Lumina.
The cold was the first thing I felt as I slowly regained consciousness. It wasn’t the kind brought on by the wind. It seeped from the cold marble floor, creeping into my ribs and making me shiver fiercely. The last thing I remember was the room spinning. A dull ache settled between my temples, and my eyelids felt unbearably heavy as I slowly fluttered them open. The ceiling swam into view.
I took in a deep breath, and the scent of rain and damp air filled my lungs. A metallic odor mixed with herbs, broth, sandalwood, and the pungent, unmistakable smell of urine plugged my nostrils.
As my eyes adjusted to the sunlight streaming in, I realized this wasn’t my chambers.
My heart cracked in two.
“W-where am I?” My voice sounded hoarse. It came out dry and dull.
The fever hadn’t broken. If anything, it had gotten worse. My hands shook, and I could feel a sore throat coming on. Gods, I hated those things.
“So you’ve finally decided to join us?” A voice said.
I turned my head to the source, and a figure stood close by. Still. Watching. He looked down at me with his arms crossed and a hostile expression on his face. There was something regal about him, but his eyes… they weren’t kind.
“You’re not here to sleep, Velari,” he murmured, his voice like velvet laced with poison. “You’re here to work. I almost had one of my servants wake you up with a pail of rainwater.”
My voice barely escaped me. A whisper lost in the air. “Who are you?”
He tilted his head and a wicked smile curved his lips. “Why, I’m your new master, Duke Aegor Valemont. And you are here to make all my wishes come true.” He sniggered. “How do you like your new accommodation? I hope it’s to your taste because I used real gold from my mines to create that cage.”
It was then I noticed the bars. I was in a cage again, but this time, on the cold floor. No soft bed or warm sheets.
No. No. No. No.
Please, not again. This couldn’t be happening to me again.
His eyes watched me without blinking. A cruel, knowing smile danced at the corner of his mouth. I was weak in body, but not in mind. So I summoned all the courage I could muster. I dragged myself closer to the cage and curled my fingers around the cold bars, matching his vicious gaze with a fierce one of my own.
“No! I cannot be here! In case you hadn’t realized, let me make this perfectly clear. I’m not just any Velari. I’m Lumina Thaloriên, mate and duchess to Duke Fenris Dreadmoor—the most powerful Alpha in all of Eryndor! No one would be stupid enough to cross him. But then…” I let my gaze linger on him. “There’s you.”
I paused, glowering at him through the bars. “What you’ve done is a crime, and while you may hold influence, Fenris’s power far exceeds yours. He has the backing of the crown. Return me to my home, and I just might convince him to spare your life.”
At first, silence. Then, a loud quake of laughter swept across the room. It sounded like three huge men were laughing all at once.
My stare was like a rapier thrown at him. My jaw tight.
After he gathered himself, he stooped over and stared down at me with those empty, soulless eyes.
“What a funny little canary you are, Velari.” His voice carried a hint of amusement. “Take a good look at me. Does it look like I care whose mate you are?” He gave a low, mocking chuckle. “The fact that you’re here, on my floor, locked in a cage, should tell you just how little I care who you used to belong to…” He crouched closer, his gaze never leaving mine. “Because you belong to me now.”
“Look over there,” he said, pointing toward the king-sized bed behind him. “Can you see her? That is my wife, Alora. She has a terminal illness, and she’s the only thing that matters to me. That is why you’re here. You’re here to cure my wife and sing life back into her.”
He paused, then cocked his head, studying me with a cold, unreadable expression.
“If you do that successfully, I’ll keep you around…” His lips curled into a faint smile. “Not in the best condition, mayhaps, but you’ll be alive. And if you fail…” His smile disappeared. “Well, then, I’ll dispose of you faster than you can sing. I don’t make a habit of keeping useless things around for too long.”
My heart dropped. Dread settled in my chest like lead.
I followed his finger to the bed, where I could make out a shape lying within the covers. Her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, her body otherwise unnervingly still. If she hadn’t been breathing, I’d have thought she was dead.
I couldn’t see her features clearly from my place on the floor, but it was clear she had raven-black hair and impossibly pale skin.
My gaze drifted back to him. “I cannot sing in this state of mind,” I said. “Maybe you haven’t heard, but my people do not sing when we are unhappy. Our songs become a lament instead.”
“Well, then you better figure out a way to make yourself happy, Velari, because I do not care how you or your people feel when you sing.” His voice remained eerily calm. “All I know is that you will heal my wife. Her illness has defied all medicine we’ve given to her.”
“You’re not listening. If I sing to her, she will die.”
“You will sing.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “And you will heal her…”
The certainty in his voice made my stomach twist.
Then his gaze darkened. “And if by chance she dies…” His voice dropped to an icy tone that told me he meant every word. “You will die alongside her.”