“Oh,” came the soft voice of Sienna as she entered behind him. Likely, she’d never been in a place like this before.
The parlor was finer than the appearance of the exterior of the building and the entry. Though the frayed furniture was draped in vibrantly colored satin and gossamer fabrics to disguise its age, the decor was more tasteful than one might expect. Leaning against a sideboard was a curvy prostitute with jet-black hair and an ample bosom on display.
“Vietka,” called Yuri to the woman.
She turned, her hand still on her hip, measuring the party filing into her small parlor. Though her mouth was soft, her eyes were flinty hard.
Yuri gestured to him. “Vietka, this is the man I spoke of. My captain.” Yuri had kept their specific identity hidden as he’d requested. Though he trusted Yuri to find the right kind of allies for this mission, Mikhail knew everyone could be bought by the crown.
“Pleasure,” said Mikhail with a polite bow.
Riker clicked the door closed as the last one into the room.
There was no need to go through introductions. It was understood that the least amount of information that was traded the better. Anonymity was sacred among those who dwelled in the underworld of these cities. But it didn’t keep the woman from casting a measuring glance to each and every one of them, stalling longer on Riker. Of their party, he appeared to be the most dangerous. Little did she know that behind Mikhail’s cool exterior, he was meticulously rehearsing the many ways he’d carve King Dominik into pieces once he was within distance. His beast crouched low, watching and waiting, savoring the moment when he could flay the man alive for daring to take his woman. That was the only thing that kept him calm and composed.
“Interesting crew you bring in here, Yuri. Seems you’ve been up to all manner of mysteries since you left Izeling.” Her voice was a sensual caress, practiced for her trade. Or perhaps it was the trade that matched her voice.
“Yes, Vietka,” said Yuri, grinning with pride. “I have.”
Vietka’s velvety gaze landed on Mikhail. “Yuri tells me you need a way into the castle. Unannounced.”
“That is correct.”
“There’s no way to get you all in.” She swept the room again with dark eyes, tilting her head as she glanced at Sienna. “She wants in?”
“Yes,” said Sienna. “It’s most important that I go.”
Nikolai tensed at her side. “And me with her.”
Vietka’s brow rose. “What in the hell is goin’ on, Yuri?” Then she snapped a hand in the air. “Never you mind. Don’t want to know.”
“What’s your plan?” Yuri asked.
She poured herself a tumbler of amber liquor and took a lazy swallow. “The change o’ the guard is at midnight. That’s when I regularly send me girls to relieve the men as they come off duty. They’ll open the south gate to let them in.” She glanced at Gregoravich and Riker, then swiveled back to Mikhail. “Seems you men are equipped to handle the few guards at the south gate. They’ll be tired, with nothin’ but blood and sex on the brain.” She knocked back the rest of the liquor. “I do expect to be paid handsomely for such a risk.”
“What’s your price?” asked Mikhail.
Her brow pinched pensively, her lips tightening into a line, seeming to consider as she took in their quality of clothes and weapons. “One hundred sovereigns. And you do exactly as I say. Otherwise the deal is off. I won’t risk me girls or me own life for any amount of money.” She glanced at Yuri. “Or whatever ‘noble cause’ you be chasin’ these days, Yuri.”
Mikhail withdrew a satchel of sovereigns and tossed them on the sideboard next to her decanter of liquor. The jingling of coin caught her attention.
“There’s five hundred sovereigns. You get a handful of us in the door with no questions asked. We’ll do the rest.”
Her dark eyes widened as she lifted the satchel, opened the drawstring, and peeked inside. She looked up from beneath dark lashes. Her tilted smile showed Mikhail how she’d seduced many a man.
“Well, then. I’d say we have a bargain.”
Chapter Thirty
Once more, Mina was being escorted by guards down the long corridor. Dominik had awoken from his blood and sex-coated bed two hours earlier and released her from being confined in the chair where she’d watched the horror of her future husband’s conquests.
The memory of what she’d been forced to watch all night flickered anew. Three of his concubines writhing in his bed, all of them roped and bound in different postures. He favored the blonde, who was fair, her hair braided in a long rope. He bound her hands and ankles with her bottom straight up in the air so he could beat her with a black riding crop. Mina had heard of such sex games, of course, but these weren’t mere tantalizing games. Dominik took each of them beyond pain to the edge of death before he was done with them.
He placed the one he bound with her bottom in the air facing Mina. “Look at my future queen, Melinda. Isn’t she beautiful?” He’d whack her with the crop as she cried out, “Yes!” Then he took her from behind, and when Mina tried to look away, he wouldn’t have it. “Look in my eyes, little dove.” And Mina did. “Watch what I’m going to do to you tonight.” Then he wrapped Melinda’s braid around his wrist, gripping it near the scalp, and yanked her head back till she screamed as he pounded into her body and lashed her back with the riding crop, leaving red welts crisscrossing her porcelain skin. The woman whimpered, tears streaming down her face as she stared at Mina, humiliation and pain written on her face. The whole time, Dominik forced Mina to gaze into his eyes, grinning with unnatural delight.
“Tonight, little dove,” he kept saying, reminding her over and over that this fate would soon be hers. Then he’d beat the girl with the crop again, just to hear her pain-filled cries.
The nightmare ran on for hours, till he finally tired and released her from her chair, dragging her by the wrist to an adjacent chamber, where two lady’s maids awaited next to a steaming bath.
He commanded her to drink the blood they brought in a carafe, then to bathe and prepare for the midnight ceremony. She shuddered at being forced to marry him, her heart sinking at what tonight would behold. “Be sure you put her hair in one long braid,” he’d said as he clenched his fist.
Mina shivered with dread, remembering the concubine he’d abused all night, pretending she was Mina. Then he’d left with little more than a gloating smirk at her as she stood there, frozen in fear at the thought of bedding him. Of becoming his slave to brutalize and humiliate.