Page 9 of The Endless Dance

“I could make you,” he shrugs.

“I wouldn’t dance for you, even if my life depended on it, High Lord,” I sneer.

“And if your little friend’s life did?” he asks casually.

I freeze. He wouldn’t hurt Akari… would he? He just saved her. Maybe that’s why he did it. For leverage. Fuck. I had put myself into a terrible situation with my demands to help her. How was I going to pay for them?

“Relax, little bird.” I startle at the High Lord’s words. I blink and realise he is finally looking at me. I wish he wasn’t. His amethyst eyes draw me in like a mosquito to a vein. I trace the harsh angles of his jaw, and find myself biting my lower lip. “I’m not that cruel.”

I rip my eyes away from him, lest I succumb to this ridiculous attraction.

“Could have fooled me,” I say bitingly.

Lord Draekoh grins, then turns back to face the crowd. I try, really fucking hard, honestly, to sit in my place and do nothing. But barely ten minutes go by, and I am itching to move.

From behind me, Rita leans forward and whispers in my ear, “Would you like something to drink, Delta?”

Grateful, I nod. I hear Rita retreating to the back corner of the tent to prepare something for me. So, it seemed we were not permitted to chatter, but, as my handmaid, she was allowed to offer me refreshments.

A moment later, Rita tiptoes around the side of my lounge and places a tray beside me. A tumbler glistening with condensation sits beside a small bowl of cut-up fruits.

“Thank you, Rita,” I say as the woman bows her head. She sends me a secret smile and a nod of reassurance before retreating to her spot behind me.

Glancing back at my tray, I pick up the glass and have a small sip of the icy citrus water, eyeing the fruits with interest. I recognise at once the cut-up pieces of beneni fruit and cringe. I think I had had my fill of those for a little while. Delicious as they had been in the forest, a girl could only stomach so much… especially after vomiting them back up when the High Lord had teleported us earlier.

As I pick up a tiny pink berry and pop it into my mouth, I note that Rita has also omitted the notorious Faerie fruit. Not that I think she would drug me with it on purpose, but she may have received prior instructions to add it to my plate for all I know.

As the morning drags on, I watch from my golden perch; the women suffer abuse right before my eyes. My blood simmers as I witness atrocity after atrocity. But I am just as powerless as any of them. I may belong to the High Lord of Light, but I was still just a human. I had no power here.

It seemed a few other women had missed that memo. Platinum, the precious Barbie doll I had first met at the Hotel, stumbled by at one point. She was filthy and still wore her torn-up dress, which they had given her on Earth. She was also wearing a leash and a collar. Her male stopped by Lord Draekoh, bowing before conversing with the High Lord. Great. Platinum was in Light. I supposed I would be seeing her around then.

Platinum’s eyes never once left mine as our males conversed, silently seething and hating with ice-cold rage. Eventually, the male laughed at something Lord Draekoh had said, something about Platinum, if the way they both leered at her was anything to go by, before he bowed once more and walked away, tugging harshly at Platinum’s collar.

“Friend of yours?” Lord Draekoh asks casually after a moment.

I snorted. “Something like that.”

Lord Draekoh smirked. “That was Lord Farryn of Spring.”

Great. Another Lord. I supposed that made Platinum another new neighbour of mine.

“You would think, as a Lord, Lord Farryn would take more pride and care in his belongings,” I say casually, picking up my glass for another swig.

“Indeed,” Lord Draekoh says in a bored tone. “His little human proved hard to capture. He says he only just seized her before the final toll of the bell. He has only just returned from the forest now.”

I turn and gape at the High Lord. Platinum had almost evaded capture? No wonder she was pissed. Imagine being so close to freedom only to have it snatched away like that…

I huff, reluctantly impressed. Who would have thought that the petite woman had it in her?

We fall into silence again, and I am once more left to occupy myself while literally not being allowed to actually do anything. My eyes wander to the tent fifty yards beside ours. The Dark Courts.

There isn’t much to see. High Lord Vellin seems to be a secretive fella, casting his tent in shadows. I can just make out him on his throne at the head of the tent, and a smaller lounge a little behind where I spy two slim, dangling legs. High Lord Vellin’s human woman of this Hunt seems to be passed out. Probably high on Faerie fruit, I deduce.

Just then, there is a scream of pain, and I stand without thinking, my eyes laser-focused on the woman with the broken arm I had spotted earlier. Her male is holding up the broken limb and shaking it about; everything below the elbow is limp and jerking with the sharp movements.

I turn my glare to the High Lord.

“Do something!” I demand, stomping right up to his side and slamming my hands onto my hips. Got to get the do-not-trifle-with-me stance down firm.