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ChapterTwenty-Seven
Teddy De Ver
Cold metal around my wrists.They hurt—the pain had numbed my entire arms. My neck was killing me, too, and when I tried to move, I realized why. I was sitting down on something hard, and my neck was bent, my chin pressed to my chest. Whatever was holding my wrists back was biting into my skin so hard, tears were pricking the back of my eyes.
Where was I?
My memory was hazy, but it was coming back to me slowly. I tried to open my eyes, move my head up, slowly, because it felt like my head was about to fall off me any second. How long had I even been in that position?
And…
Derek.
Oh, God. Panic shot jolts of electricity through me. My neck suddenly stung right where the vampire had bitten me. My stomach rolled, and I tried to remember what it had felt like when he sank his fangs in me, if I’d been high, if it had felt good in any way, but all I could think about was how terrified I’d been. That vampire most definitely had not leaked his venom into me; otherwise that would be the only thing I remembered. It was too powerful not to feel it.
The relief slowed my heartbeat down a little and allowed me to focus on breathing. Blue lights illuminated the darkness of the room I was in. The walls were wavy, and it wasn’t just because I couldn’t see clearly yet. They were made out of white metal, like garage doors or aluminum containers. My chair was in the middle of it, concrete beneath my feet. Ahead, there were two small high tables, empty save for an ashtray. Long LED lights were mounted at the corners of the container on either side of it.
And I wasn’t alone.
I didn’t notice them right away because they were standing somewhere behind me, but I heard them breathing, moving. I lowered my head again, pretending to breathe deeply so I could look behind me, the pain in my neck barely registering. All I could see were their booted feet, but there were two of them, standing on either side of me, in the dark, where the LED lights barely reached the other side of the container.
And then…
“She’s awake,” the man on my right said, and my heart skipped a beat.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to make out the cuffs around my wrists. With them on, I couldn’t hope to get out of here. The metal was cold against my skin, but that’s not why it hurt so much. Magic clung to them—strong magic, wrapped like a shield around my arms, keeping them stuck together so I couldn’t slip my small hands out of the cuffs. Cursing under my breath, I tried to gather some of my magic, test how strong the spell was. It responded lazily, still waking up from unconsciousness, and it shot from my fingers before it hissed out of existence within a second.
Too strong.
I was going to need a long time to make that spell weak enough to allow me to move.
There was a small door on the left of the wall ahead of me that I only noticed when it opened. My whole body froze. Even my heart stopped beating as I waited for whoever it was to come inside.
The first man held a gun in his hand and was dressed in all black, his boots the same as the ones of the men standing behind me. A guard.
And when he stepped aside to leave way for the second man, I nearly passed out.
His energy reached me before I even saw his face. High cheekbones, sharp nose, eyes so colorless, they looked almost as white as the hair that he held back in a thick tail with a leather tie. He wore a black suit with a black shirt, and the aura hanging about him left no doubt in my mind about what he was. The air around him sizzled with energy, and the way he walked with his chin up and his shoulders wide confirmed what I already knew. This man was a high fae.
And he wasn’t the only one.
The second fae was a bit shorter than the first, his hair cut short, a deep auburn that reminded me of leaves in fall. His eyes had color in them—a light blue that was only enhanced by the LED lights around us. Behind us came another three of those men with guns, but I didn’t bother to check what they were. It wouldn’t matter, anyway. The high fae wielded magic unlike any other creature in the world. It spoke to them differently, obeyed their every order without hesitation, and no matter how hard I tried to fight them, I already knew that I’d lost.
The tears came again, this time angry ones, but I refused to lower my head. If they were going to attack me, I wanted to see it. I wanted to see my end, not cower back, because it wouldn’t matter if I did, anyway. I’d rather leave this world with a little bit of dignity.
The high fae both stepped in front of me, hands folded in front of them, their black suits shimmering blue. The other guards were doing something on those tables behind them—pulling up devices, and one of them looked like a laptop. I could only see through the corner of my eye because I couldn’t look away from the high fae for a second.
“Theodora De Ver,” the blond one said. His voice was thin, sharp, and it held so much power, it was like the weight of it touched my skin.
“And you are?” I forced myself to say. Not that their names mattered, but I was hoping to buy some time. What for, I had no idea, because it was already done.
My first mission—and it was already over for me. Maybe Dominic had been right. Maybe what he said to the Chief back home was true. I was not cut out for this mission. And the proof was already here, right in front of my eyes. Undeniable.
“It matters little who we are,” the redhead said, raising his chin and looking down at me, like he dared me to argue.
No problem.
“It matters to me, actually. I’d like to know the names of the men who’ll end my life.” I looked at the blond, too. “Because that’s what you’re going to do, right? Otherwise, why kidnap me and bring me here?”
