Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Swallowing hard, I stretched on tiptoe, pressing against the torch, trying to avoid her blade.
Shit.
Think, Rook. Think!
“Better hurry up,” Evelyn murmured, accepting the vial as Lydia passed it to her. “After staying in this place for so long with nothing to do, we’re getting very, very anxious to get the show on the road, if you get our drift.”
My eyes flicked back to the black stone palace.
No movement from inside because Lucien only lived in the heart of it. Right now, he’d be passed out in his bed with Whisper guarding him closely. He wouldn’t know what happened out here. He’d never hear what I would say.
I could lie as much as I wanted or tell every droplet of truth, and yet...I found myself wanting to hoard everything.
They didn’t deserve to know a single thing about him. Fact or fiction.
“Speak,” Lydia hissed, her blade cutting me just enough to send a hot droplet rolling down my throat.
I strained away from her dagger, rising as high as I could go. My mind raced. I panicked. “It...it was a gift!”
Lydia slowly lowered her arm, her face contorting into a scowl. “A gift?”
Pressing two fingers to the small cut, I nodded and stuck as close to the truth as I could. “He...he overheard me complaining I wasn’t being paid for my labour. I guess he grew sick of it and...” I shrugged, waving at the vial in Evelyn’s grabby hand. “He gave me that for services rendered.”
The girls gawked at each other.
“He just gave you his blood?” Evelyn rolled the vial between her fingers. “He cut himself, put it into this bottle, and gave it...to you?”
There was a trap in that sentence, but I couldn’t see it.
I nodded like an idiot.
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Do you even know the value of that? What his blood is worth? To the machines that require it to start? To the scientists trying to synthesise it?”
“I have some idea.”
“And you’re saying he just gave it to you for no other reason than covering an hourly wage?” She crowded me against the huge torch, her breasts touching mine. “You expect us to believe he’s that generous to you?”
My heart flurried. “Like I said...it was to shut me up.”
“With something this precious?” She strangled the vial. “Why?” She looked me up and down, her upper lip curling as if I’d crawled from the gutter. “What is it about you that he finds so tolerable? Why would he even care that you were whinging? You’re trapped in here at his mercy—he can make you do whatever he wants.”
“No idea.” I swallowed hard as nausea built. “If that’s all, I’ll just—”
“Shut up.” Holding the vial to the darkening sky, she studied it as if she didn’t believe me. The red thickness flowed in the glass as she turned it. The longer she studied it, the more her suspicion blended with greed. “Could you get more?”
My head pounded. “I don’t know. Probably not.”
Evelyn grinned and cupped my cheek. “Wrong answer.” She tapped me hard enough to be a slap.
I clenched my teeth as more pain drenched my system.
I fought against it and didn’t make a sound. I definitely didn’t retaliate.
But I needed to go—soon, if I didn’t want to collapse at their feet.
Lydia laughed and slipped the jewelled knife back between her breasts. “Get us another vial and we won’t kill you.”
Hugging myself, I shrugged as innocently as I could. “Why do you even want it? It’s not like it’s any use to you in here.”
“Does it look like we care what you think?” Evelyn snipped.
“Nope.”
“Glad you’re finally showing some intelligence after all this time.” Evelyn slipped the vial into her black leggings pocket. Backing up, she pointed down the path. “Run along then. Straight to bed, so you’re energised to clean like a good little slave tomorrow.”
Stepping past her, my ears rang as another wash of nausea squeezed my throat.
Damn stress.
Damn ridiculous nervous system.
“Don’t forget what you owe us.” Lydia waggled her fingers in goodbye. “Stay alive now, you hear? Work hard for him like a good girl.”
I didn’t bother replying as I ran.
I hadn’t wanted his blood.
I would never have drunk it.
But having it taken off me?
I shivered.
If Lucien found out, how much trouble would I be in?
If he knew the very girls trying to kill and seduce him had stolen the very reason he was trapped in this cage, how angry would he be?
And what would he do to me in retribution?
Chapter Thirty-One
LUCIEN HAD BEEN QUIET, WHICH WAS his usual mood after blood drawing.
He sipped a drink while resting in his window seat, his eyes closed as if he was sleeping but his hands bunched as if he suffered rising claustrophobia from being trapped.
I’d stayed out of his way as much as I could, afraid to meet his eyes in case he guessed what happened last night and the thievery of his blood.