Page 68 of Courting the Tiger King

“Of course,” she said, voice cracking until she swallowed and took a deep breath. “Youwouldstand on the other side of this cage and taunt me. Cowards become so brave when their enemies are chained up and helpless.” Neah laughed and ignored the pain in her ribs as rage stoked the fire in herveins.“Why don’t you come in here and make your threats and we’ll see how well you fair.”

To her surprise, Castor smiled. His amber eyes were cold, devoid of emotion, even anger or pride as she’d hoped to stoke. “I’m fine right here, but nice try. I don’t have anything to prove to you, my dear. I’ve already won.”

“So what? You’re here to gloat?”

Castor stood from his crouch and sneered down at her from above. “No. I came to warn you not to try anything stupid. Sit in your cage like a good little pet, and you won’t get hurt.” He ran an eye over her form and tutted at the bruises on her side. “Well hurt further, I suppose. If my nephew agrees to hand over the crown, you’ll be returned to him. Unharmed.”

Fuck. Wren might just agree to that. “How agreeable of you.”

“Mm, yes. I rather thought so.”

“And you think we’ll just let you live after this?”

His smile was soft, deadly. “You would threaten your king?”

Neah surged forward, the pain in her ribs burning fiercely from the sudden movement as she slammed into the bars and spat in his face. “You are no king of mine,” she intoned, smiling grimly when her glob of spittle dripped from Castor’s cheek to the ground. She laughed as she backed away. Would he come in now? Give her the chance to wrap her chains around his neck?

“You know,” Castor said slowly, reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief. “I half hope my nephew refuses me, just so I can have the pleasure of your death.”

Neah kept her smile on her face. If she had to, she would crawl up from the depths of Hel themselves to seek her vengeance, for herself, for Romi, and for Wren.

“I suppose we’ll see,” he mused and she flinched when he withdrew a sword from a scabbard at his side and clanged it against the metal bars tauntingly. “I expect I’ll see you soon.”

She stayed silent, slowly seething. She was his bargaining chip—the crown for her life. Sadly, she knew what Wren would choose—it would bring nothing but pain to them all. Castor couldn’t be allowed to become king. His flagrant flaunting of their laws was worrying at best but to betray one’s own kin? If they survived through this, Neah couldn’t let him remain alive. For the good of the kingdom, if nothing else.

The murmur of voices told her Castor had left guards for her and she was shocked that he’d managed to gain so much support. Was he paying them off? Were they just as corrupt as him? Neah didn’t know. The one thing she was certain of was that they were what stood between her and freedom.

She focused, listening intently and then cursing when she couldn’t make out how many heartbeats were past her cell. It looked like the chains affected more than her ability to shift.

It wasn’t a problem, per se, but it did make things more difficult. She had no way of knowing how much she relied on her strength and senses, even when she couldn’t shift, so she would just have to hope her training was enough.

Or…

Neah lifted the chains closely to her face, inspecting them as best she could with the little light that encroached on the space from the corridor. Brickwork surrounded her, but the style was familiar. They had to still be in the palace, but not anywhere she recognised, and from the colour of her bruises she assumed most of the day had already passed while she’d been unconscious. How long had Castor been planning this? She should have killed him a week ago when she’d had the chance.

Refocusing on the chains, she tested their strength and grunted when they didn’t budge. But there was a gap in the manacle around her wrist, not quite big enough for her to wriggle out of because of her thumbs, no matter how much she contorted their shape. Unless…

She glanced around, finding nothing in the dank cell except dirt and what looked like a rat’s nest in the corner. It would have been better if she’d had something to bite down on, that way she’d have the element of surprise, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Neah sucked in a steadying breath and placed her hands atop each other as she felt along the dips of muscle and bone in her left hand with the fingertips of her right.

Here goes nothing.

She wrenched and the sharp crack was lost in the shriek of pain that tore from her throat. But it worked. Her thumb bent at an odd angle and she cursed under her breath as she shoved her hand out of the manacle and felt immediate relief when she shoved the digit back in place.

Voices sounded, growing closer, no doubt coming to investigate what the Hel she was doing. She had to be quick.

Neah reached down and repeated the process, her scream making the guards pace increase and they rounded the corner just as she slipped off the other cuff and slammed her thumb back into place.

Metal hit the ground, the sound loud enough that one guard flinched, and she didn’t know whether to be annoyed or flattered that Castor had left five of them to watch her.

“Oh shit,” one said, eyes falling to the chains on the ground as Neah rolled out her shoulders and smiled.Oh shitwas about right.

The reaction of her body once the spelled shackles were off was immediate. Strength returned to her limbs and her ribs tingled as her body worked to repair the damage she’d sustained.

“I’ll give you one chance to run,” she said, rubbing her wrists where the chains had chafed. Two guards eyed each other, skepticism in their eyes, like they couldn’t believe someone in acage would bother to threaten them. But one guard, the same one who’d flinched before, looked more wary.

He lifted his hands, showing he was unarmed, and his companions' mouths dropped open disbelievingly. “I’m sorry. I just needed the money for my family.”

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