“I’ll order you a new coffee, too,” he says, glancing at the living area.
Right. My espresso drink.
I didn’t have a chance to enjoy it because of the death sentence message coming through via the twin bond. Even if I could drink it, I wouldn’t. Everything felt tainted. Deadly.Wrong.
“No coffee, please.” A strange sentence for me to voice, but the thought of it sours my stomach. “Just some yogurt and fruit, or maybe a fruit smoothie.”
If I surprise him, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he pulls up some screen on his watch and starts typing in an order. “I’ll order both. Whatever you don’t eat, I’ll eat.” Then he glances at me. “Any other special requests, firefly?”
“Freedom?” I suggest.
He grins. “We can eat on the balcony.”
“Oh, goody,” I deadpan. “I can stare at the night sky and pretend I’m not a prisoner in a fancy cage.”
“There are worse accommodations,” he reminds me as he finishes placing the order.
“I’m aware.” And I’m not talking about Klas’s cell in the dungeon.
“Your guards are pretty awesome, too,” Nox adds.
“Sure, if you consider voyeurs to be awesome.”
He chuckles. “I do, actually.” With a wink, he slips off the bed. “But I’ll give you some privacy while you find your clothes.” He starts toward the living area and heads in the direction of the balcony doors rather than the front doors, his words carrying to me over his shoulder. “I’ll be waiting for you outside, firefly.”
I admire the way his jeans cup his firm ass, then look away.
It doesn’t matter how much he flirts or how nice he is to me, I know his real purpose here. Part of me wants to hate him for what he represents—a prison guard—but he makes it pretty hard to dislike him.
The least he could do would be to shoot me in the shoulder like Nolan did. At least then I could hold a grudge.
Instead, Nox is kind and takes care of me in his own way.
Bane does as well.
It’s too bad I can’t stay here and indulge in them a little more. But time is running out.
Three days, to be exact.
Three days until Klas dies.
Three days until I either follow through on the Outcast Coven’s suicide order or face the consequences.
Three days to figure out how to escape this fancy prison, save my sister—and hopefully myself, too.
No pressure,I think.No pressure at all.
CHAPTERFOUR
KASPIAN
I shakeKhaos’s hand at the door. “Thank you for making the trip. I know your grandfather has his hands full with all the new mercenaries in your territory.”
Khaos grunts before dropping my hand. “Is that the excuse he gave you?”
“He might have mentioned a mating heat,” I hedge, grinning. “I was trying to be polite.” Khaos’s grandfather is an old friend of mine from well over a millennium ago. If I allowed myself to have favorites, he would be one of them because of his no-nonsense leadership approach.
Which explains how his three grandsons turned out to be some of the fiercest mercenaries in Gold and Garnet territory.
