The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood #13) - J. R. Ward Page 0,91

growled than spoken—and it was the last thing she had expected.

Footfalls, of a male twice her height and three times her weight, circled around her body, and through the mesh that covered her face, she looked up, up, up.

s’Ex’s features were covered as well, but for the executioner, it was chain mail, not delicate links of silver, that hid his particulars, though not his identity.

Fear rang in her chest, a hollow strike that brought sweat out under her armpits and between her well-concealed breasts.

“And you were feeding him?”

When she neither confirmed nor denied the statement, the executioner threw his hands up in frustration—but he was careful not to touch her or anything that was indirectly touching her body, and that included the tray, everything on it, as well as her robing and even the large marble square that her feet had happened to land on.

It was forbidden for any male to come into contact with her, punishable by death, at s’Ex’s hands—which would mean that he would be required to commit suicide, she supposed.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “Did you poison him?”

“No! He has been without food for over twelve hours—”

“Do you normally concern yourself with my prisoners?”

“He is no normal prisoner.” She lifted her chin. “And you have not taken care of him properly.”

“There are a thousand others to look after such things.”

“Am I not one of those thousands who live here?”

He leaned in. “Do not go in there again.”

maichen removed her mesh so fast, he did not have a chance to look away in time. As he gasped and wrenched around, ducking his face under the folds of his sleeve, her voice matched the authority of his.

“You will not tell me where I can and cannot go.”

“Drop your mask!” he barked.

“I will not. I do not take orders from you.” She ripped the sleeve away from him so that he had naught to cover his eyes. “Are we clear?”

The executioner closed his eyes so hard, the features of his entire face distorted. “You’re going to get us both killed—”

“No one is here. Now I command you to meet my stare.”

Such was the turning of tables that he became the cowed one as he took his time opening those lids, as if his face did not want to obey the dictates of his mind.

When he finally looked at her properly, it was the first time in her life a male had ever seen her face—and for a split second, her heart got to beating so fast she grew light-headed. But the thought of that prisoner in there overrode the upset.

“He”—she jabbed her finger in the direction of the door to the cell—“is not to be harmed in any way. Do you understand me?”

“It is not your place to dictate—”

“He is an innocent. That is the Anointed One’s brother, not he who must serve the throne. I know from the tattoo—”

“You looked at his body!” A series of words exploded out of s’Ex’s mouth, unfamiliar ones that sounded like, “Jesus fucking Christ.”

Whatever that meant. She knew English only formally.

s’Ex leaned into her and dropped his voice. “Listen up, you stay out of this. You don’t know what’s going on here.”

“I know that it is unfair to hold an innocent responsible for something that does not concern him.”

“I’m not going to lose my own life over you. Do we understand each other? And I will not alter my course just to please some moral streak you wish to indulge for a moment.”

“Yes, you will.” Now she leaned in—and in spite of his size, s’Ex jerked back. “You are well aware of the power I hold. You shall not cross me in this or any other desire I have—and when I bring him his next meal, you and your males will let me pass in there in peace. I don’t trust you enough to feed him properly—or safely. And do not tell him who I am.”

With that, she put her mesh back into place and started to walk off.

“What’s your endgame,” s’Ex demanded.

She paused. Looked over her shoulder. “What does that phrase mean?”

“What are you going to do? Keep him in there like a gerbil for the rest of his natural life?”

What was a gerbil?

maichen narrowed her eyes beneath the mesh. “That is none of your concern. The only worry you have is if anything happens to him. And bring him a proper bed.”

At least he could be comfortable as she figured out a way to safely set the poor male free.

maichen made