I was beyond thankful that I woke up long after Rylos had left for work the next day. Embarrassment sat like a rock in my stomach, making it churn wildly. Or maybe that was the krylo he'd given me to drink.

I looked at the broken remnants of my tablet with a sigh. I wished I could use it to look up what that stuff was made out of. It knocked me on my ass out of nowhere—I couldn't even blame my behavior on it. I felt a little fuzzy, sure, but when it actually hit me full-on, I was out like a light.

Breaking my tablet was probably a short-sighted choice. I'd known on some level that I wasn't getting out that night. Rylos had me well and good. None of my skills were useful when I literally couldn't go beyond the gates. Just because I could get over them if I wanted to didn't mean anything. I lifted my hand to look at the bracelet and realized with a jolt that it was gone. He took it off? But why?!

I rubbed at my wrist as I stared ahead in shock. I wasn't exactly wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth or whatever but I had just tried to escape the previous night. I couldn't, sure, but I had made my intentions clear. So why the hell would he remove my bracelet now?

There was a sudden knock at my door. I frowned. Usually Kastia and Solyndi simply barged their way inside. I'd learned to expect and accept it, frankly.

"Who is it?" I called out.

Nobody replied but the door opened. On the other side stood two guards armed with those strange staves they all carried. I didn't recognize them. I hadn't exactly made friends with Rylos's guards, although that might've been a smart choice, but I was fairly certain I'd never seen them before.

Both men stepped inside the room and flanked the open doorway. Standing there was Rylos's brother, Governor Solys.

"Good morning," he said. Something about the smile on his face sent a chill down my spine. It reminded me of so many of the guards in the laboratory who had leered at me.

Despite the sickness in my stomach, I drew myself up and stepped out of bed. "What're you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed in my brother's home?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. His smile was still firmly in place, and that only made it creepier. Aside from that gross comment he'd made as I left the dining room, he didn't seem nearly as frightening as he did right now. Ill intent was written all over his expression.

"Not in my room you're not."

Solys chuckled and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. "I was shocked when I heard that my brother got himself a human. I knew that he couldn't possibly handle your kind." His eyes swept up and down my body, lingering on my chest, and he bit down hard on his lower lip. "You require so much discipline."

"Get out of here," I bit out, as if the powerful man with two bodyguards would listen to me.

He clicked his tongue and crossed the distance between us, backing me into the wall beside my bed. I flattened against it, my mind spinning as I thought about how I was going to defend myself from whatever he intended to do.

I still had the broken glass shards from that tablet. I would happily slice him to ribbons if I had to. I'd never thought of myself as a violent person before we crashed here. All it took was one guard getting a little handsy to show me I was more than willing to impale someone.

Yet, all Solys did was stop in front of me and shove his hands into his pockets. "Don't worry. We're both getting out of here."

I knitted my brows together. "What're you talking about?"

He was silent for a moment. Still smiling. He reached out and touched a single finger to my jawline. As he started to trail it down, I jerked my head away. "You don't have any right to touch me."

Despite their soft silver glow, Solys's eyes grew cold. "Marion, isn't it?"

I grimaced. I didn't like the way my name sounded when he said it. Not at all. It was like hearing it come from the mouth of a snake, each sound drawn out for just a little too long. Something in his expression shifted and the smile disappeared, replaced by something dark and flat. Emotionless.

His hand shot out and his fingers bit into my jaw as he seized my chin. I pushed against him and his guards were there in an instant, their weapons pointed at me. Gritting my teeth together in fury, I slowly pulled my hands away.

"That's my girl. It'll be okay, Marion," he soothed in a voice that was anything but soothing. "I'll break you soon enough. Then we won't have to deal with these distasteful displays of force anymore."

If I hadn't been as confused as I was furious, I might've laughed. But I had a feeling he wasn't the kind of guy who took being laughed at very well anyway, so it was for the best. Instead, I looked him straight in the eyes and spoke through my clenched teeth as his fingers made my jaw ache. "What do you want from me?"

"Everything," Solys said with a lewd grin. "And you'll give it to me. Because I own you now."

"No, you don't. Rylos does." I wanted to choke on those words. It wasn't easy saying someone owned me, but it was better than being claimed by someone like this.

"He did, yes. But not anymore."

"What do you mean?" My tone was getting shorter with each question. I was getting tired of this game very quickly.

"My brother has given me a gift in the form of . . . you." His smarmy smile grew. "You're mine now."

If the world had crumbled down around at that moment, I wouldn't have noticed. I was far too stunned. Rylos was getting rid of me. It made sense though. I hadn't exactly been a good pet. But I thought—I don't know what I thought.

I could've sworn that something had shifted between us. Something had changed. I hadn't thought for a second that removing the bracelet meant he was going to hand me off to his awful brother.

"Change out of that silly maid outfit and into something like what you wore the other night."

I brought up one corner of my upper lip in a snarl. "That all belongs to Rylos."

Solys's grip tightened. "Would you rather travel naked? That would make for an interesting ride, wouldn't it?"

I eyed the guards for a moment, frustrated tears stinging at my eyes. No matter how much of a badass I liked to think I was, there was nothing I could do with a coward that brought two others to handle me.

Solys eased his grip and took a step back, pointing to the door of my closet. As I walked over to the set of doors, my mind was a sea of curses at Rylos, his brother, the Korysti, and this stupid planet that we had the misfortune of crashing on.