‘I’m only working with you because you can give me what I want.’
‘Oh I know.’ Mistral laughs again, a dry sound, no humour in it. ‘Just remember – I got you out of the pits. I can put you back there.’
‘But you won’t.’ Kyle’s voice is hard.
‘No, I won’t. You’ve delivered the girl and I’ll honour my bargain.’ He’s silent for a moment. ‘Honestly, these damn human throwbacks! Abominations, each and every one of them! Once I have her mother, maybe I’ll kill her myself. After all, Penelope and I will create the most wonderful children. She’ll have no need of this one once I’m lord of Raven.’
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
Mistral must be out of his mind. Lord of Raven? He can fuck right off. What about my father? I remember the bomb in the ballroom, the way Mistral had stepped in so neatly, ripping apart the blood dancer to protect his lord… or protect himself, more likely, so that his plans wouldn’t be revealed. Shit. I don’t care what he thinks, he’ll never have Mother, not in a million years. There’s no way she’d let him kill me. I mean, I know I’m human and weak, but I also know she loves me. Unlike Kyle. At that thought there’s pain, like a crack across my mind, as though I’m a shield holding all the pieces of me together.
‘This hasn’t been easy, you know.’
Oh, I’m so sorry,Kyle, that betraying me has been so hard on you. If I wasn’t trying to keep still, I’d roll my eyes.
‘I’m sure. If the bomber had done his job properly, we wouldn’t have had to go to quite these extremes. You could have ended it much earlier.’
‘So, once you’re in power, I can change her?’
Change me?
Kyle knows I can’t be changed. Maybe hehadto knock me out, to trick Mistral that he’s on his side, but really he still loves me, and we’ll be together. Maybe he’s just pretending, to protect me, and he’ll take me back to my parents. Maybe I’m clutching at straws.
‘Yes, yes.’ Mistral sounds even more irritated. ‘You can change her now, for all I care. A fighter from the pits and his little dancing girl. A love story for the ages, I’m sure.’ He snorts.
‘I’ll take Emelia to the safe house, then.’
A safe house. My heart lifts. Oh, thank darkness. He’s going to keep me safe, after all. I’m still puzzling about why he thinks he can change me, though. And why is Mistral calling me a dancing girl?
‘Keep her there until the trap is sprung. I can’t keep her here, as much as I’d like to – too obvious, really.’
The trap? I strain to hear more, but one of the cushions by my legs falls away. There’s a soft thud as it hits the floor.
I feel a rush of cool air. I daren’t open my eyes, and stay as still as I can. But my heart is racing. I’m in a room with at least two predators, both of whom will be able to tell I’m faking unconsciousness. Fabric covers my mouth, an acrid scent in my nostrils. And I’m gone once more.
ChapterThirty-Four
THE FINAL BLOW
Iwake again, lying face-down on a carpet. It’s grey with dust, and it smells. I roll onto my side, coughing, my throat feeling bruised inside and out.
‘We’ve woken up, have we, my lady?’
The words are scornful, the voice oddly familiar. I look up to see a girl standing over me. She’s slender, wearing baggy trousers and a cropped T-shirt, her dark hair pulled back messily from her face. A scar snakes up from the neck of her T-shirt. I recognise her. It’s the blood dancer from the bar, the one who threatened me. Kyle’s ex. What the hell is she doing here?
I push myself into a sitting position, hugging my knees. ‘Where am I? Tell me.’
‘I give the orders here, Raven. Not you.’
‘Here’ appears to be a bedroom. Quite a big room, the windows covered with long wooden shutters. There’s a large bed against one wall, a dusty small table either side holding guttering candles, melted wax spilling in rivulets. There are holes in the bedspread, the fabric stained. A faded photograph hanging on one wall shows a family – two parents, two children. This girl is none of them.
But she is human. Which means that, as far as getting out of here goes, she and I are equals. I wonder where Kyle is, and when he’s going to arrive, though I’ve no idea what time it is, whether it’s day or night. I’m also not sure what’s going on, but I’m still clinging to the hope I had at Mistral’s, that Kyle was faking and he’ll keep me safe, that he still loves me. The presence of his ex is making the fantasy harder to maintain, though.
I scoot back to the wall, using it to push myself to my feet. ‘Fuck you.’
She smirks. ‘Really? Is that what you think is going to happen?’
Bitch. I straighten my shoulders. ‘I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.’
