None of them saw me or any of my companions-well, except for your two meager guards, and they won’t say anything to anyone ever again.”
With a sinking feeling, I knew he was right. Nobody knew what had happened to me. I’d mentioned the Yellow River theory off and on to a few of my friends, but none of them had any reason to suspect that was connected to my post-battle disappearance. If anything, they’d probably think there’d been another demon on the loose.
“Who the hell were your companions anyway?” I demanded, recalling the trained fighters. “Did you hire a mercenary army or something?”
Art only smiled. “Cariena, get her dressed.” To me, he said, “Cooperate, or she’ll be the one who suffers for your disobedience.”
He left, shutting the door behind him. I heard the snick of a lock. Across the room, Cariena watched me with big, terrified eyes. She feared both me and Art. I sighed. “It’s okay. I’ll get dressed. I don’t want to run around in my underwear anyway.”
Visibly relieved, she stepped forward and unfurled what she held: a dress. A gentry-style dress.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said. “Isn’t there something else?”
Cariena cringed. “It’s all he gave me.”
I eyed the bedspread, almost wondering if I could go all Scarlett O’Hara and make something for myself. Then, seeing Cariena’s pale face, I yielded again. I wouldn’t let Art beat her or give her to some guy because of me. I took the dress from her but discovered I couldn’t put it on without help, not with my weak muscles and groggy motor control. Being in that state infuriated me. I hated being helpless. More upsetting still was that I was essentially free, unbound and able to move about…but I had no means to fight or defend myself. I could barely even stand. I was a prisoner in my own body.
The dress was a mix of lavender and pale blue. I guess you’d call it periwinkle, which I’d always thought was a dorky name. It was made of smooth, clingy velvet that hugged my body and laced up the back corset-style. The sleeves were long and form-fitting, and the scoop neckline was much lower than my usual style. I’d only wear something that showed that much cleavage if I was going on a date with Kiyo-or trying to coax a favor from Dorian.
Kiyo and Dorian. It sounded pathetic and all damsel-in-distress, but I would have given anything to have them here right now.
Cariena clasped her hands and studied me almost adoringly. “You look beautiful, your majesty. I see now why you have so many suitors back in our world.”
Our world. “Well, I don’t think my beauty plays quite as much a role as you think.”
She produced a brush and undid the knotted ponytail in my hair. “I don’t know if I want to be beautiful or not. I used to think I did. But since I’m not, no one will take me from here.” She sounded grateful.
“You are beautiful,” I said sharply, angry at what Art had said. “And someone is going to take you from here-me.”
Cariena gave me a small, sad smile, but for the first time, I thought there might be something like hope in her eyes. A knock at the door startled her back into timid mode as she leapt up from where she’d sat beside me. “Oh! He’s here.”
“Who?” I asked. Surely Art wouldn’t have knocked.
The lock clicked, and the door opened. Leith walked in.
“Leith!” I exclaimed. He looked as I’d seen him before, clad in a red and white silk shirt, dark hair glossy and swept from his face in a ponytail. I wanted to jump up but knew I’d fall to the floor again. “Thank God.” Someone did know I was here. I wasn’t lost forever. I wanted to tell Cariena we were on the verge of freedom, but she was already scurrying out of the room and hastily shutting the door.
“Eugenie,” breathed Leith, striding toward me. He knelt on the ground and caught hold of my hands where I sat. “You are stunning…as beautiful as I remember. No, more so. You can’t imagine how I’ve missed you.”
A chill crept along my spine. Something was very, very wrong here.
“Leith…we have to get out of here. You have to help me-and these girls. There are horrible things going on here.”
“We can leave,” he said. “But not quite yet. Not until everything’s settled.”
I tested his hand to see if I could free mine. I couldn’t. “Until what’s settled?”
“Until then,” he continued, as though I hadn’t spoken, “you’ll have to stay here where no one can find you. But I promise I’ll visit you every day.”
“I can’t stay here! I have to get back to…anywhere that’s not here. Tucson. The Thorn Land. Anywhere! Leith, what the hell is going on? Why are you here?”
“Because you are. Because Art got you for me.”
That chill down my spine spread to the rest of my body until I felt cold all over. I tried jerking my hand away again but didn’t possess the strength. “How do you know Art? Oh God. Please tell me you aren’t working with him.”
He shrugged. “It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. I help him collect girls in our-in the Otherworld.”
“Girls from my kingdom,” I said, the realization coming suddenly. “That’s why none of yours were ever taken.”
Leith had the grace to look sheepish. “I don’t take important ones, Eugenie. Just peasants. No one notices they’re missing.”
“Their parents do.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter. My soldiers help round them up, and I bring them to Art and Abigail to do what it is they do.” My soldiers. The soldiers who always wore red, just like Leith did now. Normally, red shirts made me think of Star Trek extras, but in this case, it was in tribute to the Rowan Land’s flag and emblem. The soldiers Jasmine and others had seen weren’t Aeson’s deserters. They’d been sent by Leith to help Art and Abigail with their abductions.
“They sell them, Leith! How can you stand by and enable that? They sell those girls to horny guys against their will. What can you possibly get out of it to justify having that on your conscience?”
“This.” He gestured around. “Art and Abigail share things with me…their knowledge from this world. I take it back to mine.”
I stared in disbelief. “And then you pass it off as your own. That’s why everyone thinks you’re such a technological genius. Did you really devise those irrigation plans for me yourself?”
“No,” he admitted. “I had help. But does it really matter? Look, you don’t know what it’s like. You’re strong. Your magic grows more powerful every day. But me? I’m a joke. I can’t inherit. Proving myself with my ‘genius’ was the only way to get any respect…and even that wouldn’t be good enough to let me inherit. Until I met you.”
“Leith-”
“I know what you said, but my feelings haven’t changed. I love you. And I know if you just spend a little more time with me, you’ll love me too. We connect. There’s something between us. It’s more than just about power.”
I leaned back. It was the only way I could put distance between us. “I’m not so sure about that. You think I’m your meal ticket to holding on to the Rowan Land.”
“Not just that land, but all the lands! This world too. Eugenie, when you bear my son, you’ll see that I’m right.” There was a zealous glow in his eyes, and I couldn’t decide if he was crazy or just really, really believed these things would be true if he said them. Maybe there wasn’t a difference. “I can make you happy-and I know you can make me happy. You’re so beautiful….”
He moved up to sit beside me on the bed and ran one hand along my velvet-covered leg. “Leith… don’t…”
“I just need to get you pregnant,” he said earnestly. “Don’t you understand? If I bring you back to our world carrying my child, everything will be solved. Art told me…he told me how you stop yourself from conceiving. How you take some potion every day.” His hand moved up to my hip while his other touched my face and stroked my hair. I tried to back away, but his grip was too strong in my addled state. “He said if you’re away from it long enough that you’ll be able to have a baby….”
I swallowed. My heart was threatening to pound out of my chest. “No…it won’t work. You can’t get me
