Ryese hadn’t noticed my presence. Moving in slow motion, I fumbled for my dagger, drawing it without making a sound. It buzzed in my hand, reassuring me that we had the element of surprise.
I frowned at the dagger. Unless I was willing to sneak up and assassinate him in cold blood, the element of surprise did me very little good. If I made it across the room without being detected—and that was a big if—the dagger would have no qualms against directing my hand into a vulnerable but lethal strike. But I didn’t need any more blood on my hands. And I had no idea how to incapacitate an opponent. I seriously needed to start carrying a knockout charm. Well, okay, those were illegal. But I needed something. In a fair fight I didn’t stand a chance. I needed to get out of here. To find Falin and figure out why the queen hadn’t done anything about Ryese yet.
With the door behind me gone, the only exit from the room was on the opposite wall. The same wall where Ryese’s desk stood. At least it was on the far side of the wall. We were probably equal distances from it. Moving slowly, I edged around the perimeter of the room. The sleet continued falling around me, making soft sounds as it hit the half-frozen puddles on the ground and hopefully covering any noise I made.
I’d reached the halfway point when Ryese looked up. He startled as his gaze fell on me. Then a smile crawled across his face, but the expression was far from friendly.
“Dearest Lexi,” he said, his hand dipping into one of the desk drawers.
I didn’t wait around to find out what he might have, but dashed for the doorway.
He was faster.
He grabbed the back of the blanket, trying to jerk me off my feet. I released it, so all he got was the soggy material as I kept moving for the door.
Just another yard. Almost there. I could make it.
I’d just reached the threshold as I felt his body collide with mine.
Falin. I thought at the door. Take us to Falin.
Maybe, just maybe, Faerie would be kind to me.
It wasn’t.
Chapter 30
Ryese and I crashed through the doorway, him riding me down to the ground where he’d tackled me around the waist. I got my arms in front of me in time to brace myself so my nose didn’t slam into the sleet-encrusted floor, but the impact sent the dagger skittering out of my hands. Crap. I tried to scramble after it, but Ryese’s weight covered most of my bottom half, pinning me to the floor.
I struggled, kicking with my feet. Ryese sucked in a breath as my heel connected with something soft. Hit. He drew back with the pain enough for me to crawl out from under him.
I climbed to my feet and scuttled farther away before stopping to take in the room where we’d arrived. I’d been hoping to end up somewhere public, preferably wherever Falin was, but either the door we’d taken had a set destination, or Ryese had had other ideas when we crashed through the door.
The room was small and empty, aside from a pile of debris in the far corner. The only door was the one we’d crashed through, and Ryese was between it and me. Currently he was curled on the floor, cupping his privates and staring at me with hate in his wet eyes. I did not want to try to get past him without a weapon. Which meant I needed to find my dagger.
I scanned the floor, finally spotting it a few feet in front of the pile of debris. I darted for it but drew up short as I got closer to the corner. What I had taken for rubble or maybe broken furniture debris was a pile of bones, mostly picked clean but a few with scraps of flesh and hair still attached. Skulls stared at me with empty sockets, most human in appearance, but some had obviously belonged to the less humanoid fae.
Oh crap, where had Ryese taken me? Was this his killing ground?
No, he’d drained the fae in his laboratory. But their bones had been picked clean here.
I shivered and took another step toward the dagger. A soft crunch sounded behind me. A footstep.
Oh crap.
I half turned, torn between diving for the dagger and the need to see Ryese.
Something crashed into the side of the head, just behind the temple. The world shattered—or maybe that was whatever Ryese had smashed against my skull—and pain exploded behind my eyes.
I reeled, my head spinning. The ground rushed up to meet me, knocking my already shaky breath out of me.
Ryese followed me down, planting his knees in my chest. Cold slush soaked into my clothes as Ryese’s long fingers wrapped around my throat, denying me air. I thrashed, clawing at his shoulders as I kicked my legs. He’d situated himself higher this time, keeping all his bits and pieces out of range of my flailing legs.
“Do you enjoy the work of the fae you got murdered?” he asked, his hands tightening around my throat until black spots burst behind my eyes.