But then I remembered—I had no magic. No way to protect her. No way to get her back.
All I could do was wait. Wait for the fatesprig to leave my system, wait for Devora to return, wait for my sister to be rescued.
And Fates, that made me a prisoner all over again.
43
Devora
The knock at my door nearly made me jump out of my skin.
Everything made me skittish lately. For good reason. I was living one hour to the next in this creepy mansion of doom, worried I was either going to be arrested one second or ambushed the next.
I could still see those young men and women fighting in that ring from last night, could still smell their blood and hear the roar of the crowd. I could still feel Scarven’s hands winding their way up my back, his lips pressed to mine and his hot breath in my ear.
I wanted to burn the memories away. I wanted to wipe every touch from my skin.
“Ready, Selena?” Scarven’s rich voice called out. In another life, it would’ve been the kind of voice I was drawn to. Deep, authoritarian, smooth like honey. But inthislife, it made me shudder. It made me miss a different voice. One just as deep, but with an arrogant playfulness, a roughness around the edges I wanted to fall into.
“Coming.” I hastily tucked the enchanted parchment under my pillow and laced up my boots. When I opened the door, I found Scarven waiting for me in black slacks and a crisp button-down shirt. His freshly trimmed beard was shaved close to his jawline,and those dark eyes sparkled back at me with a hint of desire and malice all in one.
“Are we going somewhere tonight?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “I was under the impression you wanted to see more of my passion projects, as I call them.”
That term made me sick. But I pasted on a smile and took his outstretched arm. “I didn’t think it would be so soon.”
“You gave me a very compelling reason not to wait.” He covered my hand with his as we walked. It felt like a clamp. Something holding me down, something to claim me ashis.
He guided me down the corridors of the guest wing, always staying half a step ahead, subtly pulling me along. We walked through the main entrance hall, down several more corridors, and up even more sets of stairs. Just when I was beginning to think he was taking me in circles, the stairs emptied onto a new landing.
We stood before a wide hallway, with a huge tapestry of a lion staring me straight in the face. By the look of the gold-plated doors and crown moldings, the lush rug running down the length of the corridor, and the two lion-masked guards at the top of the stairs, I would bet anything this was Scarven’s personal wing.
My stomach immediately clenched. Why was he bringing me to his bedchambers? This couldn’t possibly be where he kept his “tests.” I tried to stop my heart from hammering in my chest, even though I knew he could hear it from a mile away.
“Relax, love,” he said. “I want to show you something.”
He strode straight to the tapestry of the lion at the end of the hall. I followed hesitantly, my trepidation growing with every step.
He stood, staring at the image with his head cocked in a feline way. Then he took a small blade from his pocket, swiped it along his palm, and pressed his bloody hand to the lion’s maw.
I blinked. What just happened?
Before I could ask, the lion’s mouth started to grow.
Shaking my head, I rubbed my eyes to clear away the vision. But when I looked again, its mouth had only gotten wider. It stretched and elongated, and I felt my face contort with bothdisgust and intrigue at the disfigured lion. Within seconds, the opening was wide enough to fit a person.
Scarven held out an arm. “After you. Be careful—the first time traveling by portal is quite a shock.”
“A what?” I looked at him, then back at the lion’s mouth. “I’m supposed to walk through that?”
He chuckled. “It won’t hurt you. It’s a magical entrance to my underground labs and office. Can’t have just anyone waltzing in, now can I?”
I furrowed my brow and looked at the cut on his hand, which was already fading to a faint pink mark. His blood must be what opened this “portal.” Why else would he have to cut himself?
That certainly complicated things for coming back. I doubted Scarven went around giving others his blood for fun.
He was waiting for me to enter, so I straightened my shoulders and stepped into the darkness of the lion’s mouth.
