Page 16

“I was informed you needed my help?” he said, pulling his eyes from me to Landers. He had a slight accent I’d never noticed until now.

Probably because he was doing more torturing than talking.

“Yes,” Landers responded, pushing off the mantle and tucking his hands casually into his pockets. “Since being in your”—he paused, choosing his words carefully—“possession, Ataliia has been having unusual dreams. You will work with her to see if these dreams have any meaning, or if they are residual mental wounds stemming from the torture you inflicted on her. If they are the result of your torture, you will remove any of The Silliands’ Chaos Magic still lingering in her mind.” Dukovich nodded to Landers’s words as his gaze wandered back over to me.

“Seems simple enough,” Dukovich stated as he took a step further into the room. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the small smirk that flickered across Landers’s face.

“If you say so,” Landers responded, clearly amused. “You will meet everyday in this room at noon for two hours until we have an understanding of what these dreams mean.”

Landers’s back straightened as he took a step toward Dukovich.

“We are extending you trust that you do not deserve. If you break it, if you hurt her inanyway”—Landers’s eyes flashed to me then back to Dukovich—“let’s just say there are multiple women waiting to wear your blood like a trophy.”

Dukovich placed a hand over his heart and bowed his head toward Landers. “I swear to you, no harm will come to her.”

I scoffed at the gesture.

It was an empty promise coming from the man that had tortured me.

“Elric and I have business to attend to—we will be back in two hours,” Landers said as he strode to the door and opened it.

Elric hesitated at the threshold, not wanting to leave me alone in a room with this monster.At least one of them cared about my wellbeing, I thought to myself as Landers called his name from down the corridor. I nodded to him, as he closed the door behind him.

“Well, doesn’t this sound like fun?” Dukovich said, clapping his hands together.

I tilted my head, studying him as he fell into a chair and crossed an ankle over a knee. I hadn’t seen him since he came here and I barely recognized him.

His brown skin pulled tight over a sharp jaw that led to a strong neck and broad, muscular shoulders. His eyes, a mix of green and brown, were set underneath thick, dark brows that matched the deep brown of his wavy hair. His full lips were the only soft thing set into his masculine features and I forced myself to look away before my eyes lingered on them.

“Why do you look like that?” I asked from my corner of the small room.

“Like what?” he asked as a smile slid onto his full lips. “Handsome, you mean?” A quiet chuckle rolled from his chest.

“That’s the last fucking thing I’d ever call you.” I snapped and lifted myself back onto the table’s surface.

Though I’ll admit, he was . . . not ugly. If I was forced to be honest, he was beautiful and that only made my loathing for him deepen.

“And yet, the fact still remains.” Dukovich’s grin widened, his perfect teeth put on display as he said the words and I scoffed.

“Vileandarrogant. How charming,” I sang, flipping my dagger between my fingers.

Dukovich leaned further into his chair, resting his head on the back of it.

“This is my true form. What you saw before was a glamour—a way of hiding what I truly looked like. Once the plan I concocted was pushed into motion, I could not have people recognize me.”

“You glamoured yourself, for centuries . . . just in case one day, you needed an escape plan?” I huffed. “Sounds like paranoia.”

“No decent scheme is planned in a day, love. And it worked, did it not?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Let’s just get this over with. The less time I have to spend with you the better.” I jumped from the table, my boots hitting the ground with a quietthudas I pressed my hands against my hips. “How does this work?”

Dukovich stood, and I forced my body not to flinch at the step he took toward me.

“Let me see these dreams of yours.” He took a quick step forward, holding his hand out to touch me and my heart ricocheted in my chest as I watched him move toward me.

I moved quickly, snatching two daggers from my belt and held them to his throat and groin. He stopped, his hand only inches from my head as I raised onto the balls of my feet and lifted my chin to meet his eyes.

“Touch me without my permission, and I will cut the cock from between your legs and suffocate you with it,” I snarled.