Page 6 of Kept to Kill
‘I see.’ She let out a sigh and went back to exploring the tent, ignoring him once more.
‘Are you not afraid?’
‘You can’t touch me,’ she said simply. ‘If you do, you’ll die.’
Deciding to indulge her, he leant back, putting his muddy boots on the small portion of his predecessor’s desk not covered in paper, which he did every chance he got because fuck the bastard. He and his power games were the reason his Brother Payn was dead.
‘So if you touch your skin to another’s, then that person dies. Is that right?’
‘Yes. It used to take hours or days … but its moments now.’
‘And you can’t control it?’ he asked, watching her for signs of falsity.
‘No. I just don’t touch anyone.’
‘Ever?’ he teased. ‘Not a kiss, not a caress, not a good hard fuck?’
He watched her cheeks color and chuckled.
‘Never,’ was all she said. ‘Only …’ She trailed off.
‘Only?’
‘Only when Vineri ordered it,’ she said abruptly, turning away again.
So she hadn’t liked being part of the Collector’s collection, then. ‘Have you killed many?’ he enquired, wondering when she’d end this farce.
She was silent for such a long time that Quin wondered if she’d heard him before he received a very faint, almost inaudible ‘yes.’
He clicked his fingers and a guard appeared. ‘Have another bed brought,’ he ordered, not taking his eyes off the girl.
‘Am I staying in here?’
‘I told you my aims, girl. That hasn’t changed.’
She rolled her eyes, making his narrow at her arrogance. She had no idea what he was capable of, the many ways he could hurt her without laying a hand on her. He smiled as he thought about it.
‘Though your tale was entertaining, I’m not quite convinced,’ he said, watching to see when she’d begin to panic because she was a liar and he knew it, but there was nothing. If anything, she looked even more relaxed. ‘What if I wanted a demonstration?’
‘A demonstration?’ she parroted faintly.
‘Yes. Kill one of my guards.’
‘No,’ she said immediately. ‘I won’t do it anymore. If you must kill me, then do it, but I’ll not execute anyone for you. I’ll not swap one evil master for another.’
‘You’d compare me to Vineri? That fool?’ he snarled, wondering why he cared what she thought.
‘You’re just another man who would use me. There isn’t much difference,’ she returned, not cowed in the least.
He jumped to his feet, infuriated by her. He’d show the little bitch just how easily she could be hurt, broken, without him touching his flesh to hers even once, he thought, grabbing his long knife.
She tensed immediately. ‘Are you going to kill me now or do you think to scare me?’
He stood in front of her. She stepped back. He followed and she stepped again.
‘Stop it,’ she said, sounding more exasperated than scared. ‘How else can I say it? The merest brush of my bare skin on yours will kill you. Don’t you understand?’
Her back met the wall of the tent and he stood over her. It took the smallest, precise flicks of the blade for her gown to slide to the floor, ruined beyond repair.
