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She was a hybrid with a foot in the demon world, but there wasn’t a single thing to hint whose blood it was that ran through her veins.
Prying the cell from my back pocket, I fired off a quick text to Mateo. The request was simple. Have the clinic run Quinn’s blood against every single demonic family that held any standing in our world, including the six of them. With any luck, the answer the good doctor would stumble upon would give me the rage I needed to eliminate Quinn.
Until then, I needed to lock my new pet away in her room and simply bide my time.
QUINN
Should’ve known that it was too good to be true.
I had been able to sense things were amiss the moment the black abyss started to retreat, leaving me engulfed with warm water brushing against my skin. Waking up in a large claw tub with the water level all the way up to my chest had left me on the verge of panic. At least, until I realized I was completely alone in the bathroom. My neck was also naked of the familiar heavy collar.
Which had officially made it the one opportunity that I might get to escape.
I pushed on the window, desperately trying to force it up so I could squeeze out of the house. It didn’t matter if I was as naked as the day I was born. Getting out of the prince’s personal home was the main thing on my agenda, especially before he managed to get his hands on me again.
All common sense ceased as soon as that first physical contact was initiated.
The frustration continued to build within me as I struggled to get it open and the window had yet to budge an inch. Which meant the frantic struggle to get out of the tub without breaking my neck wouldn’t mean a damn thing if I was still stuck in the same walls that I sought to escape. A low growl escaped me as my eyes drifted toward the lively grounds stretched out around the home.
The property was covered with a wide variety of plants, although they couldn’t conceal the thick woods several yards down the hill — or the tall gate that surrounded it all. Which made it painfully clear that it wasn’t going to matter if I broke free. Scaling a wall was going to be extremely difficult without an ounce of clothing to protect my skin.
Curling my upper lip, I let my head fall forward. Pain pulsed from my forehead as it connected with the glass. There was no way in hell that I would get left alone like this again. My window with my one chance to escape had never existed at all. It had been nothing more than a fool’s dream.
So that was why the prince hadn’t stressed over leaving me in the bathroom alone.
The hair rising on the back of my neck warned that I was no longer alone. I turned my head slightly. As soon as I spotted the prince lurking in the doorway with those golden eyes locked on me, I tensed. There was absolutely nowhere for me to go and all of the clothes I had been given were still in the bedroom. All it took was a retreat for my back to brush against a fluffy towel.
Asher’s gaze didn’t stray as he watched me yank the towel off the rack and wrap it around my body. The quiet chuckle that leaked into the air left my cheeks hot. Watching the blush grow only seemed to heighten his amusement. “I’ve seen every inch of that delicate skin, pet. There’s absolutely no point in you hiding it from me.”
“I’m not walking around this house naked,” I growled.
He clicked his tongue, although that smile grew. “Perhaps I could convince you to reconsider that. It would be a shame to destroy the only set of clothing you were given to me with.”
I dug my nails into the towel’s material, despising how much there was to dig through in order to feel them push against my skin. The only thing that would help keep my body under control was pain. “You don’t own me, no matter how much you seem to think you do.”
The prince cocked his head to the side, his grin barely faltering. “That mark on your breast says otherwise.”
What mark? I dropped my eyes. In the midst of my panic, I hadn’t given a good look at myself before I had wrapped myself up in the towel. I had been so desperate to conceal my body that I had that same material keeping my breasts masked from me. The only way to see if the prince was lying was to drop the towel. Gritting my teeth, I turned away from him and loosed the material so I could peek under.
A black lion tattoo cupped my breast and peered right back at me.
The sight of it squeezed every ounce of the warmth from my body, leaving me to tremble against the wall while my mind reeled from the discovery. “You had no right to do this to me. I am not some piece of property to own!”
I had expected to see some movement that would warn me the prince was ready to cut the distance between us dramatically. Yet all I had to do was blink before he was standing in front of me. Instinct drove me back against the wall, my heart pounding in my chest. When our gazes locked, the air caught in my throat and my knees started to weaken beneath me.
He wasn’t even touching me and the feel of his aura pushing against mine was already starting to affect me. The realization left me on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.
Asher shrank down the distance between us even more until I could feel the heat radiating off his body. His golden eyes were glued on my face. With so little distance between us now, I found myself blushing with embarrassment. “I don’t think you understand how this works, Quinn.”
“My name is not—”
He raised a hand, pressing a single finger against my lips. “Do not lie to me. I know who you are, just as I know you’re trying to conceal your true appearance through hair dye and colored contacts. Not that any of this truly matters because it does boil down to the fact that I do own you. The fact I bought you — both your body and your soul — is the only reason why you’re still alive. If I had not intervened, your defiance would have earned you the same fate as the rest of the APL members.”
It took everything I had not to jerk my head away, fully aware there was a solid wall behind me. I merely trembled against him. “How is this fate any better than death?”
Something in Asher’s expression changed. He pulled away just enough to shift his hand and curl those fingers against my throat. Pushing me up against the wall, he leaned closer. “Do you want to die, pet? Because my demon lord was fully willing to put a bullet in your head while you were unconscious. Should I summon him so he can finish the job that he attempted to start?”
Although he had an iron grip on me that refused to let me move in the slightest bit, the prince hadn’t cut off my air. It still didn’t stop me from grabbing his wrist during the interaction, which allowed the towel to drop down onto the floor. I shivered as the cool air rushed forward to cling to my naked skin.
