A collar built specifically for a leash.
I don’t knowhow much time goes by as I am slowly starved and dehydrated to the point of immobility. Moving takes too much effort, so I lie frozen on the floor, every breath labored.
I will die soon if someone doesn’t come to my aid.
But Kylian needs me too much. Wants me too much. Which restores some hope in me that I will not be left down here and forgotten.
A few minutes or hours later, an armored guard slides open my cell and unlatches the floor chains. He pulls me up, and I immediately collapse from weakness, dizzy and sick. He scoops me into his arms, my head lolling against the cool metal as we break from the darkness into a too-harsh light.
I shield my eyes and squeeze them closed, unable to bear the brightness after days of being entrenched in darkness.
I’m laid down on a soft chaise lounge in a dim damask room. Someone lifts a cup to my lips. I sip tentatively, worried it might be drugged, but as soon as I get one gulp down, I take the cup in my own hands and chug the water greedily. Gasping, I hold my hand out for more. I am obliged, feeling some life flood back into me.
“Good girl.”
I lift my eyes to Kylian.
He takes the cup from me when I’m finished and sits down on the cushion beside my limp form.
“Eat.” He holds out a piece of bread, and I rip it from his hands, stuffing it into my mouth as he watches silently.
“Where is Kai?” I manage to croak between bites.
“In his room, of course.” Kylian gives me an innocent look.
“Don’t bullshit me.”
“I’m not. Your little friend took quite a tumble down the steps yesterday. He’s getting some much-needed rest.”
I stare at him for a moment.
“How can you be so cruel? He is your brother!”
“That means nothing to me. He is a liability,” he says, his face expressionless.
I shake my head in utter disbelief. “You really are a sociopath.”
“Are you feeling better? There are some matters we need to discuss.” He moves toward a large desk situated in front of a wall painted with a giant map of Solterre.
“Where are we?” I demand.
“Home, my love.”
“Home…we’re in Vod?”
He nods, sitting down at the desk to sift through some papers. His attention remains fixed on the documents while I grill him.
“Where are my friends? What did you do to them?”
“Oh, I lost track of them amid the chaos.” He waves a hand absently.
“You orchestrated those attacks. All of them.” I plant my feet on the floor, testing my strength. I won’t be able to stand, not yet. “You are the reason all those fae are dead. The reason Ilsa is dead. You brought those creatures into Solterre—into Aegar and the castle!”
“I did it for the greater good. King Derek is a weak ruler. He always has been. I’ve been preparing your place here long before you even arrived in this world.” He looks up at me. I wait for an explanation, my nails digging into the cushion.
“When my mother wrote to me of your sudden appearance in Aegar, I initially thought to wed you to my brother. If yousurvived bonding the dragon, of course. You would have been no use to me dead.”
Ilspeth, that bitch.
