Keradoc didn’t flinch, and I tried not to sigh in relief.
Then, bringing his lips to my ear again, he said, “Tell me something, Haley. How does someone as beautiful and… refined… as yourself end up in a place as treacherous as Midnight?”
I forced a laugh as his blood continued to fill the vial, warm and tingling against my wrist, the magick inside me heating in its presence.
“Oh, you know how it is. One minute you’re doing a little unsanctioned magick, dabbling a bit too deeply in the dark arts, messing with the wrong people… And all of a sudden you’re being hurtled through a portal to a prison realm full of creeps and monsters and—I mean, not that it’sallcreeps and monsters, of course. It’s actually quite lovely once you get used to it.”
He laughed, rich and buttery, and the soft snick against my wrist told me the contraption had done its job.
Adrenaline flooded my insides, making my heart gallop in my chest.
The song was winding down, but it seemed Keradoc wasn’t ready to let me go just yet. I tried to gently extract myself from his hold, but he only tightened the embrace.
“One more song, if I may? I’m sorry, but it’s not often I have the pleasure of dancing with such a lovely companion.”
Seeing no way out of it, I smiled. “Last song, buddy. I’ve got my eye on some appetizers at the buffet table I don’t want to miss out on.”
“As you wish.” He dipped me low, then drew me up again, his footsteps quickening to keep pace with the new song, faster and livelier than the others. With each new dip and turn, he danced us further away from the crowds, deeper into the shadows at the edges of the ballroom, my stomach full of butterflies as the room spun into a blur of colors and his scent washed over me and his strong, firm embrace held me close and then, like a bucket of ice water straight to the face, I realized…
I’d never told him my name.
He’d called me Haley, all smooth and melted-chocolatey, but I was sure of it—I’d never actually shared it.
So how the fuck does he know who I am?
“Keradoc, how did—”
Before the words were out, he spun me away once more, then released me.
Straight into the arms of one of his guards.
“Take her to the throne room and wait for me there,” Keradoc ordered, then reached out to touch my face, a cold finger trailing down my cheek. “Thank you for the dance and the enlightening conversation, Haley. We’ll pick up where we left off very soon.”
Wait… was that silver flickering in his eyes?
It was my last conscious thought before the guard blew a handful of sparkly gold dust into my face and threw a bag over my head, and it was light’s out, Haley Barnes.
37
HALEY
Icame back to consciousness slowly, my head heavy, my vision blurry. The ringing in my ears made me so dizzy I wanted to puke.
Where the fuck was I? How long had I been here? Did Gem or the guys even know I’d been taken?
Sucking in a deep breath, I tried to get a feel for my surroundings.
I was on my knees, wrists and ankles bound with rope, hands tied behind my back. Someone had stripped off my weapons.
The vial was gone too.
Fuck.
Fear surged in my chest, but I tamped it down. I couldn’t afford to freak out. Not yet.
I took another deep breath. Did a quick scan of my body. Other than a spinning head and a little chaffing from the rope, it didn’t feel like they’d roughed me up too badly. I wasn’t bleeding. Still had my clothes on, aside from the underwear I hadn’t bothered with. I could still feel the buzz of magick in my veins. And…
Yes. The ring. They’d ignored the bloodstone ring.
