I crossed my arms. “Why am I here?”
She smoothed an invisible wrinkle in her sleeve. “I have heard so much about you, Jesse James, and I thought it was time you and I talked face-to-face.”
Her guards had broken into a secured part of the Unseelie court and kidnapped me. What could be so urgent that she would have them take such a risk?
My stomach plummeted. She’d found out that my parents had their memories back.
No, that wasn’t possible. They’d been in hiding since before I came to Faerie, and Lukas had assured me no one knew about his island. Even if she suspected the truth, she couldn’t get to them.
I lifted my chin defiantly. “Prince Vaerik will know you took me, and he’ll come for me.”
Queen Anwyn laughed. “No one is coming for you. By now, the entire Unseelie court thinks you escaped and fled to the human realm.”
“Vaerik won’t believe that.” Lukas knew I’d never leave him that way, especially not when he’d gone to speak to his father on my behalf.
“Aibel and Conard are very good at what they do.” She cast a fond look at her two guards. “And they had a little inside help from someone. She was more than happy to have you out of the way.”
“Rashari.” I curled my hands into fists. I knew she was desperate to become consort, but to help Seelie kidnap me? She’d be lucky if Lukas didn’t kill her himself when he found out what she’d done.
Aibel nodded. “She was quite helpful. She even provided a witness who saw you create the portal.”
“I do hope you like your accommodations.” Queen Anwyn waved a hand at the room. “The view from up here is lovely, and you have the whole tower to yourself for the duration of your stay.”
I refrained from asking how long that stay would be. My gut churned at the thought of how this was going to end for me, and I hoped my face didn’t give away how scared I was.
“What will Rhys think of you kidnapping me and keeping me prisoner?” If the time I’d spent with him had told me anything, it was that he was a good person despite having been raised by her. He considered me a friend, and he’d be angry about what she’d done to me.
Her mouth tightened for a second. “Prince Rhys has gone to one of my retreats for an extended stay. I see no need to include him in this unpleasant business, and you will be long gone before he comes home. He will never know you were here.”
I shivered and hugged myself tighter at the words long gone. “Why exactly am I here?”
“Right to the point. I like that. Although, from everything I’ve heard about you, I thought you would have already guessed the reason for your visit.” Her disdainful gaze swept over the length of me. “I want to know why you were in the temple yesterday and what magic you used to cloak yourself.”
Something flickered in her eyes, an urgency not reflected in her voice. She hadn’t accused me of trying to steal the ke’tain. She was more interested in the why and when details of my visit to the temple.
Suddenly, it all made sense, and I understood Bauchan’s reaction when they caught me and the rush to kidnap me. He knew one of his men had been at the temple, which meant he also knew I had to have seen and overheard the plot to use drakkan hide to get past the temple wards. They couldn’t risk me sharing that information with Unseelie, so they’d taken me before I could talk.
Aibel stepped forward, and I noticed for the first time that he had something in his hands. I thought it was another dannakin until he held it up and revealed a circlet made of the same metal and embedded with bits of drakkan bone.
A fresh wave of fear shot through me, and I backed away. Conard caught me and dragged me backward. Cold metal clamped around my wrists, and he yanked my arms high above my head to fasten the shackles to a hook bolted into the stone wall. He gripped my head and forced me to be still while Aibel fitted the circlet snugly on me.
“A traditional dannakin did not work on you, so we must use a different technique.” Queen Anwyn walked over to stand two feet from me. “My people have experimented with creating a more effective version that I am told makes the old dannakin feel almost pleasant. One taste of it and you will beg to tell me what I want to know. Feel free to scream. No one will hear you up here.”
The two guards stepped away from me. “It is ready,” Aibel said to her.
She tapped her chin with one slender finger. “Bauchan is still in Unseelie, so I will pick up where he left off. Let us begin with the last question he asked you. How did you survive your conversion?”
I pressed my lips together and gripped the chain between my shackles. It’s only pain, I chanted over and over in my head as the metal band around my head grew warmer. You’re strong, Jesse. You can get through –
A scream tore from me when flames engulfed my head. I thrashed in agony as my skin blistered and my hair shriveled. The smell of burnt flesh and hair filled my nose and throat until I could no longer breathe.
Aedhna, please, I silently screamed because my charred lips were no longer capable of forming words.
Her cool hand touched my forehead, and the fire lessened like it had the last time. The pain was still there but bearable, and I could draw air into my lungs.
As suddenly as it had started, the fire was gone. I hung from the shackles with my chin resting on my chest and tears pouring down my cheeks. My arms hurt from the strain, but I couldn’t summon the strength to stand tall and take the weight off them.
A hand cupped my chin and lifted my head. I opened my eyes and met the queen’s icy gaze. She looked equal parts angry and curious as she studied my face before she let my head fall forward.
“Fascinating. That is quite impressive.” She tapped a foot on the floor. “I should tell you it only gets worse with each treatment. You may as well answer my questions now and save yourself the pain. Eventually, you will break, and I will get what I want. I always do.”
I knew in that moment I was not leaving here alive. Even if I gave her what she wanted, she couldn’t let me go after kidnapping and torturing me. Worse, she might figure out a way to use me and my goddess stone against the people I loved. I didn’t know what her endgame was, but I’d die before I gave her that kind of power.
It took a superhuman effort to lift my head and several tries before I was able to utter, “You can’t break me.”
I had the brief satisfaction of watching Queen Anwyn’s composure slip before she smiled and said, “Let’s try this again.”
Then I knew nothing but pain.
* * *
My shivering woke me. I opened my dry swollen eyes and stared into the darkness as I carefully unfurled my stiff body from its fetal position on the cold floor. Everything hurt, even my eyelashes, and my throat was so raw and parched I could barely swallow.
I groaned when I finally managed to roll onto my back. Panting, I rested while I took stock of my body. My clothes were soaked with sweat that made them stick to me, and the pungent odor of urine surrounded me. I grimaced at the realization that I had wet myself, and I was still wearing my soiled pants.
My teeth chattered. The room was so cold I was sure I’d see my own breath if there’d been any light to see by. I forced myself to my hands and knees and crawled around searching for the pallet I’d woken up on before. My fingers brushed against rough fabric, and I fell on top of the meager pallet. It didn’t protect me from the cold breezes coming through the windows, but at least it was a barrier between me and the icy floor.