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“Rein it in, bro.” Talon jogged alongside me. “We need to find out exactly what happened first.”
“Oh, I intend to,” I said, jaw tight. “But first, I want to see her. Talon, you talk to Prosper, get his story. Cain—you go with me. I don’t care what the fuck she did, I want her out of there.”
Talon sloped off in the direction of Prosper’s quarters.
Cain hesitated. “And if she’s guilty?” he asked.
I just looked at him, then took off at a run.
Cain caught up to me just before I reached the dungeon. “What I’d like to know,” he muttered, “is how the fuck Jules got out of his apartment.”
Blackness stirred in me. “That,” I said, “is a very good question.”
The dungeon held five cells. Four of the heavy, silver-reinforced doors stood open. Nathan, a dhampir soldier, stood watch outside the fifth.
“Sir,” he said with a respectful nod.
“Open the door,” I ordered.
He hesitated. “The lieutenant said no one’s allowed inside without his say-so.”
My eyes flashed vampire. Apparently, Nathan had forgotten whom he was talking to. “Open the fucking door.”
Cain shoved the young soldier up against the wall. “His father is in his final grave, you ass. That makes Lord Brien the acting primus. When he gives you an order, you obey.”
The soldier’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
Cain released him, and he fumbled with the key chain hanging from his belt loop before inserting the key in the lock. The deadbolt slid open.
I threw the door back on its hinges. “Wait out here,” I told Nathan and stalked inside.
Behind me, Cain instructed Nathan to leave the door open and move to the end of the hall. “No one else gets in here, understand?” he added. “Unless it’s Talon or Prosper.”
Nathan replied, but his voice faded to nothing as I caught sight of Twilight.
She was huddled against the wall in the unheated cell in nothing but damp pink joggers and a cropped gray T-shirt. Her feet were bare, her arms twined around her bent legs. Shivers racked her slender body, and she’d acquired several angry red scratches on her throat.
My nostrils flared. The blackness took on a hot, angry tinge.
She scrambled to her feet, eyeing me warily. “Hey.”
My gaze went to her bare feet. Prosper had her shackled to a wall like an animal. A heavy silver cuff was clasped around one slender ankle. A thick chain led from the cuff to the wall, allowing her only a few feet of movement in any direction. She couldn’t even use the toilet unless a guard released her from the cuff.
“Get Nathan,” I told Cain without taking my gaze from Twilight. “I want the key to that cuff.”
Her throat worked. Fear radiated off her.
Fear ofme.
My jaw worked. After the past two weeks, did she really think I’d hurt her?
Smoothing her palms down the outside of her joggers, she straightened her spine. “I guess you heard what happened.”
“Yeah.” I ached to go to her, to gather her up and promise her everything would be all right.
But I couldn’t. I had to act like a primus. In fact, Prosper might’ve thrown her in the cell in part to undermine me.
Another shiver shook Twilight.
