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I clung to the first thing I could get my hands on, which conveniently was a small wooden chair just inside the door. The assassin huffed a breath and sat me in it roughly.
“That’s what I like to see.” I tried to look past Jesseline and into the room, but when the walls spun it made it hard to distinguish what I was seeing.
Curtains had already been pulled closed to cover the windows so there wasn’t any of the setting sunlight creeping in. Overall the room was well organized, which I didn’t particularly see coming from someone who was such a brute as Ukrinsovo. A large desk sat in the middle of the long rectangular room. The wall behind it was fitted with the head guard’s collection of weapons and torture devices. They were clearly unused, or at the very least, incredibly well managed. Fae firelight from the dangling lamps glinted off the metal.
Where I sat was a small table with two chairs, perhaps for visitors or maybe even for meals he didn’t want to sit at his desk for. Was Ukrinsovo married? I pondered who he would share this table with?
“I can’t believe you,” Jesseline hissed, crouching in front of me. She reached one hand up, her fingers surprisingly cold, and squeezed my cheeks together while she talked. “What the hell is wrong with you? You can’t just show up to an interrogation tanked!”
My shoulders shook with a laugh that rattled my chest. “There are a lot of things wrong with me. And I can show up to an interrogation utterly sloshed because…here. I. Am.” I lifted both my arms from my side to show off my drunken form. “And I’m so glad,” I swallowed, “that you can call me out, unlike all the other petty pleasers in this castle.”
“By the Gods,” Jesseline sighed, leaning back on her heels.
“So sorry,” I mumbled, forcing a crooked grin.
“Do you think our future queen would be happy if I let you rot away like this? It’s going to take time to heal, and wallowing in your misery is fine, but there is a time and a place for that.”
Jesseline was disappointed in me.Iwas disappointed in me.
Metal on metal clinked, taking my attention away from her frowning face. Thin gray skin stretched over black veins. The sides of a hollow face with cheekbones so sharp they could cut a man. Teeth that undoubtedly could. The witch cocked her head and watched me with depthless eyes. In those eyes, I could see flesh stretched from necks. Crimson pooled at my feet. All I could see was that damn night.
I hissed and looked away. This witch was a thorn poised for my heart and my only hope was that this was all going to be worth it.
“She’s not very chatty,” Jesseline said, standing up. “Her name is Geeta and that’s about as far as I’ve gotten.”
The chair banged against the wall behind me as I jerked myself out of the seat. I slid up to the witch. My body trembled as I tried to keep myself under control, as I tried to keep from screaming in fury or sobbing in grief.
“I could take that away for you.” Geeta revealed her pointed teeth, still tainted red. “Emotions are easy to manipulate.”
Something in her words had me touching the wounded part of my neck. It was healing well, but the pink skin was still tender. I imagined she needed more blood to work her magic, but honestly, I knew so little about burgundy witches. I’d never needed to know before.
“He needs to feel to truly heal,” Jesseline said bitterly.
The witch rolled her eyes. “How poetic.”
Squatting low, I grabbed at the chains and pulled her toward me. “You will not be able to negotiate your way out of this.” The tip of her nose brushed against mine and an unwanted sliver of fear caused goosebumps to rise over my arms.
Geeta smiled wider. Her breath was still heavy with the scent of blood. As she caught the way my gaze traveled to her mouth, she licked her lips. “Do you want to know how they tasted? You smell an awful lot like them, I’d imagine you’d taste just as good as them. Something about noble Fae blood is just better.”
Her hair was still smooth as silk, despite the dirt that clung to her as I curled my fingers against her scalp. I yanked her head back, focused on the abyss of her gaze.
“Shut the fuck up.” My hands burned with want. The desire for flesh to meet flesh until blood was drawn. For bones to break within my grasp. For pain. I wanted to cause her pain. She was alive for a reason, and my parents deaths wouldn’t be in vain. Ever so slowly, I untangled my hand from her hair and took a step back.
“You don’t even need magic to manipulate feelings if you have the right words.” She stiffened and looked toward the wall. “I just wanted to get a rise out of you. It’s all I have to entertain me. I’m not stupid enough to think I could talk my way out of this; I tried for nearly a hundred years before I gave that up. Fae are stubborn.”
Behind me, Jesseline took a couple of steps forward until I could feel her hovering just behind me. Heat radiated off of her and down my back with our close proximity. “Tell me where she came from and how she has so much experience with Fae, hmm?”
“Is it necessary to say out loud what I am already thinking?” I muttered, rubbing my hand down my face trying to wipe away my sloppy demeanor. Taking a couple of wobbling paces, I sat on the edge of Ukrinsovo’s desk. Nausea churned as a warning while I took my next breath. Forcing myself to open my eyes wide, I fought my drooping eyelids that suggested I take a long nap.
Curious hands wandered over the smooth wood top of his all too neat desk, leaving me with nothing to pick up to keep them busy. Pressure built to a mild headache between my eyebrows. I rubbed the spot gently, aware of how my body swayed.
“Do you know that I saved your life?” I pointed out.
Geeta didn’t turn her face toward me. She kept her head turned toward the wall, feigning fascination in the texture of the brushstrokes in the paint. She held a trace of humor in her voice as she asked, “When?”
“When I found you passed out on our steps. I even had a dream about it.” I smoothed my hands through my hair. “I dreamt that I slit your throat before you awoke.”
“That was a mild mishap on my part. I’m rusty.” Her black lips turned into a deep frown. “You should have killed me then.”
