Chapter 9
I woke in my room. Not my real room – the one in Vali’s tower. This was starting to become a habit.
It took me several blinks to remember what had happened. Then I swore at my ceiling. I jerked a hand up and checked it. When I couldn’t find any scars, I brought my other hand up and checked that instead. Nothing. I distinctly remembered grabbing up that sword and its burning handle blistering my skin. In fact, if I half closed my eyes, I could even kindle up the scent of singed flesh.
Shifting hard into my pillow, I rolled to the side and clutched my shoulders, checking for any sign of injury.
… Nothing.
How could there be nothing? I’d blacked out due to blood loss. The gash in my arm had been deep enough that I would have required stitches.
But there was nothing.
I sat up as the morning sunlight streamed through the crack in my curtains.
Drawing an arm up and locking it over my face, I heard the door suddenly beep. “You will dress and see Vali,” it said in a toneless ring.
I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed a hand onto the center of my forehead. “Oh god.”
Literally.
Because apparently it was time to see the god of revenge.
Though all I wanted to do was stay in my warm, inviting bed, I didn’t have any option.
Reluctantly, I got out of bed and dressed. There was a new pile of neat clothes sitting on one of the expensive chairs in my room. A pair of blue jeans, a shirt, and, thankfully, a thick jacket.
I felt the cold everywhere these days. As soon as I wriggled into the jacket, I jacked its collar up and hid behind it.
Then I shot the door a mutinous glare, just daring it to tell me what to do again.
As if on cue, it beeped and swung open.
I jumped. Crumpling my lips in and biting them as if I wanted to chew them off, I approached the door warily. As soon as I made it out into the straight, short corridor beyond, the door closed behind me with a thump.
I jumped.
Then, without any other option, I walked up to Vali’s door. For some reason, my room only seemed to lead to his. It was clear he didn’t want to give me any option for escape.
As I approached the massive, thick, ancient, wooden door, it opened with an ominous, spine-tingling creak.
With a steeling breath, I walked inside.
This time Vali didn’t pretend to be absorbed in his work. This time he immediately shoved back, crossed his impressive arms, and glared at me.
Fright burst through my belly, but I managed to keep a handle on it by grinding my teeth together and telling myself that if he wanted me dead, I wouldn’t have woken up this morning.
“Let me make something crystal-clear.” Vali’s voice dropped as he leaned back in his chair. Though he was a strong man with a large build, the chair didn’t creak, almost as if it wouldn’t dare.
“What?” I asked through a crack in my stiff lips.
“You will never take those off again.” He pointed to the bangles.
I stiffened as I turned my neck down and stared at the locks. “That man was about to kill me. I didn’t have any option—”
“I don’t want to hear it.” He brought up a stiff hand and spread his fingers wide. “You will never take those off again,” he said in that same ringing tone that made it clear he didn’t expect me to reply.
And yet, I couldn’t stop myself. “You threw me into that situation. I had no training. I still have no idea—”
“Lilly White, you will promise me that you will never take those off again unless I direct it,” he snapped right over the top of me.
I ground my teeth together, feeling them vibrating and shuddering down my jaw. Right now I wanted nothing more than to lurch forward and kick the sanctimonious Franklin Saunders. But from experience, that would get me nothing more than a bruised toe. So instead, I stood there, clutching my hands behind my back and curling them into such hard fists it would take a crowbar to pry apart my fingers.
“Say it,” he growled.
“Fine. I’ll never take them off again,” I said, voice a mix of dejection and yet frustration.
Satisfied, Franklin leaned back, steepled his fingers, and looked at me.
I was never good with direct attention. But Franklin Saunders’ attention? That wasn’t just direct – it was like the universe dropped away and there was just the two of you. As he stared at me, it appeared that nothing would distract him, and he would only turn away when he saw fit. It was also clear that he was assessing me, and from the grim look pressing across his lips, it was equally clear that I did not measure up to scratch.
I let out a frustrated, bitter breath, even though I knew better. I willed myself to shut up. I begged myself not to open my mouth, but I couldn’t stop my lips. “Why is it so goddamn important that I keep these things on? You want me to track down your criminals, but how exactly can I do that if I can’t—”
He put up another hand. There was a large stapler sitting on his desk, and I got the urge to push forward and staple his frigging hand to his chair so he could never jerk up that massive palm and silence me so rudely ever again.
I, of course, just stood there, clutching my fists until it felt like I’d crush my fingers.
I was suddenly struck by how different he was. When he’d come to rescue me last night, I’d seen the kindness in his eyes, felt the gentleness of his touch.
Now? It was like he was a different man. With his jaw set so hard and his cold blue eyes glittering so imperiously, he looked like a caricature of an arrogant asshole, albeit an extremely handsome, godly one.
Had it just been an act? The kindness? Had it just been a trap to lure me in? Did he want to keep me confused, keep me pliable, keep me always guessing?
Or was something else going on here…?
He clearly saw me frowning. He waited several seconds before leaning even further back in his seat. “What is it?”
“Why are you so… different?”
“Different?” His tone had an edge, and his eyes glittered with the kind of dangerous look that would tell any normal person to shut the hell up.
I was no longer a normal person. Last night, I had almost frozen a man to death in the basement of a nightclub.
So I plowed on. “Last night, when you saved me… you were different. Nicer.” I let my voice bottom out. “Or was that all an act?”
I fancied that a man like Franklin Saunders knew exactly how to hide what he was thinking. I fancied that he had been schooled since birth to control his body language, his expression, his tone. He would be the best actor this side of Broadway. So why did I suddenly see the tension climbing his jaw, locking it in place, and stiffening his wide shoulders?
And that was nothing to mention the look in his eyes. It became so edgy it was clear I’d hit a nerve.
I took a nervous step back but didn’t stop facing him. “How come you didn’t warn me about taking off my locks last night? How come you didn’t—”
He rose, and my god was it an intimidating move. The way he slowly locked his hands on the corner of his desk, the way he shifted back, shoved his weight into the chair, and then pulled himself to his full height. It didn’t just still my breath; it riveted me to the spot.
“Don’t change the subject,” he warned. “All that matters is your promise that you will never take your armlets off again.”
I was pale with nerves, hands and shoulders sweaty. And yet my curiosity flared.
Why did I suddenly get the impression that Vali was the one changing the subject?
“Last night, you were—” I began.
“You will stop speaking of last night,” he commanded in a voice that rumbled through the room and left me with absolutely no question that he meant what he was saying.
I actually gulped. I did not, however, stop looking at him. I couldn’t help but pick up how rigid he’d become, how cold and guarded his gaze was.
Though I wanted to keep p
ushing, I quickly realized it was suicidal. Instead, I took another step back. “Fine. I won’t mention it again. But—”
He brought up that same goddamn hand and spread those same goddamn fingers stiffly, silencing me. “There are no buts. And you will not rescind on your promise. You will never take those armlets off again. Unless I request it,” he suddenly added.
My eyebrows crumpled. “You request it?”
“Yes,” he growled. “You will only do so under my instruction and in my presence.” His voice rumbled on the word my.
I frowned even harder. “Why?”
“I will not explain myself to you. Now this conversation is over, you will go and request another assignment.”
“Already?” My voice shot up like a kazoo. “I almost died last night.”
“Almost. And yet now you are fine.” He gestured to me with a stiff hand.
Wait, he was right – I was fine, wasn’t I? Before I’d marched in here to have this meeting with him, the fact I had no injuries had been a pertinent one. I’d forgotten it in the face of his arrogant brutality. Now I frowned. “What exactly happened to my injuries, anyway? I almost burnt my hand clean off.”
“They were healed,” he commented simply.
“How?”
“You ask questions I have no time to answer. Now, go and request another assignment.”
My nervousness at his anger began to wane. In its place, my own anger grew. Where the hell did this guy get off treating me so badly? Okay, so technically he was a revenge god out to keep humanity in check. But why exactly did he treat my every request for information like an insult?
He stared at me with a hard-edged jaw for several seconds, obviously willing me to go against his warning and ask more questions.
I didn’t. Instead, I stared back. Then I let my arms unhook from behind my back. I now made absolutely no attempt to hide my tightly clenched fists. “I guess I’ll be leaving, then,” I commented as I turned hard on my foot and headed for the door.
“One more thing,” he said as I heard him turn and lean against his desk.
I stiffened.
“Have you told anybody about what happened in that basement?”
“About the fact I almost killed a man?” I choked on my words.
“No, about the ice.” His tone became… unreadable. Guarded.
I couldn’t help but turn over my shoulder to stare at him.
He stared right back. “Have you told anybody about the ice?” he demanded once more.
I felt a shiver – tight, cold, strong. It powered through my chest and exploded through my heart. “No. I haven’t had a chance to—”
“And you won’t. All details of this case are now locked. You will share them with no one.”
There he went again, silencing me. It was almost as if he was scared of me.
Though reason told me to turn around and head right through the door, I didn’t. “Why?”
He didn’t react.
He was obviously giving me one more chance to leave quietly.
I didn’t take it. “Why shouldn’t I tell anybody? What exactly are you trying to hide?”
“What I am trying to hide,” he said in an uncharacteristically calm tone, “is something you are not ready to hear. Trust me when I say this, Lilly White, this is for your own good. Now, request another assignment. Your sins remain, and you must continue to pay for them.” With that, he turned from me, walked around, sat at his desk, and proceeded to ignore me.
It took me several seconds to unfreeze my body and push through the door. As soon as I did, as soon as I was out in the abandoned corridor, I closed the door and leaned against it. I instantly locked a sweaty hand on my chest, my frown becoming so pronounced it felt as if my mouth would drop from my face. “What the hell was that?” I whispered quietly under my breath. “I’m not ready to know the truth? What does that mean?” My voice shot up, becoming louder, becoming more desperate.
From within the office, I heard Franklin clear his throat.
That arrogant move was enough to turn my fear into anger. A blast of it suddenly surged through my gut, and I got the distinct urge to kick the door. Do that, however, and Franklin would just add another so-called sin to my growing list of misdemeanors. I felt very much like an indentured slave.
Except unlike the slaves of old, I would never break free of Vali.
I cursed his very existence as I walked away. I also frowned. I frowned because the mysteries were mounting, drawing me further into this new world….