My head ached when I blinked my eyes open. Whatever I was drugged with, it slapped hard. Hard enough that my vision blurred and my limbs weighed like a blanket of bricks. Straining to see, I took in my surroundings. The room was dark, but I could see enough. I expected some dank prison cell in the coldest reaches of some nasty dungeon. That was not the case. Instead, I was in a four-poster bed in some bedroom, the fabric overhead a crimson color that boiled my blood. Lucien fucking Lacroix.
My head spun as I pushed myself up to sit. The heaviness in my wrists was due to anti-magic cuffs. Logical. They wouldn't want their prisoner leaving after all the trouble they went through to get me there.
In all, there was one light; a candle flickered on a table between the bed and the door. Every inch of the walls was covered in portraits and animal busts. A curtain stretched across the right side. A window, probably. There was a dresser on my left and a strange display with swords pointing in all directions.
A dangerous object for such a dark room.
The door opened. I squinted into the light cast from the hallway. The shape of a woman appeared. She sauntered in, her chuckle giving her away. It was Lauvet.
"You're awake. Fantastic timing."
Withholding a sarcastic response, I lifted a hand. "Shackles, huh?"
"Can't have you getting out, now, can we?" The candles in the room lit all at once and I could see everything with greater clarity. Lauvet rounded the table, her silky red robes swaying around her as she curled a strand of black hair around her finger. "I heard you learned Relocation. Makes you something of an annoyance."
I didn't have an answer for that.
Sitting beside me, Lauvet flashed a brilliant smile. "It's nice that we could finally meet in my turf. I believe I owe you something of a . . . gift."
Oh, yeah. She was still angry I slashed her throat. Panic made my stomach squirm. "A gift? You don't have to," I tried.
"I insist. I thought long and hard about the best gift I could give you." Lauvet turned her back to me and yanked my sneakers off my feet, tossing them to the ground a short distance away. "Your curse makes punishing you easy, you know? I almost wish my daughter had one growing up." Her finger traced my ankle bone. "Almost."
This crazy bitch was going to break my ankles. There were worse fates, of course. As long as she didn't kill me, anything she broke could be healed. I just had to survive. That didn't mean I was ready for the pain.
Leaning down, she lifted a hammer from the floor at the end of the bed. Her arm arched back and the hammer came down hard.
My vision turned to squiggles as I shut my eyes and screamed. The pain shot all through my foot and leg. My head felt so light I thought I might faint. I fell onto my back, forcing my eyes open, and took fast breaths.
"I'm going to need your cooperation." Lauvet rested the hammer against my other ankle. "Or you're going to be in a lot of pain, soon. I'm not above torture, but my ire is not your torch to bear."
"What do you want?" I panted out, ignoring the threat. I curled my fingers in the bedspread beneath me. It didn't feel so cold in the room anymore.
"You're going to sign some papers for me when Killian arrives. If you're good, he'll fix you up."
"If not?"
The bed shifted as Lauvet stood, and the hammer landed on the floor with a heavy thump. Her footsteps led away from me. "He'll do whatever he has to."
Then the door creaked open and slammed shut.
Breathing in, I pulled myself up with the bedspread and leaned as far forward as I could for a peek. My ankle was already bruising, swollen, and disjointed. That could be a problem on my escape attempt—if I ever got the chance.
For hours I lied in agony, my body wet with sweat. I was barely able to raise my head when the door opened. Killian Rhodes hurried inside and shut the door behind him. On his way to the bed, he slapped a stack of papers on the table.
"I'm so sorry, Vera." His face twisted with distress, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes crinkled. He was a good actor. That's what it was. An act. He sat beside me and placed his hand on my foot. "You must be so confused. Let me fix this."
I flinched away until the green glow of a Mend spell lit at his fingers. He was healing me? The bones snapped into place and I cried out in pain, throwing my head back with twisting vision.
"It's okay," Killian said, his voice surprisingly calming. His fingers danced against my skin in a strange attempt to soothe it. "I won't let her hurt you anymore. I have a plan to get you out of here."
"What are you talking about? You're a fucking traitor. You killed Professor Ishida!"
"Halsey didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"It was a plan." Killian shook his head. "I was approached by Lauvet, and under the headmistress's orders, I acted as a spy. Why do you think you're in my room instead of a prison cell? I did try to warn you that Lucien was going to get you in trouble, if you recall."
"But you killed her!"
"She's not dead! It was an act. No one has actually died."
My breath caught for a moment as hope nibbled its way into my heart and brought my eyes to water. If Sakura Ishida was alive, all that guilt I carried would be gone. But Killian Rhodes had a silver tongue. Something in my gut told me he was lying. This time, I wasn't going to second-guess gut instinct, but that didn't mean I couldn't play along. "What does she want?"
A chuckle passed between us as his lips curled into a smirk. "Lucien brought you here trying to strike a deal, but Lauvet turned on him. Just desserts if you ask me. He's being tortured in another room."
A twinge of worry shot through me. I scrubbed it away. I'd deal with Lucien soon enough. "What does she want me sign?"
"She wants to be the new heir to the Lacroix family. If she gets his signature, he relinquishes his title immediately. Your signature will sign her into the Lacroix family. Then, after she kills you both, she gets it all. Whatever you do, don't sign it. It's all that's keeping you alive."
That's what this was all about? Titles and heir-ship? Irritation burned through me. "You have a plan?"
Wheeling around, Killian bowed his head. "You and I can take the title from under their noses. Together. We'll squash them like flies."
"How?"
"It's written in the old laws. As his wife, you can declare him unfit. He's betrayed you and placed you in danger. No one would question it."
My eyes fell to the pendant around his neck and it's ruby gem. It looked exactly like the one Lucien wore when I was drugged. The only difference was that the gem, then, was blue. My shoulders shook with laughter. Oh.
"What's so funny?"
"It was you."
Killian frowned. "What?"
"You came with the tea. I should have known, right away. Herbs are your thing. In fact, the herb you used was the one you showed Naomi, wasn't it? Sweet. I hate sweets." I glared. "You drugged me, pretended to be him, and now you're trying to trick me again. It won't work this time."
"Vera—"
I slapped his hand away as he reached for me. "Stop pretending. I saw the real you. This isn't it."
Laughter bellowed through the room as Killian hung his head. "It was a long shot, but I have ways of making you do as I wish."
"Try all you like," I said with all the bravado I could muster. "Your torture will never be enough."
"Big talk, Vera, but I prefer not to be a man of physical violence when I can avoid it. There are other ways to take you from him." Killian leaned close so that his face was near to mine and his fingers slid beneath the choker.
Damn it. I scooted away from him, glaring, but he only followed me until I had nowhere to go.
"I thought I could get to you before Lucien did." Killian ripped the collar off and stared at my neck, his finger trailing the scar. "I thought as much."
What on earth did that mean?
With a discomforting slowness, he pressed his face into the crook of my neck. His breath was hot on my skin.
Goddess, no. Was he going to turn me into a vampire? My body shook and I turned my face from him. "Stop it."
"You didn't respond well to flirting. It infuriated me until I realized what a gift that was. I don't need to rule you with sweet words and kisses, not when fear is such a great motivator." Killian nipped at the skin of my neck.
Terrified, I grabbed his face and tried to push it away only to prompt a burst of laughter from the psycho.
He slid off the bed, his laughter ebbing to a hollow sound, and cast his cold stare upon me. "I'll give you a day to think this through. When I return, I suggest you agree to work with me. Otherwise, I'm sure Lauvet will be looking to torture you on her own. She might even put you up in a rack beside Lucien's."
In a rack? I shivered. How archaic and creepy.
Killian paused at the door. "I wouldn't try to leave. The guards out here will report to Lauvet."
Once he left, I rose from the bed. My ankle was a little weak, but I needed to move. To plan. I only had a day to figure out what to do. I crossed the room and pushed the other door open. A restroom, no windows. I skirted the wall to the windows and yanked the curtains open. They were all warded shut, but the light was nice. Best to leave those open.
Facing the room, I sighed.
What to do?
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