Where the hell was her supposed mate?
And why was he allowing his people to treat her like an enemy?
Was it possible that he was too ill to insist she be freed?
Or even being held as a captive until the mating could be broken?
She tried to hold on to the belief that any second Roke was going to appear and release her from the prison. It was that or tumbling into madness.
She abruptly stiffened. Wait. Was that . . . roast beef she was smelling? Maybe she’d tumbled into madness after all.
The disjointed thoughts had barely passed through her mind when the candles set outside the cell flared to life and a tiny, golden-haired vampire appeared from a side tunnel.
Sally grimly rose to her feet, wrapping the blanket that she’d found on the narrow bed around her naked body.
Dyson had forced her to strip before beginning his whipping. It was a customary technique intended to amplify her humiliation.
It worked.
But as she watched the female vampire glide toward the cell, sliding a large tray of food underneath the door, she managed to gather the remnants of her tattered pride.
There was something so freaking annoying about the china blue eyes and too-pretty face.
It made Sally want to lob a spell that would splat all over that pale beauty.
Petty?
Yep. But who the hell cared?
“So soon?” she forced herself to drawl, ignoring the delicious scents wafting on the air. God. She wanted to fall on her hands and knees and devour the entire tray like an animal. “A trained torturer knows that you give your prey time to recover before resuming the pain. Otherwise it loses its effectiveness.”
“I’m not here to hurt you,” the female protested, pointing toward the tray. “I’ve brought you dinner.”
“Ah.” She managed a mocking smile. “It’s the good cop/bad cop routine.”
“I’m not a good enough actress to pull off the role,” the female protested, smiling to show a hint of fang. “If I had my preference, you’d be staked in the middle of the desert and left for the vultures to feed on. Unfortunately, Roke refuses to allow you to be put to death.”
Sally struggled not to react, her fingers digging into the rough wool of the blanket.
“He’s . . . awake?”
The vampire shrugged. “Our healers have managed to save his life, but he remains weak.”
Sally swallowed the lump in her throat, still caught between her fierce concern for Roke and the growing anger that he hadn’t rescued her yet.
“Then he must have told you that the mating was an accident,” she said.
“So he says.” The vampire couldn’t sound more bored. “He also insisted that you be fed and that a hot bath brought to you later.”
Sally blinked. Roke ordered that she be fed and bathed like a damned dog in a kennel?
“And that’s it?” she rasped.
“As far as you’re concerned.”
“I don’t believe you.” Sally pressed her back against the steel wall of her cell, the pain inflicted by Dyson’s whip nothing in comparison to the tidal wave of agony that threatened if she allowed herself to accept the female’s filthy lies. “He wouldn’t leave me trapped down here.”
“For now he’s occupied with his clan.” The blue eyes narrowed. “He does have duties, you know.”
“I have no intention of interfering in his duties.”
“But you already have,” the woman abruptly hissed.
Sally shivered as the temperature abruptly dropped. Christ, being around vampires was like being shoved in and out of a freezer.
“Not intentionally.”
The female made a sound of disgust. “Maybe not, but because of you he’s abandoned his people for weeks.”
“I told him that he didn’t have to stay with me.”
“He’s a vampire of honor. He unfortunately felt he had no choice but to offer you his protection.” The woman’s tone indicated just what she thought of Roke’s choice. “Now he—”
“What?”
The woman nibbled her lip with her fang, trying to appear as if she were debating whether to finish her thought or not.
Devious leech.
“I’m not sure Roke wants you to know.”
“Tell me.”
“The clan is concerned that his mating to you has divided his loyalties.”
“Concerned?” Sally frowned at the unexpected words. “Why?”
“He can’t be an effective chief if he’s devoting his time to tending to your constant needs.” Her voice was edged with an icy hatred. “We’ve endured an absent leader before and we won’t suffer through it again.”
Sally ignored the female’s unmistakable jealousy. It was obvious she wanted Roke for herself.
No big shocker.
“What does that mean?”
The vampire grabbed the bars of the cell, her frigid gaze pinning Sally in place.
“There are younger, stronger clansmen who have won the battles of Durotriges and are now prepared to challenge for their right to become chief.”
Oh. Sally’s stomach churned with a growing horror. Of all the various scenarios she’d envisioned for Roke’s return to his clan, this one had never even blipped on her radar.
“He’s going to be challenged?”
“If he can’t prove he’s willing to put you aside.”
“That’s not fair,” Sally whispered. “He didn’t create the mating, I did.”
“Then break it,” the leech abruptly hissed.
“I . . . can’t.”
The temperature dropped again, coating the bars in a layer of ice.
“Then you’re willing to sacrifice Roke?”
“No. Of course not.” She clutched the blanket tighter, shaking with a combination of cold and outright fear. How could Roke possibly fight after he’d nearly died? Weren’t there any rules about the battle being fair? “I don’t know how to undo the bond, but I’m going to discover how.”
“When?”
“Let me go,” Sally pleaded, unwittingly moving to stand next to the bars. Dammit. She had to convince this female to release her before Roke could be challenged. “I’ll find my father and—”
“There’s no time.” The vampire’s voice held a compulsion that was a tangible force. If Sally hadn’t been so powerful, she wouldn’t have stood a chance against it. “Soon he’ll be stepping into battle. He’s weakened, barely able to leave his bed. There’s no way he’ll survive unless you end this.”