He blew out a breath and sat back in the chair. “And who is that? Another fisherman? One of the servants? Did he let you in to visit Cordelia or one of her sisters?”
Okay, I was pretty sure Cadmael wasn’t here anymore. Given where we were, I thought Scary-Angry Man from the dream might have had his hooks in Cadmael, now that Sebastian was no more.
“I don’t know who Cordelia is,” I said.
He scoffed. “Lies. Always lies. Thieves who come sniffing around what’s mine.” Pushing up from the chair, he paced in a strange arc in front of the fire. “I’ve been cursed with disobedient girls, but none so great as Cordelia.”
He picked up a mermaid figurine, looked like he was going to throw it, and then reluctantly put it back. “We’ll just see. Caine!” he shouted.
The door opened and a man in a black tunic and hose appeared, bowing to Angry-Man-Wearing-a-Cadmael-Suit. “Yes, sire.”
“Bring me Cordelia.”
The man looked uncomfortable before tipping his head deferentially. “Sire, she is still being punished.”
The angry man smiled sharply at me, his hands fisted at his sides. “And that is what happens to all who go against me.” Turning back to the man at the door, he said, “Dry her off and bring her up.”
The servant left and I said, “Sir, can you tell me your name.” All these silly hyphenates were getting to be a bit much.
Pausing, he glanced back, his brows furrowed. “What an odd question. You sneak into the prince’s palace to steal his property and you ask who I am.”
With a shake of his head, he walked to the window, brushed aside the drapery, and gazed out. “You’re all vermin, sneaking in under doors, hiding in the grain, sniffing around my possessions. Worthless and thoughtless as they are, the girls are mine. Even when they sneak out to dance with common trash like you.”
It felt more like he was talking to himself, voicing an oft-repeated complaint.
Was I me in this whole scenario? It didn’t seem like it. Who was I filling in for, though? He’d said another fisherman. Did that mean I was a fisherman or that another fisherman had tried to see his daughter earlier? Was I a dude? What did the prince see when he looked at me?
It didn’t take long until the young woman I’d seen in the dream was pushed through the door, the servant closing it quietly but firmly behind her.
Her face was swollen and bruised. The gown she wore covered her from the neck down, but she was holding herself like she was hurting. “My lord, you sent for me?”
“I did,” he said. His eyes had a glint that was more than a little crazy. He pointed at me and said, “Who is this?”
Cordelia glanced at me and then back at her father. There was something communicated in the brief look, but I didn’t understand it, not knowing her or the situation currently being played out.
“I know not,” she said.
He grabbed her arm hard, causing her to gasp, her eyes to well up. Given the state of her face, her whole body had probably been battered. The prince dragged her to me. “Been whoring yourself out to so many you don’t even remember, is that it?”
“No, my lord. I don’t know this man. I haven’t left the palace. You have guards watching me. You know I haven’t gone anywhere.” She blinked back tears, never shedding a single one.
“One of your sisters then,” he growled, shoving her aside.
When the prince turned his back to us, walking to the fire again, he stepped over something directly in front of the fire. Whatever it was must have been why he was pacing in an arc around it.
Cordelia turned and sent me a frantic look before giving me her back and saying, “Surely not. My sisters would never go against your wishes.” Her gown was soaking wet, her hair dripping on the thick carpet.
Caine, the servant, had said that she needed to be dried off before being brought to him. How in the world was she being punished?
He scoffed. “Your sisters? They glide around the palace, beauty fading, playacting devotion, but their lies are a poison in my ear.”
He spat into the fire. “Lies and manipulation.” He turned to Cordelia. “And you’re just like them. They’re whores too.”
I flinched at the word, at the unhinged rage behind it, and I wondered if he punished her sisters as well. This guy was a psychopath, and a strong one. He’d taken control of Cadmael, one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world. And I had no idea how to escape.
When the prince spun away again, returning to the window, Cordelia turned to me and mouthed megy! Only it wasn’t Cordelia’s face. It was Léna’s.
She ran to him and threw herself at his feet, holding on to his legs while she cried, begging for his forgiveness.
