I turned to face him. “Don’t sneak up on me. That’s a good way to get yourself killed.”
He took the lollipop out of his mouth and let it rest on his bottom lip. “And how will you manage to strike me down without a weapon? Or did you plan to give me a coronary by flashing those blood-soaked knockers? Go on. Give us a peek.”
“Open the gate.”
With a bored look, he reached over and gave the locking mechanism a hard squeeze until it shattered. “No one’s in there but a sniveling man with an atrocious flatulence problem.”
I rounded the butcher’s block and caught sight of Rafferty cowering on the floor. Grabbing a long knife, I squatted in front of him and pressed the tip to his fleshy gullet. “Where is she?”
His eyes rounded. “I don’t know.”
Rafferty gasped when I pushed the tip of the blade in deep enough to draw blood. “If you don’t tell me where she is, I’m going to pour that bucket of chum all over you and lock you in the cage with the panther. How does that sound? I bet he starts with your intestines first. That’s a slow death, you know.”
The man whimpered. I didn’t sense he was Breed, so he must have been a human servant.
Christian’s chuckle was low but audible.
Rafferty pointed at the opposite door. “That way,” he breathed. “That way.”
I tapped his nose with the blade. “If you’re smart, you’ll stay right here. You have no idea what’s going on out there.”
He probably did. If he’d seen Audrey flying through here, it must have tipped him off that something had gone wrong.
I hurried toward the far door and looked back at Christian. “Is anyone upstairs in the auction house? You should call them and let them know Audrey might be taking the elevator.”
Christian snorted. “I don’t have my phone on me. I’m afraid our fate is in the hands of Spooky McGravewalker.”
The door swung outward. “You should still—”
Air whooshed out of my lungs when the ground disappeared. I gasped—my tank top had wrapped around my neck, and it felt like someone was pulling my hair. I flailed my arms to grab something—anything. Christian seized my hand, and I hung suspended for a moment, assessing the fact that my boobs were out.
When he lifted me up and set me down, I stared up at Christian in shock.
His eyes skimmed down to my chest. “Ah,therethey are. I think I might just have that coronary after all.”
I pulled my tank top down. One of the straps was broken, but not as broken as I would have been if I’d fallen into that pit. We both leaned over and looked inside.
“Metal spikes. Nice touch,” he said. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you not to run headlong through a dungeon door?”
“Lesson learned. I guess it’s safe to assume this isn’t the only booby trap?”
He winked. “Nice word choice.”
I scowled at Rafferty. “You could have warned us.”
The human looked equally amused and terrified. “I didn’t know. IswearI didn’t—”
“One more word and I’ll drain you,” Christian ground out, his eyes still locked on mine. When Rafferty piped down, Christian lifted my chin with the crook of his finger. “Do you trust me?”
“Hell no.”
Without further discussion, I backed up a few paces and then jumped over the pit. I landed on one foot and stumbled a little before turning around.
Christian followed close behind and landed on both feet. “That little gobshite is lucky I don’t throw his arse down there along with the jaguar.”
Without light, I fell back a step and gripped Christian’s arm so he could lead me. “It’s a panther.”
“Aye. But a panther is just a blanket term for a black cat of anyPantheraspecies.”
