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  I should not be pushing his buttons, though I never feared him in the first place.

  He gave my nose a lick.

  “Eww!” I shoved at his massive shoulder, but it was like pushing a wall of rock. I stepped back and rolled my eyes.

  I’ll summon the servant girls to bring your food, he said as if waiting for me to object. I don’t want you to pass out like yesterday. Lorcan had to carry you back like a sack of potatoes.

  “He carried me?” I asked.

  Had he run his hands all over my body?

  The panther looked at me with a scowl. What do you think?

  I would have to get used to this beast being so expressive.

  “He’s High Lord of Night. And lords usually don’t act like mules. He could have ordered one of his minions to do the deed, like that vampiress who’s always glued to him. She doesn’t like me much, though I haven’t done anything to her. She gave him the goo-goo dove eyes, but when she looked at me, she seemed to think she could snap my neck like a twig.”

  You’re observant, he said. It’ll always be either him or me taking care of you. We don’t trust anyone else. In a few days, you’ll meet two more of us.

  “What do you mean, two more?”

  The panther padded past me to the door and hit a button on the wall with his paw.

  “Reysalor, right?” I asked, remembering that Lorcan called him that.

  I kept talking out loud instead of projecting my thoughts in his head to prevent him from hearing my other thoughts. Just in case. Even though he’d said he couldn’t do it because of my natural shield.

  I had a lot of plans I didn’t want anyone to hear.

  Footsteps rushed in from outside the door. I snapped my attention toward the door, my body tensing.

  Reysalor pulled the door open with his front paw and stalked out first, placing himself between me and three females carrying trays of food.

  “We brought Princess Saélihn food and drink,” a brunette girl said, eyeing the beast with fear. She looked a bit older than the other two, probably nineteen.

  Princess? Really. That was a riot. I tried not to laugh.

  The other two girls were placing dishes on the round table in the middle of the sitting room. They were literally shaking from the sight of Reysalor.

  I sniffed. They weren’t vampires. From my experiences through my dream visits to the human realm, I knew they were all humans.

  The vampires used humans as food but also as slaves. I inspected them and saw one of them had bite marks on her neck.

  I scratched Reysalor behind his ear, and he licked my hand before leaning in to my touch.

  “It’s okay,” I told the servant girls. “My panther is as harmless as a cat.”

  My panther? When did I mark him as mine? But I did like the idea of owning him. I liked to have something that was all mine, especially a talking animal who could terrify people.

  Reysalor snorted.

  “And he follows orders,” I said when I saw their fear didn’t lessen.

  They worked as fast as they could, so they could get the hell out of here.

  I turned to look at the panther sternly. “Sit, Reysalor.”

  Without warning, he leapt into the air.

  The servants screamed but froze in place instead of fleeing.

  Reysalor landed on a large white couch and perched on it, his large head resting on his front paws.

  “That’s your version of sitting, Reysalor?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

  He grinned lazily, then trained his eyes on the three girls, watching their every move.

  What could they even do to me? Throw hot soup at me?

  I turned to the servants. “My panther has a serious hearing problem when it comes to orders. Just ignore him, and you’ll be fine.”

  The youngest girl, who was probably sixteen, peeked at me from under her lashes when she thought I wasn’t watching, evidently curious about me. The others gazed at the table, stubbornly not looking anywhere else.

  “They say even the vampires are afraid of you, Princess,” the youngest girl said. She had a round face that still held some baby fat.

  “Are they really?” I asked.

  “Isn’t that why the queen locked you in the cage?” she asked.

  My shoulders stiffened. Now everyone knew I was the girl in the cage.

  The older girl in the center slapped the round-faced one’s upper arm. “Shut your mouth, Frances, if you want to live longer in this place.” She turned to me, her gaze dipping to the ground. “I apologize, Princess. Frances is new. She’s still in training.”

  “I don’t mind people speaking their minds, as long as they aren’t malicious,” I said. “And don’t call me princess or any bullshit like that. I’m no princess. Call me Cass. You don’t need to fear me. Queen Jezebel might have told everyone that I’m a monster, but I’m actually a nice girl. As long as you’re friendly to me, I’m just as harmless as my panther.”

  The servant girls remained quiet. I figured they’d never heard anyone who outranked them talk to them like that. Even though I had just come from a cage, I was in the company of the High Lord of Night.

  Rumor was that he came from the Court of Blood and Void, set in the center of the mortal world, and ruled over all vampires.

  I smiled at the girls and gazed at the dishes on the round table. “That’s a lot of food for me.”

  The delicious smell wafted toward me, and hunger gnawed my empty stomach. I had no idea how long I’d gone without food or water.

  I waved a hand, using my air magic to pull a chair out for me. The servants gasped, as if they’d never seen magic before.

  “Thanks, girls,” I said, reaching for a tall glass of liquid. I needed to soothe my parched throat. “If you’re hungry, you can sit down and eat too. There’s enough food for everyone.”

  “Thank you, Prin—Cass,” the oldest girl said, darting a fearful glance at the panther. “We can’t. There are rules here.”

  “Suit yourself,” I said with a shrug.

  I wouldn’t force sheep to be wolves. But I would never be a sheep, and no years of imprisonment, starving, or beating could force me to be one. And I would not follow any of the vampires’ social hierarchy bullshit.

  Wait, Cass, Reysalor called in my mind a split second before he appeared at my side.

  The servants widened their eyes and staggered back as Reysalor stalked around the table, sniffing the food and drinks.

  I arched an eyebrow as our eyes connected.

  I have to make sure none of the refreshments are poisoned, he said.

  “And you can just sniff out poison?” I asked.

  That’s one of my talents, he said unabashedly.

  I took a long swig from my glass and moaned as the smooth liquid went down my throat and settled coolly in my stomach. Once again, Reysalor’s eyes heated.

  “What’s this drink called?” I asked.

  Before any of the servants answered, Reysalor said, It’s mulled cider.

  “Mulled cider,” Frances said. “The High Lord specifically ordered it for you.”

  “How nice of him,” I said. “I hope he knows I have no money to pay him back.”

  If he ordered this huge feast for me, it was unlikely anyone, especially Jezebel, had a chance to poison me. Would she try now that she couldn’t control this monster?

  Then I noticed Frances staring at my neck.

  “No, no, no.” I shook my head at her. “Are you kidding me, little one? No bloodsucker will get his fangs near my perfect skin. I’d personally pull out all of his fucking fangs.” I glanced at Reysalor. “And you think I have a panther by my side for fun? He’s my faithful bodyguard. He’ll probably die for me.”

  “But he came with the vam—High Lord of Night,” Frances said, subtly reminding me that I should not trust the beast.

  Reysalor snarled at her, and she staggered back and pressed herself tightly against the wall.

  “Reysalor, be nice,” I said. “You
can’t just show your big teeth to anyone who disagrees with you.”

  Sure I can.

  I drained half the glass and set it down on the table in satisfaction. Reysalor stuck his tongue out and dipped into my glass.

  “Hey!” I said and knocked his head with my knuckles. “That’s mine, and I’m not done.”

  The servants widened their eyes, unable to imagine how I had the nerve to hit the terrifying predator.

  We share. We share everything, Reysalor said, smacking his lips at the taste of the cider before turning to lick my fingers as they scooped a portion of ice cream. I’d had ice cream once when Jezebel had been in a good mood.

  As I dug into the feast, targeting the fruits first, I casually studied the sitting room. No expense had been spared in its interior design. There was even a grand piano in the corner right under a splendid chandelier.

  “Who lives on the other side of door?” I asked, swinging a string of grapes in the direction of the door at the far end of the sitting room facing my bedroom door.

  “High Lord of Night,” the oldest girl said. “This is his suite whenever he visits.”

  “This High Lord is the king of all the vampire kings?” I asked, tossing a grape into my mouth.

  “Sort of, right, Shan?” Frances said, eyeing the oldest girl among them. Frances was definitely the gossiping type.

  Shan gave her a hard look. “We don’t really know vampire politics.”

  Reysalor swept his tongue over a plate, taking a large steak into his mouth. The steak was practically raw, and since I was unlikely to touch it, it must have been made for him.

  I’d been giddy, thinking the whole feast was for me, and forgotten that my panther needed to eat as well. He chewed loudly, irking me, but how could I demand a beast have table manners when I was flouting them with such merriment?

  “Where is the king of all the vampire kings?” I asked. “I have to inform him I need my own suite. My independence is very important to me.” Though I wouldn’t object to someone serving me food. If the vampire lord thought he could own me or control me in any way, he was in for a world of surprises, and none of them were good.

  “I think the High Lord is sleeping,” Frances whispered. “Do you think we should lower our voices?”

  “Hell no,” I said. “Why should we act like mice when his lazy Lordship is sleeping the day away?”

  Then it dawned on me. The vampires were inactive when sun came out. They spent most of the daytime sleeping and most of the nighttime drinking blood. That was their lifestyle.

  Just then, the door I’d pointed to opened, and Lorcan stalked out.

  He was dressed in a white button-down shirt that showed off his muscled chest and gray slacks that displayed his powerful legs. A lock of his hair brushed the corner of his gorgeous, gray eyes. It seemed he had just gotten out of bed and hadn’t bothered to comb his tousled, dark hair, which only added to his indisputable sexiness.

  His eyes found me.

  And my mind flicked to my dream, where he’d thrust savagely into my heat. The feel of his cock stretching my—

  I forced myself to dim the spark I felt and cleared my throat to shatter the image. I swept my gaze to the servant girls to break the connection to Lorcan. The girls all dropped their eyes to the ground as one, not because of my influence, but that of the vampire lord.

  He carried his power like he owned the air people breathed.

  But I wouldn’t let him intimidate me. I raised my gaze and met his again. I chewed cheese and bread and smirked with challenge in my two-toned eyes.

  “Good morning, your Lordship,” I said. “The sun is high up on asses.”

  Reysalor heaved a laugh.

  “Shouldn’t you be sleeping until the sun goes down?” I asked.

  “I don’t require much sleep, even in daytime,” Lorcan said, his eyes never leaving me. They were bright and a little surprised, as if he wasn’t used to me looking fresh and smelling clean.

  “Why is that?” I asked, not wanting to dwell on the embarrassing thought that my stink must have nearly choked him to death when he’d carried me to bath.

  “I’m not like others of my kind,” he said, strolling toward me.

  “Because you have a heartbeat and they don’t?” I asked, still curious about that. I’d mentioned it a couple times, but he was too evasive to give me any answer.

  “More than that. How’s your accommodation, Cass?”

  “It isn’t exactly terrible, but I’d prefer to live in the sunnier part of the dome,” I said. “Even better, I want to get out of here. I don’t like this creepy place. It makes my skin crawl.”

  This place housed my cage beneath it. I had toyed with the idea of finding a way to turn it into dust so no one could lock me up again. But even the idea of nearing it made me tremble with cold fear. I’d thought I was fearless and that nothing could scare me. But that was a lie. I had everything to lose now that I’d had a taste of freedom.

  Only when I was out of here, away from Jezebel and the vampires and everyone who’d ever heard of me, would I truly be free.

  I yearned for that day.

  “This suite is one of the securest places,” Lorcan said.

  “Secure for you, of course.” I glanced at him as he sat across from me.

  He wouldn’t eat solid food. I wondered if he’d fed last night, and whose neck he had sunk his fangs into. I felt my face shifting into a scowl at the thought, and hostility rose in me.

  “And for you,” he said. “I won’t allow anyone to harm you, as I promised you. I can’t chance moving you to another location at the moment. I know you don’t fancy this place, but the fewer people know about you, the safer you’ll be.”

  I clenched my jaw. My mother had used that same excuse to lock me up.

  “Safer for whom exactly?” I sneered, tossing the remaining bread back on the plate.

  The servant girls jumped, their eyes widening in fear for me, and waited for the High Lord of Night to strike me down.

  Earlier, they had been terrified just whispering his name.

  I might not be able to take him down since my power didn’t seem to work on him, but he wouldn’t get rid of me before he got whatever it was he wanted from me. He wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to bust me out of the cage just to kill me.

  “Leave us,” Lorcan said, not turning his head, and the girls scurried out as fast as their feet could carry them.

  A guard stepped in from beyond the door, but before he could close it for their lord, an elegant hand took over and pushed the door open wider.

  Jade strode in wrapped in black leather, boots, and a sword strapped on her thigh. She shut the door behind her. She didn’t move any further, but remained near the door.

  Lorcan raised a brow but didn’t dismiss her like last time.

  So, whatever he wanted to say to me, she would hear. She was more than his weapon. I didn’t know how much she meant to him, but I was pissed at the idea of them having a special relationship.

  I glared at Lorcan. “Are we going to have a secret meeting?”

  “You’ll address the Lord of Night as High Lord,” Jade said in a steely voice.

  “Oh yeah?” I sent her a lopsided smirk. “Why do I give a fuck who’s the High Lord? I can very well call myself High Lady of Earth, and with that title, I outrank him.”

  She hissed, ready to lunge at me, but Reysalor snarled at her in warning, staring at her throat.

  Lorcan raised a hand. “Jade!” He shot the panther a withering look.

  I laughed.

  “Stop being childish, Cass,” Lorcan chided me. “This isn’t play. I didn’t go to such great lengths to rescue you for the fun games in your mind.”

  “What do you want from me then?” I said, my mouth suddenly dry.

  No one would just let me out of the cage out of pure kindness or for the justice of the world.

  “I want to be straightforward with you,” he said. “I know you aren’t ready, but
we need to make you ready as soon as possible. We don’t have much time. The world is burning. We need you to save it.”

  “What?” I almost spat out my drink, but I swallowed it just in time.

  Reysalor edged closer to me, lending me his warmth and support. Lorcan gave him another harsh look, evidently not pleased with how cozy the panther and I were.

  “You have no idea what’s going on in the outside world,” Lorcan said.

  I sizzled with anger. Was it my fault that I had been locked up?

  “The mortal civilization is collapsing,” Lorcan said, as if it meant something to me. “Half the world is burned away. It’s only a matter of time before the immortal realm will be breached. If the human terrain is destroyed, the immortal realm that’s connected to it will become a shadow, and all of us on this planet will face extinction.”

  I hadn’t seen the mortal realm burning in my dream visits, but then I hadn’t had dreams for over a year. I’d been nearly broken and too weak to dream-visit any place.

  “So, the world is burning,” I said. “How am I supposed to save it?” I put up my hands, palms facing him, and wiggled my fingers. “Put out the fire with my small hands?”

  I snatched another full glass from across the table and took a gulp of the sweet juice.

  “You don’t need to put out any fire,” Lorcan rasped, clearly not liking my tone. “That’s not your job.” He heaved out a breath. “But we’ll need you to kill the most powerful beings—the gods from Mount Olympus.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, and it was too late for me to swallow a mouthful of juice. It shot right toward the High Lord of Night, splashed onto his spotless, white shirt before he could duck.

  I stared at his shirt, my eyes wide. I’d ruined it. Then my gaze moved to his face. A muscle jerked on his jaw, and his gray eyes darkened a notch.

  Jade moved toward him, ready to assist in any way, even in stripping him. She would love that, wouldn’t she?

  I inhaled slightly as the erotic dream entered my mind again. The High Lord had looked deliciously hot when he was naked. Would he look like that in reality?

  Lorcan waved her back, and she retreated, sending me a death glare.

  “Oh, that was most unfortunate,” I said.