Interesting. She’d already surmised that she wasn’t dealing with masterminds here, but now it seemed like she wasn’t even dealing with knowledgeable creatures.It was like their directions had been simply “grab the girl and all her shit.” Now they were trying to put two and two together.
She nearly laughed. This situation was getting better and better.
The only issue was that one itemhadmade it.Theitem.
The crystal chalice.
It was stuck in with the others, a gorgeous piece of art that belonged on someone’s shelf. A hollowed crystal orb, glittering with a diamond river flowing within and over the sides.
Truth be told, there was no way she could know if it was the actual crystal chalice, the item her fae sought. Could her instincts in fae matters really be believed? Definitely not. It could’ve been just another magical power item like the others.
One thing could not be denied, however. It was more powerful than the rest. More powerful by far. Whether it was the one her fae sought or not, it was certainly one he’d want to collect. One that could drastically help them all. One that had to be destroyed, and fast.
She didn’t let her gaze snag on it, and couldn’t do anything about the flare of sea-green from within a mundane-looking rock nestled in the middle of the jubilee.
Someone sucked in a breath. They all leaned in urgently. Another pointed.
The leader hastened over, snatching the object from among the others and pulling it in close. His eyes widened a fraction, and a faint buzz signified the object in his possession had started to perform its magic.
“It is true,” the leader whispered in awe as all of them shuffled closer or leaned in to see. “I feel its power.”
His gaze flicked to her and stuck, as though he were thinking something through. He turned, and the others fell back, their gazes landing on her as well, waiting for something.
The leader approached her, the smell of kelp and sea salt permeating the air. He held out the mundane rock, still glowing merrily.
“Take it,” he said, shaking the object at her.
The energy it took to bite back a snarky remark nearly undid her. Her hands and legs were bound, for fuck’s sake. What did he think she was going to do, inchworm over on her face and take it in her teeth?
“Wh-why?” she said, at a loss for what she was meant to do. She was used to an intelligent captor, not…whatever was going on with this donkey show. “Why me?”
His nostrils flared in annoyance. He motioned at her handler.
Her handler took a step and backhanded her across the face.
Fu-cking hell!
She let the inertia carry her back into the dirt,crying out for reals. Her teeth cut into her lip. A trickle of blood slid down her chin, and she snaked her tongue out to instinctually assess the damage. That fucker had a good swing.
His boot fit into the middle of her back, pressing her front into the ground. She breathed heavily, taking stock of the placement of her limbs for evasive measures in case they got rougher and she might be in danger of popping a shoulder out of joint. They clearly would not care.
Her cheek rested against the cold ground. She could barely see the leader approach and bend down to her side to fit the rock into her hands. Its thrum of power ran up the length of her arm and shivered into the rest of her body, not doing anything more than it had in his hands.
Ah, now she got it. They wanted her to point out the crystal chalice. They wanted her to receive its painful jolt of power. This was turning into a really bad fucking day.
The leader grunted and straightened again. “Try the rest of them. Keep only what works?—”
He cut off. His right boot scraped the ground as he turned, and he immediately tensed, as though there were danger near.
She tried to arch up to see what was going on, but the boot at her back kept her mostly put. She scarcely noticed movement in the inky darkness between the trees. Then she saw a dim light. It drewnearer, a phosphorus glow slowly swinging back and forth.
A man—or what passed for one—drifted into the firelight, and she just barely contained a hasty intake of breath.
She couldn’t make out details in the darkness, but she knew his vibrant green gaze sought her out. The plane of his face turned her way, a metallic sheen covering his chest, and his limbs gleamed in the firelight.
“You have something that belongs to me,” the fae male said in a cultured voice with a dangerous edge.
Shit.
