And I see myself.
“Don’t pity me.” She bares her teeth as she speaks. “I chose this life. Just as you will choose it at the end of the year.”
Realization dawns on me that not only might I be able to exploit her, I might also be able to gain an ally.
“You were like me once, weren’t you? You were a Familiar.” I search her face for that trace of human emotion again, but instead she dons her signature stoic mask of extraordinary beauty. I sink down onto the sofa, the cushions still holding the imprint of Knox’s sleeping body, waiting for her answer.
Her mask never slips. “You should get dressed.”
I don’t argue. I know I won’t get anything else out of her today. Standing back up, I make my way over to the door that leads to the adjoined sitting room.
“I’m not going to kill you,” she says as my hand rests on the handle. I turn and raise an eyebrow at her.
“Yet.” She smirks.
Her playful threat gives me a small window of opportunity to keep digging, and a journalist never backs down. This could be my only opportunity to gain more information before whatever the hell comes next. I have a million questions lined up in my head, but I wasn’t expecting the first one that blurts from my lips.
“What’s he like?”
Blondie’s eyes glaze over as she looks straight ahead. She takes a big inhale before answering me.
“If I were a former Familiar, I’d tell you that Knox is nothing but trouble. He’s spoiled and arrogant. I’d also tell you not to give him your heart. Because if you do, he’ll crush it into a thousand tiny pieces without blinking.” She turns that blank stare on me, her pain barely visible beneath her mask. “But as one of his most trusted advisors, I can tell you that our Master is a most benevolent leader.”
My heart breaks, for myself and for the woman standing in front of me. I have so many more questions, more boundaries I want to push, but I sense that now isn’t the right time. Blondie will tell me her truth when she’s ready. Of course, this could all just be one big mindfuck to get me to feel sorry for her before she drinks my blood.
Still, I offer her an olive branch. “If you were a former Familiar, I’d tell you that you deserve better.”
Her lips twitch as she glances down at me. A tiny flicker of hope spreads through my chest and as I turn away, I don’t feel afraid for the first time since coming here.
***
The wardrobe doors sway on their hinges as I enter my room as if moved by some invisible hand. Creepy. I rifle through the clothes before taking a step back to look at the intricacies carved deep into the light-colored wood.
Before my eyes, the clothes disappear, replaced with row after row of priceless jewelry unlike any I’ve ever seen. Gold, silver, and intricately cut precious stones glint and sparkle, and I take a moment to marvel at the different pieces.
I fixate on a necklace laden with blood-red rubies, each one bigger than my eyeballs and encircled by glittering diamonds. I can’t help myself as I reach down to touch it.
I carefully pick it up from its velvet holder and hold it up to the nearest torch for a better view.
“The perfect choice for such an exquisite Familiar.” Knox’s deep voice rockets through me like a bolt of lightning. I turn to find him leaning against the frame of the open door, arms folded, looking like he is carved from the darkness itself.
Before I can protest his presence, he steps into my personal space faster than my human eyes can track. His predatory eyes gleam like the rubies in my hand as he observes me.
“May I?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
My heart pounds hard against its cage. I now understand exactly what Blondie meant. This man makes me feel like I’m the only person in the world who matters to him. I’d be an idiot to fall for it.
But right now, I kind of want to be an idiot.
I swallow hard and nod, handing him the necklace. I turn my back to him, focusing only on the sound of my own pulse pounding a rhythm I don’t recognize as he pulls my hair to one side of my neck. The touch of his fingertips leaves a prickling fire in their wake. When he drapes the necklace across my collarbones, I hold my breath, and not because of how my jugular is now exposed to him.
The necklace isn’t as heavy as I imagined it would be, but I flinch as the ice-cold metal hits my skin. I step over to the vanity mirror and gasp at my reflection. It must also be enchanted, like the ones from before.
I’m me, but not quite. My skin is paler than usual, and my hair is perfectly styled to one side, the cascading curls framing my face in a way that accentuates my bone structure. The mirror shows me wearing a fitted, strapless black silk dress, simple enough that it doesn’t distract from the necklace. I’m starting to feel as if red is my color.
“Do you like it?”
My heart races as he trails a finger down my bare arm. I follow his touch and realize I’m actually wearing the dress. The reflection is real this time.
