Malice’s smile widens. Zairn’s sleeping quarters are right above this room—quite the design flaw if you ask me. In the past, he’s had the unfortunate experience of having his sleep disturbed by angry prisoners. It’s rare, but when it does happen, he takes a very… personal interest. I’ve heard he gets so upset, he travels here in the dead of the night without any guard to accompany him.

Malice's eye shines with a knowing light, and he turns, walking out of the room without another word. But he doesn’t need to say anything else.

I understand his plan now.

11. Dagny

11

Dagny

Warm. So, so warm…

My eyelids flutter, struggling to open as a flurry of sensations hits me all at once. Smell, touch, taste, and feeling flood my system, overwhelming and beautiful and euphoric after being in the dark for so long. My fingers curl in one by one, the joints protesting after being locked in the same position for gods know how many hours.

I’m not exactly sure what happened or where I am, but the warm body folded around mine fills me with a sense of safety, of completeness, and despite what my body demands, I just want to lie in this position, drinking in this sensation for as long as I’m able.

A rough palm slides along my arm, following the dip and curve of my collarbone before resting lightly across my windpipe, needlelike claws scraping my pulse point absentmindedly.

Where am I? What happened?

I try to shift to a sitting position, but the hand tightens around my throat, holding me in place. “Don’t get up yet. Just a little while longer. Just… let me hold you.”

The silky voice crests over my skin, raising the hair at the back of my neck as my pulse increases, warning me of something despite the pleasant warmth spreading from my heart. Something’s not right…

Even as I think it, I sink further into the stranger's clutches, nuzzling my cheek against his abdomen as the heat spreads to my fingers and toes and blinding silver light explodes behind my lids. “This is nice…”

“It’s more than nice,” the voice whispers. “It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”

My mouth tips upward in a smile, the joy in his voice contagious. Desperate to put a face to the beautiful voice, I crack my lids as far as I can, blinking away the sleep film coating my eyes and making my vision hazy.

A glowing red orb stares back, piercing through the dark shadows of my cell like a beacon, shining with a kind of quiet desperation I’ve never seen on any man, animal, or beast.