I glowered at the sensors, cameras, locks, and barricades.

I wished I could blow them all up. Tear them apart and smash them to pieces.

A hot flash of agony had me groaning and abandoning those thoughts.

A steady buzz grew louder.

My fingers froze around Whisper’s ear as a drone appeared, its shadow drifting over me as it hovered, putting itself in a position of authority.

I bared my teeth, wishing I could shoot it down and destroy the message it was about to deliver.

“Fuck off, Marcus.” I swallowed hard as a rush of nausea warned me I was mere moments from being knocked out.

“Is that any way to talk to your nearest and dearest friend?”

I didn’t bother answering. I wouldn’t waste the last dregs of energy on him.

The drone dropped a little lower—but not too low. They’d learned to stay out of swiping distance after I’d managed to destroy a few.

Marcus’s voice crackled through the speaker. “I’ve been waiting for good news, Lucien. I’ll admit, I’m a little disappointed that you haven’t progressed.”

I grinned, wishing I had fangs as sharp as Whisper’s. “Is that why you’re punishing me so much lately? For something you think I should’ve done?”

“It’s not a punishment,” Marcus drawled, his tone smug and faintly amused. “It’s merely a correction. You’ve had that girl in your house almost every day since she arrived. Tell me, seeing as you refuse to let us have cameras inside, have you fucked her yet?”

My mind filled with images of being with her in that way. Of finding out what it would be like to kiss and touch and give in.

The idea didn’t disgust me nearly as much as it should have.

I smirked. “Why? Are you jealous?”

“I merely need to know if today is the day I can stay true to my promise.”

“What? To finally kill me?”

The drone’s speaker system hissed with white noise. “You know you mean so much to me, Lucien. It pains me that you don’t see that.”

I laughed. Marcus’s lies would never stop being funny. But then my laugh turned to a groan, and I wobbled, fighting the fog creeping over my thoughts. “Nice of you to say such things while your finger is on that little button feeding me whatever drugs keep me useless.”

“It could all stop you know.” The drone circled me. Whisper snapped his jaws, swiping with his huge paw. “All you have to do is get one of them pregnant. The moment we have confirmation of your child in someone’s belly—”

“I’m not your breeding whore.”

“—I’ll personally collect you and take you home.”

“I am home.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t.” My skin drenched in sweat as I continued to fight the burn.

“Stop being difficult. Just have a little fun and knock one of them up. How hard is that?”

“Fine.” I smirked. “Say I do...will you let me go? Will you completely forget about me and never come after me again if I get one of these trespassing rats pregnant?”

“If you work with us instead of against us. If you prove to us you’re willing to run Brimstone Industries under our guidance and do what we ask for the sake of your legacy, of course we’ll leave you alone. You may live your life however you wish.”

“Bull. Shit.”

“You always were a pain in my ass,” Marcus muttered, showing his true colours.

I chuckled around my pain. “Fuck you too.”

“This hurts me as much as it hurts you, you know.”

“Sure, it does.” I flung my hand up, delivering a vulgar finger at the drone. “Go jump off a cliff, Marcus.”

“When you wake up, meditate on your choices, Lucien.” The vitalsync core beeped as another flash of red released the final dose I’d never been able to withstand. “Either pass on your blood to a nameless child that will mean nothing to you, or continue to suffer until you obey.”

My vision went white as the pain surged, doubling, tripling—a flood of molten magma in my veins. I fell to both knees, my breath hitching, fingers clawing at the disc surgically implanted in my chest.

The drone lingered above me, watching as I fell to the side and convulsed.

Marcus sighed. “I really hope that one day you’ll behave. But until that day...suffer well.”

My eyes rolled back as sunlight broke into shards.

The last thing I saw was Whisper as he roared at the drone, leapt into the sky, and swatted it.

He smashed it against the roof.

And as he tore out the innards of the flying spy, the world folded in on itself, taking me with it, hurtling me into a volcano of pain.

Chapter Thirty-Six

“AH, YOU’RE HERE!” DASHING OUT OF the bathroom where I’d finished washing away yesterday’s awfulness, I skidded to a stop in front of Whisper. The black cotton dress I’d chosen made my already washed-out skin extra noticeable, revealing I still wasn’t feeling the best.

The panther stiffened at my sudden arrival but then broke into loud purrs as I bent over and bear-hugged him. “Thank God you’re okay!”

It was a testament to how gentle and wonderful he was that he merely accepted my worship.

Pulling away, I winced at the long, thin line across his shoulder. His fur was so thick, it obscured most of the wound—just the slightest stiffness of the strands revealed where his skin had scabbed over.

“Can I touch it?” I eyed him warily.

He didn’t react, so I took that as a yes.

Bracing myself, I ran my fingers lightly over the cut. No heat. No swelling. It seemed as though Laura hadn’t caused too much damage.

Thank goodness.

Last night, she hadn’t done what I’d begged and left. She’d stayed, even at the risk of Lucien coming to claim me. But it seemed he hadn’t shown, because she said she’d watched over me all alone. I hadn’t been very entertaining, and she’d finally accepted my assurances that I was okay and left me alone by midnight.

I’d tossed and turned the rest of the night, wondering why Lucien hadn’t come for me.

Was he okay?

Was Whisper okay?

Three times I’d gotten out of bed and made it halfway out of my pavilion before shaking my head and scurrying back to bed.

Even if I wanted to check on him, travelling through the fire-burning estate at two in the morning would almost definitely end with me being murdered.

I straightened and headed to the kitchen.

Grabbing the honey from the well-supplied cupboard, I returned to Whisper, unscrewed the jar, and held it out. “Will you let me put some of this on it? I don’t have any proper creams or bandages, but honey is antibacterial, antiseptic, and a great healer.”

The panther wrinkled his nose, his whiskers flaring.

But he didn’t move, so I took that as another yes.

“You know...” I scooped up a little bit of honey and dropped to my haunches beside him. “Your master never came for me yesterday.” Smearing the thick sweetness over his cut, I kept my touch as light as possible. “Is he okay?”

Almost as if he understood, his gaze flicked to mine, his eyebrows pulling together.

I froze. “Wait, he’s not okay?”

He slouched.

“What happened to him?” I smeared the rest of the honey in a rush.

I had to go.

Was that why Lucien never came for me? Because he couldn’t?

Screwing the lid back on, I dashed into the kitchen to rinse my fingers. Shaking off the droplets, I hurried back to Whisper.

“Hey, stop that,” I ordered.

Whisper grumbled as I tried to stop him licking the honey off his shoulder.

I rolled my eyes. “I should’ve seen that coming, shouldn’t I?”

He smacked his lips.

“That wasn’t supposed to be a treat, you know.”

He kept licking, his pink raspy tongue dragging over his fur.

Ugh, whatever.

“We have to go. Right now.”

Whisper immediately headed toward the door.

Chasing after him, I slipped on my flip-flops and left the pavilion.