Blood Oath (The Darkest Drae Book 1)(32)

The tip of my tongue burned with the urge to tell him I may know them. That could get the prisoners in trouble though, and if it was Arnik or Dyter or even the hunched old Syret, I couldn’t risk it.

“So what do you want to do today?” he asked.

I laughed under my breath. “I thought we could go out and pick strawberries in Zone Two.”

“I’ve heard they’re huge this year.”

“Unusually so,” I said brightly. That was where Mum and I would’ve gone. She would’ve made it so the strawberries were big and red and delicious.

He chuckled in his razorblade voice. “Perhaps afterward we could hire some horses and go for a gallop to the Gemond Mountains.”

“How delightful.”

This time he laughed. The hoarse rattle echoed through the dungeon and slowly faded to silence. “It is kind of a holiday today,” he said. “Jotun has Tuesdays off.”

I frowned. How did Ty know it was a Tuesday?

A door opened, and I hushed, hearing Ty do the same.

The air shifted, and the scent of pine and soap and steel floated by. My stomach clenched, and I inhaled the smell if for no other reason than it was the only freshness in this rotting world. I scrambled away from the bars and crept back to the bed in the dark, burying myself in the covers.

The outer door clanked, and I stilled as a blade scraped along the bars of Ty’s cell.

Lord Irrik sneered, “Don’t get comfortable, Ty. Jotun is anxious to visit with you tomorrow. He’s devised a new solution he’d like you to sample.”

Irrik laughed, but Ty didn’t answer. Three people with keys to this level of the dungeon, and Irrik had to be one of them.

My stomach churned as Irrik taunted Ty. Wasn’t it enough that Jotun tortured him? Now Ty had to put up with this, too? Irrik’s cruel remarks made me angrier than anything had since the monster killed Mum. I said nothing, both because I didn’t want to draw the Drae’s attention to me, but mostly because I knew I couldn’t do anything. Right now, I had no chance. But another time, I might.

Necessary. Opposing Irrik was a luxury I couldn’t afford to indulge in.

The clack of metal on metal rang out as Irrik dragged the blade across the bars again, but as he came into view, I cracked my eyes open and saw it wasn’t a blade but one of his talons. There’d been nothing in Mum’s stories about Drae partially shifting.

“Good morning, little Ryn,” Irrik said, his dark presence looming outside my cell.

Don’t come in . . . don’t come in . . . don’t come in. Maybe he’d assume I was still passed out from Jotun’s beating. Should I pretend to be worse than I was so the hooded guard didn’t get in trouble?

“Good try, human. I heard you talking with Ty,” he said, his voice dropping into a low growl. The key clicked in the lock, and the door opened. My heart pounded in my chest like a caged bird.

“I know the hooded Tyr comes here to help you when he thinks no one will notice, but I notice, Ryn,” he whispered, crouching next to me. “I’m watching you,” he continued, tracing the tips of his fingers down my arm. “And I’m not the only one.” His eyes burned into mine.

Was he . . . warning me? I couldn’t think because everywhere he touched was like fire. The magic that covered his skin was warmth traveling to my heart and pumping out to the rest of my body. I closed my eyes to try to shut out the searing sensation.

“Has Jotun even been working on you? It doesn’t look like it, but Tyr is good at what he does.” He traced my face, first along my hairline and jaw, then my eyebrows and the sensitive skin below my lower lashes. He trailed the pad of his finger down my nose, and my breath hitched when he outlined my lips. I would never let him kiss me again.

I pulled away, unable to tolerate his proximity.

“I have a treat for you,” the Drae said. “Would you like to know what it is?”

I gritted my teeth.

Four guards came in, all dressed like Tyr with dark hoods and simple black aketons, dragging a large copper tub over the rough floor. As soon as it was in the room, they left, standing outside the cell with their backs to the inside.

A young girl, who looked to be the same age as Madeline, sauntered into my cell, her full lips curled up on one side in a smirk.

She bowed to Lord Irrik and turned to me. Her features morphed, and she grimaced as she drew close.

The girl threw Irrik a helpless look. “She’s disgusting. One tub of water isn’t going to be enough to get all that filth off her. She’s been down here how long?”

“Three weeks,” Irrik answered, eyes narrowed. He grabbed the front of her shift and pulled her close. Pursing his lips, he blew in her face, released her, and drew back a step.

Her eyes glazed over, and she swayed on her feet. Her disgust dissolved, and she stared up at Irrik with a dreamy smile on her lips.

“I love you,” she said. “I wish you would kiss me.” She began untying her apron.

I scrunched my nose. Drak, I better not have done that.

Lord Irrik’s gaze flitted toward me before zeroing in on her. He scowled, a growl slipping between his teeth. “Keep your clothes on. Clean up the girl.”

He cursed under his breath as he stepped aside.

The thin young woman stared at him as she sauntered across the stone floor to me. I leaped from the bed and backed away from her.