Page 13 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

“A night in the cells might loosen her tongue,” Brishon supplied. “Or several.”

The captains advanced, closing the distance between us and trapping me in.

“I could think of another way to put her tongue to work.” Orson’s lewd gibe and the accompanying laughter it evoked boiled my blood.

“There were no guards,” I bit out. “I didn’t mean to get lost.” Really, it was their fault their shoddy patrol hadn’t stopped me.

“What do you think, Lucien?” Orson asked as if I hadn’t spoken at all.

Unlike the others, Lucien didn’t laugh. My body grew taut as a bowstring until he grabbed my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his through the breaks in his mask.

My enemy, the monster who stole my home.

“Lost or not, your behavior is suspicious.” He released my chin but did not step back.

“Told you we should have guards escort them,” Brishon mumbled.

“Mmm…the cells then, I think,” Orson said, advancing. The leer in his voice made my stomach roll. Nothing good would await me in the cells, though it wasn’t the damp, cold walls that raised the fine hairs along my skin.

Lucien waved him off. “I have a better idea.” His deep voice wrapped around me like a caress, too soft for the monster it came from.

“It was a simple mistake. I meant no harm.” A lie—I’d need them all if I had any hope of getting out of this mess.

A shake of his head cut me off. “Perhaps, but perhaps not. Either way, we can’t have our guests breaking the rules without consequence.”

My heart plummeted. He couldn’t force Justina to come here too, not just for this, not when I hadn’t been successful.

“She’s not worth your time, Lucien.” Orson closed the distance until I could practically feel the sliminess of his presence, slick like a sea eel. “Let me take the girl to the cells. We’ll see if that doesn’t adjust her behavior.”

Lucien barely looked at Orson before focusing his attention on me once again. “No. I think I’ll take her to my quarters instead.”

Whistles split the air, accompanied by a shrill laugh from Kasida. I gripped the material of my dress to prevent myself from smashing my fist into Lucien’s face. It would hurt me more than him, but I yearned for it all the same. Relief and fury warred within me. It wasn’t the cells, it wasn’t Orson, but what he implied was just as disgusting.

He pinched my chin once again. “Some time under my watchful eye will yield the truth, whether this was a case of a poor lost woman or something craftier.”

Bastard.I willed the fire racing under my skin into my eyes.

I’d fight him every step of the way. If he thought to teach me a lesson in the same way as Orson, he had something else coming. No one conquered me.

No one.

Orson slapped Lucien on the back, metal ringing in the air. “I’m sure you’ll have her crying out all kinds of confessions.”

More laughter followed, echoing through the halls that closed in like a cage.

I’d burn them all. Someday. Somehow.

Lucien ignored the laughter of the others and grasped my forearm. “Come on.”

A gentle tug, out of place for the man himself, urged me to walk beside him toward the bend in the hall. My body rebelled, unwilling to follow the monster toward his den. Another, firmer jerk had me stumbling into motion.

“Find out where the guards went,” he said to his companions. “See that this lapse doesn’t happen again.”

Laughter subsided as they confirmed their agreement, but that didn’t silence their comments. They continued, chased us around the corner until we reached another door.

“This is a mistake. A misunderstanding,” I said while Lucien practically dragged me along.

He flung the door shut behind us, cutting off taunts still aimed my way, and turned to face me. I forced myself to stare him down.

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