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He laughed. “You think she wants her little cygnet to stay alive? You are mistaken. She will be as glad to be rid of him as I am. He is a threat to us all.”

“Can I think about it?”

“While you think, things are progressing at a pace you cannot imagine.”

“What about my face?”

He angled his head to observe her. “You don’t like this one?”

“It’s not really my thing. I look like Vadim’s little sister, and that’s just wrong, when you’re mated to someone. Adam took my face. He usually makes sure his victims commit suicide fairly soon afterward.”

“So that is your price?”

“Hardly. I’m just telling you the facts.” She shrugged. “I don’t need your help. I just need to get out of here, find Adam and that damned cult, get my face back and go home.”

“Without my son?”

“He’s not my problem. I can’t make him come back if he doesn’t want to. From the sound of it, he might have a few grudges to get off his chest over here.”

“Hecannotremain here.”

“So you said.”

His scowl shook the walls. “Let us be clear. In order for you to persuade my son to quit Otherworld you require—what?”

She ticked the list off her fingers. “My face back, Adam’s death and the extermination of that secret cult. But as I’ve already mentioned, I can do all that myself, and I don’t want your son back.”

“Don’t overestimate your abilities, my dear.” He tossed the dagger at her, and she automatically caught it.

“Keep this anyway. If you do decide to execute him, it is one of the few weapons that might actually do it for you.”

“Is he so hard to kill?” The peculiar metal warmed against her palm as she wrapped her hands around the hilt.

His bitter laughter echoed around the cell. “He is practically invincible. I had to spend a fortune and go to the Dark Court to have that dagger made. There is enough power in that blade to kill three Fae Royal. Hopefully it is enough to pierce his black heart.”

He inclined his head a regal inch and disappeared.

“I hate it when people keep doing that!” She shouted, but there was no one to hear her. What the hell was going on? Was Vadim really the monster his father painted him, or simply misunderstood? Despite all his bravado and the excellence of his shields, she’d felt the Fae’s fear of Vadim’s power. Was he really a toxic weapon that was out of control?

She sat down suddenly on the floor. Did it matter? She’d been feared her whole life, and it hadn’t meant she was a bad person. Had Vadim had any more control over what he’d become than she had? The Fae king had tried to shock her into turning against her mate, but she wasn’t convinced. Hadn’t he left Otherworld to avoid all that? Hadn’t he tried to change? Which was more than she had ever done. Unless he’d been deceiving her all along…

“Thank God, the king’s gone.”

It was Rossa again, a cloak over his usual nakedness.

“What do you want?” Ella demanded. “And why the fuck didn’t you tell me about Vadim being the big bad fairy of Otherworld?”

“The king told you about that, did he?” Rossa pulled a face. “Cygnet swore me to secrecy, and he’s the more powerful being.”

“You’re such a wuss.”

Rossa drew himself up. “I simply have a healthy respect for the continuation of my lifespan.”

“So help me get out of this mess!”

“Here’s the thing. I promised cygnet I’d take care of you.” He glanced around the dungeon. “Believe it or not, this is actually the safest place for you right now. It’s so heavily warded that neither Adam nor the sect can get in here.”

“So what?”