Page 80 of Kept to Kill
She gasped in his hold, freezing for a second, and his gaze sharpened, eyes narrowing at her.
‘Are you new?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she pretended to shyly admit. ‘It’s my first time.’
‘That explains it,’ he said.
Dark-Hair did not look convinced. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen you before,’ he muttered.
‘I’m from Kitore,’ she replied. ‘You may have seen me about.’
Blondie’s hands ran down her body and she wished the Brothers were here at this moment. She didn’t want any of these men touching her. Almost without thinking, her hand came up to brush against his cheek. He began to smile, but Dark-Hair grabbed her hand with his gloved one before it could touch his friend, wrenching her away and throwing her to the floor.
She cried out as he drew a sword out of nowhere and pointed it at her.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ Blondie yelled, staring at his friend in astonishment.
‘We’ve been waiting so long for them to strike at us, we didn’t stay on our guard. She’s here to kill us, aren’t you, girl?’
Lily cowered as all three loomed over her. How had he known?
‘Of course not!’ she stammered. ‘It’s my first time as a courtesan. I’m nervous is all!’
Dark-Hair reached down and she yelped as he grabbed her hair, pulling her to her feet by it.
‘Please!’ she begged, wondering how she was going to get out of this. Perhaps she could put them at ease and she’d get another chance at them. ‘If I was here to kill anyone, I’d have weapons. Surely you can see I have nothing.’
The third one looked her over with a shrewd expression. ‘Not if you kill by touch,’ he said, raising an eyebrow.
Lily’s mouth fell open before she could hide her shock. ‘How did you—?’
Dark-Hair and Blondie glanced at their friend.
‘Good guess,’ Dark-Hair observed.
The third one shrugged. ‘I know the history of Kitore. She’s not the first oddity the city’s wards created to protect it. Doubt she’ll be the last.’
Thewardshad made her? Could that be true?
She gasped as all three pairs of eyes that looked back at her turned a deep and bright violet. Her heart thudded in her chest. ‘Gods, you’refae!’
‘Aye,’ Dark-Hair said, his countenance darkening.
Lily gaped at them in awe and in fear. She’d never have dreamed she’d see even one of the fearsome males of the Underhill, let alonethree.
‘What shall we do with her?’ Blondie asked. ‘Kill her and leave her on the Library’s steps? Nixus won’t miss that.’ He grinned evilly and she blanched.
‘No,’ Dark-Hair said. ‘We aren’t ready for open conflict. But she will be a message.’
The hand in her hair eased for the barest moment to get a better grip and she broke away from them, dashing through the door into the next room, but Dark-Hair caught her long before she could exit into the hall, his gloved hand closing around her throat. He threw her against the wall with a curse, squeezing her neck tightly.
‘Hold still,’ he barked.
She couldn’t breathe. Her hands clawed at his, but it was no use. He was calm and collected as her knees weakened and she felt her eyes start to grow dim. Her attempts to escape became more and more feeble and, stupidly, her last thought was that she had failed her unit. She had let them down.
Lily woke to the sound of dripping water and the smell of damp, rotten reeds. She could hear the scratching of small animals rustling across the floor. When at last she opened her eyes, she saw she was in a cell.
She shivered. She was lying on a cold stone floor and still wearing her flimsy disguise. The last thing she remembered was being choked by the dark-haired fae. Where was she now?
