“Where’s the coin now?” she asked and winced. Too much too fast.

Another manic smile bloomed. “You can search the world, but you’ll never find it.”

He was so confident. Search the world...

So, where else could she search, if not the world? The underworld he’d mentioned?

No. Not likely. He wouldn’t trust the coin with anyone else. Not if it could do what he thought. He wouldn’t want it far from his reach. “As much as I hate you, I don’t want to be a prisoner, either,” she said. Can you relate, kretén? Blanking her expression, she said, “If I help free you, you must vow to take me with you. And let my brother go.”

His eyes narrowed on her, but he nodded. “So be it.”

Such easy capitulation? Liar!

She stood and took a step toward him, then pretended to rethink her decision and edged back. As he tensed, she took another step forward. “How am I to free you?” she asked, as if nervous.

“Pick the lock on the chains like you picked the lock on your bedroom door.” He practically vibrated with eagerness. “I can do the rest.”

Another step brought her closer to him. “In other words, I do the grunt work for little reward. No! I want the coin, too.”

Look at me. A pretend gold digger deluxe. Baden would be pleased.

“I’ll share it with you,” he said as anger clearly stirred inside him.

Another lie. “How do I know you really have it?”

“You’ll just have to trust me.”

She shook her head, adamant. “After what you did to my dogs? No. I don’t trust you.” There would be no bluffing her way past that particular truth. “You need to prove its existence.”

“I have it, I swear.” The edge of his voice sharpened to a blade-point. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Sorry, husband, but I have to see it.”

His lips peeled back from his teeth in a scowl he’d only ever turned on employees who’d wronged him. “Free me,” he commanded, “and then I’ll show it to you.”

Remaining at a distance, she scanned the chains. “The lock looks complicated. If it were easy to pick, you would have found a way already. Maybe I’m not skilled enough...” According to Baden, she wasn’t skilled enough to do anything.

My bitterness is showing. Mind on the task at hand.

“The key,” he said. “Find the key.”

“How? Baden watches my every move. What if you used the coin? You could become king, as planned, and summon an entire army to free you.” If Alek bought this, well, he was even crazier than he looked. “Tell me where it is. I’ll convince Baden to flash me to its location, and hide it on my person before he finds it. He’ll never know.”

Alek kicked out his leg, swiping nothing but air. His sanity was unraveling. “Whore! You’re planning to use it for yourself.”

She petted the dogs behind the ears before they had time to react, and lifted her chin. “I’m afraid, weak. Would never approach Hades without you.” Surely he’d buy that. “But I can’t risk Baden’s ire. He’s a cruel man.” She forced a shudder. “Very dangerous.”

Alek huffed and puffed. He managed to smooth his features, though he couldn’t hide the furious gleam in his eyes. “You’re a woman. I’m sure you can figure out a way to distract him from his anger.”

Ready for her to whore already, even though he’d used the word derogatorily only a moment before?

Panchart! “All right,” she said. “I’ll put my life in harm’s way and seduce Baden...if you prove the coin’s existence.”

Alek stared behind her and paled.

Uh-oh. Trouble.

“You’ve made a grave mistake, nevesta,” Baden said from behind her, his voice layered, as if the beast spoke with him. “Grave, indeed.”

14

“There are three ways to look at the glass. Half empty, half full, and why are you eyeing my glass, bitch?”

—Gwendolyn the Timid, Harpy from Clan Skyhawk

A WARM, SALTY breeze caressed Gillian’s skin. She lounged in a cushioned chair on William’s private beach, a wispy white canopy above her. The sun was in the process of setting, painting the sky with brilliant shades of pink, purple and gold. Only inches away, crystal-clear water lapped at white sand, leaving foam in its wake. So close yet so far.

The only thing that disrupted the beauty of the land? The eight guards dressed in black and armed to the max. They stood a few yards away from her, forming an octagon around her.

William had left to do...she had no idea what. His father had appeared and said, “There’s trouble.”

Poor Liam. Pulled in too many directions. She was only making things worse.

The two had left soon after, but not before William had carried her out here, wanting her to have sun and fresh air, hoping it would invigorate her.

Hate to break it to you, Liam, but this experiment is a fail.

She was as weak as before, but now she was angry. She deserved an answer to the question she’d lobbed at him as if it were an H-bomb: What is morte ad vitam?

The most he’d told her? “You’re changing, poppet.”

She knew that, but dang it. This was her life...and her death.

A whimper escaped her. Not ready to die.

“Do you need anything, Miss Bradshaw?” one of the guards asked. The men were over-the-top formal with her because William had threatened to castrate anyone who offended her.

Only her Liam!

“No, thank you,” she managed to croak. Not from you.

A second later, a thud rang out.

She barely had the strength to turn her head, but caught sight of two guards, now prone in the sand and motionless. Three others rushed toward them, guns drawn, but they were met by an invisible wall and crumpled to the ground, as well. The remaining three decided to close in and surround her. Only, one at a time, they ended up on their backs.

Puck sidled up to her side, as calm as the ocean, making her gasp. He wore another loincloth, this one braided locks of hair. His furred legs were less startling than before and oddly attractive.

The invalid and the beast.

“Did you kill them?” she demanded, hating the whisperlike quality of her voice.

“Would you like me to deliver a lethal blow?” He sat beside her chair and stared out at the water. “I merely put them down for a nap, but I can slit their throats, no problem. Just say the word.”