Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Killian greeted me right after my breakfast of French toast and fruit. He was distant, his shoulders pinned back, his expression a mask of indifference.
“Come,” he ordered, already pushing past Nyx. I stared after him, taken aback by his icy mood.
“When the fae lord commands you to do something,” Nyx growled at me, grabbing my arm painfully, “you do it.” She yanked me to my feet, roughly thrusting me out into the hallway.
“I live for the day I can slice your throat and watch your blood gurgle out as you choke on it.” Nyx’s mouth hummed by my ear, her threat full of abhorrence.
Kicking the back of my heels, she pitched me forward, my feet trying to catch up with Killian’s silhouette down the hall. This was the opposite way we had gone every other morning.
“The lab is the other way.” I thumbed back behind me.
“Thank you, I’m aware.” Killian kept his head forward, his shoulders rolled back. No trace of the intimacy we shared the night before remained. He clearly was pretending it never happened, and I didn’t know if the tightness in my stomach was from lack of sleep or if I felt hurt.
No, it’s lack of sleep. It must be.
I had gone to bed thinking about how I had kissed the leader of the fae, but my dreams were filled instead with intense turquoise eyes and a deadly smile hunting me from the dark.
Nyx kept close to me now but left me uncuffed while we made our way down the corridor, entering another lift and heading up several floors.
The silence in the closed box felt stifling, but I kept my lips pinned together as we rose.
When the elevator finally came to a stop, Killian strolled out, not even looking at me.
“Move,” Nyx hissed, shoving me forward into an enormous, decadent corridor that dripped with more gold and crystal, naked fairies and shape-shifters painted onto the arched ceilings in suggestive positions and group situations.
Swallowing nervously, I followed behind him. All the doors we passed were closed to my curious eyes.
Finally, he stopped in front of a door, his expression blank as he reached for the doorknob. The door swung open, flooding morning light across the floor and onto my feet. He nodded for me to enter, and I did.
Glass covered almost one entire wall in front of me, large doors opening up onto a balcony. The sun glistened off the Danube and buildings across the river, which warmed the room like a blanket.
My mouth loosened in awe, taking in the room before me, my eyes flinching at the onslaught of beauty. My world had consisted of gray and metal for so long, I couldn’t fully take in the rich colors and soft textures.
The bedroom was larger than the one I had in HDF.
The elegant headboard went halfway up the wall, and the massive king-size bed was layered in creamy whites, buttery yellows, and soft blues.
All the furniture was modern and simple.
Silks, linens, velvets, and cashmere swathed the room, offering a warm invitation that whispered for me to run into its arms.
The girl I’d been a few months ago wouldn’t have even hesitated. Wouldn’t have thought twice about exuberant luxury. This would have felt normal. Familiar. Now I didn’t move.
“Do you not like it?” Killian stepped around me, his hands in his pockets. I was starting to realize he did this when he wanted to come across as composed, but I heard a twinge of doubt in his tone.
I touched nothing, moving robotically to the windows, and looked out.
Below, a handful of horses and carriages moved over the Chain Bridge, and sounds of motorcycles and clipping of hooves touched my ears.
The street bustled with people living their lives.
The dome of the old parliament building stuck up in the distance, twisting at my heart.
Everything felt vibrant and active. It was the first time I had seen daylight in weeks, animating all I had not been able to see last night.
“There are other rooms you can pick from. But I thought you’d enjoy the view.” Killian moved next to me, swinging my head to him.
“Why?” I spat. “To torture me? To show me how close I am, but I will never be able to reach it?”
His jaw tightened. “That was not my intention.”
“What is your intention, Killian?”
He jolted at his name, his eyes darkening.
“I’m still a prisoner, no matter what bed I sleep in.” My eyes kept locked on his face. “At least my cell is more honest.”
He breathed through his nose, his focus not leaving me. I couldn’t make out any emotion underneath, but I could feel the weight of them, words dropping from his tongue, wanting to lash out at me. The tension between us threaded through the room, strangling out the air.
“Sir, you requested me?” A man’s voice broke through the discomfort, the familiar pitch jerking my head to the doorway. It felt as though the room tipped, an internal gasp twitching my limbs.
Chocolate brown eyes shot to mine from across the room, a slight frown wrinkling the space between the horse-shifter’s eyes as his look darted between Killian and me before his expression went neutral again.
Zander. The only guard who had been kind to me. Kissed me. Helped me escape. He was the reason Warwick and I got out of Halálház. Why would he help us but work for Killian?
“Yes.” Killian cleared his throat, stepping away from me. It wasn’t until then I realized how close we had been standing. “Thank you, Zander.” He strolled to his guard. “Let’s go to my office. There is much to do to prepare the new location.”
He didn’t say, but I understood, they were talking about the new prison. The original site had been compromised, so he would have to rebuild it somewhere completely unknown.
Zander dipped his head, waiting for Killian to exit first.
Killian made it to the door and stopped, looking back at me.
“We can discuss your accommodations later. But please enjoy the room until I get back. I am suspending your testing for the day.” His eyes couldn’t quite meet mine. “If you need anything, a guard will be right outside.” He rubbed his chin, hesitating before he whipped around, leaving the chamber.
Zander grabbed for the knob, his gaze slamming into mine. It was so slight I almost missed it, but his head dipped, his eyes never breaking from mine, like they were trying to speak to me.
“Miss,” he said, as though we had never met.
I watched him close the door, wanting nothing more than to run after him, demand to know why he’d helped Warwick and I escape. Was he someone I could trust or not? If I had any chance of getting out of this place, it just walked out of the room.
“Oh yeah . . . rub it! Harder!”
Chirp!
The late afternoon rays pushed through my lashes as my body curled on top of the huge bed like a cat. Not able to fight the lethargy after my lunch was served, the warm sun stretching across the soft bed had summoned me to it.
Now my brow furrowed as splashes and squeaks came from the stunning en-suite bathroom, lifting my head up.
“What does this button do?”
Chirp!
“Ooooohhh yeeeahhh,” a small voice moaned.
Rubbing my face, I got up and strolled into the bathroom. I clasped a hand to my mouth, holding in laughter as I leaned against the doorjamb, taking in the scene inside the bathtub.
Dressed in what looked like a modified neon pink rubber glove, Opie wore it like a scuba suit, and attached to his knees, ass, and elbows were cut-up pieces of an orange scrubber. The jet spurted out water while he wiggled his butt back and forth, his eyes closed as he ground against the surface.
Bitzy floated on a sponge near him, her head and tiny form covered in the same rubber material.
“Take that, jet tub . . . You like it? I bet you do, you filthy thing.”
A snort broke through my hands, jolting the two tiny figures.
“Holy scrubbing loofah!” Opie grabbed at his chest dramatically. “You about turned this water brown, Fishy.”
“And I thought you could never sneak up on a brownie.” I smirked at him.
“Well, normally, you can’t.” He cleared his throat, tugging at his skintight suit. “But I was really immersed in cleaning.”
“Is that what you call it?”
Chirp.
“I was not!” Opie’s eyes widened in shock. “I would never do such a thing. That would be vulgar.”
Chirp.
“Can’t prove it.” He sniffed, turning away, busying himself with scouring the already pristine porcelain.
Chirp.
“You promised to never bring up that incident again either. It was a misunderstanding.”
Chirp.
“It was too,” he countered. “Master Finn still hasn’t let me anywhere near a vacuum cleaner since.”
“Oh, gods.” I laughed, my face planting in my hand, trying to squash the visuals in my mind.
“Like I said, it was a misunderstanding. I got caught for a moment . . . in the suction.”
Chirp.
“It was not five minutes.”
Chirp.
“We’re not talking about this.” He huffed, turning away, his shoulders sagging.
I hated seeing him so sad, like he was “wrong” because he didn’t fit in.
“Well, if you ask me, I think this Master Finn would benefit greatly from five minutes with a vacuum.”
“That’s what I told him.” A tiny smile hinted on Opie’s face. “He had me scrubbing toilets for ten months afterward.”
Strolling over to the tub, I shut off the water, sitting on the side. “How did you know where I was?”
Opie scoffed, facing me again. “Please, you are easy to find. You have a particular smell, Fishy.”
“I smell?” I frowned, pinching my top, sniffing it. I knew I didn’t smell the best, but I had recently taken a shower before testing and had been given a new gray uniform. I was a lot better than when locked away in Halálház.
“Not bad-smelling or anything. It’s hard to explain. It’s pleasant. Like the moment at night, right before the sun rises. Clean, fresh with a dash of sweetness.” Opie tapped his nose. “We sub-fae have excellent noses.”
Chirp!
“And ears.” He motioned to the imp. “Obviously.”