Still, my blood pounded in my ears and throbbed in my temples as I rose from the cot. I scented the air, trying to detect any hint of Ellery’s sweet apple smell, but all I detected was piss, mildew, the musk of rats, and the sharp stench of terror.
Unable to remain in place, I shuffled toward the bars. My chains clanked and rattled as my dread grew with every step.
I cursed the manacles, the awkward way they made me move, and the noise that alerted everyone to my actions, but it was impossible to fix either of those things. The growing light illuminated enough of the dungeon that I could now see my bars only a few feet away.
I stopped at the front of my cell and grasped the bars as I tried to peer out, but I couldn’t see anything more than the increasing light from whoever advanced. In the cell beside mine, Tucker’s hands emerged.
From when they led us in here, I knew Callan was in the cage beside him, but I couldn’t see the lute player. I also couldn’t see the amsirah to the right of the minstrel. They’d placed me in the cell farthest from the exit.
Footsteps clicked off the stone floor; from what I heard, it didn’t sound like many approached us, and there was no clankof chains that would indicate more prisoners. That didn’t mean they hadn’t captured more. They could be carrying them in.
The way the steps stopped before moving on indicated they were pausing in front of each cell before continuing. As they neared, the light grew until it spilled across the ground before me to illuminate the dirt covering the stone.
And then the torch was in front of me. Despite the steady increase of light, the sudden influx was too much.
Lifting my hand, I blinked against the fire as I lowered my head a little to protect my eyes from the flames. When my eyes didn’t burn as badly, I peered up from under my lashes to take in the woman standing across from me.
When I realized who it was, shock coursed through me… Bria.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
Ryker
It had beena while since I last saw the duke’s fiancée and Leo’s daughter. She was as I remembered, with her beautiful face, tall, willowy figure, black hair, and her father’s brown eyes.
While Leo’s eyes had always sparkled with warmth and laughter, hers were cold and flat. I didn’t know what had brought her here and didn’t ask; I’d wait for her to speak first.
Bria’s gaze raked over me before settling on my missing finger. When her eyes met mine, I quirked an eyebrow but still didn’t speak.
Two guards stood behind her; they held the torches but didn’t look at me as they stared straight ahead. The blank look in their eyes wasn’t right, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on where I’d seen it before.
“Your father intended to toss me aside as his fiancée and give me to you,” Bria stated.
I didn’t know what I’d expected from her, but it wasn’t this. “Did he tell you that?”
She snorted. “I’m not a fool. I know that what he truly craves is power, and he means to push me aside for that woman… thatlightningbearer.”
She said the words “lightning bearer” as if they disgusted her, but she still spoke with me. Resting my arm against the bars over my head, I assumed a casual posture I didn’t feel as I waited to see what had brought her here.
“I willnotallow him to toss me aside for another woman,” she continued.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I doubt he has plans for us to marry anymore. Missing finger or not”—I held up my left hand and wiggled my remaining fingers at her—“I’m married to thatlightningbearer, and Veni can’t change that… no matter how badly he wants to.”
Her lip curved in revulsion as she eyed my missing finger. I didn’t know if the missing digit or the knowledge I’d married Ellery repulsed her more.
“He could kill you,” she stated.
“He could, but he won’t.”
“And why is that?”
“Because he enjoys torturing me too much, just like he enjoys brutalizing everyone he meets.”
Her eyes narrowed on me. “Leo wasmyfather, and this ismykingdom.Iam the rightful heir to his throne.”
A few sounds of surprise came from the other cells, but the guards’ expressions didn’t change, and their eyes stayed blank. Few in Tempest knew Bria’s true heritage; the duke had kept it from almost everyone, including the aristocrats.
The guards’ lack of a response made me realize why the blank expression in their eyes looked so strangely familiar. Bria was half amsirah, but her other half was dark fae, and if there was one thing dark fae knew how to do, it was fuck. And in doing so,if a man or woman allowed them to, the dark fae could shadow kiss someone and take over their minds.
