CHAPTER 17
I kept my gaze low, avoiding eye contact with the castle staff, moving with purpose as though I was supposed to be here. I’d managed to slip past at least three of them so far.
After the lords had showered and changed, they left with Alameda to meet Roak and Nala. I was left behind, clearly not trusted to participate in negotiating our deals. But that granted me the perfect excuse to roam Erisea Hall.
The corridors were wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by side while I passed in the opposite direction. Dark green walls framed the space, adorned with white wooden furniture and numerous flower vases, which looked like something Alameda would have picked to decorate.
As I searched for the foyer, I heard a voice that made my stomach clench.
Roak was speaking with someone who seemed to be getting an earful of orders from the staff leader.
Pressing myself against the cool stone wall, I peered around the corner of the hallway. My heart jumped as I spotted them moving towards my corridor.
If he saw me here, wandering where I shouldn’t, he would certainly think I was spying or tainting their castle with my ordinary human presence.
I needed to hide. We couldn’t afford the staff leader finding problems to stop the trades with Erisea. I couldn’t jeopardise that for Reagan.
I reached for the nearest door, my fingers soft against the brass handle. Slowly, carefully, I turned it, praying it wouldn’t creak. The door yielded, and I slipped inside, closing it behind me with painstaking care.
The room was cloaked in darkness, but empty. I pressed my back to the wall, breathing shallowly as footsteps echoed closer outside and then faded.
I thought he was already with the others.
Sighing, I let my eyes take in the room. Couches with worn upholstery, wooden cabinets topped with books, and idle ornaments scattered about. Perhaps it was a sitting area, though far less illuminated than the other chambers.
I took a step, crushing something under my foot. A shattered vase had lain on the floor for some time, judging by the fine layer of dust coating it.
The soft patter of drizzle drew me deeper into the room, and on the far side I spotted another door with fogged glass. I moved towards it, the sound of rain growing louder, and opened it.
Somebody rushed past me outside, walking through a narrow alley of cobblestones in the pouring rain.
Rain.
I looked up, finding a grey sky with dark clouds.
I was outside.
My breath caught when I looked back into the room and realised it was on the ground floor, and far darker than the rest of Erisea Hall. In fact, it lay outside the estate’s castle walls.
Turning back, I walked to the door I had come through and gasped the moment I opened it.
It was a broom closet.
Searching the room did nothing but quicken my pulse. I cursed and stepped back into the rain. There was no sign of where I was. No beach, no castle, no familiar buildings.
Somehow, I’d made it out, but to where was the damned question.
Eventually, I chose a random direction and pressed into the alley. Rain blurred my vision, soaking the dress that was painfully out of place.
The streets were nearly deserted under the relentless downpour, no one in sight to ask for directions to Erisea Hall. After crossing several roads and walking down yet another alley, two figures came into view.
I exhaled in relief, my body shivering.
As I drew nearer, I noticed one more figure approaching—not two, then, but three men. One of them nudged the other, pointing my way, and my heartbeat lodged in my throat.
An instinct deep within me told me to slow my pace and turn in the opposite direction. And I did, but not before I saw the strangers, hidden beneath long cloaks and deep hoods, striding deliberately toward me.
“Lost, are you, luv?” one called, his voice unnervingly close.
I quickened my pace, the same instinct warning me to hurry. My foot slipped on the wet cobblestones, and a sharp jolt shot through my ankle, but I kept going, debating at what point I should just run—until one of them stepped in my path.
His dark cloak, frayed at the hem, covered his wet boots. Messy lavender hair and a slender face smirked at me.
“Need help, luv? You don’t look like you’re from here,” he said, his eyes scanning me slowly.
“No. My husband is expecting me.”
I cursed inwardly the moment I realised what I’d said and pivoted to my right, only to crash into a bald man marked with tattoos around his neck.
His hood was down, letting the rain drench his shaved head and his creased forehead. He loomed over me, easily ten centimetres taller.
“Husband?” the fair-haired one echoed. “What in the skies is a human doing in Erisea? Alone.”
“It’s none of your business, is it?” I said. “Let me pass.”
“She must belong to someone, Zarren,” came a voice behind me. Glancing back, I saw a brown-haired man, closer to my height. His tone sounded younger than the other two, who appeared to be in their late thirties.
They tightened their circle around me, blocking both ends of the deserted alley.
My heart pounded in my chest, my body on high alert.
“If you’re really from Erisea, where do you live, luv?” the one with lighter hair pressed, stepping closer.
“That is not your concern,” I gritted out, trying to push past the two in front, but the lavender-haired man blocked me, his hood slipping back to reveal eyes glinting with interest.
“Let me pass,” I repeated, pushing myself between them.
Only to have him yank me back with a brutal grip on my hair.
Anger flared hotter than my fear for a moment. I drove my knee hard into his groin and shoved him away. He cursed, releasing my scalp, but I had barely moved a step before hands seized me and pinned me against a solid chest.
“You won’t be doing that again,” the bald one snarled, keeping me locked in place. “Zarren won’t be pleased.”
I tried to wrench myself free, to put distance between myself and the stranger at my back, but it was useless.
The one called Zarren stalked toward me, grimacing. His voice was tight as he sneered, “You’re a wild one, aren’t you, human?”
The sharp sting of a slap tore across my cheek. The force made my head snap to the side.
My skin burnt, throbbing. Shock clamped down on my chest. I caught his spiteful smirk, noticing the heavy rings glinting on each of his fingers.
“For every stupid thing you do, we’ll give you something to regret.
Understand, luv?” Zarren said, stepping closer.
He gripped my face, his fingers digging painfully into my jaw.
“Now tell me. What’s a pretty human like you doing in Erisea?
Who brought you here?” He leaned in. “Are you someone’s pet? ”
Revulsion twisted in my gut, and I spat directly into his face, striking his nose.
Anger bubbled within me as I tried again to break free from the bald one’s hold, but he pressed me tighter. My feet stumbled beneath me.
There was no chance of freeing myself by sheer strength. This was real, not a nightmare. It was happening, and I was trapped.
Zarren wiped his nose with a grimace, then smeared his fingers on the waist of my dress, his nostrils flaring.
“Filth,” he muttered, backhanding me again, harder this time. One of his rings slashed my cheek, carving a searing line of pain. I felt warmth trickling down my face, mixing with the cold rain.
Vile prick.
Zarren exchanged a glance with the bald one restraining me, the grip around me shifting to my neck, making it harder to breathe. I clawed at his forearm, fighting to loosen his chokehold.
“We’re late to meet the others,” muttered the shorter one standing a few steps away, but the other two ignored him.
“That’s a pretty dress you’ve got on,” Zarren remarked, lifting the hem just above my ankles.
I yanked the fabric back, shouting, “What do you want?”
He ignored my demand, his gaze drifting to the soaked sleeve. “Not a cheap dress, either,” he continued, fingers toying with the wet fabric. “You must belong to someone with large coffers.”
“Get your hands off me!” I said, trying to shove him. Anger and fear sent my pulse racing wildly.
The arm around my throat tightened, wrenching my head back until all I could see was Zarren’s lingering gaze. I gasped, struggling with the breath caught in my chest. The bald one twisted one of my arms behind me, forcing it awkwardly against his chest. I winced at the pressure on my wrist.
“What do you want to do with her?” the bald one asked. He reeked of something foul.
Fear was crawling its way into a cold desperation up my spine, but I stopped myself before uselessly begging them to let me go. Whatever little courage I had left was draining, the sting on my cheek throbbing similarly to the hammering in my chest.
I dug my nails into his arm until I drew blood.
“Bitch,” he hissed.
Zarren grabbed my hand, snatching it away from his minion’s arm, twisting it cruelly until I whimpered in pain.
“Stop, or we’ll make it worse,” he warned.
I stilled, pressing my lips together to avoid another sound.
Think. Think.
The man’s fingers trailed over my exposed collarbone, slow and vile, pulling a sleeve down from my shoulder.
My breath grew shallow, panicked. But as he stared at the dress, his other hand loosened, as if he’d forgotten.
I rammed my elbow back into the bald one’s stomach and, at the same time, drove my heel into his foot. He grunted, his grip loosening. Before the others could react, I ripped myself free and darted behind him, using his body as a shield against the other two.
I could have outrun them. I could have got away if it weren’t for my damn sandals slipping on the wet stones.
A body slammed into my back, sending me sprawling onto the ground. Zarren pinned me down as I fought beneath him, screaming.
He laughed, crossing my wrists over my chest and pinning them with one hand, the other closing around my throat.
The ground was freezing beneath me, and the air seemed to chill even more, as if the rain would soon turn to hail.