Page 95 of Polestar
“How can we remove it?”Ana forced as much calm into her question as she could.
“I don’t know,” Ulla said, her hand pressed to her forehead as she glanced at the door again.“I don’t think it can be, not without a shaman, anyway.”She drew a long breath, straightening her spine as her gaze searched the room, as though the answers were somewhere within it.
“Even if you decide to snap my neck, at least let Magnus go.Let him find a shaman that can help your brother.Youknowhe would.Won’t the king’s shaman help him?”
“He’s dead,” Ulla said, resuming her pacing with a heavy sigh.“You know what?It’s too late.It’s too late for Aksel.I can’t do anything to reverse it.I can’t help him.It’s too late.”
“What’s too late?”Adolf asked as he and Yvan entered the room.
“It’s too late for her totryto bargain with me,” Ulla said quickly, masking her emotions as she looked at Ana.
“Ah, well, did she tell you what you wanted to know at least?”Yvan asked, lacing his large fingers together as he moved into Ana’s line of sight.
“No,” she said, shrugging a shoulder.“I’m bored.We should find out what Magnus knows about this old artifact you want, so Adolf can sell her, and I can think about other things,” she said to Yvan.
“Like becoming Queen.”Yvan grinned, trailing a finger over her cheek.
She twitched away from his touch, seemed to catch herself, smiled, and placed a kiss on his finger.“Exactly.”
“I like this idea,” Yvan said, leaning in to nuzzle Ulla’s neck.
Ana looked away, in a bid to control the returned revulsion churning in her gut.
I don’t think I can take any more of this.
She glanced up to see Antony looking as ghostly green as she felt.
You should check on Emilio and the guys in case they decide to move them.If I survive this, I’ll need to know where to direct my team.
Antony’s hesitation was clear as he looked between her and the three lovers, pretending to have forgotten about her.
I’ll be fine.And even if I’m not, you can’t do anything about it, Antony.Don’t get obliviated—if this guy isn’t talking out of his ass.
Antony snort-laughed, then snapped his mouth shut when Yvan turned his attention on him.“Okay, stay alive,” he said and blinked out of sight.
“Where’s he gone, your ghost friend?”Yvan demanded.
“With the three of you heating things up in here, he didn’t think he wanted to stick around if squid boy over there broke out the rest of his tentacles.So, he abandoned me to suffer alone.”
Yvan backhanded Ana, snapping her head to the side with a crack.Her head rang as pain bloomed through it from the impact on her cheek.
“Don’t damage my property!”Adolf shot forward, grabbing her face and looking at either side.“You’re lucky you didn’t break her.Now I’ll have to wait till the bruising clears up before I can present her to the special clients I contacted.Damn your temper, Yvan.They don’t like it when I tease them and delay presentations longer than necessary.”
“I don’t care about your vast network of clients.I promised the others we’d find the artifact and secure it.This is all I want, Adolf.Not money, like you.”
“It’s not just the money, Yvan.”Adolf stepped closer to Yvan, snarling up at the taller man’s face.
Ulla slid between the two, her bottom against Yvan’s groin, her breasts to Adolf’s chest, distracting both.
“We all want something, don’t we?How about we head back to the stronghold and see if we can finish what we started?Yvan’s right, we should bring the human woman, although I doubt the leverage idea will work.I have something else in mind for her.”Ulla glanced Ana’s way, leveling her glittering blue eyes at her.
Uh oh.
Idon’tcarewhocomes in here next.I’ll rip their head off if I have to, in order to escape and find Ana.
Thoughts of Ana being trapped on a ship like the ones they had seized over the last decade made the bile in his gut rise.
I have to get out of here.
