She blinked. Was he joking? If so, this wasn’t humorous. “Stop it, Garrett,” she whispered. Her hands shook, and she pulled her legs up, turning her back to the wall to better face him. “There’s no way I could hurt you, so whatever game you’re playing, I don’t like it.” She smoothed her hair back from her face, wishing for a ponytail holder. “Please tell me why you’re in bandages.”
He rubbed the dark stubble across his jawline. “Did you know your knife could split in two?”
“Huh?” What did that even mean?
He sighed. “Tell me what you know about the Seven.”
“What Seven?” She wanted to leave this cell. Now. She tried to clear her throat, and pain encircled her neck. She gingerly touched her skin, surprised to find it hurting. “I’m bruised? My neck?”
“I choked you out,” he said quietly.
Shock jolted through her. “You did what?” That’s why she couldn’t remember anything? He’d hurt her? Why? No wonder her neck felt as if it had been smashed between rocks. “Did you try to kill me?” Probably not. He would’ve succeeded.
“You tried to kill me.”
“Stop lying to me,” she snapped. How could he do this? They’d spent a wonderful night together, and then he’d turned into a sociopath who’d choked her unconscious. Had the mating mark even been real or some fake temporary tattoo? “I want to leave. Now.”
The outside door opened, and King Dage stepped inside, scouted the room, and then opened the door wider.
Emma walked in behind him, her dark hair up on her head and her white lab coat askew over her jeans and sweater.
Dessie straightened, and hope unfurled inside her. Although the woman was Garrett’s aunt and the queen, she’d been very kind the day before when she’d run her tests. “Emma. Please help me. I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Me either,” Emma said, peering at them through the bars.
Garrett stretched to his feet, looking powerful and dangerous. “What did you find?”
“Nothing new in her blood. No sign of mating you, and there’s no marking on her hip in the slightest. In addition, her second brain scan is odd,” Emma said, her brow furrowing. “So weird. The tumor has shrunk, and half of the tendrils have pulled back into the main mass. It’s pretty much impossible, and I don’t understand it at all, but the scans don’t lie.”
Dessie stiffened, and her heartbeat galloped. “My tumor decreased in size? How?”
Garrett barked out a laugh with absolutely no humor. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me that her attempting to kill me actually shrank the tumor in her head?”
Emma looked down at the scans in her hands. “Uh, yes. Well, we don’t know that. Maybe it was the mating mark, but since it disappeared so completely, I don’t think so.”
Garrett looked down at his hand.
Emma cleared her throat. “Dessie tried to kill you, and her tumor has decreased in size, but we have no proof the two situations are related. Although I suppose chemicals could’ve been released in her body that attacked the tumor when she attacked you.” Her voice trailed off in thought.
Enough. Just enough. Dessie straightened her spine. “I don’t know who you people are or what kind of game you are playing, but I’m finished with it and want to leave.” Her voice trembled, but she met their gazes directly. For years, she’d had teachers try to intimidate her, and she’d learned young that ignoring bullies didn’t work. Facing them squarely often did.
Garrett sighed. “All right. Let’s do this.”
King Dage opened the cell door. “Not in there, Garrett.” The man really sounded like a king, and Dessie’s shoulders began to tremble.
Garrett eyed her and then backed out of the cell, still facing her. He moved with a limp. Was his leg injured? He lowered his chin and trapped her gaze. “Dessie? Keep your eyes on me.”
Yeah, like she’d look anywhere else. This was so weird. Were they really immortals? Had all of this been some sick ruse to kidnap her? Were there kidnapped women everywhere in this subdivision? Her stomach rolled.
To think that she’d slept with Garrett just the night before. She’d been so happy and had felt so safe. What a complete joke. It took her a second to realize he was waiting for a response from her. “Sure, Garrett. I’d be overjoyed to keep looking at your lying, manipulative ass.”
His jaw hardened, and he turned around. A black tattoo that looked like a set of ribs covered his entire back. A humming started between her ears. Her blood heated and popped inside her veins, forcing them to jump in pain. A shriek roared through her.
Then nothing. The world went dark.
* * * *
“Shit,” Dage snarled as Dessie hit the bars, wildly clawing at Garrett’s face.
