In other words. Baby steps.

Step one. She would stop avoiding Thane. Step two. She would begin a new round of interaction with him. Step three. She would nag him until he returned Bellorie to the club.

“I’m going to talk to him,” she said, standing and tugging on a fresh set of clothes. A pretty pink tee and a pair of hip-hugger jeans. She didn’t bother with shoes.

“Uh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Savy said. “You’ll end up banished. Or worse. No one questions Thane when an order has been given. Not even his...whatever you are.”

“Pet human,” Octavia offered. Helpful, as always.

Chanel snorted. “I don’t know how it happened, the lion and the lamb, but I think she’s more than that.” Her head tilted to the side as she pondered. “And I think he’ll make an exception and do whatever she asks. He did rush to her side when there was nothing effing wrong with her.”

“Excuse me,” Elin huffed. “I was screaming, and practically catatonic.”

“Maybe he rushed to her side because he needs her for some type of ransom.” Savy spoke over her, drumming her nails against the table. “Or some kind of revenge against the Phoenix. Or, maybe he experienced a moment of insanity. Did you ever think of that? No offense,” she said to Elin. “He just isn’t the type to chase a woman. No matter how awelicious she is.”

How could Elin take offense when she suddenly had the same suspicion? Why did he want her? Wait. She had to rephrase. Why did he used to want her?

“Maybe he’s just a nicer guy than any of us realized,” she muttered.

Of course, that was when the demon issued another blood-curdling scream.

Chanel and Octavia giggled like naughty schoolgirls.

“Care to make another wager?” Chanel asked Savy. “Double or nothing.”

“Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.” Elin strode out of the room. Adrian stood sentry just outside the door and quickly swept up beside her.

“Where are you headed, human?” he asked.

He made it sound like her humanity was a crime. Well, it wasn’t. Just ask Thane. To him, it was the only thing that wasn’t, and for once, she was going to use it to her advantage. She was going to stop worrying about being found out, and start taking charge of her life.

“I want to go to the dungeon. Be a dear and show me the way,” she said, blinking her eyes in what she hoped was an innocent, flirtatious manner.

He tensed. He frowned. He shook his head. “No. Go back to your room.”

She put her hands on her hips. “I heard Xerxes tell you to take me anywhere I asked. And I just asked to go to the dungeon.”

“We both know he didn’t actually mean you could go anywhere.”

“No, we both don’t know that. He doesn’t strike me as the type to say something he doesn’t mean.”

Adrian glared at her.

“So, what are we waiting for?” she insisted.

His glare darkened. “Perhaps it will do you some good to see the nature of the male you provoke.” He led her into an elevator and pressed a series of buttons. Blue lights flashed over a small portion of the wall. The doors closed and the cart shook, carrying them down...down...down, before opening into an underground cavern with gray walls and a cracked stone floor.

Two vampires guarded an open doorway.

Unease pricked the back of Elin’s neck. The screams were far louder here, and they echoed. Worse, a familiar scent of old pennies clung to her nose and sickened her stomach.

“Wait here,” Adrian told her before motoring on, bypassing the guards.

The vamps gave her a once-over...no, make that a twice-over...and she pretended not to know they were sharpening mental forks and knives. She stared straight ahead. She could see bars, indicating a hallway of cells. She could even see fingers curled around some of the bars. The Phoenix were here? Xerxes had freed them from their stakes and escorted them inside, but she’d kind of thought it was for medical care or something.

Only an idiot wouldn’t have realized it was for further torture.

“My lord,” she heard Adrian say. “The human wishes to speak with you.”

“The human has a name,” she muttered.

“Tell her I’ll summon her when I’m finished here.”

She heard pleasure in Thane’s voice. For her...or the job he was doing? Either way, the low cadence of his tone made her shiver.

“Very well,” Adrian said. Footsteps resounded.

Oh, no. The last time she’d been forced to wait for Thane, nothing had been settled. “Thane Downfall,” she called.

Tension crackled in the air. The footsteps retreated.

“She’s here? You actually brought her down here?” Thane demanded, even as Kendra cried, “Help me, girl. You have to help me.”

“Sure,” Elin responded. “Here’s a tip. Be nice to people, no matter how low their station. You never know when they’ll be in charge of yours.” Not that she was in any way in charge. Still. Truth was truth.

“You should have known better,” Thane growled, and she figured he was talking to Adrian.

Was Thane going to punish him, too? She tried to step forward, intending to go in, but the vampires moved in her path.

“He did nothing wrong,” she said, speaking past the shoulders of the vampires now watching her with unabashed awe. “Your dearest friend Xerxes told him to take me wherever I asked to go. So, here we are. Now, listen. I want Bellorie brought back immediately. We need her for the Multiple Scorgasms.” And heck, as long as she was making demands... “And I want the screaming to stop. It’s screwing with my nerves.”

Like you have any right to make demands.

“Please,” she added, and slapped her hands together in the center of her chest in a classic begging stance, even though he couldn’t see her. “With an extra sweet cherry on top.”

Another pause.

“Bellorie shall return before the next shift,” Thane said tightly, “and screams will not be heard again.”

“Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you, Thane! Seriously!”

“Help,” Kendra shouted.

A rustle of clothing. A grunt. A gurgle. Then muttering voices, too hushed to decipher.

A cold sweat broke out over Elin’s skin, and she trembled. What had just happened?