“Unless it has been lost,” Tad replied.
“I swear, if that brownie made thong underwear out of that chapter...” Warwick mumbled under his breath, making me snort. Looking back at where Opie and Bitzy were supposed to be, I saw they had vanished, hiding from Killian, their old master’s boss.
“So...” Hands on my hips, I blew out a breath, closing my lids briefly before lifting my head to Killian. “If I agree to look for the nectar, you will let us all go?”
“You think I would fall for that?” Killian’s mouth curled, an eyebrow cocking up. “The devil is in the details.” He clicked his tongue at me, strolling up until he was a breath away, his rich smell causing me to inhale sharply, not able to control my reaction to his nearness. “You find the nectar and bring it back to me.” He leaned in, his mouth barely an inch away from mine. “And only me... Do you understand, Ms. Kovacs?” he said low, his lips almost brushing mine.
I nodded, my pulse fluttering against my neck. I couldn’t deny there was an attraction between us. A bond.
“Do you promise?” His breath skated down my throat, his words sensual and coy. I understood they were anything but. A promise in the fae world was absolute. They couldn’t break it, unlike humans, who broke them all the time.
“I can promise, but I’m not fae,” I responded. “Means nothing to us humans.”
“Oh, come now, Brexley.” The sound of my name from his mouth pulsed through my body, shivering my bones. A growl hummed from Warwick, but Killian only moved in closer, whispering in my ear, my lashes lowering. “I think we all know you are not human either.”
My eyes bolted open with a jerk. Hearing it from multiple people didn’t make it any easier to accept.
“Need more incentive?” He stepped back, snapping his fingers. “Nyx?”
Nyx stepped into the tunnels returning with two figures. A dark-haired woman and a young boy. My eyes widened, recognizing them instantly.
Damn.
“Uncle Warwick?” The boy looked up at him with wide, scared eyes.
“Nooooooo!” Warwick roared, shoving through the guards like they were paper dolls, his legs coming to a sudden stop as Nyx held a gun to the woman’s temple.
I’d seen them briefly through our link, but I had no doubt who she was. She was even more beautiful in person, and the little boy was a carbon copy of her and his uncle. Eliza Farkas stood firm, her arms protecting her son, her shoulders back, the same determined strength I saw in Warwick running through her veins.
“You fucking coward!” Warwick seethed at Killian, barely holding himself back. “This your only play? Holding them prisoner? Using an innocent child and woman as bait?”
“I didn’t want to do anything.” Killian pulled his hands away, advancing back toward Warwick. “You forced my hand. Betrayed me. Blew up my home and stole what was mine when I had graciously let you be free—let your family free. You are the one who put their lives back in danger.” He tipped his head at Eliza, her chin notching up, her lids lowering in a glower at the Seelie lord. “And we both know she’s not some damsel in distress. She’s too much of a Farkas.”
“Fuck you,” she spat at him.
“See?” Killian motioned to her.
“Someday, Killian.” Warwick bared his teeth, his tone low and threatening. “I’m going to kill you.”
“I look forward to seeing you try,” Killian replied, flicking his chin at me. “But until then, Wolf, you keep her alive, and I will keep your family unharmed and secure.”
Both men peered at me. I felt the heaviness of the quest pressing down on me.
“Why me?” I indicated to myself. “I mean, you knew the people who took it from here. They were your friends, right?” I trailed off, seeing Killian’s eyes darken with warning, his jaw clenching.
“They are not my friends.” His silky voice had a jagged edge through it. “And I have already been down that road. It’s a dead end. They no longer have it.”
“What happened?”
“Someone got the better of them.” A slight glint shone in his eyes, as if he loved the idea his old friends had been defeated too. “The only thing I know is it was lost here in Hungary. The thieves escaped with it by boat.”
“It could be anywhere by now. How am I supposed to find it?”
“That is not my problem, Ms. Kovacs.” His gaze zeroed in on me with intensity, the feel of his magic tingling my skin. “I’m letting all of you live, walk out of here unscathed, even though you’ve broken into my property, planning to rob me. Do you know what happens to people who do that?”
“I’ve already been through your house of horrors, Killian.” I folded my arms, feeling the power of his name on my tongue grazing my thighs and forcing him to inhale sharply. I forgot how powerful names, especially his, could be. “And survived.”
“You think you would survive again?” His teeth ground together. “There will be no escaping the new prison. I can guarantee that. You two made sure of that.”
Fighting back the chill shaking my bones and the sickness knotting in my stomach, I knew there would be no way I’d endure another time in prison, not with my mind intact. Death sounded far more desirable than going back to the House of Death.
But I had no leads on where the nectar was taken after it left here fifteen years ago. If the pirate and his group lost it soon after, it could be anywhere, with anyone. It could be gone for good.
“You have one month, Ms. Kovacs.” Killian moved in so close I could feel his body heat soaking through my clothes. Leaning in, he whispered in my ear. “And then I come to collect.”
Escorted by a few guards, we were shoved roughly out the same door we came in, with fewer weapons than we started with. Killian’s men took all but one from each of us, which he considered a “favor.”
Nyx and Zander stayed with Killian when we left, both looking unhappy they didn’t get the opportunity to chaperone me out, but for opposite reasons. I didn’t even chance to look at Zander as I passed him, knowing Killian was watching me, but I could feel Zander’s eyes on me. Burning with concerns and questions.
The tunnel door slammed shut, leaving the seven of us back on Gellert Hill. Dawn was over an hour away—the time when everything was at its darkest, when even night dwellers were thinning out and heading back home. The silence of the dead lands was unnerving and eerie.
The time when nothing good happened.
Blame, anger, aggression, and resentment fueled the spark in the air around us like gasoline. Tracker came after me, his fury bellowing from his mouth. “I knew not to trust you!” He stomped up to me. “I knew something was off about you! You are a fucking traitor!”
“How am I a traitor?” I didn’t back down, instead getting right back in his face. I would gladly fight him. “Because of me, you are still alive.”
“I’m only here because of you,” he shouted, trying to loom over me. “It seems it was all bullshit. You’re working with Lord Killian!”
“I didn’t have a choice. You should be thanking me. You are still breathing.”
“Thanking you?” He huffed. “I don’t thank traitors. Kaptain thinks you’re getting the nectar for him, to help our cause, to help us. However, it appears you are getting it for a fae lord... so which side are you on? You can only have one.”