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“Winter,” was her automatic response.
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
The interest was clear. Wary, Winter debated before shrugging.
“I’m a human being. Trash to your eyes. I have been researching your world for years and decided to explore it instead of writing about it.”
It wasn’t quite the truth, not when there was so much more to the story that she couldn’t reveal. The melodic voice hummed in her head like a warning bell before the woman’s voice slithered in once more.
“What did you grab from that vampire’s pocket?”
Anticipating the question, Winter tossed a candy in the woman’s direction. “Sweets. Unlike you, I don’t mind sharing.”
That shut the woman up, who grabbed the candy with her tail and became quiet after. Winter leaned against the wall, relief pouring out of her that she was out of hot water. She curled her hand into her pocket, touching the key she had managed to grab in all the commotion. Outwardly, she looked like someone who couldn’t be bothered with all the blood and gore in Ostrov Krov—the island home of the vampires, who were as vicious as the stories she read in books as a child.
Inwardly, she was already planning her escape in the quietest way possible.
Prisoners came and went, leaving her with no leeway as she couldn’t risk doing this while there was still activity surrounding her. She made do with being a wallflower, which honestly worked best for her as she was able to observe every creature that they brought in.
There was a bear shifter, who looked more pleasant than the wolf, minding his business and observing her just as curiously before he was whisked away the next day. There was a man in all-dark clothes who was as violent as they came, trying to explode everything with his hands before they were restrained by special chains.Warlock,came feathering over her mind, the certainty stunning her. Men who created spells out of thin air or whatever materials worked best for them and lived on a separate island with witches. Then there was a creature glowing so brightly and shrieking so loudly that Winter had to cover her eyes and ears while the vampires who had taken it in grumbled repeatedly.Fae,her mind supplied, except she had seen them before—had been imprisoned by them before—and had no desire to create new ties with their kind.
“Why are you here?” the snake woman asked, curiosity getting the better of her after days of shutting Winter out.
“Why areyouhere?”
There was an irritated hiss. “I’m not dumb. Look at this chamber, and you will see there is one glaring difference. Your kind usually serves their kind, don’t you? What I want to know is why you are here when you should be out there, begging for your freedom while they whip you into obedience.”
It hit home closer than she wanted, particularly since Winter had already been a slave here some months ago, too—her first accidental landing and escape.
“Maybe they find me cute,” she said instead.
A scaly tail snapped towards her, its tip banging the bar.
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” the woman growled. “What offense do you have against House Bronson, and why are you kept here instead of slaving for your life?”
“What offense doyouhave against them?”
Winter jerked back just in time as the tip of the tail struck once more, stretched beyond its limit. Yet it only reached a cell bar. The snake woman tried a few more times, then retreated. Another Fae was brought in, more dignified than the last with the silkiest black hair. Then the snake woman was brought out, and Winter finally got her first glimpse of the creature: slender curves, greenish-brown scales, and the most mesmerizing green eyes ever. They pinned her in place, then fought against the restraints until the woman was out of the chamber.
Relief poured out, but Winter tried not to get too excited. The hours passed with no prisoner taken in, cluing her in that maybe it was daytime. With a deep breath, she took the key out of her pocket and into the keyhole…and hit the jackpot.
“Holy moly,” she whispered, then shut her mouth. Pushing the door open just enough for her to slip out was tricky, but even more so was sneaking towards the chamber’s main door without getting caught and ratted out by the other prisoners. Somehow, she made it out, ducking when she found herself in an open field and cursing her luck when the tall grass moved.
She eyed the moving grass, then watched when the chamber opened and closed. She glowered at the moon, then sprinted away as fast as she could until she was out of the field and surrounded by trees. The castle loomed behind her, so grand and larger than any structure she had ever seen in her life, filled with towers and barricades in all directions. Winter was glad to leave it behind, already tracking through the rough pathway and praying that her disappearance wouldn’t be noticed yet.
Damn pirates, who had captured her while she had been happily strolling through Centro—a trading island where there was supposed to be a truce. Damn vampires, who eagerly took her out of the pirates’ hands with a few gold coins and still thought she was a spy from House Nova out to get House Bronson. Damn Ostrov Krov, who had her description jotted down to a T and made it impossible for her to blend in. Did they take it down now, or was she still wanted? Why had they kept her in that chamber without anyone from House Bronson confronting her? Torturing her?
Where on heavens was the exit to this godforsaken place?
“Think, Winter, think,” she muttered, then willed herself to shove the answer out. It came within seconds, a map materializing in her head and pointing out that she was facing the wrong direction. Her fingers itched for a pen to draw the map, just like she had the coordinates and all her other discoveries in the past. “Common sense, Winter.”
There was no time to draw and no time to even contemplate it. There was only time to get in the right direction, so she continued running until she was at the edge of the forest and zoning in on the ocean ahead, black under the moonlight and glittering blue in the sunlight. She used the shoreline to trace where she needed to go, then stepped back towards a couple of boulders and braced herself for the jump toward freezing coldness.
“Please, Master. Please take me. It would be my honor to be drained by you. I beg you to have me.”
The words stopped her in her tracks. She whirled, terrified that a vampire would pop out in front of her and attack. When there was none, she crawled over them and peeked at the highest point until she found the source of the voice.
The woman was beautiful and slim, held by a man whose back was towards Winter. She noted light blond hair coiled to perfection, his pale skin lined with muscles as the man grasped the woman tight.
