A roar of fury and frustration that sounded like Lucivar in a mood rattled Surreal’s mind, jolting her awake. Her head pounded, and her stomach felt queasy. And that pissed her off.

Moving slowly, she rolled to her side and opened her eyes. The soft predawn light revealed enough to confirm she was in an unfamiliar room. A pillow under her head and a sheet beneath her hand told her she was in a bed. And her psychic senses told her she wasn’t alone.

Pushing herself upright, she swung her legs over the side of the bed—and swore silently as the bed seemed to lift and dip under her. Apparently, her body hadn’t worked through all the effects of the drug, which was still playing nasty games with her sense of balance.

A chair creaked. A large body moved to a lamp on the table near the window. The sudden flare of light as he used Craft to engage the candle-lights made her squint.

“They said you wouldn’t wake up until sometime this afternoon,” he said, giving her a mean smile. “Glad that’s not the case. It was getting boring, just watching you sleep.”

Since the skirt of her gown was shoved up to the tops of her thighs, she figured his self-restraint had more to do with not wanting to soil his cock with moon’s blood than using an unconscious woman for sex.

She knew his type, had seen enough men like him when she was a child living in the meanest streets of a city in Terreille, whoring to earn enough to buy a day’s food and, maybe, some shelter for the night.

“Just so you don’t go getting any ideas, Greenie, there’s a Sapphire shield around this room and a Sapphire lock on the door. So you don’t go anywhere unless I say you can.”

Greenie? She’d never advertised she wore the Gray when she’d worked in the Red Moon houses in Terreille, and while she hadn’t made it a secret since coming to Kaeleer, there weren’t many of the Blood beyond those who had been in Jaenelle’s First Circle and the ones who lived in Ebon Rih who knew she wore a Jewel darker than her Birthright Green.

Which meant there might be a few other things the bitch who arranged this didn’t know about her.

“What—What do you know about me?” she asked. The shakiness in her voice was due to the drug her body was still shaking off, but it made her sound afraid and, right now, that suited her just fine.