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I blinked in wonder, completely forgetting, for one blissful moment, why I should hate this place and why I should run.
I fell into the story of this unknown citadel.
I shivered to know its secrets.
I might love gemstones and spend every ill-advised penny on pretty rocks, but history had always been my first love.
And this place…wow.
It bristled with it.
It beckoned me forward with promises of ghosts and tragedies.
I adored my job in the gift shop in the Tower of London—not just because I was near the crown jewels and my fantasies of one day studying them—but because the fort bled with the ancient past.
We thought life wasn’t easy now, but back then? Women were burned for growing the wrong type of herb, and men were mutilated for coveting another’s wife. The ingenious imagination of torturers back then twisted my stomach far more than the threats from men playing monsters in expensive suits.
“Go on, get.” Henri pushed me, herding me down the airplane steps. Roland eyed me as I reached the bottom. I quickly moved out of the way of Henri and his insistently bossy hand. He didn’t say a word as I stood in the lush, thick grass of the private landing strip, struggling to tear my eyes off the castle. He merely moved to my side, casting me in his shadow from dawn’s peach and fire tones.
Dawn.
I sighed and looked away from the walled fortress, focusing on the huge expanse of sky. The plane looked as if it didn’t belong. Like two timelines had somehow collided, blending modern with ancient.
I bit my lip as I stared at the rocky cliff edging the runway. Dangerously close to the windsock that fluttered in the faint sea breeze. Waves crashed angrily below, sea spray unable to splash up the cliffside, hinting how high we perched over the ocean.
Which ocean?
Where are we?
For all my research and poring over maps to better understand the properties of minerals and ores found on every continent, I couldn’t pinpoint where we were.
Victor joined us and smiled proudly. “Welcome to my home. Joyero.”
“Joyero?” Henri cleared his throat, his eyes round and catching dawnlight. “That’s jewelry box in Spanish.” He glanced around. “Are we in a Spanish archipelago?” The way he asked sounded as if he wasn’t happy with that idea. “Canary islands or—?”
“All you need to know is…you’re home.” Victor interrupted. “You’re free here. You can be whoever you want to be.” Striding forward, he nodded as the four guards who’d flown silent and mostly unnoticed down the back of the plane flanked us. Victor fell into step with them, Roland followed, and Henri threw me a look that mirrored my own.
The moment we stepped foot through that wall, there was no coming out.
Not without permission.
I shivered as a cool breeze blew up the cliffside and whipped in my hair. My skimpy top and frilly skirt did nothing to protect me. The stress of the night and the fear of my future sent goosebumps scattering everywhere.
“Bring your jewel, Henri,” Victor said over his shoulder, not caring we’d fallen behind again. He didn’t bind me or tell his guards to train a gun on me. He acted as if I was there by my own free will.
Sickness roiled in my stomach. The urge to run electrified my feet, and I shifted in my silver boots.
Henri stiffened. He shook his head ever so slowly, his short dark hair soaking up the fading night. “Don’t be stupid. You’d get two steps before those guards on the wall lodged a bullet in your brain.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the cliff and the smashing waves below.
Could I make it before they shot me?
“You jump, you die,” he whispered. “And I want to keep you alive for as long as possible.” With a heavy sigh, his hand snaked out and latched around my wrist. “Come on.”
“No.” I leaned into his pull, fighting his momentum. My nails dug into his hold as I scratched him. “Let me go. I have to try. At least let me try to get away. I’ll never be able to live with myself if I don’t.”
Throwing me a black look, he gritted his teeth. Another strangled heartbeat later, he huffed, “Fine.” Unlocking his fingers, he crossed his arms. “Victor, please tell your men not to shoot.”
