No one countered him, and a ripple of fear ran down my spine.
“We don’t pass women around like dolls.” Xan’s calm, controlled Architect persona stayed strong. “She came to my family, and I’ve treated her like anyone else.”
“Except you tethered her at your trials,” a sharp alto stated from a group who looked more ready for a ball than a confrontation.
A few gasps filled the room. Someone grunted, and the body snatcher grinned.
A man dressed in velvet stepped to the side to reveal the speaker. She stood tall with sharp features that looked a lot like Everly’s. A light-purple velvet dress, practically identical toEverly’s favorite, outlined her willow-thin body. This must be a Grierson, maybe even Everly’s mom, based on the crow’s-feet around her eyes.
“It was the only way to save her life,” Xan responded. “And I’ve not used that tether.”
“Lies.” A man from yet another group shoved his meaty fist forward. The Westwaters wore ripped leather like they’d come straight from a bondage party. “You pulled her out of a Pit Fight.”
Xan inclined his head. “One of my trainees trespassed. It was the right thing to do.”
“She’d paid to attend. She wasn’t trespassing.” The Westwater beat his fist against his palm. “You should have let us know. We could have properly hosted.”
“I snuck out,” I said immediately. “The Architect didn’t know I’d left his walls.”
“Except he did because he owns you,” the body snatcher stuck in, grinning.
The collar around my throat burned. Xan had drilled into me: no one owned me. I was always free to say no. But that wasn’t the vibe in this room, not even close.
“I do not own anyone.” Xan sliced his hand through the air. “This is getting out of hand. Why am I here, and why am I in the room with this man?” Xan gestured to the body snatcher.
“His name is Teivel.” The McDonald stepped forward and put a hand on Teivel’s shoulder. “And when I was speaking to him about our predicament, he had an excellent suggestion.”
Teivel. Great, I had a name for the spider in the room. I reached for Rowan and Cayden’s hands, and they slid their palms into mine. This bastard hurt me. He hurt a lot of people.
“What suggestion?” I asked into the ever-growing tension.
“Teivel has a mentalist at his disposal,” the tall, willowy Abernathy said. “We do not believe you exist with the Architect of your own free will.”
My heart squeezed. “I do. There’s been so much drama. There’s no way any of that would have happened if I weren’t making my own choices.”
“I’ve witnessed it,” Jamie Abernathy said. “But after everything that’s happened, my eyes alone are not enough, even for my family.”
I looked behind him at two women and three men decked out in shiny materials that set off their various shades of metallic hair. They didn’t stand with Jamie exactly, but they didn’t keep their distance either.
Xan warned that showing interest in me would complicate things. I guess he hadn’t realized saving my life already damned him. Now we stood in the nightmare he’d tried to avoid.
“And you think bringing in a second mentalist will prove something?” Xan asked. “If you don’t trust me, why trust any one of us?”
“Because mine’s potty trained,” Teivel said, flicking the ash off his cigarette onto the floor. “Fifty years of conditioning. He has no stake in anything. He exists to create with no thought of the use of his creations.”
Alex came unbidden into my mind.
Teivel cackled. “His toys, Burt and Ernie, are his sole company. You will not find a less partial judge.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Burt and Ernie. Alex had said something about Burt and Ernie. Teivel was talking about Alex—the man who trapped me in a loop and still lived in my head.
I let go of Cayden and Rowan's hands and stepped forward. “No. Alex is not impartial.”
Teivel chuckled. “Well, now, darling. How would you know my mentalist?”
The room went deathly silent. This was a trap—a setup from the start. My chest tightened. The collars around my neck dug into my skin. Xan told me to try to keep them a secret, and now I understand why.
Technically, Xan collared me. He keyed the ring around my neck. Even though I’d been the one to suggest it, this would be the nail in his coffin concerning my free will.
