Page 10 of Fallen

I kept my voice neutral; I knew better than to push Brien too far in front of his men. However, even calling himsirwas a provocation, and we both knew it. But it backfired on me, because his smile simply grew darker, an expression that made my blood spark and fizz.

Damn the man anyway. He still pushed all my lady buttons.

The guard urged me through a door and down a narrow staircase carved out of bedrock. He opened the first door on the right. “Inside.”

I complied, and he shut and locked it, leaving me alone. Panic squeezed my throat. The walls seemed to close in on me. The prick hadn’t even turned on a light.

I jerked the door handle, but the door was vampire proof—thick wood reinforced with silver. I discovered that when I dropped my bag and slid my hands over the door and the silver bands that crisscrossed it.

I felt for a light switch but came up empty. My lungs locked. I slammed a fist against the door.

“Let. Me. Out.”

The panic increased. The room felt airless. I couldn’t seem to fill my lungs.

Breathe.

Slayers have to be tough. When my squad leaders had realized I had a phobia about dark, confined spaces, they’d locked me in rooms like this countless times. I had to either learn how to control my fear—or break. And I was damned if I’d let them break me.

I gritted my teeth and drew a slow inhale.

There’s a light. There must be.

This wasn’t a tiny room in a bunker beneath the SI training compound. This was a chateau, retrofitted for vampires and their thralls, and even a vampire required a small amount of illumination to see. Therewouldbe a light switch.

I ran my hands along the wall near the door again. This time, I found the light plate. I flipped the switch and an overhead light came on.

My shoulders sagged with relief. I exhaled loudly.

I was in a wall-papered parlor furnished with a couch and armchairs in a vintage red brocade. Behind the couch was a wet bar stocked with wine and liquor. I moved my bag to the nearest chair and switched on a couple of Tiffany-style floor lamps. Still shaky, I started opening doors to distract myself from the fact that I was locked underground.

The first door belonged to a large bathroom with a glassed-in shower and a pretty blue-and-white mosaic floor. I splashed some cold water on my face, feeling more myself now. If Fleur hadn’t confiscated my phone, I might’ve taken a photo.

The master bedroom was behind the second door. The bed was covered with a black silk duvet embroidered with gold flowers. The only personal items were a wooden hairbrush and a couple of leather hair ties on the dresser.

I pulled drawers, searching for a weapon. When I didn’t find one, I rifled through the suits in the walk-in closet. I had no luck there, either, but then, I didn’t really expect to. Brien wouldn’t be that careless.

The suits smelled like him. I rubbed a sleeve against my face, drawing his earthy green scent into my lungs. I was acting like a lovesick ass, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.

Back in the bedroom, I sat on the bed, running a palm over the duvet. Something curled through my lower belly, something hot and needy. If things had been different, I’d have been more than willing to lie down on the big silk-covered mattress and wait for Brien…naked.

Hell, I’d fantasized for the past two years about doing something just like that.

But things had changed. The SOB thought he owned me—and in his world, he did, even if it was illegal. The treaties between vampires and humans stated clearly that a vampire couldn’t enslave a human, but there were always places like Quebec City where the syndicates paid the humans in charge enough to look the other way.

I came to my feet. That’s when I saw a door concealed in the black-and-gold wallpaper. I opened it to find a small room barely large enough for a dresser and a single bed. The tiny bathroom had a sink, a toilet and a shower. Like the outer door, the connecting door was thick, silver-reinforced wood with the lock on the master-bedroom side.

My chest tightened. The room was a prison, a place to keep a thrall locked up during the hours when the vampires were deep in their day sleep.

No. Hell, no.

Closing the door, I stalked back to the parlor and the wet bar, where I poured myself a shot of whiskey and downed it in a couple of gulps. Heat filled my belly. False courage, but right now I’d take any courage I could get.

I had to get a hold of myself. From the time I’d seen Brien at the auction, I’d blanked.

That wasn’t like me. Twilight always had a plan.

The lock on the outer door disengaged. The fine hairs on my nape lifted, although not from fear—or at least, not only from fear. This feeling was more primitive, like the electric thrill you get right before a thunderstorm hits.

---