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I was going to say very well, but then a little girl who looked to be about eight years old, holding a material doll with the same dark hair and violet eyes as hers, entered and halted by the open door.
Violet eyes were rare. It had been a very long while since I’d seen someone with a hue similar to mine. I pushed that thought aside and examined her.
Under her cloak with a hood over her head, she wore a white dress with golden swirls around the waistline, and matching ribbon on the end of the two braids that lowered down her chest. She wasn’t dressed like a commoner, but more like a royal.
“Hello,” the sweetest voice I’d ever heard said.
Gorgo flinched and his eyes widened. He rose and bowed. “Lady Nadira, how are you today?”
She raised her doll higher, as if she wanted us to see it, and step by step edged closer toward us. She asked, “Do you like my baby?”
“She’s beautiful like you,” Gorgo said.
Either Gorgo was a kiss ass or sweet to children. If the latter, he might not be a prick after all. Nadira reminded me of the girl I’d seen at the market with a lady escort, who might have tried to put me in a trance. I couldn’t recall anymore, but I’d heard her name before. The encounter seemed like a blur.
Nadira pointed at me. “Who is she? She’s not a vampire nor demon.”
“That’s right.” I got out of my seat. “I’m not like you. Do you remember me from the market?”
Her violet eyes blinked, turned crimson, then back to violet. She felt scared or maybe upset. It was hard to distinguish. Maybe even both.
Gorgo grabbed my arm when I got closer to her. “Whatever you do, don’t touch her.”
I narrowed my eyes and said as I slowly removed his hand, “And I told you not to touch me.”
He backed away with a raised brow that said I warned you.
“Nadira.” I smiled big and raised my palms up to show her I meant no harm. Then I slid her hood over her head.
“Let me see if you’re the same girl from the market.” I pushed her braids back over the shoulders.
“You shouldn’t have touched me.” Nadira’s little mouth curled, and her crimson eyes twinkled into wicked delight.
My heart skipped a beat and fear wrapped around me as my feathers shuddered.
A guttural growl rent the air before the sharp breeze rustled in the room, uplifting my hair. Something had come through the open door. Just as I lifted my arms to grab a dagger hidden between my plumes, fingers tightened around my neck, and then I was thrown across the room as if I were light as a feather.
Chapter Fourteen
King Victus
Evangeline
I slammed hard against the bookshelf near the ceiling, bones rattling, and I collapsed on the stone floor. Book after book toppled on top of me as pain traveled from head to toe. The room spun and the ceiling seemed closer than possible.
Just as I pushed up with trembling arms, fingers coiled around my neck and yanked me up. He held me like humans hold a fowl before twisting the neck to kill.
“Don’t ever touch her if you want to live.” His smooth, velvety voice boomed in my ears, crimson eyes boring into mine.
My heart thundering, my vision narrowed to a tunnel as if I had been hypnotized. I sucked in a breath, shuddering. That voice. That deep, velvety sound from my dreams, so smooth like silk, sinking into the depth of my core like invisible hands caressing and reaching out to me. Impossible.
For a moment, time and space blurred together, as if I had been transported somewhere else entirely. Something about him screamed déjà vu. I shook off the thought when his grip tightened and my vision became distorted.
Nadira must be his daughter.
I could punch his hazy face and he would go flying, but his daggerlike fingernails pressed against my neck, so I refrained from any movement. He could slice my neck with one swipe.
Footfalls pounded. Gorgo halted beside him.
