I already knew the perimeter wall didn’t hold much hope, but perhaps there was a back entry? Some sort of service area with lax security where I could hide in the back of a truck or disguise myself to sneak out.

Once again, the grounds of Cinderkeep completely bewitched me.

By day, they were visually stunning with charming flowers and pretty courtyards, but by night, they transformed into the infernal flames of hell. Torches lined the paths like sentinels, their flames licking at the dark. Bonfires smouldered in copper braziers, and lanterns bobbed in the trees as if the stars had descended to spy.

With my skin spangled by orange fire, I stuck to one of the white gravel paths, pulling the thick long coat I’d found in the wardrobe around me. I’d traded my worn flip-flops for lavender-coloured sneakers and did my best to be stealthy.

Overhead, a few drones flitted past like mechanical birds, hovering over areas of the garden before continuing with their patrol. My heart quickened as a girl appeared, her steps equally light and sneaky. Her blonde hair gleamed metallic, her movements elegant as well as menacing.

I paused, hugging myself as she cut across the path.

Where was she going?

What was she looking at?

I followed her stare and—

Him.

I gasped as my eyes landed on Lucien where he sat at one of the many tables and stools throughout his estate. A bottle of liquor rested in his hands, his elbows wedged onto the marble tabletop, and his head hanging low.

The panther wasn’t with him, and the aura of depression and rejection seemed to ripple, seeping out of him like a disease.

The girl sneered as she kept inching closer, careful not to make a sound. Dressed all in black, she became one with the night, gilded by flaming torches.

I inched forward, drawn against my will to get a better view as she pulled something sharp and shiny from her jacket pocket. Firelight glittered off the metal.

My heart stopped as she slipped behind the willow tree drizzling its fronds around the table where Lucien sat.

He didn’t look up or show any signs of hearing her as she ducked around the tree and tiptoed closer.

The urge to cry out and warn him came strong.

The reminder that we were all trapped in here because of him kept me silent.

I fought two polarising feelings.

Half of me wanted to stop him being murdered, the other wanted to run far away so I wouldn’t have to watch.

Her arm rose, her fingers wrapped tight around the dagger.

He raised the bottle and drank, his head tipped back, his throat perfectly exposed for a slice from behind.

She noticed the opportunity.

And took it.

With a flash of black and steel, she launched from the darkness and landed on his back. With a screech, she brought the knife around to his front and—

—in a whirl of power and speed, Lucien feinted to the left, tossed her off him, and avoided her slashing blade.

She pivoted on the spot, horror widening her eyes that she’d missed.

I rushed forward to do...what?

Too late.

With a snarl, Lucien spun to stand behind her.

His body so fluid, so lethal—exactly like the panther he’d tamed. His hand snaked around her, and with a brutal grace, jerked her back against his front. With one arm wrapped tight around her waist, he snatched the dagger from her hand. It flashed in the firelight just as her shrill scream split the night.

A wet, red-black waterfall poured from her throat as he slit her neck.

She moaned, choked, then collapsed at his feet.

My hand flew to my mouth.

A tiny gasp escaped me.

His head snapped up.

His eyes locked on mine, smouldering black and burning with hate. Out of the shadows, the panther stalked, growling low with its back arched.

Run.

I spun, pebbles scattering and my coat whirling around my legs.

My sneakers dug for purchase. I managed to flee for a few horrendous heartbeats, but then he was on me, shoving me into a young sapling and slamming me against its trunk.

Spinning me to face him, he locked one hand around my throat. Throttling me against the tree, he pinned me in place, his breath fast, and nose almost touching mine.

“Were you in on it too?” he growled, his voice ragged and rough. “If she failed, are you the back-up plan?” He smirked, his eyes almost alight with insanity. “Go ahead then. I’m waiting.”

His fingers tightened, making my pulse flutter. The torchlight etched his face with gold and orange, glistening on the scarlet streak over his cheekbone.

Blood.

Her blood.

An instant migraine pounded in my skull. My vision turned grey. My knees threatened to buckle and my body—well trained in cases such as this—reached for the nearest thing to stay upright.

My hands landed on his hips, my fingers digging into the hardened muscles and bone.

He froze, his eyes locking onto mine. “What are you doing?”

I licked my lips to answer but his hand on my throat flexed. I tried to let him go—to stop touching the very man who wore the blood of the girl who’d tried to kill him—but I really didn’t want to collapse at his feet.

“Well?” His gaze wasn’t steady as he studied my face. Deep in his almost-black pupils, madness seemed to flicker. But beyond that was something else. Pain.

Leaning over me, his lips pulled back in a sneer and any signs of agony vanished. “Answer me. What the fuck are you doing touching me?”

Did he think I could talk with him squeezing my voice box?

Keeping one stabilising hand on his hip, I raised the other and hesitatingly tapped his hand on my throat.

He narrowed his eyes.

I waited for him to snap my neck and get it over with.

Instead, he pushed away, letting me go and breaking my hold on him.

Crossing his arms, he looked me up and down with disdain. “Speak if you want to survive.”

My mouth was dry but, amazingly, I didn’t pass out. My heart skipped and tripped and I’d never felt so sick, but I managed to rush, “I didn’t mean anything by touching you. I felt woozy, that’s all. My options were to grab you or collapse.”

His jaw clenched as if he didn’t buy a word. “Are you here to kill me like she was?” He arched his chin at the body lying face down by the table. Ribbons of red covered the marble tabletop from where her blood had sprayed.

I struggled to stay conscious. “No.”

“No?”

Meeting his fury, I sucked in a breath. “I was taking a walk, that’s all. I have absolutely no intention of harming you—”

“Liar.”

My hackles rose, combating the brokenness of my nervous system. My voice came out stronger as I said, “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not adept at lying when my life is being threatened.”

“If you’ve been thrown in here, you’ve been trained to be the best liar possible.”

“Trained?”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on. Do you really expect me to believe you’re this clueless?”  His mood turned black as Hades. “I’ll ask you again. Why. Are. You. Here?”

“I-I don’t know. I—”

“Do you wish to kill me?” he asked quietly, his gaze cutting over my face like a blade.

“I’ve told you. No!” I shouted, probably a bit louder than I should. “I don’t even know you. Why would I want to kill you?”

His head tilted, a shadow of disbelief dragging across his features. “Do you want to seduce me and have my child?”

A morbid giggle escaped. “Can you at least buy me dinner first?”

Confusion slid over his features, mingling with his fury. “If you’re not here to do either of those things then...why. Are. You. Here?”

I swallowed hard. “It was a mistake.”

“A mistake,” he echoed as if playing along with me. “How so?”

“Wrong place, wrong time, wrong everything. I was promised hot stones and cucumber facemasks, not...whatever this is.”