“It’s fine. I don’t care what they think.”
“Come. Let’s get you clean. I’m sure Lord Valkor will require your presence at dinner.”
“Why? I thought I was his prisoner.”
She takes my hand and steers me to the opposite side of the room, ignoring my question. There’s a corner I missed before, and a narrow corridor that leads to a simple wooden door with a small closed window. Lana knocks on it three times before the window opens and a pair of annoyed eyes appears.
“What do you want?”
“I’ve been tasked to escort our new member to the bathhouse.”
“It’s not on the schedule.”
“Per Lord Indigo’s orders,” Lana adds.
Oh, so that’s his name. But Lana calls him Indy. Yep, they’re definitely involved.
The guard grumbles, and a second later, the door opens. I smell the ocean as soon as I walk outside. The sun is about to set, so the sky has a pretty pink-and-orange hue. I’m unsure if I slept for only a few hours or if it’s already the next day of my captivity.
“How long was I out?” I ask.
“A couple hours.”
Relief washes over me. I didn’t lose too much time, then. “Do you know what happened to my friend?”
“The male vampire? He was put in Lady Nisha’s care.” She grimaces, and I can guess why.
Jealousy explodes in my veins. Lady Nisha must be the Nightingale bitch who was ogling Ronan when we got here.
“Put in her care how?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Lana glances at me. “He’s more than just a friend, isn’t he?”
I could lie, but why bother? “Yes.”
“My advice is to forget about him, unless you’re okay with sharing him with the other females and Lady Nisha.”
I curl my hands into fists. “Over my dead body.”
Lana eyes me with pity. “He’s Lord Valkor’s new champion now. He needs him to fight the shadowbeasts and to father more younglings. If you create problems, he’ll kill you.”
Not if I kill him first.
We’re inside a walled garden, and the bathhouse must be located in the building on the other side. A stoned path connects the two buildings. It’s a beautiful garden, filled with types of colorful flowers I’ve never seen before, but I don’t have it in me to appreciate the view.
I press my fist against my chest and focus on my bond with Ronan. He’s alive, that much I know, but I can’t tell in what condition. He’s a master at guarding his feelings from me. Ifwhat he confessed while he thought I was unconscious is true, he’s been concealing his emotions for a long time. Stupid male.
The wall is only ten feet high, and I’m confident I could climb it with ease. But not while I’m wearing this fucking collar.
“You didn’t tell me why I have to attend dinner with Lord Valkor,” I say, remembering that Lana evaded my question earlier.
Her spine becomes rigid, and I fear she won’t answer me. But after a while, she replies, “He likes to display us to his followers.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “‘Display’ as in to make them jealous or?—”
She stops suddenly and covers my mouth with her hand. “We don’t speak of those things out loud.”
She removes her hand from my mouth and resumes walking. But her refusal to answer tells me Lord Valkor is doing more than breeding vampires for protection. I need to escape before I find out firsthand.
