Page 23 of Royal Captive
A dark chuckle answered. “Your shift starts in twenty minutes.”
Eight
EVE
My shift.
I wasn’t a stranger to hard work, but I was afraid of what duties got assigned in a pleasure house. No blushing virgin, I had a fair idea. If any of these fae thought they could have their way with me and that I’d submissively take it, they’d have another thing coming.
The dress was silky and smooth underneath my fingertips. Hopefully, I could figure out how to put it on—
“What is going on here?”
I froze. I knew that voice. It couldn’t be.
“Changing. She—” Alihandro’s voice cut off as the door to the bathroom wrenched open, shearing the lock and sending bits of wood flying. “Is that really necessary?” Alihandro said lightly, but there was an edge to his voice.
My mouth went dry as Cassus himself stood in the doorway, glaring at me. The world around me tunneled and I was again a silly girl in a dead princess’s dress, bumping into this fae male in the hallway.
Cassus grabbed my wrist in a vice grip and yanked me out of the bathroom after him.
“She isn’t prepared—” Alihandro protested.
“Get out of my room. Haven’t you done enough?”
I flinched at the venom in Cassus’s voice. He had clearly bathed and changed since the throne room, his clothing once again impeccable, but there were lines and a tightness in his face that hadn’t been there before. His eyes were colder.
What had happened? Shouldn’t seeing his wife and new baby have given him relief?
“My apologies, Lord Cassus. I’ll just …” Alihandro moved toward the door with a tone that sounded anything but apologetic.
“Where are you going? Get her out of my sight before I flay her belly like a fish and watch her entrails spill out onto the carpet! Let’s see the girls get the stains out of that!”
My heart stopped beating at the visceral threat and I’m sure I went as white as a sheet.
Alihandro grabbed my wrist and yanked me out of the Cassus’s rooms, slamming the door behind us. I tried to focus on breathing again. “Sorry about him. He’s been a bit tense since returning.”
I ripped my wrist out of his grasp, Ferar’s head bouncing to the ground over and over in my mind’s eye. “Yeah, seeing your best friend murdered in your place has a tendency to do that,” I commented wryly.
Alihandro tilted his head to the side, studying me. “I see.”
“See what?” I bit back.
“Why are they all obsessed with you,” he teased, eyes lingering on my bare midriff. I resisted the urge to cover myself with my arms. I hadn’t had a mirror in the room to glance at myself, but I didn’t need one to know I probably lookedridiculous. Clothes like this were for dainty, pretty girls. And what had Shyllon called me? Oh yes.
Horse girl.
“Your heart is pounding. Are you all right? Cassus said you were brave.”
I blinked at him, then realized he was right. I was breathing heavily. It was like I’d just run a race with Gregory. A dull ache bloomed in my heart, thinking of him.
“Ah, there she is. We’ll take over from here.” The blonde human woman I’d seen when I arrived reached for me. I leaned back into Alihandro’s broad chest, unwilling to leave one of the few people who’d been kind to me.
“I was told she was to be kept in Cassus’s parlor this evening,” Alihandro grit out, not yet releasing me.
She laughed, throwing her head back. “Look how she hides behind her protector. He can’t save you, you little idiot! He’s one of our most frequent customers!” She tossed a blonde lock over her shoulder. “Besides, if Cassus wants her, no one has talked tomeyet. I already have gold from the males downstairs. And a few females,” she added with a nasty gleam in her eyes.
Hands pried me away from Alihandro, who did nothing to stop it. For a petite woman, the blonde was deceptively strong. But I was bigger than her and she was only a human. I dug my heels in.
