I nodded, sniffling. “I do. Vitas offered—”
I gasped as Dorian was suddenly in my personal space, a looming presence. His hand caught my chin—not painfully, but I couldn’t move as he stared into my eyes. “No. You are ours. Remember my words.”
I will kill to sink into that pussy.
He hadn’t been play-acting.
It had been a warning.
Then, the full reality of what he said slammed into me.
My knees gave out again.
“Rilen, Roran. Take her to my quarters. Get her settled, and then make certain she has enough power for the next tremor.”
“And you?” Rilen asked.
“I have things to tend to.” A long finger pointed at the bloody and foul bed.
“Later?” Roran asked.
“Not this time.” He tossed his chin at me. “Go. Take care of her.”
Roran and Rilen had me between them as we walked out of my old suite and headed for Master Dorian’s rooms.
I was stuck in a cloud of horror and confusion, lost in my own mind. I knew, on an intellectual level, that Elex couldn’t be allowed to return to the rebels. He knew the dorms, he knew routines, he knew us.
“Why death?” I murmured.
“Having him here, in a jail cell, would just invite the rebels to attack,” Roran answered.
I cocked my head as he pushed the door open. “We have magic to fight with—”
“Just because they don’t believe as we do, doesn’t mean they don’t have powerful magic wielders,” Rilen supplied. “We would have a battle that involved and killed too many people.”
“His death serves a purpose and sends a message.”
Roran helped me to sit on the chaise lounge outside the massive master bath. “We are both very sorry that you got involved.”
“At the same time, though, if not for you,” Rilen reasoned, “we would never have found the traitor in our midst.”
“I brought the traitor here.”
Roran shook his head. “If not him, then it would have been a cook or a housemaid, a butler, a launderer. Someone.”
I gasped. “Jallina!”
Rilen walked in from the bathroom. “She’s safe. Once we figured out who our spy was, we put them all on alert.”
The smirk lit Roran’s face. “Quite the little spy network you have there, my dear. Only Drez and Jallina would talk to us.”
I let out a breath. “Good. Thank you.”
Rilen nodded. “I’m glad you have them. We’ve all lost our contacts out in the larger world.”
Roran pulled the cloak off me and rolled it up. “That will be burned. There’s blood on it.”
Rilen found the buttons on my shirt and started to unfasten them. “Come. You need a bath.”
