Page 116 of Brushed By Moonlight

I gulped, trying not to imagine Henrik leaning over me. Biting. Sucking. Draining me to the last drop, then disposing of my lifeless body. Off the cliff, maybe? Down an old well?

They turned and headed back to the party, while the gunmen closed in on Marius and me.

“You bastard,” I hissed after Henrik.

If he heard, he didn’t let on. He just sauntered away, leaving us to our fates.

Chapter Twenty-Five

MARIUS

I selected a bottle of wine, checked the label, then hurled it. Glass shattered and wine splashed against the stone wall, leaving a blood-colored stain. I reached for another bottle.

Inside, my dragon seethed.

Soon — very soon — I would rip Henrik to pieces. Celeste too, and Baumann. They would regret this, big-time.

For now, however… I chose another bottle and flung it.

“Not helping,” Roux muttered.

Yes, Roux, who’d been shoved into this makeshift cell shortly after Mina and me.

“Helps my mood,” I grunted. “Fucking Henrik…”

Smash!Bottle number two shattered.

We were locked in an alcove with meter-thick stone walls in the very, very old cellar of the building. The vaulted ceiling was so low, neither Roux nor I could stand straight. It was cold and damp, with tiny stalactites on the ceiling and steel bars separating us from the sole exit.

On the plus side, that same alcove housed the overflow from Baumann’s wine collection, so I could vent some of my frustration.

“That was a perfectly good Châteauneuf,” Roux muttered.

“You sound like Henrik.” I threw a third bottle.

Smash!

Did it make me feel better? No, but it was better than beating up on myself. Why had I allowed Mina to get mixed up in such risky business?

I raised another bottle but stopped when she touched my shoulder.

“I’m ready to kill Henrik too, but those bottles aren’t going to do it.” The warmth of her touch calmed my inner beast slightly. “Also, the fumes are starting to get to me.” She flashed a thin smile. “Get it? Fumes. Fuming mad…”

My lips curled a tiny bit, but Roux groaned. “Very funny. Besides, maybe Henrik isn’t a traitor. Maybe he just held back until he could figure out a Plan B.”

Mina scoffed. “That would take a sense of responsibility.”

“Think about it. He can’t afford for this mission to fail any more than we can.”

“Maybe he’s made a deal with Celeste,” I grumbled. “Maybe they’re double-crossing us together.”

We all fell silent, considering. Mina walked to the bars of our improvised cell and peered out. The space faced a stone wall, so there wasn’t much to see unless you looked left or right at an angle, and the sole light was a dim, naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. Occasionally, voices drifted in from the direction of the exit, but all seemed quiet now. More alcoves lay to our right, followed by a dead end.

My mind caught on the words —dead end— and immediately erased them.

Mina looked both ways, then turned back to us.

“What about Delphine? Do you think they’ve caught on to her?” she whispered.