Chapter 98

Sloane

I woke with metal against my throat.

Not the collar.

That was the first thing I understood.

The second was that my hands were tied.

I opened my eyes.

Stone floor.

Bare walls.

No windows.

A single lamp overhead.

My head pounded.

Cressida sat across from me.

Of course.

“You.”

She smiled.

“Good morning.”

“It doesn’t feel like morning.”

“It isn’t.”

My mouth tasted bitter.

Drug.

Again.

I tried to move.

Pain pulled through my shoulder.

Nothing broken.

Good.

My leg still ached from the temple but held.

The restraints around my wrists were ordinary rope.

The chain around my neck wasn’t.

I could feel it.

Magic crawled across the skin beneath it.

Rhea pressed forward.

Then stopped.

Not gone.

Blocked.

Different from the silver collar.

“Take this off.”

“No.”

“Wha