Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Two guards escorted me from my chamber in handcuffs, their grasp on my arms and neck secure, preventing me from trying to make a break for it. I wouldn’t have bothered. Not right now. I had to be smart, learn this place. Find its weaknesses.
I took in everything we passed. They took me farther down a stone corridor through two heavy security doors with code locks, hauling me into an elevator that needed Killian’s magic to activate it.
Instead of going up, we went down. The deeper we descended into the earth, the more my stomach twisted.
It was a tomb underground, reminding me all too much of Halálház, distancing me from my chance at freedom.
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Killian twisted his head to peer back at me, but I looked away from his chiseled cheeks and jaw. “You think you are ready for what’s ahead, Ms. Kovacs?”
Sniffing, I lifted my chin, facing him with no emotion.
“Humans. You think yourselves so tough.” Shaking his head, he strolled out.
“I’ve survived so far,” I muttered as the guards shoved me forward into a newly built area. It was a stark contrast to the old stone castle I had been housed in. This area was cold, sleek, and modern and looked very new, the smell of paint still emitting off the white walls.
“You have.” A strange threat twirled around the two words.
Killian’s violet gaze drew over my frame slowly.
Curiously. “Like a cockroach. But it’s why you fascinate me so much.
” He swiveled back around, his shoes tapping over the tile floor, going through two more security doors, which also had guards.
What the fuck does he have down here? And why does he want me to see it?
We stepped into a small chamber with a large window allowing you to observe what was in the attached room.
I blinked, my eyes and mind trying to take in everything I saw.
Before me was a large room filled with science equipment, fae machines, microscopes, things I couldn’t even describe, and a handful of figures dressed in white coats.
A lab.
“What is this?” Bile burned the back of my throat as my nerves jumped around, a sickness souring my stomach. “What are you doing?”
“What your kind has made me do.” He came up next to me at the window. His rich smell of crisp-forest-after-a-rain-with-a-splash-of-sweet was powerful in the sterile room, soothing the panic wanting to explode from me. “What you made me do, Ms. Kovacs.”
My head jerked to him. “Me? What are you—”
“My lord?” A woman’s voice cut me off, drawing my attention to the door near him.
A technician stepped into the room, blasting the small space with electricity, igniting my skin, pulsing my core.
Holy fuck. She tugged down her mask, displaying her ethereal face and eyes.
They were the color of amber sap freshly weeping from a tree.
Her magic felt like a brush of wind across my face.
I saw traces of red hair from underneath her cap.
She was tall, thin, and moved like a leaf in the wind. Everything about her was graceful, strong, and sexual, licking the air with desire and need.
“Willow.” Killian turned to her, his head dipping at her in greeting.
“We have the latest results in.” She stepped closer, holding out a file to him, her eyes moving down my figure then moving to Killian hungrily, causing a slight moan to catch in my throat. Biting down on my lip, I swallowed it back, but I felt her magic move down my limbs, caressing my thighs.
The young guard behind me groaned under his breath into my ear, pushing into my back. I could feel his excitement, his need. The other guard gripped me harder, his hand sliding around my hip.
My body responded instantly, feeling the spark of her energy kiss my skin, even though my brain told me it was wrong.
Gritting my teeth, I tried to push it away, but whatever she was, she inundated the small space with her lust. I longed to step back into the warm bodies behind me, to feel them against me, but I froze in place, ignoring the need.
“Thank you.” He took the folder, opening it, his attention on the documents inside, seemingly immune to her power. “What about Subject Eighteen?”
“Final stages. No different from all the others before. Well, except Subject One.” Her words were matter of fact, but they seemed to purr from her, her intensity pricking at the back of my neck.
“Interesting.” Killian’s attention drifted from the papers to me, the force of his gaze hitching my breath.
Lust.
Hunger.
Raw need.
He blinked, snapping his head back toward the window, his expression blank again. “Thank you, Willow. You can go.”
“Yes, my lord.” She bowed her head, her tongue sliding over her bottom lip as she turned and sauntered back into the lab room, peeling back the heaviness of the room.
“Fuck,” I hissed. “What the hell is she?” Air gushed from my lungs. The guards behind me sighing in relief drew Killian’s notice.
“A tree fairy. Nature’s scientist. They are incredible at mixing and testing potions. Finding cures and medicines.” His eyes rolled over me again, going back to searching me like a bug pinned to a board. He flicked his chin at my babysitters. “You are dismissed.”
“Sir?” the young guard replied.
“Ms. Kovacs won’t do anything foolish. She has nowhere to go or any way to get out from here. She understands how pointless it would be if she tried, doesn’t she?” Killian tilted his head at me.
My nose wrinkled as I glared at him, which only made him smile, twisting my gut again. And it wasn’t in fear. Anger ballooned in my chest, along with disgust and irritation.
“Uncuff her, Iain. I think I am perfectly capable of handling her.” He nodded to the younger one I toyed with earlier. Iain did as he was told, both guards stepping out of the room, but Iain kept watchful eyes on me until the door clicked behind them.
“Someone wants to impress his master.” I rubbed my arms, the blood tingling through my fingers as I tried to push off the lingering desire to rub up against the man in front of me.
“Put these on,” Killian clipped, tossing a face mask, booties, and coat at me. “Don’t want your human germs and diseases contaminating any of the experiments.”
“Experiments?” My lungs fluttered as I put on the items. I had no choice but to go forward, my curiosity driving me to find out what he was up to.
“Do not touch anything, Ms. Kovacs.” He pushed a button, opening an airlocked door, which hissed controlled air into my face. It held no odor, no hint of life, only cleanliness.
Apparently above wearing anything that might wrinkle his expensive suit, Killian strolled into the lab with authority and righteousness so fast I had to rush to catch up.
Shockingly, not one technician looked up or greeted their lord, acting as if he were an ordinary co-worker moving through. I would have thought his ego would demand they all take time away from what they were doing and bow to him.
Not giving me much time to decipher anything they might be studying, he moved us quickly through, stopping at another door. This one was thick, similar to a walk-in freezer door, with a tiny window at the top to look through. He typed in another code, the lock clanking, the noise making me tense.
“I warn you, Ms. Kovacs. Prepare yourself,” he said ominously as he swung the heavy door out.
“For what?” The words barely made it out of my mouth when gut-wrenching screams crashed into my eardrums, and the air went from sterile to putrid, punching my senses.
Bile lunged up my throat as my hand slammed over my covered nose and mouth.
I gagged at the stench of rotting flesh, piss, vomit, and feces that drifted through the mask.
Wails skated down my spine, my bones trembling.
It sent me right back to Halálház, but this felt even worse—if that was possible.
My heart slammed against my ribs, panic fizzing over my body as I followed Killian. We turned a corner, and my feet came to an abrupt stop.
Oh, gods.
My gaze moved over the space, but I could barely take in what was in front of me.
A dozen thick-barred cells built into the earth lined one side.
Every single one occupied people with different sexes, ages, and nationalities, but I knew in my gut they were all human by their flaws—gray hair, bad teeth, plain looks. Things the fae were exempt from.
Guards were stationed on either end, ladened with every weapon possible, like they were ready to go up against an army.
In prison, I had seen a lot of things that would make most people lose their minds: guts being ripped out of people’s bodies, torture, death, people sleeping in their own shit, crying in agony every night. Nothing prepared me for this.
From the first cell to the last one, it was like watching the stages of a horrendous disease strip the life out of every person.
The first individual seemed healthy enough, dirty and scared, but plump and present.
Looking down the row, they grew thinner, crazed, muttering to themselves, some pacing inside the cage.
Around the middle area, the figures no longer moved.
They stood there at attention, staring vacantly ahead as if they were waiting for direction.
The people in the two cages on the end screamed in agony, clawing at their skin, holding their heads, curling on the floor, crying for death, only skin and bones. The final cage was empty.
“Wha-what is wrong with them?” I croaked, emotion filling my eyes, anger flaring up my neck. “What are you doing to them?”
“Me?” Killian twisted to me, one eyebrow hooking up. “Of course, you’d think this is my doing. The big bad evil fae would relish torturing humans for fun.”
“Seems like something you’d enjoy,” I spat.