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Styx narrowed his eyes, turning his attention to Ryshi. “As for you—”
“He’s mine,” Sofie interrupted, stepping until she fully blocked her companion.
“Excuse me?” The lights inside the mansion flickered as Styx’s temper flared, but before the male vampire could punish Sofie for her defiance, his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. “Ah. You’ve mated the jinn. Interesting.”
It was more than interesting, Sofie silently acknowledged. It was earth shattering. But only if she could convince her king not to toss him back into the dungeons.
“He saved my life,” she said. “More than once.”
Styx arched a brow. “You believe his debt is paid?”
“I don’t believe he had a debt in the first place.”
Styx stilled, as if shocked by her words. “Explain.”
Sofie glanced toward Ryshi, who had wisely kept his lips shut. “Do you trust me?” She waited for his hesitant nod before returning her gaze to her king. “The previous Anasso trapped his sister in a magical container. That’s what he’s been searching for.”
Styx made a strangled sound, glaring at Ryshi. “Why didn’t you come to me and tell me what had happened?”
Ryshi folded his arms over his chest. “I had no idea if you were the vampire responsible for trapping her.”
Styx snorted. “I have a pureblooded Were as my mate. Darcy would chop off my tender bits if I had a female trapped in a container.”
That was true. Sofie had met Darcy and didn’t doubt for a second the tiny female would punish anyone stupid enough to capture and imprison a helpless victim.
“We need to find her,” Sofie said. “I assume the container must be hidden in the old caverns?”
Styx shook his head. “Actually, I emptied out the last of his belongings from the caverns a few weeks ago.”
Ryshi lunged forward, almost as if he intended to grab Styx by the shoulders and give him a shake.
“What did you do with them?”
Styx hissed in warning, pulling back his lips to reveal his enormous fangs. As if the sword strapped across his back wasn’t scary enough.
“Easy, thief.”
Sofie carefully sheathed her dagger, trying to ease the sudden tension throbbing in the air.
“Please, Styx,” she said in soft tones. “It’s important.”
Styx continued to glare at Ryshi, but he answered Sofie’s question.
“I dumped most of the stuff in an empty cell in the dungeon.”
Chapter 22
Ryshi held the plain wooden box in the palm of his hand, outrage still burning in the pit of his stomach.
“I can’t believe it,” he growled, kneeling next to the pile of objects that had been scattered in the center of the cell just two down from the one he’d been locked in for the past decade. “She was right next to me while I spent my days searching from one vampire lair to another.”
Sofie kneeled next to him, her expression impossible to read. “You’re sure that’s the right container?”
Ryshi studied the polished box. He’d dug through the various artifacts, ignoring the rare and sometimes dangerous treasures until his fingers had brushed over the seemingly worthless box. He’d felt a tingle of recognition, but it wasn’t until he’d broken through the spell that he was certain.
“Positive,” he told his companion. “Now that I removed the disguise spell, I can sense her presence inside.”
Sofie nodded. “Now what?”
