vampire whore in the hopes of discovering what idiot possessed the cojones to kidnap vampires in the middle of a crowded brothel. Or for it to take nearly three weeks of prowling the local demon dives before she’d at last hit pay dirt.
She’d been ready to chuck in her dog-collar necklace, her see-through top, and three-inch fuck-me pumps that were an open invitation for any and every demon to put their hands on her ass before she at last had been approached by an imp who had lured her to a seedy backroom and slapped the silver cuffs on her. Then, with equal speed she found herself being shoved into a tiny silver box that had sucked the energy from her at an alarming rate.
Now she could only hope that this slave-auction house would give her the information she needed.
With no option but to remain in her self-imposed role while she waited to see what would happen, Jaelyn turned back to investigate her cramped cell, cautiously reaching for the cheap goblet that had been left on a wooden table in the center of the floor.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” a soft voice whispered from the adjoining cell.
Jaelyn had already sensed the young nymph, as well as the harpy who was slumbering in the cell farther down the dungeon.
“Wouldn’t what?” she asked, glancing toward the golden-haired female, who had been stripped of her clothes to reveal her lush, perfect curves.
Nymphs were always beautiful; this one was drop-dead gorgeous.
“Drink the blood,” she clarified.
“Why not?”
“It’s laced with a drug that keeps a vampire unconscious. Sometimes for hours.”
Jaelyn set aside the goblet, her gaze never shifting from the female’s wide blue eyes.
She couldn’t detect any deception in the nymph, but that didn’t mean the young demon wasn’t an unwitting dupe to the villains who ran the nasty slave business.
“How long have you been here?”
“I’m not sure.” The female abruptly shuddered. “At least a couple of weeks.”
Jaelyn’s suspicions deepened. “You weren’t brought here for the auction?”
“I was.”
“Then why haven’t you been sold?”
The nymph abruptly wrapped her arms around her waist, as if she were cold.
“The guards prefer to keep me here for their entertainment. I suppose they’ll eventually tire of me and I’ll be taken upstairs.”
Jaelyn grimaced, attacked by an unfamiliar stab of pity. The wretched creature had obviously suffered at the hands of her captors, even if she didn’t have the physical scars to show.
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, so am I.” The nymph struggled to hide her misery behind a determined smile. “Oh, I’m Valla, by the way.”
A part of Jaelyn told her to turn away and ignore the chatty demon. She had a very specific agenda that didn’t include becoming BFFs with her fellow inmates. But her training warned that she couldn’t ignore such a potential source of information.
“I’m Jaelyn.”
“That’s pretty.” Valla tilted her head to the side, her glorious mane of hair tumbling over her shoulder. “Did you get to choose your own name?”
“No.” Jaelyn absently rubbed the raw skin of her wrists. She would need to feed before she could fully heal. “It was given to me by my maker.”
The nymph moved closer to the bars. “Are you injured?”
Jaelyn instantly dropped her hands. A Hunter never revealed weakness.
“I’ll recover.”
“If you need a drink I’ll share.” The female held her arm through the bars. “I’m not on drugs or anything.”
Jaelyn frowned, once again searching for some sign of deceit. Why would this female be so kind? For God’s sake, she was offering her vein to a complete stranger.
Surely there had to be an ulterior motive?
But no matter how deep Jaelyn searched she could find nothing but purity in the nymph’s soul.
Oddly disturbed, Jaelyn abruptly paced back toward the door of the cell to peer at the distant door.
“Are they all trolls?”
“Who?”
“The guards.”
“No.” The sharp scent of Valla’s fear filled the air. “There’s at least two imps and a pack of hellhounds who guard the exits. There’s no way out if that’s what you’re thinking. And if you try ... they’ll hurt you.”
“There’s always a way out.”
The nymph was momentarily speechless at Jaelyn’s cold confidence; then she gave a forced laugh.
“Yes well, I suppose a woman like you would think that way.”
Jaelyn turned to meet the faintly envious blue gaze. “A woman like me?”
Valla shrugged. “A warrior.”
“All women are warriors.”
Valla’s lips twisted. “Nice to think so.”
Jaelyn swallowed the urge to point out that the mere fact Valla had managed to survive two weeks in the dungeons of a slaver proved she was as tough