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D aisy blinked at Jule for a blank, bewildered moment, while her heartbeat kicked in her chest. Her partner wanted her back? Who ?!

But then her shaking hand swiped for the outstretched letter in Jule’s hand, and flipped it open. And there, scrawled across the page, was a mass of familiar handwriting. Lew’s handwriting.

Dear Daisy , it began. I was shocked and devastated to learn of your sudden departure, and your claim of dissatisfaction with our relationship. I am sorry to hear of your distress, and disappointed that you did not offer me a chance to address your concerns before taking such drastic action.

While I support your right to make your own decisions, I cannot fathom how you mean to survive on your own without an income, or without my generous stability and support. I also cannot fathom your reckless decision to travel to the city alone, through dangerous orc country.

I have therefore gone to the considerable expense of hiring an experienced team of armed guards to locate you and escort you safely back to Dusbury . I expect you will offer these professionals your full cooperation and gratitude.

Upon your safe return, I will gladly renegotiate the terms of our personal and professional relationship to ensure our mutual satisfaction.

As always, my heart is forever yours. Lew .

Daisy stared at the letter for another long, endless moment, and she only vaguely noticed that her hand had begun shaking, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. “ Wh -where did you get this?” her faint voice asked. “ And how?”

“We intercepted it today on the way out of Dusbury ,” Jule said, with a curt nod toward Joarr beside her. “ Mr . Wallace apparently sent several duplicates to places he expects you could be. But the regiment he hired to fetch you is currently marching northeast, toward the city.”

The regiment ? Daisy gaped at Jule again, and nearly lost her grip on the letter. “ The what ?” she demanded. “ How many men?”

“About fifty,” came Jule’s grim reply. “ All of them active military personnel, supposedly now off duty. It seems that Mr . Wallace — and possibly his lord handler — are considering you a serious security threat to their mission against us.”

Oh. Oh , gods. Daisy’s head was already beginning to ache, pulsing along with her racing heartbeat. Because damn it, that would be just like Lew , wouldn’t it? To assume that Daisy running away from him hadn’t had anything to do with the actual reason she’d given him, or the other women in his bed — but instead attributing it to the mission. The top-secret project. The project Lew had refused to tell her about, likely because he’d guessed how she would respond. And if Daisy had found out about the project, would she have run away like this, and taken Lew’s secrets with her? Perhaps ?

Daisy groaned aloud, and rubbed her hands at her eyes. “ So what now?” she asked, her voice hitching. “ What do we do next?”

But there was only silence in return, and when Daisy blinked at the group before her, they were all watching her . As if they expected her to answer that question, somehow, and suddenly there was just raw blazing panic, juddering through her chest. What the hell was she supposed to do, or say? She was only supposed to be watching and learning for the next two weeks, while they dealt with Lew’s horrible attack… right? But now, if Lew had truly sent an entire regiment of men after her, did that mean she would never be able to leave Orc Mountain again, ever? Unless she wanted to end up trapped back with Lew again?

Daisy’s swimming eyes stared back down at the letter, at all those snide implications, those thinly veiled threats. Shocked . Devastated . Disappointed . Drastic action. Reckless decision. I cannot fathom how you mean to survive. Followed by that tepid promise of renegotiating their relationship, and then that too-familiar line, My heart is forever yours . Now feeling just how that fake ring had felt, like a shiny empty bauble tossed toward an annoying, misbehaving pet.

Daisy still couldn’t speak, and a sudden quivering tightness spasmed across her throat. As if she was about to start weeping, right here in front of all these watching people, and her thoughts snapped back to that dungeon Filak had trapped her in, to the terror, to that unbreakable chain trapping her alone in the dark…

But then — a growl. A deep, rumbling, furious snarl, erupting from beside her. From … Filak . His eyes were flashing, his mouth contorting with rage — and without warning, he snatched for Lew’s letter. Giving it one single contemptuous look, and then stabbing it with his claws, and dragging them downward. Shredding the letter into long, jagged strips, and then again, and again, and again. Until it was reduced to a tattered dangling tangle of ribbons, which he hurled to the floor, and then stomped on with his big muddy boot.

“ Nei ,” he hissed, not toward Daisy , but toward — the rest of them? “ Nei . Daisy er mín. Daisy er sálufélagi minn. Daisy vereur hjá mér! ”

It meant — No . Daisy was his. Daisy was his mate. Daisy was staying with him.

And damn it, but it shouldn’t have felt like such a relief. Like hope, like refuge. Because of course Filak would protect her, he would guard her and keep her safe, and he would happily tear Lew to shreds before he allowed him — or his appalling regiment — to ever touch Daisy again.

And without at all meaning to, Daisy eased closer into Filak’s side, into his strong solid certainty. Into the dizzying reassurance of his arm instantly circling around her, yanking her tighter against him. And now his hand was stroking her, too, warm and steady and firm, and it was everything, gods curse her, everything.

“Right, then,” came Jule’s reply, sounding distinctly relieved. “ Well , if you’re in agreement, Daisy , we’ll let that regiment keep chasing your imaginary trail toward the city. And with any luck, they won’t start guessing you’re here until after we’ve dealt with their attack.”

Wait. They won’t… start guessing . Daisy blinked blankly toward Jule , and dragged in a thin, shaky breath. “ But — why would they — guess I’m here?” she croaked. “ Won’t they just think I’m — somewhere else? Or dead, maybe?”

And truly, what had become of her, that she wanted Lew to think she was dead , so she could stay here at Orc Mountain — and the look Jule gave her was tolerant, or maybe even pitying. “ I’m afraid not,” Jule replied. “ If those men can blame orcs for their difficulties, they inevitably will, even without a good reason. And ” — she raised her brows toward Daisy — “can you be sure you didn’t give Mr . Wallace any reason to suspect your connection with us? Or with Filak ?”

Daisy took a breath, and began to dredge up a reply — of course she hadn’t told Lew about Filak — but then Jule’s too-knowing eyes flicked downward. Running over Daisy’s neck and collarbone, lingering on — oh. Her tattoo. Her sun .

But no, no, Lew couldn’t have suspected the sun was related to Filak … could he? Or could he, and too late, Daisy clapped her hand up to her neck, to the familiar gold of her kraga , and to… Filak’s bite-marks . Those distinct, raised ridges on her skin. The ones Lew had looked at with such pure, scathing contempt, and said, Those teeth-marks had better not scar, either. Gods , did you go find someone feral?

Jule’s expression looked rather foreboding now, and her smile didn’t at all reach her eyes. “ Well , we’d suggest you stay well hidden here until the attack,” she said flatly. “ And if you’d still like to leave after that, we can create some alternate plans then.”

Right. Daisy swallowed and nodded — in truth, that was what she’d planned for anyway, wasn’t it? — though now the visions of that looming attack were swarming with dizzying, sickening strength. The poison. The belladonna. The orclings. And she would be right here in the midst of it, even if it killed them all.

“Do you… still feel confident that you can prevent the attack, and protect the mountain?” Daisy’s small voice asked, into the silence. “ Have you found out anything else? Is there… anything I can do to help? Maybe I should just go back and…”

But her fear was rapidly rising again, because gods, she didn’t want to have to see Lew again. She didn’t want to think about Lew again. He’d lied to her, used her for her art, and then planned to brutally murder an entire mountain of people…

Beside Daisy , Filak was hissing a low steady growl, and after a brief glance toward him, Jule shook her head. “ We appreciate the offer, Daisy , but it would be best if you just stay put while we handle this,” she replied. “ None of us want Mr . Wallace getting his hands on you, or deciding to make use of you.”

Make use of you . Another cold wash of fear streaked up Daisy’s spine, because — wait. Was that why Lew had sent the regiment, too? Not just to find Daisy , but… to use her? Again ? Not just for her art, but for… the attack? For murder? For feeding belladonna to children?

But the look in Jule’s eyes suggested that this was exactly what they were worried about. Lew capturing Daisy with his regiment, and forcing her to help him. And gods, hadn’t Julian mentioned that as a possibility too, back at the start of this? As something Filak had feared? You ken he was fool enough to march her all through our mountain, when he thought she wished to learn its layout and ventilation systems, so she could help our enemies flood it full of poison gas, and choke us all to death?

But now… Filak had done all that. Daisy now knew enough about this mountain to present a true risk to them, right? And could Lew truly force her, use threats or pain or blackmail to drag the truth out of her? Use an entire regiment against her? Surely he wouldn’t… or would he? He’d already lied to her, hadn’t he? Used her for his gain and his coin? Betrayed her with another woman? And wait, how did Sybil fit into this, too? Was Lew still working with her? Would she help him destroy Daisy , too, and everyone here she cared about?

Filak’s hand was stroking Daisy’s back again, but she barely felt it through the shouting, shuddering clamour — and she couldn’t hear Filak’s sharp response back toward Jule , either. But in return, Jule smiled and raised both her hands, and said something that might have been meant to be comforting. Something that brought no comfort at all, because Lew had somehow become a monster, and he wanted to make Daisy into a monster, too. To force her to hurt all these people who’d been so kind to her, to be part of feeding belladonna to children…

Filak barked something else toward the group, and finally they filtered off again, heading back down the corridor. And though Rosa furtively smiled and waved goodbye over her shoulder, Daisy couldn’t find a response, not even when Filak kept stroking her, tucking her closer into his side.

“ Róleg, sólin mín ,” he murmured, into her hair. “ Tú ert orugg hjá mér .”

He was trying to reassure her, to remind her that she was safe with him. But Daisy wasn’t supposed to be binding herself to this, to him, not yet. She couldn’t let him use this to trap her here, she was supposed to be — she should be — something — something —

“Daisy,” Filak said, firmer this time, but it sounded very far away, and much closer was the rising roar of Daisy’s heartbeat. Booming louder and louder with every breath, blazing with fear and bitterness and regret. I cannot fathom how you mean to survive …

“ Daisy ,” came Filak’s voice again, but it felt even further now, barely a whisper amidst the chaos. I expect you will offer these professionals your full cooperation , Lew had written, and it was just like another dungeon, wasn’t it? Another chain around her neck, dragging her to someone else’s will, trapping her in the dark…

Daisy couldn’t hear Filak speaking now, couldn’t feel the touch of his stroking hands. Couldn’t follow his urgent-sounding questions, spoken in a halting blend of Aelakesh and common-tongue, something about bed or eat or sleep. Could barely even see his face, how he looked even paler than usual, his eyes searching and intent on hers…

But then — he was moving, and guiding Daisy along beside him. Leading her numb, stumbling feet down the corridor. Further and further, around twists and corners, taking her to — to —

A room. A new room. A new dark, deep cave, full of danger and weapons and cold merciless steel.

A dungeon.