This is not servitude. He said a slave mark.
Everything hurt.
The overseer, shrouded in a dark, hooded cloak, lifted his steel-booted foot and kicked Heath in the gut. Heath gasped, choking on his own bile. His skin burned, stretched tight until it itched.
They’ve taken my magic.
Without his shadow, he couldn’t guard against the blow and save himself from the insidious need to spew the meager contents of his gut. The overseer kicked again, jamming his toe in more to spread the burning ache.
“You see? The spell takes away his defenses, making him perfectly safe.”
We are nothing but cattle.
Heath forced himself to scan his surroundings. They could try to break him, but he’d find a way to get out.
He was not the only one captured.
Around him, Unseelie eyes flared with pain, fear, and anger in varying shades of sparking colors. They were all trapped. All naked.
All abused and covered in a myriad of bruises.
“What has been done here?”
Heath looked to the new, feminine voice and watched as the Seelie fell to their knees, heads bowed.
“Queen Niamh, you honor us. We didn’t know you’d be here today.”
The Fae Queen nodded. “Release them. They are not animals.”
The overseer got to his feet. “They are murderers and rapists, my Queen.”
Silver flashed, her glittering crown taking what little light there was in the darkened room. “Then put them in cells to be properly released to labor, Joran. We agreed on this.”
“This is for our safety.”
“I will not have any citizen of Seraph treated like this. They have been sent here to pay for their crimes, but it does not mean they have no dignity. Fix it, now.”
For a moment, Heath hoped things would get better. But when the Queen of the Seelie left the room, his overseer turned on him with snarled words.
“Keep it as planned. I have her seal with our betrothal, and the little snit has more power than she knows how to wield. Soon, I will be Regent, and she’ll warm my bed until I can get rid of her too.”
No.
The man Heath didn’t recognize shrugged his shoulders. “If you can promise my protection, I’ll buy him. I’ve been looking to see how much pain an Unseelie can truly handle.”
“Done. Double my fee, and I’ll be happy to protect all of your investments,” the overseer promised with a grim smile.
The Seelie grumbled but nodded. “As you suggest, my King.”
“I rather love the sound of that.”
King? Who were these men? Nooooooo!
He was a beautiful male, cut from the hardest of jewels and polished to perfection. The silver starbursts in his eyes sparked and danced as he watched her. Oh, how she wanted to reach out and trace her fingers along the strength of his jawbone. To know the velvet touch of his skin as intimately as she knew her own.
But he didn’t know who she was.
From his memories, she saw what he did not want to share.
