Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Briar
As soon as the door closed behind me, the air around me crackled. Numerous spells protected the harem and guarded everyone trapped within while shielding the casters who entered.
Many of the prisoners also possessed magical abilities. The day and night casters created magical barriers to suppress those powers.
I didn’t know exactly how things worked, but the prisoners had to have enough freedom to care for themselves, use the facilities, sleep, and shower. My mother wouldn’t tolerate filth on anyone she abused.
Once locked inside, I expected darkness to descend, but a dim glow illuminated the interior. I’d also expected to discover gauzy material hanging from the ceiling and a room full of naked men and women chained to the walls. I found none of that.
Instead, I entered a large room with steps leading down to a sunken space. Plush red, white, and black pillows filled the rows of seating, encasing most of the sunken section. Despite my revulsion of this entire place, the pillows made it inviting.
My mother would never tolerate anything dirty, but I’d expected it to reek of sex in here. Instead, a pleasant, spicy aroma filled the air.
I didn’t know if the casters waited here until their Needing arrived or if this was where the day casters spent their time while here. It could also be a space for the night casters who came here to relax before or after indulging in their hedonistic lifestyle.
While the day casters never returned to the harem, many night casters often did. They couldn’t be here during someone’s Needing, but those were far and few between. I was the first one in a couple of years on the night caster’s side.
Whenever a day caster entered the harem, a messenger would arrive to give notice that the harem was off-limits until further notice. They didn’t come very often.
The golden sconces on the walls illuminated their cream color. No ceiling blocked my view overhead; instead, I could see up to the balconies lining the second and third floors. I couldn’t see all the way to the tower.
While I wasn’t sure what this room was for, I did know it didn’t house Seth, which meant it was useless to me. When I strode away from the sunken space and beneath the second-floor balconies, I discovered the doors tucked into the shadows there.
Each door had a small glass window in the center of its solid frame. Stepping closer to one of the doors, I rested my hand against its metal and peered inside to discover a tall, lean elf lounging on an enormous bed full of pillows.
The elf didn’t look up as he lazily flipped a page in the book he was reading. The end of his pale blond braid brushed the red comforter as it dangled over his shoulder. That braid did nothing to hide his pointed ears.
Bare chested, he wore only a pair of loose-fitting pants. They sagged on his hips enough to reveal the bones and a trail of darker blond hair from his navel to beneath his pants.
Two doors led off to the side of the room. One must go to a bathroom, but I had no idea where the other led.
As if sensing my attention, the elf lifted his head, and his black eyes met mine. A small tensing of his shoulders was the only reaction he had to discovering me there.
Feeling like he’d caught me doing something wrong, I lowered my hand and backed away from the door. I bit my lip as I studied the solid door; I wasn’t sure what to make of what I’d seen within.
No chains bound the elf, and he was free to move about his confines. I was certain he couldn’t open the door and walk out, but this place was far different than what I’d expected.
I’d never want to live here, trapped by these assholes who felt they had every right to imprison and use me. I didn’t know what crime the elf committed, or how long his sentence was to reside here, but Seth’s only transgression was loving me.
My hand went to my throat as a lump formed there. Over the years, I’d tried not to think about what was happening to him here, but it was impossible to keep the thoughts from intruding. I’d shed countless tears over the years; I couldn’t shed them now when I was so close to freeing him.
The harem wasn’t anywhere near as disgusting as I’d imagined it, but somehow, that made it worse.
I wasn’t certain how the day casters lived with themselves and the knowledge of what happened here, but it didn’t bother the night casters.
Perhaps the day casters had convinced themselves that these prisoners were necessary for their ways to continue, and they at least had good living conditions…
or maybe they never considered the prisoners after leaving.
The night casters weren’t the only ones who imprisoned others here. The day casters did too.
I turned and made my way to the next room. There, I discovered a cyclops doing push-ups beside another large bed. From within, the faint strains of music wafted out.
As I made my way around the first floor, I discovered more elves, cyclops, a day caster, a couple of gnomes, a centaur, two gorgons, and a strigoi. I also uncovered the luxurious bathroom and a small kitchen stocked with supplies… but I didn’t find Seth.
He had to be here, somewhere. My mother never would have granted him freedom, and she would have taken great enjoyment in having me discover him here. Maybe his father had succeeded in ransoming him from here.
My mother would have made sure to humiliate the alpha and hold Seth over his head. However, the shifters had wealth and power; perhaps the alpha was able to free him.
I never would have believed she’d free Seth before letting me see him in here, but maybe I was wrong.
My fingers trailed over the polished mahogany railing as I climbed the stairs to the second floor. I didn’t know who kept the harem clean, but everything gleamed, and the spicy scent followed me. My mother probably sent servants here at least once a week, but I wasn’t privy to that information.
On the second floor, I encountered much the same as the first, except there was also a mermaid.
She lay on the shores of a pool, her tail flapping against the water as she sang while braiding her hair.
I had no idea what crime the beautiful woman had committed, but she didn’t acknowledge my presence, and she wasn’t who I was looking for.
On the third floor, a few of the rooms were empty, but more eternals occupied the others. Panic was starting to mount as the number of rooms left to search decreased, and I still couldn’t find Seth.
Did my mother remove him to keep him from me? Did his father manage to free him?
The possibility had never occurred to me before entering this place. Until now, I’d been so certain she’d make sure to leave him here for me to see, but maybe she’d decided to take the money or that his presence would deter me from choosing the night caster side.
Heart hammering, I stared in dismay at the last, empty room as I tried to figure out what to do next. Trying not to panic, I turned away from the door and flattened myself against it as my chest heaved with my breath.
My eyes spun wildly before landing on a staircase ten feet to my right and hidden in shadows. I stopped breathing as I took in the set of stairs winding up to the tower.
Then my heart gave a mighty lurch as my throat went dry. Closing my eyes, I breathed in and out as I tried to calm my racing pulse; I never wanted to enter a tower again, something my mother probably realized.
Which meant, if Seth was here, then she’d most likely moved him up there.
You can do this. You can do anything for him.
And that was the truth, even if every step toward those stairs terrified me. With an increasing sense of urgency to finish my search, I moved faster until I was running up the stairs to find the only one who’d kept me going for these past ten years.
I was more terrified to discover Seth wasn’t here than I was of the tower, but each step closer to the door above caused my chest to constrict further.