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The sorceress narrowed her violet eyes. “You want me to create a portal to send you home.”

“It’s not as if I can beg the queen for her aid.”

Runa frowned. “What you want from me… It’s a big ask.”

“Bigger than agreeing to kidnap a male so Vex could torture, then murder him?”

She grinned, unapologetic. “Much bigger.”

“I’m sure we could come to some sort of agreement.”

Her grin twisted with derision. “Look around you, vampire. You’ve nothing to barter.”

“Not true. Agree to my terms, and I will ensure no further harm comes to you, both in Gamma cell and the pit. Also, since you are currently unable to steal secrets due to the torque, I will share any intel I gather with you and your brothers. Together, we will make our escape.”

“And how do you plan on gathering this intel without your compulsion available to you? You’re not the most charming vampire I’ve encountered.”

I smiled, flashing my fangs. “I could demonstrate if you like?”

Runa’s cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink. “Never mind.”

“Me thinks the lady protests too much.” I smirked, enjoying our verbal sparring.

“In your dreams, vampire.” Runa flopped back on her cot.

“Think on it. We share a common goal. Both of us wish to escape and return home.”

“I’d also like a cart full of jewels, my own castle, and a goose that lays golden eggs.”

“You mock me.”

“Handsome and perceptive.”

She thinks me handsome? For a moment, I was thrown off target until I gave myself a mental shake.Focus. “We can help each other.”

“You have a plan?”

Not yet. “Absolutely.”

“Tell me.”

“I haven’t worked out the details.”

“Says someone who’s unaccustomed to answering to a competent woman. No deal. You either treat me like an equal partner, or we’re done here.”

A low growl clawed at my insides. What I was unaccustomed to was defiance. “I will tell you when the time is right.”

She rolled to her opposite side, daring to give me her back. “Good night, vampire.”

Infuriating female. “In case you didn’t realize, your head is most definitely on the queen’s chopping block. Don’t think I didn’t see the gleam in Raelynn’s eyes. You’re here because she wants you dead instead of incarcerated. Worse, she wants to watch.”

Silence.

“As my partner, you will have access to information you wouldn’t otherwise, aid in the games, and protection in the cells. Should I fail, that will mean one or both of us is dead, and then what does it matter? You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

“Nothing to lose but my soul.” She snorted. “Tapping into the amount of magic a portal requires could take me to a place I cannot afford to travel. The queen’s blackened flesh is proof she’s in over her head. If the darkness takes hold of me, as it has with Raelynn, I may never return.”

An issue that held few ramifications forme.