has been haunting him for ages now.

Thanks to that incident, Asher had never experienced a mother's love - a punishment for what his father had done. Aside from pictures and oral descriptions , he had never seen his mother - not even from afar - he was banned from doing so.

Asher knew his father had gotten off easily

for such a capital offence - huge thanks to his influence and reputation - which was why no matter how much he loathed Raphael, he still couldn't do anything to him, after all his father Antonio had been the cause of all this.

So he had given Raphael the benefit of the doubt, hoping he didn't have same agenda in mind by approaching him even though his instincts told him not to trust him and yes, he was proven wrong once again - Raphael hated him to the bones and would do everything just to hurt him the same way Antonio had hurt them.

But his blood boiled when he saw that particular scene - if that was possible considering he's an undead creature - but he definitely saw red.

The only thought in his mind was destroying Raphael if he had tried anything stupid but surprisingly, his mate was full of surprises; she had perfectly handled herself without his help.

Asher never thought that one-day he would be so grateful his mate was different from the others. He bet Raphael must have had no idea that she was half-werewolf and half - vampire else he would've be a lot more careful with her. Moreover, what hybrid has magenta eyes and talons - only her - he was totally deceived.

Asher walked into the room and saw Raphael sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and his expression didn't look too good. He had black veins all over his body, a pale lips with a sickly complexion - the venom was doing a number on him

Raphael glanced up at him and asked "Is that you or am I hallucinating again?"

"Since you're considering me a hallucination, then the venom is doing a good job " He gibbed and slide both hands into his pockets, standing in front of him.

"Ahh, I'm not hallucinating " Raphael realized " Your sharp tongue is indeed a good wake-up call"

"I don't have time for your games, Raphael. Hand the necklace over" Asher demanded eliciting a deep laughter from Raphael.

He slipped his hands into the pocket of his shirt and brought out the necklace, letting it dangle in front of him carelessly " Just as I thought, you're hiding something else. " He surmised, gaze burning into Asher's who looked lost in thought.

His mouth lifted " A penny for your thought "

Asher stared back at him with a blazing intensity " Of course, just thinking of the best way to dispose of you "

"I know you can't do that else you'll disappoint mummy " Raphael said to him with a smug smile.

Asher's expression darkened " I don't care about that woman and would never, So I want you to give me your word that once I rid these venom out of your system, that you would leave Little Town and never come back "

A sardonic smile lifted Raphael's lips " Why should I? " He challenged " Sure, go ahead and do whatever you want but I'm sure the council would be delighted to listen to this wonderful discovery of mine "

Asher growled, grabbed him by the collar and yanked him to his feet " Don't you dare think that you can threaten me just because of that woman ! If anything dare happens to my mate, I'll make sure to rip out your heart - your real heart this time "

But Raphael was unfazed, if anything he was entertained by how everything was playing out "Even without meeting her, you're already a mommy's boy " he taunted Asher who snarled at him instead.

"Why don't you remove the werewolf venom first and we can start negotiations afterwards " Raphael suggested with a cocky smile.

Hands clenched at the side, Asher gritted his teeth but there was nothing he could do : his hands were tied.

He let go of Raphael and turned to order Dan with a wicked smile " Get me a knife, the sharpest of them all in the kitchen cabinet, cause we're about to perform a strenuous operation "