In the steel cabinet of torture implements, there was a stack of zip ties. He grabbed a bunch and stuffed them into one of his cargo pockets.
As much as he hoped to end the blond man if he ran into him, Kit and Lobo would probably rather he didn’t. Didn’t mean the bastard wouldn’t need a stay in the hospital before being turned over to them, however.
Kelan went out of the narrow hall that fronted the various pens and into the larger room outside them. A guard who had been sitting at the desk jumped to his feet. Kelan pointed his MP5 at him. “Do you want to die?” The guy was young. He shook his head vigorously. “Then disarm yourself.”
The kid did as asked. Kelan took him over to the stairwell and zip-tied him to the railing.
Someone was hurrying down the stairs. Kelan pointed his MP5 at the tuxedoed guy, recognizing him a split second before shooting.
“Need help?” Rocco asked.
Kelan grinned. “Not gonna say no.” He looked at the guard he’d disarmed. “Where do they have Fiona?” he asked, doubting what the girl in Fiona’s suite had told him.
“Who?” the guard asked.
“She’s in the rotunda,” Rocco said. “I know where it is.”
They went down some corridors, then into another stairwell. Kelan’s boot crunched on something small. A bead. No, a pearl. Fiona had been wearing pearls in her hair. He looked around, wondering if she’d been manhandled out here before being taken to the rotunda. His eyes caught another pearl on the stairs going down. He nodded at Rocco, then they hurried down the stairs. Every few steps was another bead or clip or something from Fiona’s costume.
“Where were you?” Kelan asked Rocco.
“Jafaar left me and Selena with the guests while he and the other witnesses went to participate in some private ceremony. When you blocked the door to the restrooms, I knew shit was going down.”
They stopped at the bottom of the stairs…at a complete dead end.
Chapter Seventeen
Fiona’s two guards dragged her down the stairs. She considered resisting, but where was she going to go? Mr. Edwards was in complete control of this entire place. A vision of Kelan, battered and tied to a chair, flashed through her mind. “Do what they tell you,” he’d said. “I will find you.”
But who was going to find him? Who was going to save him? She’d only been able to cut his feet free, but hopefully that would give him the mobility he needed to fight back.
A little seed pearl fell from the set woven into her hair. It was the second one she’d lost. Maybe the string was coming undone. She reached up to feel for the rest. She pulled a string of them free and let one fall every few steps.
Down and down they went. Where were they going? Ellen had said they were taking her to her dress, but why hadn’t she been allowed to come with Fiona?
One of the guards pulled his badge and pressed it against the corner of the wall. A small panel lit up inside the doorway. It beeped when his badge was successfully read, then the whole wall moved to the right. Her guards pushed her into the dark room beyond and let the big wall slide closed behind her, leaving her alone.
She looked around the space, confused at the extreme shift in decor. Small, flickering flames danced from sconces in the stone walls. The floor she stood on was highly polished stone, inlaid with what looked like ancient patterns of scrolls and plants and…monsters? Hydras, dragons, centaurs—classical beasts that were both beautifully rendered and terrifying in their presentation.
She looked behind her. The sleek steel wall she’d just come through was faced on this side with heavy stone like that of an ancient castle. It was as if she were at a theme park, standing on the dividing line between two worlds.
A couple of women came toward her. They were wearing gray velvet capes similar to her red one. Their dark hair was also arranged into complex updos, but without the adornment that hers had.
One carried a small tray with a glass of red wine on it. “Welcome, Princess Fiona. We’ve been waiting for you. Would you care for a sip of wine? It will ease your nerves and help you relax.”
Fiona hesitated. “Where’s Ellen? She was going to help me dress.”
“She’s on her way.” The other woman smiled at her. “You’re twenty-one today. You can drink wine.”
Yes, she was, wasn’t she? Though it wasn’t at all the birthday celebration she and Kelan had planned. Fiona picked up the glass and took a long sip. The wine was dry, not sweet. It warmed her mouth and throat. She hadn’t realized how chilled she was. She took another long sip. Why had they brought her here? Why was her being here worth torturing Kelan to achieve?
“What happens to him next depends on you.” What did that mean? What was it that she could do or not do that would impact Kelan?
She started to lift the glass for another sip, but it fell to the ground instead of coming to her lips. The figures on the floor moved. Moved. The dragon lapped up the translucent red liquid while the centaur laughed. She drew back in horror, then looked at the women who observed her. One nodded to the other. They took hold of her arms and guided her away from the broken glass.
She was glad they had a hold on her, because she was feeling a little strange. “Ymshs,” she said in an effort to thank them, but her tongue hadn’t moved. It was paralyzed, stuck to the bottom of her mouth. She asked what was happening, but those words made even less sense.