“Then let my sister go. Let Bianca take her somewhere safe. She’s no use to you in a state like this anyway.” I gesture helplessly to my sister, still lying broken on the chilled stone floor. Bianca crouches by her side, but Andra hasn’t shown any other sign of life since her stilted moan.
Lady M’s head cocks to the side as she studies me. “You are not in a position to be making demands here, Caterine. Do not think that you or your sister are escaping my grasp again. I finally have you right where I want you, right where you belong.” Her amber eyes flash, and a chill races through my veins, a sense of foreboding like I’ve never felt before gripping my chest.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I have what I want.”
“Just because you have us here does not mean we will do what you say.”
She laughs again, and this one sounds genuine, and cold. “Iknow exactly how to get you to do what I want. How do you think I’ve been forcing Andra to See?”
She gives me a second of silence, but I will not give her the satisfaction of a response. Lady M crosses further into my space, and I feel the weight around my chest tighten, holding me back so I can’t punch her in the face like she deserves.
“That’s the thing with sisters. All I had to do was threaten you, and Andra was a willing little puppet. She did whatever I asked because she knew her actions were protecting you. Just as I know you’ll do whatever I ask to protect those you love.” Something almost resembling a smile tugs on her lips. “Like that boyfriend of yours who’s attempting to kill my husband as we speak.”
I yank on the invisible force holding me back, fighting fruitlessly, doing everything I can to make it to the door. To Callum. “Do not touch him. I swear, I will kill you myself—twice over—if you lay a hand on him.”
She throws her head back with that chilling laughter. “My dear Cate, I think I have made it more than clear that I do not have to lay a hand on anyone to hurt them. Others are more than happy to do the dirty work for me.”
Tears cloud my vision, from anger and fear and desperation. Not Callum. I cannot let her hurt him. “Please. Do not hurt him. Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it.”
She circles me, her steps slow, her eyes never leaving my face. “Just what would you sacrifice to keep your little boyfriend safe, I wonder?” She nudges Andra with her toe. “Your sister?”
I grimace, not about to give her an answer. I don’t know what I would do if she made me choose between the two of them, and I’m not about to find out.
She stops behind me, leaning in over my shoulder. “How about your love?”
I swallow the lump of tears crowding my throat. “What do you mean?”
“I’m feeling generous tonight. I will let your sister live, I will let your best friend live. I will let you live.” She stalks around me, the skirt of her long black dress brushing over Dom’s lifeless body like she’s nothing more than a speck of dirt on the floor. “I would say I would let his sister live, but I think it’s too late for that. Pity.” She stops moving once she’s back in front of me, her eyes full of a familiar golden fire. “And I will let Callum Reid live.”
A breath seeps out of me, but I’m not stupid enough to get my hopes up.
“All you have to do is convince him to leave.”
My brow furrows. Convince him to leave and she will let him live? I blanch at the wrongness of it. Why? How? There is no way Lady M would let him escape alive, so why would she even offer this bargain?
Because he will never leave me here. And she knows it.
I don’t understand the full scope of the sick game she is playing, but I do know there is no way Callum is going to leave me behind. “He won’t leave without me.”
She shrugs. “The fun part is watching you try to figure out a way to convince him.”
The woman is sadistic, but if this is the only way to save Callum, I need to take it. No matter his military experience, he and Alex are no match for even just the three Gifted in this room, and I still don’t know how many others there are or what their powers might be.
“I have an idea!” Lady M says brightly after a few moments of quiet. “Tell him you don’t love him!”
My heart instantly rebels at the very suggestion, thumping in my chest so loudly it echoes in my ears. “He wouldn’t believe me.”
She takes my chin in her hands, her touch at first a soft caress,before her grip tightens, her nails digging into my skin. “Make him believe you. Part of your job is to make your clients believe you want them, yes? So how hard can it be to make a man believe the opposite?”
My chest aches with an emptiness I don’t know that I’ll ever recover from. Hurting Callum might destroy anything good left inside me, but if it’s what it takes to save him, then I know I don’t have much of a choice.
“Fine.” The invisible pressure holding me back fades and I pull back my shoulders. “If you vow to let them live—Bianca, Andra, and Callum—I will do as you ask.”
She claps her hands together. “Wonderful!” Her hand latches on to my elbow and she yanks me from the room. “Ladies, make sure our guests stay put until I return.”
The three Gifted part around Lady M as she drags me from the room and out to the main hallway. The torches have been lit, bright enough for me to see Callum, his back to us, at the end of the hall.
