Except, nobody else is laughing and my giggles quickly die down. Colt is staring at me, his jaw clenched. And the man standing quietly to the side, Stick-Up-His-Ass-Dude, he’s staring at me too, I can feel his gaze on mine.
I gulp, staring at them. “You’re not joking, are you?” I ask on a whisper.
He shakes his head once. His intense gaze never leaving mine. “Who are you? Where do you come from? Who do you work for?” he grinds out.
Gone is the easygoing hot cowboy and now in front of me is a man that scares the absolute shit out of me. Not a little bit, but a lot a bit.
My body starts to tremble and I lick my lips, wishing that I hadn’t taken that small sip of room temperature water for granted a few moments ago.
“Colton,” I whisper, my voice shaky and full of the same fear that flows throughout my entire body.
Chapter Three
COLT
She is scared. Everything she gives off is akin to terror. I can practically smell it rolling off of her in waves. Clearing my throat, I think about what to say next. She thinks this is all some kind of joke, and she’s serious.
There is no hint of deception in her tone, in her eyes or the way that she carries herself. I should know, during the civil war, it was one of my greatest strengths, to determine if a friend or foe was being honest and forthcoming or lying.
She clears her throat, shifting in her seat, but she doesn’t shy away from my gaze. She should. I may not be tearing her apart limb from limb right now, but I won’t hesitate to do so if I see the need. She is a woman, but she is not immune to treachery. And I find her attractive, but I do not make decisions with just my cock.
“Who do you work for? Where are you from?” I demand again.
I watch as she gulps, then shakes her head once. “I am Birdie Collins and I’m from Seattle, but I live in Arizona. Will you please tell me what’s really going on here?”
My head jerks, and I shift my gaze over to Ernest, who shakes his head once. He doesn’t know those places either.
“In what country?” I ask, thinking that possibly she’s a foreign spy.
My country, Devilrise, is isolated from the rest of the world, so foreign spies aren’t something we have to deal with often.
I think about gathering the Assembly and letting them deal with her, but they would lock her up never to be seen again, and there is something about her. Something that I can’t quite put my finger on, I don’t want to toss her away without the key just yet, not until I figure her out.
Licking my lips, I wait for her answer. She’s scared, her body trembling right before me. She begins to speak, but I don’t understand what exactly she’s telling me.
“I’m from the United States, Colt. That’s where I am right now, isn’t it?”
United States.
I like the name of it, but it’s nowhere I’ve ever heard of before. I admit that I’m not a professional geographer, however, I would like to think that I know the basics and this is not a basic country that I’ve ever encountered the name of before.
“Ernest, have you heard of this land?” I ask.
Ernest takes a step forward, finally deciding to speak. Shifting my eyes to meet his, I watch as he shakes his head once. “It does not exist, sir. I have studied the world’s geography extensively in my past and it does not exist.”
Birdie jumps to her feet, the chair falling down behind her. I watch as she scrambles backward and almost falls, but doesn’t. If she were wearing a dress and corset, she would have already fallen and passed out from lack of oxygen in her panic.
Standing, I take a couple steps toward her, reaching out, I wrap my hand around her waist to steady her. She sucks in a breath, her eyes wide as she begins to pant. Her waist is small, I don’t think I’ve felt one this small without being in a corset, unless it was a starving soiled dove.
Tugging her toward me, I force her body to slam against my chest. Her lips part in awe as she tilts her head back.
“Colt,” she breathes, causing my cock to stand at full attention just at the sound of my name on her lips.
Dipping my head, I almost touch my lips to hers, but I gather all of my self-control and shake my head once.
“You’ll tell me everything, Birdie. The truth of it all. Who are you?” I grind out.
She shakes her head a couple of times, her blue eyes panicked and frantic as she lifts her hands between us and places her palms on my chest. I want those hands everywhere, all over my bare body.
“I’m just Birdie Collins. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m single and my two sisters are missing. I thought maybe this was all some big joke. You’re scaring me,” she whispers through trembling lips.
Her fear does not make me want her less, if anything, I want to gather her in my arms and violently make love to her in this very moment because she is so frightened. Searching her gaze, I don’t see deception looking back at me.
“You are not in Arizona and I’ve never heard of the place. Your sisters are not here, darlin’.”
“I’m starting to think that is the case,” she breathes.
My lips turn up into a small smile. “Is this witchcraft?” I ask softly.
“Witchcraft?” she gasps.
I nod my head once. “Witchcraft may be accepted in other countries, Birdie, but it is not here. Women are burned at the stake for such practices. Dark or otherwise, magic is not
