Chapter One

 

 

I took another look over my shoulder. He was still there. The cold from my bottle of tea was seeping into my skin, a sharp chill, but not as painful as the possibility that I was being followed. I ducked down a hallway and came out into the cafeteria. How had I come full circle? I could have sworn I was heading out of the hospital.

While I stood in the cafeteria doorway—the aroma of poorly prepared, somewhat-healthy food assaulting my nose—my stalker caught up with me.

“Could I speak with you for a moment?” His voice was a velvet rumble and made me shiver.

I turned slowly and looked up into a pair of the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Oh, I know that people say that all the time, but this time it was true. His eyes were startling in their intensity, such a deep sapphire that they were nearly purple. They caught the light coming in the large windows set into the far wall of the cafeteria and seemed to glow. They were so beautiful—surrounded by thick lashes—that I nearly didn't notice the rest of him. And the rest of him was worth noticing.

His body was sleek but thickly muscled, and he was a good ten inches taller than my five-feet and seven inches. His skin was pale, and for a moment I thought it shimmered silver, but then I blinked, and the illusion was gone. His midnight hair was pulled back in a tidy ponytail; highlighting the stark handsomeness of his face. Those cheekbones...

“Miss?” He asked with a smile. “Perhaps we could have a seat?”

He motioned to an empty table—round and plastic; so very ordinary. It seemed odd for him to even acknowledge it. This man should exist in a world where there were no such things as plastic furniture.

“Please.”

It also seemed odd for him to use that word.

“Um, I suppose I can spare a few minutes.” I looked around the room.

The cafeteria wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either. There were at least six other people eating, not to mention the staff. I sat in a plastic chair, my butt making a nervous squeak as I shifted. He smiled at me.

“My name is Drostan,” he said, “and I'd like to offer you a bargain.”

“A bargain?”

“I know about your sister,” he said gently. “She has bone cancer.”

“What do you want?” I growled; the interlude had suddenly become sinister.

People could be such assholes; taking advantage of others when they were at their most vulnerable. I'd heard about such things happening in hospitals before.

“Relax. I assure you that what I have to offer will interest you,” he said. “What would you say if I told you I could cure your sister?”

“I'd say you're a scam artist who preys on desperate fools,” I snapped. “And that you're despicable.”

“I can prove it,” Drostan said calmly; not at all offended.

“How?” I narrowed my gaze at him.

“I will cure her for free,” he offered. “You will have a full week to verify that she has been cured and then get your affairs in order.”

“Get my affairs in order?” I gaped at him. “Are you insane? It sounds as if you're offering me her life in exchange for mine.”

“In a way, I am,” Drostan stared unflinchingly into my eyes as he said it, and if he'd been saying anything else, I would have believed him.

“You're an evil bastard,” I muttered. “Do you get your kicks on giving people hope only to dash it away? My sister will die any day now; I'm afraid to even leave her side to get a drink.” I waved my iced tea at him. “And you want me to believe that you can cure her?”

“I said that you didn't have to believe.” He smirked. “Call it a good faith gesture. I will cure her, and you will have your week to accept that I am genuine. Then I will come for you.”

“You'll do what now?” I cocked my head at him.

“I will go to your home and collect you,” he said simply. “You will come with me to my home, and be mine.”

“And be yours?” I blinked in shock. “Like what; a slave?”

“A sex slave, to be exact,” he said with a purr. “You will obey my every wish.”

“Fuck you!”

“Yes, precisely.” He nodded. “Is your sister's life worth it?”

I went still. Something trembled inside me; a warning, or maybe a call to action. I suddenly wondered if he were telling the truth. And if he were, what would my answer to that question be? Would Helen's life be worth my freedom?

“Why would you want me?” I asked him with narrowed eyes. “If you can heal cancer, why would you need to bargain for a woman?”

“I'm not bargaining for a woman, I'm bargaining for a willing slave,” he corrected me. “And those are much harder to come by.”

“Not really.” I sat back and looked him over. “With those looks, you could find several women who would happily go home with you and be your slave.”

“For a night or two.” He shrugged. “I'm asking for the rest of your life.”

“Fine, but there are far more beautiful women to bargain with.”

“I want you.”

“That makes no sense.” I waved a hand at myself.

I wasn't ugly, but I wasn't exactly supermodel material either. My hair was a touch too brown to be a true red, my skin was a shade too dark to be that peaches and cream complexion that was the best part of being a redhead, and my body was too curvy for most men in this starve-yourself-thin world. Then there was my height; at five-seven, a lot of men came close to being at eye-level with me. When I wore heels, I had towering potential. Yet this hottie wanted me? Sure; and I was actually the lost Princess Anastasia.

“I'm not certain, to be honest with you.” He chuckled. “Let's just say that there's something about you that is fascinating.”

“Uh-huh.” I stood up. “Okay buddy, whatever.”

“Are you seriously giving up the chance of saving your sister?”

I froze.

“You have nothing to lose but pride,” he went on. “You're afraid I'm going to humiliate you, correct?”

I looked back at him.

“What is that, compared to the chance that I could be telling the truth?”

I sat back down very slowly.

“Okay, let's say you are for real,” I said. “And let's say that I agree to this. What then?”

“I will state our terms, and you will agree with them verbally,” he said. “That's all.”

“I could back out,” I huffed.

“If you refuse to honor our arrangement after I cure your sister,” his tone went deadly, “I will take back the cure, and your sister will die—immediately.”

A chill shot through me.

“That's the first thing you've said that I actually believe,” I whispered.

“Good”—he leaned forward—“because it's the truth. I have no patience for humans; especially those who call me a liar. So, I'm going to silence your accusations by doing something I wouldn't normally do.”

One second the guy was normal, the next his skin gleamed with a silver sheen and his eyes glowed like sapphires in the sun. I gasped and pulled back.

“What are you?” I whispered.

“I am the King of Unseelie,” he said proudly as his image returned to that of a normal—albeit gorgeous—man. “What you might call; a fairy.”

“A fairy?” I gaped at him. “Sure. Okay. A fairy is going to cure my sister. Why not?”

“You will make the bargain?” He asked.

“State your terms.”

“Simple: you obey me completely,” he said. “Your life becomes mine, to do with as I please, for as long as you exist. In exchange, I will save your sister.”

“I want to know that she won't come down with another sickness after you cure her,” I said. “What if you save her, and then she dies a year later from bird flu or some such shit?”

He smiled widely. “Very smart, Riley,” he noted. “I'm impressed.”

“You know my name?”

“I know everything about you.”

“Of course you do.” I rolled my eyes. “You're a fairy king.”

“I will guarantee your sister's continued health if you keep your end of the bargain,” he said. “I cannot guard her against future accidents, but I will guarantee her health for as long as she lives. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes.”

“Then we have an understanding.” Drostan held his hand out to me, and I shook it.

Something zinged up my arm and into my heart.

“An Unseelie Understanding,” he whispered.