Page 47

I peered up at Adrian. “There was a bone with some kind of glittery stuff. But I don’t know where it is now. Probably in that house.”

It was hard not to start crying, my entire body felt weird. There was still an ache between my legs, begging to be filled, and an odd tingling left along my skin where the two men had touched me.

Their touch was unwelcome, and uncannily like how Kiam had—between last night, and then when he’d tossed me on the table in the old mansion. At any other time of my life, I would have shoved the thought away, but it was almost as if they’d wanted me to think about him.

But how would they know where or how he’d had his hands on me? If I were to survive this intact, I was going to have to keep a close eye on them, watch everything they did and take notes.

At some point I would use what I learned against them for what they did to me.

Adrian reached in his pocket and threw a small item up in the air, catching it deftly before holding it between two fingers.

“You have it? Why am I even here?” I practically growled when he patted me on the head.

“This contains dust from our missing diamond,” he said. “Valuable dust that you handled. It is incomprehensible that your vampire should possess such a thing.”

He was in front of me instantly, teeth bared. I noticed his canines had a slight point to them—but nothing like Kiam’s. “Even worse that you handled it. We fully expect you to lead us to our gem,” he announced.

“You want me—the inferior human—to trick a vampire?” I laughed. “Go screw yourself.”

Leander canted his head, gazing down at me. “His stench is all over you. Needless to say, you’ve charmed him. You don’t need to trick him, he’ll naturally reveal the location to you.”

“Or what? What are you going to do if he doesn’t? He doesn’t strike me as the type to be easily manipulated.” I wanted to get up and walk out, but I had no doubt I’d be stopped. “I can’t help you.”

The dark-haired Fae looked me up and down, slowly. “Do you need to be incentivized again?”

“Pig,” I sneered at him.

Adrian took a step toward me, and I threw myself to the side, grabbing a vase from the side table and swinging my arm around. Before I could lob it at him, it dissolved in my hands.

“What the hell?” My hand was covered with a fine coating of powder that trickled between my fingers and spilled onto my dress. Leander made a “tsk” sound and frowned, shaking his head at me.

Other than the sexual assault, the two men hadn’t physically hurt me. I had no doubt they were capable. Both were well over six feet tall, fit and athletic looking, quick, and had some kind of innate sorcery running through their veins. They'd been able to manipulate my body’s responses and apparently, they could pulverize solid objects.

But they couldn’t find a damn diamond.

I couldn’t help but point that out.

“You need weak little ‘ole me to help you find this precious diamond? Why can’t you find it yourself with your voodoo?”

Adrian shifted his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Every Realm is different.”

“Why do you need this one stone so bad? If it came from your Realm, you should have more.”

The redhead chimed in. “It acts as a gateway to other Realms, and it helps sustain the magic in our own. I’m sure you can see why we don’t want just anyone walking in.” He gestured toward me.

“Leander.” Adrian’s voice held a note of warning, and he narrowed his eyes at his friend.

That actually made sense, coming from their perspective. “Oh. Are you guys customs agents?”

The redhead furrowed his brows and the corner of his mouth curled before he understood. He laughed. “I think not. Adrian is one of the emperor’s advisors; I’m part of the royal family.”

“Just shut up already.” Adrian turned to me. “If you don’t help us, well you already know. I’ll let your imagination fill in the rest. In the meantime, please feel free to make full use of the house. There’s a pool outdoors for physical exercise.”

I had to stifle the urge to punch him in the face as he gave my legs a pointed glance. “Great, thanks for your hospitality.”

The two men left the room and a short woman with a shockingly strong overbite entered the room and placed a tray with tea and cookies in front of me. “What’s this for?” I asked.

“The masters instructed me to provide you with a snack,” the woman replied. She dipped her head and left.