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“So, how does the energy work then? Is that why you can’t be killed? It makes Dark Fae trulyimmortal?”
Bree thought he would refuse to answer her, but after a moment, he let out an irritated sigh. “Most Dark Fae can bekilled.”
“But not you.” A pause. “Why?”
“The reasons why are none of your concern.” He jerked her to a stop just outside a thick wooden door. “Stop asking so manyquestions.”
“You expect me to be your champion, but you don’t want to tell me how anything works aroundhere?”
“Yes.”
He pushed open the door with the hand that didn’t hold tight to her rope. It opened with a creak, revealing a long dark set of stairs that led down into a pitch black nothingness. Bree swallowedhard.
“You first.” He gestured at thestairs.
“You’ve got to be kiddingme.”
He sneered. “Do not tell me the fierce angry beast is afraid of thedark.”
“It’s not fear of the dark,” Bree said, grinding her teeth together. “It’s fear of tripping over myself when I can’t see the stair below me and then falling to my death. I realize you don’t care about that since, you know, you’re indestructible and all, but I’m not solucky.”
He slammed a hand on the wall and leaned closer, dropping his voice into a low hiss. “Stop. Running. Your Mouth. Keep everything about our journey to yourself, including the fact you tried to kill me. If anyone found out, your life would be forfeit. Do you understandme?”
Bree blinked, her whole face flushing with an impossible heat. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, half out of fear and half out of the overwhelming power she felt radiating off his skin. He was so close. Way tooclose.
“I’m surprised you would care if my life was forfeit,” she whispered back. “You don’t really seem to care much about anything but yourself and that stupidcrown.”
“If you are dead, then you are of no use to me.” He pushed off the wall and grabbed one of the torches from beside the door, lifting an eyebrow. “Betternow?”
Bree nodded, though she still had no desire to go down those stairs. Anything that lurked at the bottom of darkness couldn’t be good. And once the two of them had finally made it down the cold, shadow-filled stairwell, she understood why it was as dreary as itwas.
Prince Taveon had brought her to thedungeons.
“This is where you shall be staying,” he said as they stood in front of a tiny cell that looked barely large enough to fit a cat, let alone a human being. The Prince’s eyes drifted down the long corridor to the doorway. He didn’t even have the decency to look at her while he locked her up in thishellhole.
Bree crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve got to be kidding me. No way in hell am I going to stay in a dirty shit-hole likethat.”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “I can assure you that it is perfectly clean. Besides, it is where your dear friend, Princess Norah, stayed when she was here for hervisit.”
“Hervisit?” Bree laughed, but it was the kind of laugh only reserved for moments which were truly not amusing at all. “You mean when you kidnapped her and held her against herwill?”
“I do not have time for this,Bree.”
“Look, I know I have no choice in being here. And I’ll have to do whatever it is you’re going to force me to do. Train, fight, battle. For years. Hell, probably for the rest of my miserable life. But you seriously can’t expect me to live in a cell. I’m not asking for some grand room in your fancy Great Hall or wherever it is that you royaltylive—”
“We live in theKeep.”
“Right. I’m not asking to live there. Hell, I don’t even want to. Just don’t put me in a cell,Taveon.”
“It isPrinceTaveon,” he said sharply. “ Slaves are forbidden to address any member of the royal family without a title. If someone heard you do so, then you could end up in far worse quarters than these. Not to mention if anyone found out what you tried to do tome.”
Bree narrowed her eyes. “From where I’m standing, I think I might prefer it if everyone did find out exactly what Idid.”
Except that was a lie. As horrible as all this was, Bree didn’t want to die, and Prince Taveon knewit.
“This is not up for debate, and I tire of this conversation and your company.” He grabbed the rope and yanked Bree into the cell. She stumbled inside, wincing at the pain that lanced through her wrists. A knife suddenly appeared in the Prince’s hands. Bree tensed. What was he doing now? He’d just said how much he wanted her alive. Surely he wouldn’t kill her after allthis.
Instead, he brought the blade to the edge of the rope and began to saw through it. The frayed edges fell to the floor around her, releasing her raw wrists from its grasp. She let out a sigh of relief, despite herself. The Prince tensed, his eyes flicking up to meet hers. For a moment, something strange passed between them. But then she pulled back her hand and slapped his face with all the strength shehad.
It was stupid to lash out at him again, but she couldn’t help herself. He’d completely ruined her life, and she hated to imagine what the rest of her days would bring. He would make her do things she never wanted to do, and she would hate herself forit.
She hated him forit.
A small bud of satisfaction bloomed in her gut at the surprise in his eyes. He hadn’t expected that from her. Already, he thought he’d broken her. But it would take a hell of a lot more than some rope and a dungeon cell to break BreePaine.
“Do that again,” he said, pointing a finger into her face, “and you will regret the day you laid eyes onme.”
“Too late. I alreadydo.”
