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“Mortals don’t interest me in that way. Not when it comes to that sort of pleasure.”
Vomit.
He smiles at Jane before turning that predatory grin on me. “You should have taught her not to enter portals. She followed me to the Spring Court territories and I’m afraid now . . . she belongs to me.”
My heart plummets. If he had taken her directly from the academy, I could have filed a grievance with the council.
For a moment, I let myself imagine going back to my aunts empty-handed. Explaining how Jane is now a slave of the Spring Court and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Except there is.
“What do you want?” I whisper.
“Hmm.” He presses a finger to his lips as if pondering my question. “Perhaps I simply want to keep her. Good help is hard to find, and she’s remarkably sturdy. She just spent the entire night cleaning my house without a break, and she’s still on her feet. Most mortals would have physically broken down before then. That alone makes her worth a hefty sum—if I choose to sell her.”
If I could murder anyone with my mind, he would be dead right now. Eviscerated, beheaded, and flayed.
Forcing my furious gaze off him, I look at Jane. She’s barefoot, feet dirty, still smiling. Her hands hanging limp at her sides, but I can already see the blisters forming. He’s going to work her to death.
Something flickers behind her hazel eyes. Just like Evelyn, she’s still in there. I know if I don’t rescue her today, she’ll find a way to do what she threatened.
End her own life.
I tear my focus from Jane and face him. He’s won. I know it and he knows it.
“What do you want?”
“Make another bargain with me.”
I clench my jaw. “I’ll never give you permission to touch me.”
“Maybe I don’t want that anymore.” He traces a finger over the wisteria vine tattoo spiraling down one forearm, making it curl and tighten. “No, all I ask now is this. Wear something of my choosing.”
What the hell? I tug at the hem of my shirt. “That’s not a bargain.”
“Fine. Win the final gauntlet and you get your sister back. Lose, and you must wear an item of my choosing.”
I scoff. “Winning is impossible.”
“Precisely.”
“I get Jane back now just for making the bargain,” I amend. “Win and you forget I exist. Lose and . . . I wear whatever freaky item you specify, but it must be an actual item of clothing or an accessory, and I can wear other items along with it.” No way will I let him force me into wearing a crotchless nightie or something equally uncomfortable and gross. “Also, it can’t possess magic that controls me somehow.”
He stares at me with those heavy-lidded eyes. Weighing my words. After our last bargain, he takes me a little more seriously.
“Deal,” he purrs.
I feel the magic of our bargain lock into place, and it’s similar to the feel of shackles clicking around my wrists.
Behind him, a figure appears on the wide marble stairs leading to the second floor. Inara’s bright blue hair falls around her bare shoulders in waves, an ivory satin sheet wrapped around her otherwise naked body. “Who is it?”
“Go back to bed,” he orders.
Her eyes meet mine, and rage flashes across her face. “You aren’t letting her sister go, are you? You promised we could keep her.”
“And now I’ve changed my mind.”
“But—”
