Page 388 of Primal Bonds

She swallowed sickly. One of those could burn a hole right through you.

“Surrender,” he said, “or I’ll throw this at your mate, there.”

“He’s not my mate,” she returned dully. But she brought the dagger to her side.

They swarmed around her. The knife was wrenched from her hand. The captain took her arm in a firm grip while two others lifted Adric like a sack of potatoes and carried him toward the door.

Langdon appeared in the doorway.

“My lord.” The captain inclined his head respectfully.

“I see you finally realized there were intruders.”

The tall warrior’s spine went ramrod straight. “My apologies, sir. We didn’t detect him when he came through the portal.”

Langdon gave a cold nod. “We’ll discuss your failure later, Quade. For now, confine the earth fada below. The woman you can leave here.”

“No!” She jerked against the captain’s confining hand. “You’re not taking Adric anywhere without me.”

Langdon tilted his head to the side. “You prefer to go with him?”

She raised her chin. “Yes. In fact, I insist on it.”

The prince’s lips stretched in a chilling smile. Too late, she realized she’d given him permission to imprison her.

“Then we’ll be happy to accommodate you both.”

Chapter 30

Captain Quade marched Rosana out of the library and down the marble stairs. The two warriors followed with Adric.

It was the first she’d seen the foyer. She had a brief impression of a large, dimly lit space, and then the captain urged her through an open door and down another flight of stairs.

They were in an underground warren with rooms and halls spearing off in multiple directions. As with the foyer, the only lighting came from a few torch-shaped fae lights. She glimpsed a cavernous wine cellar with hundreds of dusty bottles, and a room with an ancient brick hearth that she guessed had once been a kitchen.

Their destination was a short hall with just three doors, all constructed of a thick wood reinforced with iron straps. The men carrying Adric opened the door at the end and tossed him inside.

She flinched as his body thumped against the stone floor.

The captain gestured her after Adric with a mocking smile. “Be my guest, senhorita.”

Her throat constricted. The three steps into that small, windowless room were the most difficult of her life, but the need to protect Adric drove her forward.

She had time to see a long wood bench against the far wall and that to her left, there was a rough toilet alongside a metal spout with a thin stream of water flowing into a narrow trough before disappearing down a drain. Then the door thudded shut behind her.

A key turned in the lock, and she was alone in the dark with Adric. The only light came from a slit at the top of the door.

Her eyes went night-glow, but all she could make out were dim gray shapes—Adric, the bench. Her chest tightened.

It felt like a tomb. Small. Airless.

She stumbled to the door, lungs pumping. Not sure what she was going to do, just knowing she had to get out. Now.

This side of the door had no handle. She ran her hands over the wood anyway, hissing when her fingertips brushed one of the iron bands.

Behind her, Adric groaned.

She leaned her forehead against the wood.

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