I looked from man to man.
They stared back at me.
I decided they might as well know everything. “I was with a pasha in the Ottoman Empire, and he—”
“You were with a pasha? Do you mean you were in his harem?” Lex asked.
“No, and that's a prime piece of my story.” I waved my glass about. “I didn't want to be a part of a harem. I knew that the only way to escape that trap was if I accumulated my own wealth. But in that world, a woman's worth was handed to her by a man. So I found a man who would hand me my worth without caging me. I tempted him. I seduced. I denied. And he agreed to my terms—no marriage or harem and no other women. He wasobsessed with me, and I worked that. But I knew there would come a day when that obsession would wane and he'd grow tired of me.”
“Fuck,” Cyrus looked at the others.
They stared back at him, grim, then looked at me.
“It was all a part of my plan. I would save every coin he gave me. Every piece of jewelry and fine garment. They would buy my freedom. I just had to get the timing right. If I left too soon, I wouldn't have enough. If I left too late, the Pasha might take it all back and toss me into the street. I collected my wealth until I had enough, but that turned out to be a lot to carry.”
“You tried to leave with a bunch of luggage and tipped off your lover,” Lex concluded.
I shrugged. “I attempted to leave in the middle of the night once I realized that the Pasha's interest was waning. The guards stopped me. I knew the Pasha would see it as a betrayal. He would have killed me. He would have had to, to save his pride. I knew I was going to die. But then Ace showed up. He knocked out the guards and helped me escape. And that was no small feat. He gave up his life there to save mine. We had to leave the empire and never return.”
“He just suddenly decided to help the Pasha's girlfriend escape?” Cyrus asked.
“I hate pashas,” Jake muttered. “Greedy fucks.”
“Ace was in love with me. He'd been trying to get me to leave with him for months, but I refused. I had my plan.”
“So, it wasn't so much of a rescue as it was an opportunity.” Lex made a face.
“Maybe, but he didn't expect or demand anything from me afterward. He took care of me as he had promised. It wasn't until months later, when I finally trusted him, that we became lovers.”
Jake growled.
“Jake, can it. You're making me twitchy,” Lex said.
Jake grunted and waved at me as if I had started it.
Lex made a face at him.
“Then what happened?” Cyrus asked. “You grew old together?”
“No. No, there was no growing old for me.” I set my glass down and swallowed past the fear that suddenly lodged in my throat. “Now that I think about it, I can't ever remember growing old.” With those words, panic clawed up my chest. I couldn't breathe. What the fuck?
Jake growled again, but this time he launched to his feet as well and shot around the table. Once he was beside me, he set a hand on the back of my neck. His touch calmed me instantly.
I looked at him.
He stared back.
His eyes were so vibrant. Bright green. Emerald striations. Eyes like summer. So odd. A savage man with summer eyes that made me think of sunshine.
I cleared my throat and looked away. “Someone murdered me. Ace wasn't there.”
“Who killed you?” Jake demanded.
“I don't know.” I shook my head. Then a flash of memory surfaced. “I was hit by something . . . magical.” I blinked. “Holy shit!” Jerking forward, I looked at Jake. “I think a god killed me.”
The hounds looked at each other. Something passed between them, and then they focused back on me.
“Do you remember what the magic felt like?” Lex asked. “Or anything about the god?”
