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Lycus’s lips lifted in a slow, dark smirk. “You’re thinking that if I kill one of you, your precious lover will come to your rescue. But have you wondered how he’ll keep you alive? He isdeath—notlife. I doubt you’ll persuade Florence here to revive you.”
Florence released a fake-sweet laugh and said, “Never.”
Sienna grinned back, telling herself it was a poker game and she could match their bluff. “Then I’ll be the coolest damn zombie.” She snapped her jaw for emphasis, because what else was a girl supposed to do in that situation?
Florence screwed up her face. “Ew. You’re repulsive. What does he evenseein you?”
Lycus chuckled. “An open hole, I imagine.”
Sienna held his unblinking stare. “Don’t assume Fenn is anything like you.”
The twitch of his lips told her he understood her insult.
The sharp intake of breath from the blonde behind him told him it hit its mark with her, too.
In the space of a heartbeat Lycus’s expression fell to neutral again. “Now, I’m a reasonable man. But I’ve already issued my ultimatum. This isn’t an open negotiation. Your sister Maya was an example, proof if you will, that we will follow through. If you want the other one to survive, you will comply. It’s a yes or no decision, and it’s time for your answer.”
Sienna barely resisted the urge to wrap her arms around herself. They weren’t going to budge on healing Maya, then. She wanted to push for it, but she couldn’t risk Piper’s life. And her neck was starting to feel stiff again already.Not now!She did her best to steady her breathing despite not being able to use her preferred technique and deliberately flexed her hands. Trying to distract her mind.
There was no give in Lycus’s expression. He was cold and firm like a statue.
She knew better than to even glance toward Florence.
“Will you tell me what you want with me?” It was the only tactic she had left to her now.
His brow furrowed slightly. “I have already.”
Sienna scoffed. “Then sure. But I expect to walk out of here and never see either of you after. It’s a real easy answer—I don’t know.”
Florence rolled her eyes with a dramatic scoff. “We’re supposed to believe that?”
“Perhaps I’ve been unclear,” Lycus said, his voice lower. “You are the key.” He took a step forward and suddenly had her pinned against the wall that had been somewhere behind her, one hand tight around her throat. He added pressure and lifted until only her toes made contact with the floor, squeezing enough to almost completely block her air supply. “Youwilltell me your secret.”
Sienna tried to gasp, immediately clawing at his forearm. She’d barely been able to breathe before, hadn’t really had her breath, and her body wasn’t prepared for a sudden and complete lack of oxygen. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t even squeak, as spots popped over her eyes. Her neck tightened, the cramping sensation threatening to take over.
She didn’t have the strength to struggle, doing nothing more than clinging to the very arm choking her, as blackness rose and swallowed her line of sight. Obscured only by the ever-popping spots of white from the lack of oxygen to her lungs. She wondered if that would carry over to the next vision, wondered if she would suffer sensory damage, and it was a moment before she processed the sound of commotion.
The pressure at her throat disappeared when Lycus jerked back sharply. Florence made a sound of shock that was almost elation even before Sienna began to fall, already coughing.
She didn’t hit the ground again, instead finding herself scooped up into an embrace that was immediately familiar and reassuring. Two arms curled around her, holding her securely without restricting her already limited ability to breathe. The darkness she’d seen rising was still there, hovering in her peripheral vision, even as the spots finally faded. And realization dawned.Fenn.
Tears rushed up behind her eyes with instant relief. Fenn had found her.
“Well. This might actually be fun.” That wasn’t Fenn’s voice, and it definitely didn’t belong to her torturers.Sulien.
Fenn had brought the others.
Her heart pounded and Sienna heard an embarrassingly weak sound escape from her as she tilted in toward Fenn’s shoulder, her fingers curling into his coat. The Four had come to rescue her, and her sister. And all she’d done for herself was what, start a catfight with her lover’s stalker? The shame she’d felt before rushed back in full force. She wasn’t worthy of this. Not with how she’d behaved.
But she was in no position to turn it away.
Fenn had thought he was angry when Sienna had been taken in front of him. He’d thought his temper had snapped when his first sweep of the town failed to locate the unique signature he’d come to associate with her. But then he’d felt a flicker—a sense he was familiar with, though never before connected to her.
She was on the precipice of death, or in a situation which could all too easily tip her beyond salvation. It wasn’t her natural fate, but she also wasn’t actively dying—he’d only sensed it because he waslooking.
It was still too much.
He hadn’t hesitated to follow the whispered connection, appearing at her side almost before he registered the sight of the man he didn’t know holding her by the throat. The man had moved with unnatural speed out of Fenn’s easy reach, obviously recognizing him, but hadn’t fled.
