I peered down at it. “A ring?” My voice echoed, and the man—Keigan—let out an elated laugh.
“She has the ring. Tricky wolf. Take it, Danica.”
It looked old, valuable. The wolf stared at me, waiting for me to pick it up, and I shook my head. “I can’t take bribes.”
A low rumble sounded, so quiet that at first I didn’t realize what it was. She was growling again. Her lips pulled back from her teeth in obvious warning.
I shouldn’t take it. My grandfather would be disappointed. He’d likely send guards any moment to escort me back to bed. But perhaps this was why my instincts had been urging me to come down here.
Keigan’s voice sounded over the moans of whatever creature was in the cell next to the wolf. “Take the ring, Danica. Put it in your mouth.”
I certainly would not. There was crazy, and then there wascrazy.But the wolf was watching me expectantly, and I was obviously at least a little crazy, because I crouched and picked the ring up, sliding it into my pocket.
The wolf angled her head, as if she’d also been expecting me to put it in my mouth. But I’d been raised better than that. If the ring was spelled, it could easily kill me, and I’d have no one to blame but myself.
She growled warningly at me again and I rolled my eyes.
“Danica.”
I turned. Pischiel stood at the end of the cell. Prisoners began screaming, hurling abuse in a variety of languages, slamming body parts into their cages. He ignored them all, his gaze on me as he strolled toward me. His expression was carefully neutral, but his eyes… his eyes told me he was furious.
“What are you doing here?”
“I just… I couldn’t sleep–”
“So you thought you’d wander through the dungeon? This is not a good way to ensure you stay alive, Danica.”
I frowned at him. “The prisoners are all caged.”
He clamped his mouth shut, taking my arm. I pulled back, gesturing toward the wolf, who was snarling at Pischiel. She slammed her body into the cage once more, and I jolted.
“Why does grandfather have a wolf down here?”
He studied my face. “That’s a werewolf.”
I frowned. Then I turned my attention back to the wolf. Of course. It made sense now. She was much larger than any of the wolves I’d seen in the wild.
“I assumed werewolves were a myth.”
He smiled at me, his fury forgotten. “No. But they’re incredibly dangerous. Especially to you. Now, let me escort you back to your rooms. And if I were you, I would consider thinking of a good excuse for your grandfather when he asks you about this in the morning.”
The human in the cell was silent as we passed, but I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder at him. He watched me out of dark brown eyes, his expression carefully neutral.
There were several other doors close to the stairs. “Where does that door lead?” I pointed at one that seemed to be builtintothe staircase, which meant another set of stairs had to be hidden beneath it.
“Storage,” Pischiel said, and I snorted.
“Just tell me I’m not allowed to know,” I said. “Don’t lie to me.”
He gave me an assessing look and then shrugged, guiding me toward the stairs once more. A roar sounded from behind one of the other doors, and I froze.
“At least tell me what’s behind that door.” My voice trembled slightly, and Pischiel took pity on me.
“Lucifer’s hellhounds. Don’t worry, princess, they’re kept locked away until he needs to use them.”
Hellhounds. For the life of me, I had no idea what they looked like, although I must have seen them at some point. My mind provided an image of a slobbering beast with leathery skin and huge teeth.
I pushed the image away and allowed Pischiel to escort me back to my rooms. At the door, he held onto my arm for a moment longer.
