The women had looked willing enough, smiling and beckoning and saying all the right things, but their eyes had been glassy and unfocused, and they were too thin to be healthy. They'd been drugged out of their minds, pumped full of chemicals that loosened their inhibitions and numbed them to the horror of the situation they found themselves in.
He'd left without touching anyone. He'd walked back to his room and stood in the shower for an hour, trying to wash away the feeling of slime coating his skin.
Dimitri couldn't understand how any man could take pleasure in that place. The level of moral decay required to enjoy the violation of drugged, abducted women--women trapped in waking nightmares--was beyond his comprehension.
Petrov went nearly every night, skipping it only when he collapsed from drinking himself into a stupor.
Dimitri tried not to think about what that said about his mentor.
Mattie returned to their table to collect Petrov's empty glass. "Did your friend leave or is he coming back?"
"He retired for the night," Dimitri said.
"I see."
The way she said it, the flinch she couldn't quite hide, stirred something in Dimitri's chest. A protective instinct he had never experienced before. He was an only child, so protecting siblings had never been something he'd needed to do, and his parents had never needed his protection. They were party operators who had left him to rot in that prison because he had turned persona non grata through no fault of his own, and they hadn't wanted to be associated with him since.
Not that the protective instinct had anywhere to go. He couldn't shield Mattie from the ugliness of this place or stand between her and the immortal males who could take advantage of her if they wanted to.
Humans on the island had no rights, and women were the most vulnerable. Even though Mattie didn't work in the brothel, she would be forced to comply.
He was almost as powerless as she was, or maybe even more so because he was also forced to do Dave's bidding. When he finally found a way to shake off Dave's compulsion, maybe he could do something to help her.
The question was, what?
4
ANNANI
"Khiann is not dead. He is in stasis, and I am the only one who knows where he is."
The room seemed to tilt around Annani.
Navuh had just confirmed her suspicions. Mortdh had not killed Khiann, and the witnesses had been compelled to lie and incriminate Mortdh. The one thing she had never expected was that Navuh knew where Khiann was buried.
"You are lying," she whispered. "This is just another manipulation. Another game."
"It is not a game. I have been keeping this information as an insurance policy. What will it be, Annani? Is reuniting with Khiann not worth my freedom to you? If so, you must have never cared for him as much as you profess you did."
The words reverberated in Annani's mind, their seismic impact threatening to shatter her into a thousand little pieces.
If it were true...
If Khiann was really alive...
"Prove it," she said, and her voice came out stronger than she expected. "Prove to me that what you say is true."
Navuh's smile widened. "That, dear cousin, is what negotiations are for. My freedom for your truelove mate."
Annani stared at those dark, cruel eyes that glittered with triumph. Navuh's body might be broken, but his spirit was not, and his mind was as sharp as ever.
She had thought that she was playing games with him, making him wait so he would make concessions, but he was just biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to reveal his trump card.
Was it real, though?
For months now, Annani had entertained a suspicion that Khiann might not be dead, that her father had compelled the witnesses to incriminate Mortdh as a way to get rid of a troublesome opponent. She could not believe that her father could have been so cruel to her, letting her believe that Khiann was dead, but Ahn had been ruthless, and she could see him weighing her happiness against the greater good of the gods and deciding that the sacrifice was worthwhile. Perhaps he had even planned to tell her the truth after Mortdh was dealt with, but he had never gotten the chance. Either Mortdh himself or the Eternal King's assassins had dropped a bomb on the assembly of gods during their deliberations and killed them all.
The problem was that Navuh could have learned about Annani's suspicions from Areana and was now using them to his benefit.
