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I t turned out that escaping Filak’s prison wasn’t as easy as Daisy might have hoped.

“I cannot release it,” the orc gasped, once he’d alternated between picking at the chain, yanking at it, and sawing at it with a small steel knife he’d produced from his belt. “ Filak would have had it custom made, with a latch only he can release. I shall need to fetch a smith.”

A smith . He had to mean he was going to leave her here, and fetch another orc , and Daisy’s heartbeat stuttered, her body swaying on her feet. “ B -but,” she whispered. “ What if Filak — what if he comes back?”

The orc squared his shoulders, shot her a searching sideways look. “ Whatever Filak told you, or whatever reasons he had for this,” he said slowly, “he has yet claimed you as his mate. I cannot see that he would truly harm you.”

Daisy barked a sharp, shaky laugh, and waved her trembling hand at her neck, the chain, the wall. “ Really ?” she demanded, her voice wavering. “ Are we — are we talking about the same person? Pale ? Gaunt ? Cruel ? Murderous ?”

The orc grimaced, and dropped his eyes back to Daisy’s neck. “ Ach , I know Filak ,” he said, quiet. “ He can be stubborn, decisive, demanding. Single -minded. Obsessive . But not cruel. Not … murderous .”

Daisy swallowed, shook her head, because this orc didn’t know, he couldn’t — but that sadness again glimmered in his eyes, and he abruptly turned away. “ And even if Filak does return before I do,” he added, “he shall find my scent here — and you can also use my name, should you wish. I am Julian , of Clan Ka -esh, and he shall know he has much to explain to us.”

Much to explain to us . He made it sound… personal, somehow, but even as Daisy opened her mouth to ask why, the orc — Julian — was already walking away, his head ducked low. “ I shall soon return,” he said, over his shoulder. “ I shall leave the torch for you, and mayhap you can rest, or eat, or drink.”

She could… what? Eat , or drink ? Daisy blinked, and then glanced uncertainly around her. Finding only stone, and the steel grate, and… her satchel?

But yes, there was her satchel, the one she’d filled at the apartment, with the fruit, the clothes, the waterskin. And somehow it had been sitting propped right here against the wall beside her, well within her reach this entire time. And how the hell had she missed it? How had she not thought to at least do a proper search?

And had Filak — left it here? On purpose? For her?

Daisy drew in another breath, glanced toward this Julian — but he’d already vanished around the corner, his footsteps fading into the silence. Leaving her here alone again, chained to a wall in a dungeon.

But at least now she could see, and she carefully sank down to sit on the floor against the wall, and took a long, gulping drink from the waterskin. Fighting to breathe, to settle her still-shouting heartbeat, even as she glanced uneasily into the darkness beyond that heavy steel grate.

Filak could still return at any moment, right? And if he did, what would he say? What would he explain to them? Would he really be able to smell that this Julian orc had been here? And what was his connection with Julian , anyway?

But no, damn it, no. Daisy needed to stop thinking about Filak . She needed to be finished with Filak . He’d kidnapped her, trapped her, chained her alone in a dark dungeon. She’d already been so, so stupid, and now she needed to focus on staying alive. On escaping, and that was all.

She repeated that to herself again and again, while time slipped past with excruciating slowness. Where had Julian gone, what was taking him so long, what if he just meant to abandon her here forever, too…

Until finally — a clatter. Footsteps . Voices . Multiple voices, and Daisy staggered up to her feet, straining to hear over her wildly thudding heartbeat. Was it Filak ? Was it Julian again? Should she call out, should she hide, oh gods…

“What is this place?” demanded a high-pitched voice, carrying around the corner. “ It isn’t an actual dungeon , is it?”

Daisy froze, staring blankly toward the direction of the voice. Had that been a woman’s voice? Surely not… right?

But then three figures strode around the corner, and into the torchlight. One of them was Julian , and he was flanked by a big bulky orc, and… yes, a woman. A real-life, honest-to-gods woman .

She was small and blonde and pert-looking, dressed in what appeared to be a long, belted men’s tunic. And when she caught sight of Daisy , she startled for an instant, her mouth falling open — and then she yelped as she leapt forward, flailing her hands toward Daisy’s chain.

“You didn’t say he had her chained up !” she snapped toward Julian , her voice shrill. “ And she’s bleeding ! Oh , good gods, are you all right?”

The genuine concern in her voice and her eyes wrenched something in Daisy’s gut, and she desperately gulped for air, fought down the sobs suddenly bubbling in her throat. “ I — I don’t know,” she stammered. “ Filak k-kidnapped me, and t-trapped me here, and put this collar on me, and left me —”

She couldn’t finish, biting her lip and shaking her head, while the woman’s own lip wobbled, and her blonde head whipped back and forth. “ I’m so sorry this has happened to you,” she said firmly, her eyes glinting with surprising fierceness on Daisy’s face. “ We’ll get you out of here at once, and you’ll be quite all right, you’ll see. Perfectly safe! And as for that enraging mercenary racketeer Filak , he’ll be getting —”

She broke off there, because Julian had briefly put his hand to her sleeve, his eyes darting uneasily toward Daisy’s neck. “ Filak has… claimed her as his mate,” he said, his voice low. “ With his bite, and his mark. And … his scent .”

The woman’s brow furrowed, and her eyes snapped back to Daisy again. “ So ?” she demanded. “ And is that supposed to somehow make this better ? Leave it to Filak to finally find a woman who’s willing to tolerate him, and then he kidnaps her, snaps a kraga on her, and locks her up alone in a horrible ancient dungeon?! What if it fell in on her head and crushed her?!”

Julian winced, and betrayed a wary glance around at the small, stone-walled room. “ I am sure it is very safe,” he replied, though his voice sounded uncertain. “ Filak knows subterranean engineering better than any of us, and he would never wish to harm his mate.”

The woman scoffed again, and folded both arms over her slim chest. “ You give him far too much credit, Julian ,” she snapped back. “ Just because you like it when Filak chains you up and has his way with you, that doesn’t mean his newest unfortunate target is going to feel the same!”

Oh. Daisy froze in place, her aching hands clutching against the wall behind her, as something dipped and swayed in her gut. Wait . Was this woman saying — Filak had chained up this Julian , too? And — had his way with him? Not like this, surely, but with… with pleasure? And what did this woman mean, Daisy was just — just Filak’s newest target ?

Julian swiftly shook his head, and shot Daisy a hunted, wide-eyed look. As if he hadn’t at all wanted her to know such things, but it was too late, and Daisy’s stomach was crumpling again, her eyes dropping to the floor. Because she knew it hadn’t meant anything. She knew Filak hadn’t cared. She knew he would have preferred this lovely, handsome orc instead…

But no. No . Daisy had to stop being so stupid. She needed to stop caring what Filak had done, or what he wanted. She needed to be finished with him. To forget him. Forever .

“Sister, please forgive us,” cut in a new, deeper voice — and when Daisy’s wet eyes darted back up, it was the other new orc. The bigger, bulkier one who’d come down with Julian and the woman, and his dark eyes were kind, even sympathetic. “ I ken we have all been caught by surprise with this, and thus have forgotten our manners. I am Gareth , of Clan Ka -esh, and this is my clan sister Rosa . And I ken you have met our brother Julian , ach?”

Daisy blinked, but then squared her shoulders, and drew in a shaky breath. “ Y -yes, thank you,” she said thickly. “ And I’m — Daisy . I’m an —”

An artist , she’d been about to say, but she bit it off, shook her head. Was she even an artist anymore? Without Lew , without her work? And even Filak had rejected her work, and she wasn’t going to weep again, she wasn’t.

“We are most glad to meet you, Daisy ,” the orc — Gareth — said, while the woman Rosa fervently nodded behind him. “ Now , should you wish it, I can release you from this chain, for it is one I forged myself, ach?”

Oh. This Gareth was — the smith Julian had mentioned. Right . And Daisy swallowed hard as she jerked a nod, and then fought to hold herself still as Gareth slowly stepped closer. And with gentle, careful movements, he caught the long dangling chain at Daisy’s neck, and somehow — broke it off , with only a deft twist of his hand.

Daisy’s breath caught, and she reeled away from the wall. She was finally free, oh thank all the gods, and she fought down the irrational urge to hurl her arms around this Gareth’s neck. “ Th -thank you so much, sir,” she croaked. “ And is it also possible to —”

She tugged at the metal ring around her neck, her eyes silently pleading on Gareth’s face — but he winced, and rubbed his hand at his mouth. “ I am sorry, but the kraga cannot be removed so easily,” he said. “ It is meant to be… permanent.”

Permanent . Wait . Filak had given Daisy a permanent collar? One that couldn’t be removed? Ever ?!

Daisy gaped at Gareth , at all of them, but none of them argued this appalling claim. Though Julian had begun to look rather ill, and Rosa’s hand fluttered, perhaps unconsciously, toward her own neck. Toward where — Daisy’s body stilled — she had a ring around her neck, too. It was made of slim, gleaming gold, shining bright against the pale, scarred skin of her throat. Scars that looked like… like teeth-marks .

Daisy’s hand snapped up to her own marked throat, feeling those distinct indents in her skin, the hard metal ring curving over them. “ B -but there must be something ,” she stammered. “ I — I mean, I’m sure Filak didn’t intend it to be permanent in the least, he made his feelings toward me very clear, and…”

Her voice was rising, her eyes helplessly glancing between the three of them — she couldn’t wear this forever, she couldn’t — and thank the gods, Rosa drew herself taller, and twitched a decisive nod. “ Of course we can do something, can’t we, Gary ?” she said briskly. “ Kragas can still be cut off, or melted, with no trouble at all, I’m sure. And our healer can certainly also do something about the bite-marks, and the tattoo. I’m quite sure the ink isn’t permanent, is it, Julian ?”

She’d shot a narrow glance toward Julian — as if he would know, as if Filak had perhaps marked him , too? And Daisy fought back the deeply irrational surge of bitter, miserable jealousy, while Julian rubbed his eyes, and shook his head.

“No, his inks themselves are not permanent,” he replied, his voice thin. “ But before we remove any of this, I ken we ought to first find Filak , and speak to him, ach? This is not — like him. I cannot follow why he would treat his new mate thus, or why…”

His voice faded, his eyes trailing to Daisy’s collar, and beside him, Rosa loudly snorted. “ You can’t, Julian ?” she demanded. “ Are we talking about the same Filak here? Rude ? Demanding ? Unpredictable ? Deeply aggressive?”

It was almost exactly what Daisy had said to Julian before, and she couldn’t deny a rush of dizzying gratefulness toward this Rosa . Who had fully rounded on Julian , now, jabbing toward his chest with her pointy finger. “ And ,” she continued sharply, “the Filak who refuses to learn common-tongue? The one who mocks our extremely generous offers to work as an engineer, and instead charges his own clanmates extortionate prices for his help, and his ill-gotten gems? The one who won’t tell us a single word about why he left his home in the north, or why the hell he doesn’t still live there, with people he doesn’t hate?”

Daisy blinked at Rosa , her overwhelmed thoughts twisting and tumbling into more stark, shouting chaos. Because this was more information about Filak than she’d learned yet, right? And it couldn’t all be — true , could it? Filak refused to learn common-tongue, or work as an engineer? He charged high prices for his help, and for ill-gotten gems ? He was from the north? He hated people here? His own people?

But Julian’s head was whipping back and forth, while unmistakable unease flickered in his eyes. “ Filak does not hate us,” he countered. “ He only has had… much to bear. And I know he has long wished for a mate, and for him to find one and claim her so fully thus, and then…”

He swept his hand toward Daisy’s chain, and again shook his head. “ We ought to speak with him,” he said stubbornly. “ Before all else.”

Rosa huffed an exasperated sigh, and furiously waved at the stone-walled dungeon around them. “ Well , I can agree that might be highly convenient,” she snapped, “if Filak was actually here! In case you’ve already forgotten, he dragged his new mate down here to a dungeon, locked her up, and left !”

Her voice echoed against the stone, ringing eerily through the silence. A silence that suddenly felt strangely, uncomfortably taut, empty, except for…

The crackle. The faint, distinct sound of scraping rock. Grating again and again, growing louder and louder…

Footsteps. Coming closer.

Daisy backed against the wall, her heartbeat surging into her throat, ringing through her skull. Her wild eyes straining in the darkness, frantically seeking, searching, and finding…

Him. There . A pale, gleaming corpse, emerging from the shadows, with death and fury burning all over his skeletal face.

Filak had returned.