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CHAPTERONE
Well, this was boring.
Drumming my fingers on my knee, I tapped out the rhythm to “Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi on my dirt-marred skin. Hunger was gnawing at my bones, my stomach growling in protest at the lack of nutrients. I’d refused to eat the plates of food they sent in through the slot at the bottom of my prison door.
They were drugged.
It had only been a few days since the Dashkov building collapsed, and I hadn’t heard anything. Not a peep. If they were truly dead, I would have expected my distasteful, backstabbing grandmother to be down here gloating.
They’re alive.
The mantra ran through my head on repeat. A welcome broken record of reassurance. If they were in the vault, they would have survived. It was a genius system. The vault worked on a separate system from the rest of the building. If for any reason the surface building was breached, the underground would remain untouched. Matthias even had the foresight to make sure the vault had its own life support system. Oxygen, electricity, air. Everything in the vault was self-contained.
They had to be alive.
Which begged the question of why the fuck I was still sitting in this god-forsaken cell. I couldn’t be all that hard to find, especially since I was still wearing the tracking necklace Vas had given me a few days after I becamePakhan.
It was small and unassuming. Perfect to hide in plain sight. No one was the wiser that the gold anchor on my neck would spell their doom.
The shuffling of feet sounded outside my cell door. Dinnertime. Right on cue. My stomach growled in protest, but there was no way in hell I was falling for that trick again. The door to the cell swung open, the hinges creaking noisily. I winced at the obtrusive sound in the otherwise silent room.
Huh, usually they didn’t come in when it was chow time.
“You’re still alive, I see.” A smooth voice interrupted the silence. “Surprising.”
I scoffed. “Did you want me to die? You don’t sound too disappointed that I’m still breathing.”
“Why would I be disappointed, dear?” the woman asked, her head tilted slightly. “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
Fair point.
“What do you want, then?” My patience was wearing thin with this woman. “Family bonding time?”
The woman’s Cheshire grin beamed at me through the dark. “For you to have supper with me.” Her painted smile and dark eyes made her look unhinged, and for a moment, I wondered what she would do if I told her to shove the food straight up her tight asshole.
Thoughts loading…
Nah, not gonna risk it.
“I’m not exactly dressed for dinner.” My gaze shifted pointedly down to my dust-covered and torn clothing that also lacked foot apparel.
“Narana will take you to bathe and change,” my grandmother assured me before turning to leave. She stopped at the door, and turning her head, she warned, “And in case you get any bright ideas about attempting to run—know that every inch of this house is guarded, and you will be put down like a dog if you try.”
“And here I thought you didn’t want me dead.”
Her smile turned vicious. “Let me spell it out for you then,” she elaborated. “You try and run, and I will make sure each of my guards has a turn fucking you like the bitch you are. How’s that?”
I swallowed hard, my face paling at her words. “Much better. Crystal clear.” Keeping the tremor from my voice was near impossible. “Five stars.”
“Good.”
And then she was gone. Like Dracula through the mist. If I found a stake and drove it through her withering heart, I wondered if she’d turn to dust.
“Let’s go.” Narana, a brawny older woman with a square face and peg-shaped nose, stepped toward me, grabbing my upper arm in a bruising grip. “Follow me. No trouble.”
Hulk. Smash.
Well, with that accent, she wasn’t Irish.
