Pain twisted Reiley's face and Erick felt a dark satisfaction watching him. Eleanor started toward the door and weakly tottered.

Before she could crash into the dining table, Erick caught her. She tried to squirm away but he was stronger. "Eleanor, your room isn't warm enough yet. You have to wait here a few hours."

"She should eat something."

Erick guided her to a chair. "Are you warm enough?" The sick part of him wished she'd say no, to give him the excuse to hold her nude body.

"Didn't your slumber party empty your whoring stick? Find someone else to distract yourself with. Or maybe you could actually tend to your duties."

Erick stared, dumbfounded. Ungrateful brat.

"Why should I be grateful? It was your fault. Did you expect me to yield and beg you for compassion? I'd rather my father see you for what you really are."

"And what's that?" Erick sat beside her, wishing then that he'd let her freeze.

"A blind, selfish coward."

He gritted his teeth and tried to block her from his mind. The hybrid was like her mother, stealthy but with the added strength of the demon in the tower. "How do you stand up to your own judgment? You'd condemn us all to death, your father, your mother, what remains of your kin, for your own selfishness."

"Is that what you think? You're already doomed. All of you. There's nothing I can do to save you. I have no power here. No spells. Nothing. You've all clipped my wings to keep me prisoner in this hell, so that my mother can force me back with spells I don't know the counters to."

"The driving force of a hybrid. Power. The lure of Gildon's queen. I'm sure she offered you a nice morsel of power in exchange for Biston's demise." He gulped the rest of his ale. Earth, he hated the girl.

"I don't want to watch you kill everything I love. Why should I stay for that? Look around you." She motioned to the tattered and dusty curtains, to the broken window molding and the gouged floor.

He glared at the spoiled brat. She'd been born to a poor soldier's family and this wasn't good enough? He couldn't afford the amenities Gildon offered. "So you'd run to the woman who murdered three of your uncles and orphaned countless Bistonian children?"

"She didn't know they were my uncles. If she'd known she wouldn't have. She's my cousin."

Erick grimaced. He'd heard Anre was related to the evil queen but hadn't realized how closely. How could Henry look at his daughter and see anything but a monster? Hybrids like her could sink a city to the depths of hell. Gifted with elven kings' magic, powered by human resilience, they could cast any spell anywhere, unlike elves. At least elves, royal elves, needed the collective energy of their land to command elementals and power destructive spells, prohibiting the swift demolition of mortal kingdoms.

"And there it is. That's why my mother never tells anyone, not even me. You share blood with Ceres' human side. Why aren't you considered evil by the same logic?" she asked.

"Very distantly related." Thus the name of the war between Biston and Gildon- Duran, their family name. But it wasn't the demon queen's human blood he feared.

"I can escort you to Gildon," Reiley offered. He seemed to hold his breath waiting for her answer.

The twit would probably promise anything for a kind word from the brat. Despite Reiley's high vocabulary from a lifetime among aristocrats and all his learning, he acted like an awkward boy infatuated with an older woman. But Reiley had to be twice Eleanor's age. Too old for her.

"My father would kill you before I reach the summit. My mother would drag me back. Then there would be inevitable war between Biston and Porter. Self-fulfilling prophecy."

"I don't understand," Reiley said.

"Eleanor's mentor claims that if 'Eleanor Borona sets foot on foreign soil without Biston's king, Biston will crumble beneath the weight of war. Nothing will remain'." Queen Ceres had said it so casually, dark grin on her face. "Probably made it up to torture me." But Eleanor's parents believed the prophecy or curse.

"So either Frederick or whoever rules Biston must accompany you to your new home?"

"Just Erick. No one will accede to the throne after him. The moron doesn't need the weight of war to crumble Biston to ruin."

Reiley chortled.

Erick's blood boiled. He wanted to bend Eleanor over his lap and deliver the punishment she so deserved. "If you were anyone else, you'd rot in a cell."

"I already am. What more can you take from me?"

He grabbed hold of her arm and tugged her up with him. "Let's see." Her skin shocked his with her hybrid magic in the way that weakened his restraint.

She laughed as if she didn't believe him. "You can't hurt me. My father is the power behind your throne."

"Your father should have disciplined you long ago." Erick dragged her out the door. He expected her guards to put up a fight but they did nothing.

Porter's king called behind them, "Release her." Guards held back the pompous meddler.

Although Erick roughly pulled her through the hall, she didn't seem scared. "Maybe you'll learn some respect after spending a few nights in a true prison." The thought excited him even more than the electric sparks of her spell.

"So you can warm me when I turn blue?" She opened his fantasy of fucking her warm.

"Would that shut you up?" He wished he had taken advantage. The brat didn't deserve his respect and restraint. His cock twitched and he knew exactly how he'd punish her.

"You can't."

"I can do whatever I want with you. I'm your king."

Did she actually smile at him? Laughter burst from her clamped lips, as if she'd tried to hide her amusement. "Oh no. Please don't, Your Majesty. Is that the reaction you're looking for?"

Blood pounded through his head. He tore the blanket from her clutches.

She gasped and tried to hide her nakedness, nervous gaze flicking down the empty hall.

"That's the reaction I'm looking for." He seized her, grip tight on her bare ass cheek that clenched and quivered against his palm. Her lithe body hid against him, rich perfume wafting up, sparks burning through him and he feared he'd fuck her right there in the hall.

"Just a little farther." He unlocked the heavy iron door to the dungeon and pulled her inside with him. "You're going to pay for everything you've said and done these past five years."

She resisted his tug and dug her little feet into the landing.

Earth, don't play the victim. He couldn't fuck her if she pretended not to want him and he desperately wanted this to be more than just a prison sentence.

She grimaced. "That smell. Don't you smell it?"

Beyond the lure of her perfume, there was nothing else. But the priss was half elven. The slightest odor would torture her. "Part of the punishment."

Firelight from the torches flanking the door licked at her body and he couldn't help but trickle his gaze over her soft curves, hardened nipples, silky tuft and long legs.

Without modesty, she stood, head held high, small smile hinting she knew the power she held over him. "Not here," she said in a sultry voice.

Breath halted in his chest. He wanted to give in, to take her to his bedroom and lay her on fresh sheets. Anything to hear her moan his name in that low tone. But then he'd be no better than that twit king who begged for her. "Nice try." Erick hoisted her over his shoulder.

Her feminine squeal of surprise swelled his throbbing hunger to the point of pain.

He rubbed his stubbled cheek against her bare hip. Earth, those sparks on his face. Her hiss of breath rewarded him. Such delicate skin. He craved an even more sensitive spot against his lips.

Down the stairs, he slid his grip up the back of her thigh to the plump curve that shimmied with his every step. Soft and smooth. He dipped his fingers between her thighs, where his cock would soon follow and her honey slicked his fingertips. It gushed from her puffy slit, hot and rich with her intoxicating scent. An electric burst numbed his fingertips as her whole body tensed and shivered. Did she just come?

A groan rumbled his chest. How could she feign disinterest? He could barely keep from fucking her against the jagged stone steps. Though what he had in mind wouldn't be much better.

He kicked open the first cell door. The rough-hewn slab crashed against the brick wall and mortar flaked over them like snow, dusting her flawless skin. Inside, darkness nearly blanketed them, if not for the ethereal glow of her eyes.

Something scurried over the leather toes of his boots and Eleanor shuddered. She clawed at his back and resisted when he tried to set her down.

Erick laughed. "What did you think I meant?" He forced her wrists up into the iron shackles that hung from the wall.

She leaned forward on the chains, away from the wall, head turned to examine something behind her. The slender muscle of her shoulders tensed taut and glistened.

Countless men had left their sweat and blood on those bricks. For a hybrid, the smell had to be misery.

"Some men spend years here," Erick whispered in her ear. "If you're very good, I'll let you go. If not..." He caressed her waist with the back his fingers.

She shivered and relaxed against the wall. The chains jingled, her arms raised, limply bent at the elbows. "What will you do if I'm bad?" She bit her lower lip as if to keep from smiling.

Erick grinned and stroked the lines of her long neck. Oh, he wanted her to be bad. "I'll have to punish you."

Giggles shook her breasts and shimmering midnight hair. "How?"

He filled his hands with her to feel the delicate weight bounce against his palms. Did she feel the thrilling sparks too?

She quieted, mouth open, breath quick.

"How do you think?" He buried his face in her neck to breathe in her scent. It dizzied him and pained his rigid cock. He nipped the hollows of her throat and collarbones and tasted her salty skin.

Her flavor heated his throat better than fine rum. Each stroke of his tongue, each scrape of his teeth arched her back, swelling her breasts against him.

Arm around the deep small of her back, he squeezed her tightly against his want. It took everything to keep from grinding her against the bricks. He needed to give her more.

He hoisted her up on her tiptoes and dipped down to bathe her petite breasts with his open mouth. Kisses and hungry licks melded as he teased her puckering nipples. Her heaving chest implored for his teeth. He nibbled on the tiny nubs and flicked them with the tip of his numbed tongue.

Her soft whimper struck fire from his loins through his gut. Any moment now, he'd explode but he wanted her to want it. He glided his fingertips down her quivering stomach and hips. Her silky tuft curled around his fingers. "I need to feel you come again."

She held her breath and the blue glow of her eyes intensified to blinding beams. The chains jingled as she strained to meet his touch. Her thighs parted and a tiny cry begged for him. "Wait." She drew back, as if suddenly remembering something.

Fears spilled from her mind and her glow faded, paining him. She worried he'd give her away to Porter's king if he had her, like he'd done to her friends.

That didn't make sense. A vindictive ex-girlfriend must have scared her with false rumors.

"I won't." Earth, he'd keep her chained, secreted away from everyone. No one would know to look for her here. Every night, he'd enjoy her electrifying spell, her scent, her alluring body.

He stroked the soft skin of her inner thigh and listened to her breath quicken in his ear. "Now for your punishment." He'd meant to tease her, to bring her to the brink of orgasm with his touch, then pull away. But he couldn't.

When he slipped his finger between her puffy lower lips, her whole body arched and she bucked, moans flowing from her open mouth. Drenched with honey, his fingers glided into her slit. He curled his finger up inside her gushing pussy and she quivered. Her scent flooded through him and the room seemed to spin. He clutched her to keep from falling.

Her tight squeeze seized him. She fucked his finger in a zealous rush and her screams rang out. Her impatient thrashes ignited the nerves in his fingertips with shocks that rippled through him, as if he'd come inside her.

Every muscle in his body stiffened, aching and rigid. Cheek pressed to hers, he couldn't wait for her to catch her breath. He flicked her hard, quivering clit.

Her thighs squeezed his finger and she squirmed away from his touch.

"Mmm. Don't you want me to?" He needed her to take what she could from him. He couldn't delay his hungry cock much longer. His eager beast painfully strained the waist of his trousers.

"Wait," she gasped.

"Open your mind to me," he croaked. He wanted to feel that sensitive little nub of flesh spasm in ecstasy beneath his touch.

Suddenly, the room filled with light from a glowing orb that appeared overhead and reflected off mirrored walls. Vines crept down from the ceiling and spiraled around her wrists where shackles should be. Instead of filthy slate, marble glistened beneath their feet. A deep melody swelled from a corner where stringed instruments blossomed from rosebuds. Warm rosewater spilled from a rumbling waterfall and swirled around his ankles.

That's not what he'd meant. Earth, he'd forgotten she could do that. It jarred him, reminding him who she once was.

"Sorry," she murmured. Her mind slipped away from his and the cell darkened. Music stopped.

Her silky slit slid over his finger to where she needed him most and her panting mouth lifted to his. On tiptoes, she strained to kiss him, flushed lips plump and moist.

Ellie. The little girl whose innocence had comforted him in his darkest hours. Erick recoiled from her kiss. He couldn't do this. Earth, he couldn't do this. Not with her. Ellie. He shouldn't see her this way. He squeezed his eyes shut and retreated.

Henry would kill him.

Metal clanked against stone and he opened his eyes.

Unchained, she glared at him, blue fire blindingly bright. Her scream pierced his ears, though she didn't open her mouth.

Erick clutched his ears, wincing but couldn't block the excruciating sound. Blood pounded against the inside of his skull and spurted into his palms. His own screams emptied his lungs. He dropped to his knees before her bare feet, silently pleading with her.

Elven silk twirled around her, covering her the way he'd imagined when she'd insulted Reiley. Jewels glittered at her throat and dripped from her pointed ears as she strode past him. The pounding of her little feet faded up the stairs. When the door above slammed shut, her scream halted.

Erick fell to the floor, panting for breath. He heard the clicking of a rat's tiny claws. He couldn't be deaf. He rubbed his ears but didn't feel the blood that had been there only seconds ago. Dry. Only his fingers were wet, where he'd touched her.

Common elven magic. An illusion.

He glanced up at the swinging chains. Iron shackles couldn't hold her. That's what Phil had meant.

Earth, he needed her gone.

He heard the door above open. His whole body flinched. Shit. Had she returned for more?

Footsteps too heavy to be hers clicked down the steps.

Erick pushed himself up and found only Phil in the rank hallway. But that didn't ease the tension from Erick's neck.

"I warned you," Phil said darkly. "You have to be careful with her."

"No. I don't. Send a message to Henry. I want her gone. Let Reiley have her. Tell Henry I'll escort her across the border. Just get rid of her."