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The house was completely silent, and I had no idea what to do with myself. If anything, I should have torn through the whole house, looking for information that would give me an upper hand, but what I did was return to my room.

Not bothering to get changed, I flopped on top of the comforter and shut my eyes. If Leander and Adrian weren’t back when I woke up, I would start digging through the house.

I was sound asleep when cold wind began to rip at my skin, but I couldn’t wake myself up. Vaguely, I knew what was happening, the sensation was familiar, and I let myself fall back under.

This time, when I woke up, I was in Kiam’s bed, with the comforter tucked around me. The pretty cage he made for me was still there, across from the end of the bed, so I got up and went inside and sat on the cot to wait.

Kiam walked into the room and grinned at me through the bars, dragging his fingers along the metal. “You just can’t stay out of your cell, can you?”

CHAPTER 21

Kiam

“It's beautiful, and it’s mine.” She shrugged.

My smile softened and I shook my head. What would she do if she knew I’d infused her hair right into her prison? “What did they do to you?”

“Nothing but freak out. They’re gone but they said they’d be back.”

I stepped into the cell. “What do you mean? Where’d they go?”

She sat up and stretched her back before answering, “It sounded like some kind of emergency. I think. Leander said something was put inside someone’s heart; and then he called me human shit—or something like that.”

Prejudice against humans was a huge problem amongst vampires, demons, and now I knew it was with Fae as well. It wasn’t surprising.

The different species all held similar feelings against their counterparts, but the strongest ire was toward humans. They were seen as weak and inferior for many reasons. Some valid, some not so much. Being a human-born vampire was considered punishable by torture and death, putting me at a severe disadvantage.

I’d experienced my own particular run-ins with intense hatred. It was the combination of my wit and resourcefulness that I’d made it this far in one piece.

“What do you think it was?” I watched her carefully.

Brittney stood and crossed her arms, rubbing her chin with one hand. “Given their agitation and horror, maybe a spell went wrong? Leander straight-up lost it. He’d been kinda okay up until then. He was gonna smash my head in with his shoe, but Adrian stopped him.”

It was more than bad magic; I could feel it in my bones. Something significant had happened, and it opened a window of opportunity. “Go through their shit; when I bring you back.”

She smiled. “That was totally my plan.”

God, I loved this woman.

My heart slammed against my ribs hard enough that my hand went to my chest. Nope.

Could I be falling for her? It wasn’t good timing, or a very smart idea.

“Good,” I replied, my voice cracking.

“Yep, I’ll let you know what I find.”

“You will.” I moved closer to her. I hadn’t said anything yet, but she had changed. There was something inside her, something foreign that shouldn’t be there. It wasn’t present the last time I saw her. I could smell it, sense it, and if I had been able to see her aura, it would have glowed.

She backed away until she was blocked by the cot. “Um, what are you doing?” she asked, her gaze darting around her cell.

Brittney almost fell, but I caught her wrist and then seized her elbow. Yep, her scent was definitely off. “What did you do?”

“Your eyes are weird again,” she breathed. “It's hot, like I told you before but, uh, what’s wrong?”

“What did you do?” Her heartrate sped up when I repeated myself, and tiny dots of perspiration appeared along her hairline.

She looked around the inside of the cell as if I’d let her escape. “I should have brought my flower stick,” she muttered. “I didn’t do anything but what we planned.” She peered up at me.