Cinn shook her head. “I’ll stand.” She tried to quiet her frenzied thoughts so she could think. But her mind refused to stop circling the invisible wall. “Say what you have to say so I can get out of here.” She wouldn’t think about the possibility that Sparkle might not intend to release her. But just in case, she scanned the area for a weapon. Whips, chains, and a bunch of other torture implements. Hmm. She could do some damage with that small ax.

Sparkle laughed. “Give it up, Cinn. The only real things in here are the chains keeping Dacian from trying to suck us dry.”

Cinn slanted a quick glance at Dacian. Who knew that eyes so black could look like they were burning? She swore she could almost see the flames behind his enraged glare.

“So here’s the deal. Yes, vampires do exist, along with lots of other nonhumans. Edge and I are cosmic troublemakers. My specialty is creating sexual chaos throughout the universe. Edge is the cosmic troublemaker in charge of death. You can guess what he does. Bain is a demon, and yes, Holgarth is a real wizard.” She held up her hand to stop Cinn from interrupting. “Let me finish.”

Cinn had no intention of interrupting. No way could she talk with her jaw dragging on the floor.

“I sense a kindred spirit in you.” Sparkle dangled one lethal-looking stiletto from her toe as she swung her leg back and forth.

“I don’t think so.” Somehow Cinn had ended up between Sparkle the psycho and Dacian the undead. At least Dacian was in chains, so she took a step back toward him.

“Cinn, Cinn.” Sparkle shook her head. “Self-deception is always sad.” She leaned forward.

Cinn took another step back. She thought about the weird things that Edge, Bain, and Holgarth had said. Now Sparkle seemed just as crazy. Mass delusions? Uh, remember the invisible wall? Felt sort of real. Nope, couldn’t be real. She slammed shut the door in her mind that might be open to possibilities and folded her arms under her breasts to keep her pounding heart from leaping out of her chest and bouncing around the dungeon. How the hell was she going to get out of here?

Sparkle laughed, a soft husky sound that right now seemed pretty threatening to Cinn.

“Calm down. All I want you to do is to hear me out and then think about what I said. I intended to do the big reveal gradually so I wouldn’t scare you to death, but now that you want to quit I don’t have a choice. When I’m finished with what I have to say, you can leave the room.”

Sparkle tried to look harmless, but Cinn figured Sparkle never had a harmless minute in her life. “Fine. Spit it out and then I’m out of here.” Right now her pushy family was looking good.