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Vae’s voice is hard, yanking me out of the memory. “What?”

“Nothing,” I whisper, wrapping my arms tighter around my legs and hoping he’d just leave.

What is he doing here, anyway? The males never come to my room when I’m here.

Vaelenor certainly wouldn’t be caught dead with me on purpose. He might drop off a snack, but he does it quietly. So no one else will find out.

And I’m not about to call him out on it—not when most days I’m only provided a single meal as it is.

I peek up at him under my lashes. He sighs and pushes off the door, boots scuffing along the stone floor. I curl the toes of my still bare feet in response.

“You need socks,” he grunts. “I’m not sure who gave you your clothes, but you should have been provided with socks.”

I shrug again, because what else am I going to do? There are a lot of things I should have been given since the day they dragged me here.

Respect, for one.

I’m not blind to how I’m being treated. Being quiet doesn’t mean I’m not furious.

Neither of us speaks for a long while. I don’t know what to say, and it isn’t like I can just ask, ‘Hey, any chance this little visit had a point, or did you just stop in to remind me that I have no socks?’

I get my answer a few minutes later when he exhales a tired sigh as though just being near me exhausts him. I bite my cheek to keep from pointing out that he’s the one who came up here.

I don’t. I’m not a masochist. I already have one vampire who takes every opportunity provided to cut me down. I’m not about to leave an opening for another to do the same.

Vae turns on his heel and throws the door open. I straighten, sure he’s decided to leave. Instead of walking out, though, he bends down and pulls something through the doorway.

Something big.

When I see what it is, my whole body freezes.

A blanket.

Not just any blanket. It’s the white fur-lined blanket that Dax taunted me with in the library my second night here. The one he tried to barter for answers before throwing a whiskey glass at the wall behind me.

My lungs seize up, my jaw tenses, and my fingers dig painfully into my thighs. I eye the soft blanket, my fingers itching to snatch it out of his hands. I want to wrap it around my body, rub it all over my face, and bask in the soft luxury.

Vae just stands there, though, holding it in front of him like he’s not currently dangling the very thing my instincts are screaming for.

My body coils tighter. I know this game. I’m aware of the rules. If I show him how desperately I want it, he’ll either withhold it or make me pay for it.

And gods, all you have to do is look at the man to know he normally gets anything he wants. He’s beautiful enough to be secure in the knowledge that any Omega would hand him whatever he wished for.

But… would he really ask me for that? I assume I repulse them, but maybe I’ve been naive in my assumptions. Maybe he hates me, but thinks he can overlook it because I’m an Omega and he’s an Alpha.

Maybe he expects it for the same reason.

Fates, what if this is a new punishment?

I saw the way he was looking at me earlier, but I convinced myself I was seeing things. Dismissed it.

There’s no way a male like Vaelenor would physically want a girl like me. He’s made it very clear he wouldn’t spit on me if I were on fire.

But maybe I really had seen that look of want in his eyes earlier.

Oh gods, why didn’t I consider this? Why didn’t I see this coming?

My breathing speeds up, and I slowly peel myself out of the ball I’m curled in and back up, refusing to take my eyes off him. He’s a predator, and I’m prey, and we both know it.