Caged Kitten (All the Queen's Men #2) - Rhea Watson Page 0,51

of a man unaccustomed to anyone denying him. “So, fine, put up a fight. Play the martyr. Suffer a little longer… You know, for perspective.”

I held up a hand, nausea making me hot, the room oppressive, Lloyd’s presence suffocating. “Stop—”

“We’ll have more of these little meetings,” he sneered, voice overpowering mine. “And I think you’ll find them very enlightening. After all, we’ve got four unspeakable tragedies to cover in your family. Augustus, Mellony, Jackson, and little Ewan… Not a banner couple of decades for the Fox coven, hey? And I’ve got all the gory details. So much to share, kitten. So many opportunities for you to learn what happens when you cross me.”

A storm of emotion cut through me like a riptide, anger and grief and heart-stopping fear threatening to drag me under for good. Couldn’t listen anymore. Couldn’t sit here—

I had anxiety-induced vomiting as a kid, but I thought I’d gotten over it, that dry-heaving in the processing cell on the first day was a one-time thing.

Apparently this hellhole drudged up all your baggage.

“But, come with me now,” Lloyd urged, finally standing, pressing his palms to his desk, searching out my eyes as they darted everywhere but him. “Come with me and I’ll spare you the specifics.”

Oh shit. I shook my head fiercely and gagged. No stopping it. Past the point of no return. Oh gods no, no, no, not now—

“You’re my property, Katja,” he carried on, once again either totally oblivious to the impact this had on me—or not caring in the slightest that I was about to spew half-digested bread all over his pristine hardwood. “I’m giving you the choice as a courtesy, but deep down you know… I’m sure you’ve known all your life, same as your pathetic father, that in your heart of hearts… you’ve always belonged to me.”

The levies broke.

And with a strangled sob, I flopped over the armrest and emptied my guts onto the floor.

11

Fintan

Well then, this was… new.

After centuries of rule-breaking and mischief, I’d finally received my comeuppance—Mother would be thrilled. Father, on the other hand, was very likely furious that a band of insignificant supernatural bounty hunters had kidnapped the last in line to his throne, Prince Fintan of the Midnight Court, Duke of Vega and Earl of the Lyra Constellation.

How they’d done it was beyond me.

Probably while I was out cold, drunk on bourbon and sex with that wily little nymph minx who had been, of course, nowhere to be found in the harsh light of day. Honestly, this hangover was more of a bitch than usual. Obviously they had dosed me when they’d slapped the cuffs on, then the collar. Seated at the center table in the middle of an empty cellblock, all by my lonesome, not a squabbling inmate or faux-macho guard in sight, I rubbed at the leather strap around my aching neck with a wince. It wasn’t the first time a collar had found its way around my throat, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last, but this was different. This wasn’t for a night of scandalous kink—this was for real.

I seldom faced anything real these days. Given my lot in life, nothing really mattered—unless you were the heir apparent, aka my pompous older brother Rollo, who was probably shitting himself right now because Father must have sent him into the mortal realm to fetch me. Hundreds of years had crawled by doing as I pleased, when I pleased, and to whomever I pleased.

And now this.

Honestly—found guilty of making fae deals with mortals. If those fuckwits were stupid enough to deal with me, then that was their fault. I mean, surely, they listened to the legends: never hand over your name to one of the fair folk. Ever. It was so very simple. Yet six belligerent idiots at that Manhattan club had done so, brazenly, without a care for their futures, all because I’d asked. I hadn’t even been clever about it; my courtly entourage might have been sniggering over my shoulder the whole time, but acquiring those names hadn’t been my finest work—nowhere close. It had been… simple. Too simple. Boring.

Everything was so boring these days.

Except for that nymph. My, my, could she suck a cock—

The realization hit me like a mace to the temple.

Oh, for the love of all the stars in the galaxy…

That sneaky wench had been the bounty hunter. And I’d just let her into my suite. Shooed the royal guards away, my posse of sniveling courtiers liquored up and dead