At first she didn’t understand what she had heard. When she did, her stomach tied itself into tighter knots. Quietly, she asked, “What do you mean?”

Melly, Julian whispered. Be careful.

She didn’t have any room to respond. All her concentration stayed fixed on Anthony, who shrugged. “I was the one who bought you the cot. I just wanted to know how nice the mattress was.”

This isn’t a fucking hotel, asshole, and you didn’t do me any favors. She wanted to say it so badly. Instead, she offered him a tentative smile. “Can I have my food and water now, please?”

Another pause that went on too long. It strung her nerves tight.

“Sure you can,” said Anthony. “I’ll be happy to give it to you, just as soon as you take off all your clothes and lie down on that mattress.”

Braced as she was for something – what, she didn’t know – that caught her completely off guard. Blinking, she said, “What did you just say to me?”

He took a step nearer to the bars. “I’ll give you your food when you do what I want. I said, take off all your clothes and lie down on the mattress. I want your feet facing me with your legs spread apart.”

She gaped at him. Nobody had ever spoken to her in such a way, not ever.

I’m going to kill him, Julian said in a soft telepathic voice that was so much more chilling than anything Anthony could produce. I’m going to tear his head from his shoulders and shove it up his ass.

You’ll have to get through me first to do it, she told him.

She smiled at Vampyre Guy. “Now why would I want to do a thing like that? Don’t you have a key? Can’t you come in here and join me?”

Anthony’s eyes narrowed. “My key works on the gate. Only Justine has a key to the cells. She ordered me to bring you food, and I have,” he said. “I can leave it sitting out here in the hall for the next day or two, or I can give it to you. But you’re going to have to work for it.”

So much for your plan B, Melly said to Julian. It’s a good thing I already made up my own damn plan. But first I need to take a moment to marvel at how stupid he is.

He may be stupid, Julian replied. But he’s still dangerous. Watch yourself.

Aloud, she said, “I don’t get it. You could have had so much more from my mom, and yet you’re choosing to do this.”

“Calling your mother is too much of a risk,” Anthony said. “Being loyal to my mistress is the smartest thing for me to do. But I can still get something I want out of this, and I want to see the Light Fae princess strip down and give me a show.”

She started to turn away. Just in time, she remembered her stake, tucked into her waistband, and jerked to a stop. “No. Go ahead and leave the food in the hall. When Justine gets here and sees what you’ve done, she’ll take care of you.”

There was a small, distinctive snick.

It sounded remarkably like the hammer on a pistol being cocked. Her heart kicked.

Melly! Julian shouted.

She was already whirling to face Anthony again, only to confront the wrong end of a revolver pointing at her between the bars. It was another in a series of first experiences. She had never faced the wrong end of a gun before. A massive dose of adrenaline dumped into her bloodstream, and she broke into a fine sweat.

With a toothy smile, Anthony said, “If we’re going to go that far, and I’m already going to get punished, things won’t get that much more worse for me if I put a hole in you somewhere. It doesn’t have to be fatal to really fucking hurt a lot. You see, Justine’s in a tight place right now. The stupid cow killed all her other attendants, and she needs me. Sure, when she punishes me, I might not be very comfortable for a while, but it definitely won’t be as bad as it would be if I were to totally betray her by calling the Light Fae Queen. So what’s it going to be, princess? You gonna do some work with your fingers and hips, or are you gonna insist on being shot?”

Yeah, I knew my people-reading meter got you pegged right, asshole. Lowering her head, she studied him for a moment.

Then she gave him a small, sad smile. She even threw in a quivering lip for good measure. “It didn’t have to come to this,” she whispered. “I liked you – I really liked you. If you had only asked me, I would have done so much better than a floor show.”

The barrel of the gun lowered a notch.

“What do you mean?” he said shortly.

Wrapping her arms around her torso, she shivered and said pathetically, “Never mind. I don’t care if I could touch you between the bars. I – I don’t want to do it now.”

The silence that greeted that statement sounded downright thunderous.

This is unbelievable, she thought she heard Julian whisper.

But she wasn’t sure, because Anthony spoke at the same time. “That just opened up a whole world of possibilities, princess.” Wiping his mouth, he ordered, “Come here.”

“No. No, don’t make me,” she said, shaking her head as she hunched her shoulders. Meanwhile, she ran through her repertoire of moves. How far should she take the victim act? Would a sob be too much at this point?

She had just decided that yes, a sob would be too much, when —

The gun went off.

In the enclosed area, the report was deafening. She felt herself shriek rather than heard it, while at the same time she dropped into a crouch and threw her arms over her head.

The sound died, leaving a roaring echo behind.

SAY SOMETHING, MELLY!

It took her a moment to realize that she hadn’t actually been shot. Shakily, she said, I’m okay.

Julian said, Jesus Christ. If I’d had a heartbeat, it would have stopped.

“That’s the only warning I’m going to give you,” said Anthony. “Now, do what you’re fucking told, and come here.”

Numbly, she walked over to the bars, watching every move the Vampyre made. He strolled toward her and even licked his lips. The whole thing was almost like a scene from a really bad, bad – bad – movie, except it wasn’t. It was horribly real.

“Unbutton your top,” the Vampyre told her. “Press your breasts between the bars.”

Watch the gun.

She did as she was told, slowly unbuttoning the front of her top until it hung free, revealing the lacy bra underneath. She had to put her shoulders back to get her full, round breasts to jut between the bars.