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Nora waved toward the window. "Ambrose is right—look at London for yourself. Then we can chat some more."
Flinging back the blanket, she maneuvered herself from the high bed to the floor, grateful that they'd removed her heels.
After taking a second to find her balance, Yesenia shuffled toward the window, ignoring the increased churning in her belly, and looked outside.
It was twilight and there wasn't any real sun left, but even so she noticed the carriages in the street being pulled by horses, the hodgepodge of brick and wooden buildings, and the faint outlines of boats on a wide river.
Yesenia had lived her whole life in Boston, and the sight before her was most definitely not it.
However, it was the horses and carriages that caught her attention most of all. There might be a few horse and buggies for tourists, but unless they were shooting some sort of TV show or movie, there would never be an entire street of them, with no car in sight.
She turned back toward the room and looked around—no TV, no digital clock, no overhead lights, no power outlet of any kind.
What kind of place was this? And why the fuck wasn't she in Boston? She had no idea if the sight outside was London, but it was definitely not her hometown.
Add in Nora not knowing who Derek Yates was, and her weird feeling morphed into a full-on tsunami of panic. Had one of Derek's rivals stolen her? Was she now a pawn in some sort of mafia war?
Her lungs constricted and she struggled to breathe. If she hadn't fulfilled her contract with Derek, her siblings were in big-ass danger.
And if Derek's enemy had her? She was well and truly fucked.
As the room started to spin and her knees buckled, Yesenia leaned against the window ledge and tried to take a few deep breaths. She had to be dreaming. There was no other earthly way she could be in some strange city with a British lady telling her it was London, where horses instead of cars filled the streets, and she stood in a room that didn't even have lights.
Why weren't there any damn lights?
Ambrose brought over a chair and Nora helped guide Yesenia down into it. The stupid wedding dress was too tight and a seam burst somewhere, but she didn't pay it any attention.
Nora placed a hand on her back and told her to breathe. After a few beats, Yesenia finally looked at Nora and found her voice again. "Where am I? Tell me the truth."
Nora frowned. "I told you, you're in London. And I can't lie without pain, so you know I'm telling the truth." Yesenia shook her head and Nora continued, "You're in England. More specifically, you're in the vampires’ territory of the East End." Nora studied her when Yesenia continued to shake her head in denial. She added, "Surely you know that. Otherwise how did you end up in my brother's gaming hell?"
"Gaming hell?" she echoed, never having heard the phrase before.
"Where people gamble—play cards, dice, make bets, that sort of thing. Surely you have them in America."
She frowned. "Of course. Everyone knows Las Vegas. But we call them casinos."
"Las Vegas," Nora repeated, as if the words were strange to her. "No, I haven't heard of it before. Have you, Ambrose?" The male shook his head and made a few signs. Nora continued, "But maybe my brother has since he makes it his business to know what other hells are up to. He'll be along shortly, once we get you bathed and changed, and you can talk to him about it."
Who hadn't heard of Las Vegas, arguably the most famous gambling city in the world? The more she talked with this female and her son, the less sense everything made.
Maybe Yesenia had hit her head when she fainted. Yes, that had to be it. That would explain everything. She blurted, "Did you already take me to the hospital? Did they do a CT scan for brain injuries?"
Nora's nose scrunched up a fraction. "City scan? If you mean asking a fae witch to check your body for injuries, yes, we did that. One came and said you should be fine with some rest."
Nora used her hands to sign a few things to Ambrose and the male bowed before leaving. The female vampire spoke again. "He'll find you something to wear. That, er, gown must be difficult to sleep in."
Yesenia clenched her hands in her lap and for the first time noticed something—the Yates ring Derek had placed on her finger was missing. "Where's my ring?"
"There wasn't any ring when I helped put you to bed, just the locket around your neck. Although I can have my brother's staff search for it downstairs, if it will help calm you down."
Touching where it should be, on the fourth finger of her left hand, panic started bubbling inside her chest again. Had Derek slipped the ring on her finger? She thought so, but if not, then she hadn't fulfilled her contract, which went into effect the second she wore the family heirloom.
Even if she wasn't in the clutches of one of Derek's rivals, if she hadn't fulfilled the conditions to a T, it meant her brother and sister could be in danger, although Meadow infinitely more so than River.
Clutching the locket around her neck—needing to touch something familiar—Yesenia stood and toddled a second before regaining her balance. "I need to find Derek."
Nora came up beside her and put a hand under her elbow. "You can't go anywhere until you've rested. Now, come. A hot bath and clean clothes will make a world of difference. And whilst we do that, you can tell me all about this Derek person." She paused and added, "Is he a fae witch like you?"
