I probably looked like a wet rag doll.
Quite fierce, I tell you.
One vampire took a place at my feet while the other moved to stand above my head.
My first captor snickered softly—by my boots. “I would rather not touch you with a ten foot pole. You stink like shit.”
I glared. Or tried to. “The shit’s in the corner, not on me.” I had kept the bathroom area as far away from me as possible. But, to be fair, the “cell” was tiny. I’d gotten used to the smell a long time ago. “Why are you here now?”Please, give me blood.
I would never beg aloud, though.
These fuckers would be dead at some point, and I would not give them the satisfaction of my pleas before then.
Fuck you, kidnappers.
“Queen Niniane wishes to speak with you now.” He bent at the waist and grabbed my ankles, his teeth pulling back in disgust. “Grab her arms, Kyldan. I don’t want to touch this filth any longer than I have to.”
“This is disgusting,” Kyldan growled, staring down at my body. He bent at the knees and grimaced, covering his nose for a minute. “I don’t want to touch her either, Maon.”
“Just hurry up.”
I chuckled evilly, even as my wrists were grabbed by large, warm hands. “Looks like you don’t get that ten foot pole, Maon. What a shame. I hope the stench stays with you all day long.”
My body was lifted off the cold ground by my arms and legs, my ass hanging down and bumping the ground with each step they took. My head lolled off my shoulders and fell back between my arms. I stared at a pair of leather-covered knees walking a few inches from my nose.
I grumbled, “Well, this is quite unsuitable. Couldn’t you have found a wheelchair to roll me in?”
Bump, bump, bumpwent my ass. Ouch.
Kyldan grunted. “She has a point. We should procure one if she’s staying long. We won’t have to touch her then.”
“Bingo!” I snorted.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Maon rumbled.
I twitched my lips—barely. “It means you two aresupersmart.”
“She talks weird,” Kyldan muttered.
“I think she’s making fun of us,” Maon stated. “Let’s sit her ass down in asupercomfortable place.”
All air left my lungs as I was tossed to the ground, the side of my head smacking the cave’s floor—there were no pretty gems here to keep me company. Instead, there was a worn wooden table, with moss growing on the underside, four wooden chairs, and torches along the walls: another small room, the entire space cramped from what I’d seen.
“Where the hell are we?” I slurred, blinking hard past the white dots clouding my vision from the fall. “What cave is this?”
“It’s one of many inside the Barren Mountains.” Maon bowed gallantly, mocking my deadweight position on the ground. “Welcome to our humble abode.”
“Yeah, you can take your humble abode and choke on it. This place is appalling. Even the mountain castles where I’m from aren’t like…this.” My eyes scanned the ground—close up like I was. I blinked in disgust, my jaw grinding together. “There is rat shit all over the floor.”
Hmm.I wondered if I could catch a rat to drink. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I would gladly drain a rodent dry right now—as many as I could get my eager hands on.
“Our maid is away,” Kyldan mocked. He shook his head and played with a knife in his hands—ready to stab me with it. “It’s a fucking cave in a mountain. What else would you expect? We’ll be back in the Stronghold soon enough.”
“Well, with how vile this place is, I’d assume there’d be bats here, too,” I answered honestly.
Kyldan flashed fang, stepping toward me.
Maon grabbed his mate’s right arm, pulling him back gently. “Queen Niniane said not to harm her.”
