“Have you had a good look at me, lass?” His shoulders bunched, all those sinewy muscles of his chest tightening as one lovely landscape of repressed strength. “I’m not the knight in shining armor you need.”
“No, but you are the only one available.”
Eliza pressed her sweaty palms onto her thighs. Even so, it took her a full minute to find her voice, one in which he stared her down as if waiting for the obvious. “Will you help me?”
A lock of black hair fell over his brow as he gave a pointed look towards his shackled wrists. “A bit hung up at the moment, dove.”
“You are hilarious,” she deadpanned. “Really, you ought to consider vaudeville.” She leaned in, coming closer to him than she’d like, but it certainly caught his attention. His gaze darted over her face as she spoke. “You know Mab’s ways, how she thinks. And you know London’s underworld. Help me and I will set you free. Don’t, and remain here as her plaything.”
His eyes narrowed, his lips compressing. “If I am to help you,” he said after a long, pained moment, “then I want something in return.”
Of course he did, calculating demon. Because she still feared he was a demon.
“I should think my freeing you is enough.”
Golden eyes, full of irritation and dry humor, pinned her. “Freeing me benefits you, as I cannot provide assistance otherwise.”
Annoying man. Eliza crossed her arms over her chest. “I could find someone else to help me.”
“Go ahead then,” Adam said with a shrug. “And good luck to you on your search.” With that, he closed his eyes and said no more.
Silence stretched between them.
“You aren’t moving,” Adam observed, his eyes still closed.
Blasted, no good rat…
“What is it you want?” she asked.
His eyes snapped open, his gaze spearing her with its intensity. “I want another bargain with you.”
“You cannot possibly believe I’d be so stupid as to make another pact with you.”
“This one you’ll make fully informed.” The corner of his eyes crinkled with the devil’s humor. “I’ll even give you more than ten seconds to decide.”
“Oh, really?” she drawled, not wanting to smile.
“Mmm…” The sound came out like a deep purr. She imagined a lion doing much the same. Before he pounced. “A full minute.”
It was tempting. Too tempting, to ask him what he wanted. Curiosity had always been her downfall. Hers was rampant. “State your terms, demon.”
“ ‘Adam’,” he corrected firmly. “You call me Adam or —”
“My Lord and Master, My Irresistible Liege?” she offered, tossing the words he’d once said back at him.
Against the sooty grime on his face, his teeth flashed white and strong. “You remember, dove.”
He was doing it again, using his charm to distract her.
“Adam,” she warned.
Her use of his name seemed to please him for heat entered his eyes, and he suddenly seemed closer. “I want you.”
Eliza rather feared she had made a horrible gurgle of shock. “ ‘Me.’ But why? Do you…” She blanched. “Fancy me?”
Abruptly he snorted. “No, not particularly, though you’re pretty enough.”
“Do not strain yourself with praise, sir.”
“You want sweet words now?” His thick lashes cast shadows on his cheek as he blinked up at her, the picture of innocent confusion. “When here I thought honesty was what you admired.”
“If you don’t have feelings for me,” she ground out, “then why do you want me? Just look at us, constantly at each other’s throats like baited bears.”
“I want the possibility of you,” he said softly.
Eliza’s mouth fell open. But he simply held her gaze, his expression, for once, perfectly serious.
“My curse is irreversible. I will never know peace unless I am accepted by my soul’s mate. By you, as it happens.”
A heavy mix of guilt and something close to sorrow filled her chest. “It might be trickery, you know. Mab might have led you to believe that I was your soul mate.”
“Then why was she desperate to get you away from me?”
“Because I’m her kin?”
The chains rattled when he shook his head. “Believe what you will. Doesn’t matter.” His chin lifted in that stubborn way of his, that months of watching told her she’d never persuade him otherwise. He confirmed it when he spoke again. “I want my peace, Eliza. To feel whole, happy, free. That is all I’ve ever wanted. Seven hundred years, I’ve searched for it. And if there is even the slightest possibility that you can give it to me, then I am willing to risk everything to get it.”
Horribly, tears prickled at the back of her throat. She cleared it. “That is a terrible burden to place on a person. What if I cannot come to…” – she faltered, unable to even say the word love – “to accept you?”
His hard expression did not alter. “Then you don’t. It won’t work unless your affection is freely given, regardless.”
“And what of your affections? You expect me to come to care for you while you outright dislike me?”
The corner of his lush mouth curled. “What I am asking for is a chance. I help you and you stay with me during that time. A clean slate, no more viewing me through the lens of the past. And I shall do the same with you. We start anew. Partners in this quest.”
“How long?” Knowing his sly ways, he might drag out this “quest” endlessly.
He grinned again, as if he knew precisely what she was thinking. “One month.”
“A week.”
“Not enough time. I have to heal to be of any use. One month.”
“That number was already deemed unacceptable. Two weeks.”
“Three.”
Eliza sat back on her heels, while Adam merely stared at her as though he had all the time in the world. “Fine,” she said. “Three weeks. I free you and you help me.” She gave him a warning look. “I’ll need your word that you will help me, that this” – she waved her hand between them – “isn’t merely a way to trick me into freeing you.”
“This business was your idea, woman,” he said with affront.
“Nevertheless, I’ll need your word.”
His nostrils flared with a sharp exhalation. “My word then.” Eliza did not look away from him, and he glared back in obvious exasperation. “What now?”
“I’m merely considering if I ought to trust your word,” she said.
A low growl rumbled in his chest as he bared his teeth. “I keep my word, whether I want to or not. My word is my bond. Honor, Miss May. Unlike you, I have it.”
“How dare you —”
“How dare you?” He craned forward, the muscles along his shoulders bunching. “Not so long ago you broke your promise of fealty. To me!”
“Oh yes, how quick you are to remind me.” Eliza leaned close, grinding her teeth to keep in a shout. “You enjoy being quick, don’t you?”
His thick, dark brows furrowed. “What in the bloody blazes are you talking about?”
“You gave me all of ten seconds to make a choice.” Eliza’s fists ached from clenching them. “And what a choice. I was dead, my body sliced open, my blood on the ground. I would have done anything, anything” – she thumped her fist to her chest – “to get back my life.”
“So that makes it better?” he snapped back in outrage. “Desperation gives you leave to go back on your word?”
“No. That is not what I meant.”
“Then you agree that you bloody well have no honor —”
“You never explained what was involved. You never said I’d be chained to you, like some animal, for the rest of my days,” Eliza shouted. “I was told I would be a GIM. I was ready to serve you in that manner. You knew full well that’s what I believed. If anything, you swindled me!”
All at once, he sagged, though he still eyed her with resentment and distaste. Well, she had a heal
thy helping of those feelings for him too.
“Tick-tock, Eliza,” she mimicked. “You rushed me because you didn’t want me to think things over.”
When he broke eye contact, his hard jaw twitched.
“I’m correct, aren’t I?” Ire and a red rage surged up within her. “And you have the brass to sit on your high horse and talk of honor. Well, let me tell you something, demon. There is little honor in forcing a person’s hand. Or using your power to coerce those weaker than you.”
A black scowl twisted his face as he glared at some distant point. “Fine. May I continue, or have you more complaints to heap upon my head?”
“Please do continue,” Eliza granted.
His golden gaze flicked back to her. “I want to kiss you.”
“No.” The word burst out of her with force. “Absolutely not.”
Unfazed, Adam shrugged. “Unless you have something to offer in exchange for your freedom, Mellan and Mab will, as you say, merely hunt us down, and you’ll be back to where you started.”
“Then I shall find out what he wants.” Eliza straightened her back. She could do that. She must. Like hell was she going to kiss this demon.
Adam simply gave her a slow, wicked half-smile. “Fortunately for you, lass, I already know what he wants. What they both want. More than controlling you. More than torturing me, even.”
“Then why in blazes haven’t you used it to secure your own freedom?” Eliza blurted out.
“I’m only alive because they cannot break me into revealing where this item might be.” The belligerence burning in his eyes was gone in a blink, replaced by a look of pure cunning. “However, I might be persuaded to help you use the knowledge. All I require is —”
“Fine,” she snapped, irritation getting the best of her. “I’ll kiss you.”
Silence fell, and Adam stared at her with those eyes of his. Devil’s eyes. Eyes that made a woman forget herself. Heat rose up over her breasts and crawled along the back of her neck. Eliza grasped her skirts, her fingers twitching. She would kiss him. Kiss a man who had brought her nothing but irritation. Maybe she’d bite him to boot.
His chest, gleaming with sweat, rose and fell in a soft pattern. A bead of perspiration broke free from the top of his shoulder and ran down along the firm rise of his pectoral muscles, straight toward the dark nub of his nipple. All this time arguing with him, she’d forgotten his state of undress. Not so now. She’d have to press up against those hard muscles, touch his skin. Eliza wrenched her gaze back to his face, and his sinful lips curled in a knowing smile.
“You know,” he said casually, “I believe I shall pass for the moment. I’d rather it be when you aren’t wearing such a sour face. Kills a bloke’s ardor, you realize.”
Eliza blinked. And then his meaning hit her. “Why you… rutting… cheap, trickster…”
He laughed, a flash of even teeth. “Come now, Eliza, fret not.” He stopped then, that obnoxious smile growing and heating with promise. “I’ll take that kiss soon enough.”
She rose to her feet in a rustle of skirts. “And I’ll be sure to bite that wicked tongue when you do!”
She marched out of the cell, slamming it behind her, as he began to laugh again. Bastard. She might just leave him here to rot after all. His laughing taunt echoed through the dark. “Now that I know tongues are involved, I’ll be sure to collect.”
Chapter Four
Eliza climbed the stairs, irritation with Adam still so high that she did not take proper heed. Not until she walked directly into Mab’s path. They locked eyes, and Eliza’s skin prickled in utter terror.
“I… I heard a dog howling.” Not a lie. “I thought…” Eliza gave Mab what she hoped was a shocked look. “I did not expect to find the demon.”
It seemed an eternity ticked by as Mab’s gaze bore into her. Eliza did not flinch but let herself show the confusion and the questions that she’d first felt upon finding Adam. She’d learned long ago that, when telling a lie, walking as close to the truth as possible was the best course of action.
The silence between them grew as taut as corset boning. And then Mab spoke. “And what did you feel when you saw your tormentor trussed up like the pig that he is?”
Horror. Sorrow. “Satisfaction.” It was the emotion Mab wanted, and Eliza was going to give it to her.
Mab’s unmoving expression broke into one of pleasure. “Ah. And did you express this satisfaction to our guest?”
“No. I left.” Eliza straightened her spine. “The very sight of him sickens me.”
“Hmm…” Mab flicked a glance toward Mellan, who’d strolled up to her side, his gaze narrowing darkly on Eliza. However, Mellan merely gave Mab a nearly imperceptible nod and slipped past Eliza, going down to the cellars. Eliza’s heart pounded in protest. What would he do to Adam? Guilt hit hard. Adam had warned her. And she hadn’t listened.
Mab linked her arm through Eliza’s and guided them across the hall. “There was a time,” she said, “when humans believed in the fae. They feared. Superstition wasn’t to be mocked but to be heeded. And because of that, we grew strong.”
“Strengthened? By superstition?” Eliza couldn’t see how.
The corners of Mab’s plump lips curled. “Superstition led to vigilance. Humans took precautions. They protected themselves from the likes of us. They thought of us constantly. Now?” Her slim shoulder raised a fraction. “Science and logic have turned us into nothing more than silly myths. Something to be ignored.” Pansy-purple eyes flashed with irritation. “And our power fades.”
Despite her stern inner lecture not to react, a shiver ran through Eliza. Mab felt it, for she gave her a gentle, encouraging pat on the hand as they walked up the stairs, their skirts rustling. “But all that will soon change. We shall regain our glory.”
“We shall?” Eliza wanted to keep Mab talking of things other than Adam. But she did not like the idea of Mab having any more power.
Perhaps it was written on her face, for Mab gave her another pat. “Do not fear power, my darling. Once you learn how to wield it, it shall become your greatest joy.”
“Mab, are you truly my grandmother?”
Mab’s lips tightened. “The demon told you that, did he?” She sighed. “ ‘Grandmother’ makes me sound so very old.” With a moue of distaste, Mab touched her flawless cheek. “I do not look old, do I, dearest?”
“Not at all,” Eliza murmured by rote.
With a pleased expression, Mab shrugged. “Well, all right, then, I am your grandmother. Though I rather liked being your Auntie Mab. It had a lovely ring to it.”
“And you are the fae queen?” Eliza pressed, as if her blood did not run cold.
“Now that,” Mab said with a grin, “is a title I’ve been longing to proclaim. I did not want to reveal all too soon, lest you be too awed by my glory, but, yes, I am the fae queen.”
And not a bit vain, Eliza thought with a mental roll of her eyes.
Mab tilted her head and smiled, coy and just a bit evil. “I shall make a proper fae princess of you yet.”
That was what Eliza feared most. But she said nothing as Mab stopped at the door to the ballroom where two young, handsome footmen in brilliant green satin livery stood at attention. “Now, your first lesson.”
Mab gave a regal lift of her chin, and the footmen swept open the doors, revealing a glittering world of diamonds, silks, and flickering candlelight. The sickly sweet scent of lilies thickened the air, wafting out and curling around Eliza.
“Revenge,” Mab said, “and how to exact it.”
The crowd of richly dressed ladies and gentlemen turned as one. And as one, they all bowed in deference to Mab as she glided through the parted throng. Eliza followed; she had little choice, still snared as she was by Mab’s tight grip.
They were all young, this crowd of people. Young and beautiful. Not a single face marred by lines or time. It ought to be pleasing to the eye, but it struck Eliza as wrong and unnatural. They are all fae. Her suppos
ed people. And she wanted to run as fast as she could from them.
Mab led her to a dais, upon which sat three large, gilded chairs. “Sit.”
Knees shaking, Eliza did as bidden. Eyes watched her, curious, cunning. But she paid them little heed. Her mind was on Adam.
Adam’s world was a little darker when Eliza left. Oh, he’d taunted and teased, wanting her to leave, but now that she was gone, he missed her. Wanted her back.
He thought of their bargain, and anticipation quickened his blood. They would be partners. And she had promised a kiss. That, he would collect. His mind sifted through the possibilities before settling on a less pleasant thought. Prince Mellan. The fae prince’s presence in London was unsettling. He’d been banned from this reality for centuries. Which meant the fae had found a way to move with ease, and in greater numbers, between worlds. Somewhere, a crack had formed. More agitating, Eliza was promised to Mellan. Like hell.
For that alone, Adam would have agreed to anything she demanded. Because he’d be damned if that bastard would have her. But she needed to feel as though she’d fought a fair bargain with him. Adam hadn’t let her be an equal before now. And it was wrong of him. From now on, he’d keep his wits about him and plan ahead.
So he’d follow Eliza’s plan, get her the hell away from Mellan, and find that damn horn to use as a bargaining chip.
Sighing, he eased himself into a more comfortable position, or at least one that relieved at least some of the strain upon his ribs. The cloth Eliza had set over his genitals slid sideways. Dark humor had him fighting a smile. So very considerate, his Eliza May was, to cover him. The smile faded. She’d seen him at his very worst. And the humiliation burned.
Thus, when he heard the scuff of a shoe, he did not know whether to laugh or sob. She’d returned. It had to be her. Mab never visited at night. From the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of long, blond hair.
“Back for more, dove?” he drawled, a smile growing despite himself.
It quickly died a swift death as a shape stepped from the shadows. Pale blond hair that fell in a straight line, eyes like cold death. Mellan. And he did not appear pleased. “I do believe you were expecting someone else, Aodh.”