Etalon tugged a fallen curl free from my collar. His finger grazed my neck, sending a delicious bolt of friction through me before he rested a palm on my lower back.
“She’s to be left awake and uncuffed.” His deep voice ground out the command. “She’s fed. And I’ve hypnotized her not to remove the blindfold. She poses no threat.”
“Understood.”
“I’d like a minute alone with her, to ensure she stays under until you drop them off. I’ll help her into the car once I’m done.”
“Of course, sir.” A car door opened and shut, indicating the driver taking his place inside.
I was led some feet away. I clenched my teeth, barricading the thousands of accusations and questions wanting to leap out—furious in my blindness.
“You have every right to be angry.” Etalon’s patronizing tone stung like hot oil.
“Meaningless words from someone who’s always hiding,” I seethed. “I should at least get to look into your eyes when you explain why you set me up.”
“And you will,” he answered, his voice so raw in its sincerity, it made me remember the little boy he once was whose beautiful songs were stolen away with the flavor of lye and bile. A jagged line of sympathy sliced through my heart.
I caught a breath as something cold and metallic tickled my chest a few inches beneath the dip at my collarbones. Etalon spun me slowly until my back faced him, clasping a delicate chain at the nape of my neck.
“Vous êtes si belle.” His gruff whisper gilded my earlobe in a sliver of heat—somehow even more sensual for its confinement behind the mask.
You’re so beautiful . . . My skin hummed, both from his proximity and the compliment, but I refused to let him see. A sarcastic retort formed on my tongue and I tried to spin around to unleash it.
“No, no. Not yet.” He held me in place, one arm crossing me from behind—a provocative weight edging my rib cage—and the other hand clutching the front of the necklace. “You’re in a trance, remember? Any emotional outburst would shatter that illusion.” With each shallow breath I risked, his knuckles brushed my skin at the dress’s neckline, releasing sparks of sensation that made my pulse spike.
“What did you put on my neck,” I whispered, less of a question than a distraction technique so my heart would stop racing.
“A key to RoseBlood’s roof,” he explained, his own respirations uneven, proving he was equally leveled by our physical contact after so many days and nights being separated by walls, and so many years separated by space and time. “If you’ll wave it in front of Diable—let him get a good sniff—he’ll lead you through the secret passage.” He released me and the necklace, helping me turn without slipping on my stilettos.
“He’s your familiar, isn’t he?” I traced the key at my chest like a person reading braille. It was a metallic skull with jagged teeth, like the ones every student and teacher used to unlock their dorm rooms.
“You could say that.” The fidgeting scrape of Etalon’s soles on the ground indicated either discomfort with the subject, or a desire to hurry the conversation along. “Although no one is his master. He’s my companion and accomplice, when he chooses to be.”
“And the collar is to make him appear to be a normal pet.”
“The collar is for Ange’s benefit. She’s half-blind . . . needs the advantage of the bells to warn her of his whereabouts.”
“Ange?”
“The swan.”
“Oh, her.” The red one from the chapel. “So, whose familiar is she?”
Etalon didn’t answer, as if he’d already said too much.
“Why have you had Diable following me?” I asked, trying to pull him back so I wouldn’t be alone in the darkness.
“That was his decision. You earned his trust and respect, because you tried to rescue him. Is that so hard to believe? Isn’t that what our friendship has been based on—from both sides—for the last few weeks, and for years before in our dream-visions?”
I curled my lips over my teeth and bit down.
“He may be a cat,” Etalon continued, “but he has the nose of a bloodhound. He’ll know what door that key opens, and will lead you there. Meet me tomorrow night after lights-out.”
I fisted my hands, frustrated by the limitations imposed upon me, both the blindfold and the fake trance. “Why then? Why not tonight? I need answers now. You owe me that after what I almost did to my friend.”
“I owe you more than that. But, your friend will be all right. They all will. They’ll only recall the moments that were safe. Every harmful memory will be blocked. The drug has that effect. Tonight, you need to get back before curfew. And I have to do damage control here, if I’m to protect you and your friends. Meet me tomorrow. I promised you your father, and I can give you that much.”
I huffed through my nose, though the apathy was forced. “More bait to lure me into another trap?”