I can hear him coming, his gargling, raspy breath getting heavier against my ear, and I’m still sinking, still choking. I try to move my legs, to kick and swim, but they’re bound together, and I’m gasping, gasping—

  I shot bolt upright, sucking in a deep breath of air like it was the first one I’d ever taken. It was dark, and cold, and breathing in so quick hurt my lungs. I coughed, and the sound bounced off the walls of the room I was in like a tennis ball. I tried stifling the sound with my hands, but someone must’ve heard that.

  Blinking hard, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness, realizing as I looked around that I was sitting on a bed in the room I’d been knocked out in earlier. I remembered the force of the impact, the way the crack had vibrated through my skull like it was hollow, but the pain itself was gone. Touching my face, I couldn’t feel any swelling or bruising. I couldn’t taste blood in my mouth, either.

  I couldn’t have dreamed that; the memory was too vivid.

  There wasn’t any light to see with. I couldn’t tell whether it was day or night, or how long I’d been unconscious for. The bed next to mine was also empty—no Thea. My body felt heavy as I slid out of bed, but I had to get up; I had to get moving. If I hadn’t dreamed the attack, then I hadn’t dreamed the kidnapping, and that meant I had to find a way out.

  Using my hands to help guide my steps, I walked toward the nearest wall and felt for the door to the bathroom. I pushed the door aside, but Thea wasn’t in there either. I had no idea where she was, or where Kady was, or where Rell was. On the one hand, that was going to make escape a lot easier. On the other hand, I was going to have to leave them here, and that didn’t sit well with me.

  This time, I didn’t have a choice.

  I moved over to the bedroom door. It was made of wood, and had rivets bolted into it. I could feel them with my fingertips as I touched it. As soon as I found the handle, I also found the keyhole. It was a large hole, and I’d never had to pick one of those before, but it couldn’t have been more difficult than the standard padlocks I’d grown up unlocking.

  My old man liked to lock his liquor cabinet so my teenage ass couldn’t get in. Little did he know, there wasn’t a single thing I couldn’t do if I only put my mind to it. I may have gotten better grades at school if I’d applied that principle to my studying. Instead, I had put that energy into stealing alcohol and getting drunk with my friends under a bridge somewhere, like a troll.

  She makes good choices.

  My knife and my other belongings had been taken from me, but I knew they hadn’t touched the hairpins tucked behind my ears. I always kept a couple, for exactly these kinds of situations. Plucking one out of my hair, I worked on it between my fingers until it was ready for use. I caught a whiff of something sweet in the air. My stomach grumbled, and I paused just as I was about to slip the hairpin into the lock.

  I was hungry, but I couldn’t focus even an ounce of my attention on that.

  Shaking my head, I felt my way into the lock with the hairpin and started jiggling it about, trying to find the mechanism. I could feel beads of sweat starting to pop along my forehead as the seconds passed. I was getting tense, my chest was starting to tighten, and my anxiety levels were spiking.

  I needed to do this quick, otherwise I didn’t—click.

  The lock gave way. I tugged at the handle and the door opened, but only a crack. I didn’t want to open it all the way. Not yet. Carefully, I positioned myself so I could see the corridor. The angle that the door opened to was wrong; it wasn’t facing the way the Viscount and I had come. The hallway was also dark.

  I couldn’t hear anyone walking my way, though, so I slipped out.

  It was colder out in the hall than it had been in the room, and I could barely see my hands in front of my face, but I could smell the kitchen. My stomach grumbled again, urging me toward where there was food to be eaten. Slowly, with my heart wedged inside of my throat, I started down the hall, moving quickly but also quietly enough that I wouldn’t draw attention to myself.

  I couldn’t help but feel like the walk from the cellar to my cell had been a lot shorter when I’d come down here with the Viscount. Then again, he was a man who walked with purpose. I had never met anyone so sure of themselves. Full of themselves, yes, but not sure. There was a difference. A fine line between confidence and arrogance.

  Why the hell am I even thinking about him?

  Hurrying the last few paces, I pressed my back against the wall where the hallway met the cellar. It was quiet in here, and just as dark, but I could see the door to the kitchen; the slit of light breaking through the gaps showing me the way out.

  On the other side of that door, I knew, was a whole host of people—Fae—and they stood between me and the exit. I didn’t have a clear way out of this, I didn’t even know what I’d do if I’d made it out and past the guards. I was going to have to figure it all out as I went, but I was good at that.

  I’d stumbled into most of the songs I’d ever written, I’d fumbled my way out of the neighborhood I grew up in, and I’d muddled myself out of all manner of trouble with the law. I could do this. All I had to do was—the door clicked open, and my hackles rose.

  Without thinking about it, I dashed out from behind the wall and dove behind a stack of boxes. I wasn’t sure I hadn’t been heard, but the door hadn’t even fully opened before I had found cover. As soon as my nerves allowed me to, I tried to peek around the box to get a look at who had opened the door.

  There was someone standing in the stairs leading up to the kitchen, but I couldn’t get a good glimpse of them as they walked into the cellar. For a moment, they were bathed in light that followed them into the cellar, and casting a long, thin shadow along the wall. Then the door shut, and the dark basement started to illuminate itself.

  I couldn’t tell where the light was coming from, and I still couldn’t see this person’s face as they made their way down the stairs, but I could tell it wasn’t the Viscount or the fat man. It was someone else. Someone tall, and thin, with carefully crafted, wavy locks of golden hair and a moss green outfit with gold and white accents.

  They were holding a plate covered in a silver dome, and already I could smell the food inside. Warm, and flavorful, and juicy, whatever was in there made my mouth water and my stomach grumble, loudly… and when the person holding the dish stopped walking into the hallway out of the cellar, I almost burst into laughter.

  Of all the things that would get me caught, my stomach rumbles were furthest from my mind.

  “You should probably come out of the shadows,” came the voice; refined, stiff, and with an air of better than you.

  I stayed exactly where I was. I didn’t move a muscle.

  “Don’t make me come back there, human.”

  Whoever it was didn’t look like they were about to kill me for trying to escape, so I stepped out from behind the box. “Why aren’t you calling the guards?” I asked.

  “And why would I do that?”

  “Because I was trying to escape.”

  The person holding the silver plate turned, slowly, to look at me, and I had to stop and stare for a moment. Never in my life had I seen a more androgynous person. The bounce in those curly blond locks were feminine, as was the twinge in their voice, and even the way they held the platter. But the angles and lines on their face made them look more like a man than a woman, though still somewhere in between.

  A pair of clear blue eyes fluttered, bringing attention to the dark eyeliner, the rosy cheeks, and the soft, pink lipstick they were wearing. A smirk tugged at the corner of their mouth. “Escape. Cute,” they said, a finality to their tone. “Now, come along, and get back into your room, or should I drag you by that ratty, broken hair of yours?”

  “Ratty? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you clearly don’t wash nearly as much as you should, but then again you are… human.”

  I stared blankly, my eyes wide, my pulse pounding. “Who in the actual fu—”

  “—spare yourself the embarrassment of hurling an insult at me,” they said, with a wave of their other hand. “My riposte will be swift, and it will cut you more deeply than you’ve ever been cut before.”

  I blinked hard, watching the light play on the blue eyes staring back at me from the other side of the cellar. I couldn’t be sure whether I should’ve taken the threat literally or not, and I wasn’t about to ask for clarification. Instead, I walked back toward the hallway I had so cleverly snuck out of, silently cursing for having picked the worst possible time to try and escape.

  “If you think I’m going to eat whatever’s on that plate, you’re wrong,” I said as I approached.

  “Let me guess. You spoke to the fish?”

  “Fish? She has a name, and it’s Thea. My name is Avery.”

  “And my name is Elaith. That is the only name that should matter to you from now on, even more than your own.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because I have the exquisite misfortune of being your au pair. It’s my job to whip you into some kind of usable shape so that you may earn your keep. I am the sun that rises in your mornings and sets in your evenings. I am the hand that feeds and the whip that trains you. I am your new master, and I’m going to give you some initial advice. Do you want to hear it?”

  I hated the sound of the word master. Thea had used it when she had talked about the fat man, and she radiated fear when she’d said it. She had been terrified of him, and now this Elaith had appointed themselves my master. This place was starting to go from weird to totally messed up far too quickly for my liking.

  “Alright…” I ventured, after a pause.

  “Don’t believe everything you hear around here, Avery,” Elaith said, with a playful wink that made her eyes sparkle. “Now, as I said before. Back to your room, it’s time to begin.”

  Chapter 11

  Elaith confused me. It wasn’t the androgynous look, or the soft scent of spring flowers that followed them, or even the pointed ears that marked them as something other; something not human. I knew I couldn’t trust any of the strangers around me, but there was something about Elaith, something weirdly trustworthy.

  That wasn’t a great place for me to be.

  I had to remember I was in unfamiliar ground, surrounded by a whole bunch of odd with a side of nut-job. I couldn’t truly trust a single person in here, not even Elaith—not really. They had all called me human, using the word like it was something dirty, like an insult. Everyone except Rell, and Kady, at least.

  It was best for me to keep my guard up.

  Faerie lights began to bloom as soon as I walked back through the door I’d unlocked a few minutes ago. A soft, white glow fought back the darkness, but it wasn’t because of me that the lights had come back. They were following Elaith and lighting their way down the hall, not mine.

  I spun around on my heel once I’d reached the center of the room and watched Elaith shut the door. They looked at me from behind perfectly manicured strands of golden hair, eyes narrowed. “You know,” they said, then paused. “This is the first time a human has ever set foot in Emerald Hall.”

  “I’ve been told that,” I said.

  “This place is beautiful; surely the most spectacular place a human could ever dream of visiting. Why try to escape?”

  “Because I’m a prisoner here. Wouldn’t you want to escape?”

  Elaith turned to face me fully. “Were I a prisoner, sure. But you aren’t a prisoner.”

  “I’m not?”

  “Oh, no, no, no. Prisoners don’t get au pairs.”

  “What’s an au pair?”

  An unimpressed eyebrow went up. “Please, tell me you understand basic words? Otherwise even my incredible talents would be wasted on you.”

  “It’s not a word I’ve ever come across before. And you’re gonna need to cut it out with the insults.”

  “Or what? You are human. You have no magic, no real power here. Your only choice is to accept my tutelage and let me whip you into shape. If you must deal with my utter disdain for your kind and your lack of potential, then so be it. If, however, you’d prefer to be thrown into the dungeons, I’m sure I can arrange that for you.”

  Scowling, I decided to bite my tongue. They were right, after all. I had no cards to play here, no easy way out, and only very few options. The best I could do was play along for a while and find a way to escape when they weren’t looking. I also needed to find Kady. It had sounded to me like she’d escaped this place once before—if she knew how to get out, we could help each other.

  “Alright, fine, I’ll play along,” I said. “Why are you here, and what do I have to do?”

  “That’s the spirit,” Elaith said, clasping their hands together. “Now, I am here because you aren’t quite a prisoner, and you aren’t quite a guest, which means you’re going to have to work for the privilege of the room and board we are providing you.”

  “Work? What kind of work?”

  “Everybody serves a purpose at Emerald Hall. From the cooks, to the chambermaids, to the fountains and the fireplace, we all do our part to keep the Lords of the house happy, comfortable, and entertained.”

  “Wait, did you say fireplace?”

  “Yes, keep up. Now, you don’t have any special skills, so that’s unfortunate.”

  “I have skills.”

  “I highly doubt that, and even if you did, they wouldn’t be of any use here.”

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because we are the Fae, darling,” Elaith said, fluttering their eyebrows. “Everything you can do, our infants can do better.”

  “Wow…”

  “It’s not like they have much of a choice. We only breed once every four cycles, so the few children we do get had better make themselves useful quickly.”

  “How long is a cycle?”

  “Far too long for your human mind to be able to wrap itself around.” Elaith clasped their hands again. “So… yes, I think we shall have you cleaning dishes in the cellar. Occasionally, you will ferry boxes up to the kitchen and back… but you will not let yourself be seen too often. The Viscount already set the house’s hackles up by bringing you here in the first place.”

  “So, I’m washing dishes. How long do I have to do that for?”

  “Well, I’m to understand you’re here under the Rite of Hospitality, correct?”

  “That’s the other thing they tell me.”

  “A year and a day, then.”

  “A year and… what?”

  “A year and a day,” they said, emphasizing every individual word. “Don’t ask me why they add a day to these ritual contracts. It’s a superstitious thing, you wouldn’t understand.”

  “Wait, so, you’re telling me you’re going to have me washing dishes here for an entire year?”

  Elaith approached, their pink lips pouting, almost looking like they were feeling sorry for me. “I know,” they said, “A year is a very long time for your people, isn’t it? How long do you usually live? Five years, was it? Poor things.”

  “We live longer than that,” I said, scowling, “But that isn’t the point. You people can’t just keep me here for a year.”

  “We can, and we will, and you’ll figure out ways of enjoying the experience or you’ll be miserable.”

  “How the hell am I supposed to enjoy any of this?”

  Elaith paused, their eyes narrowed, and they approached again, this time getting very close to me. “Well…” they said, lowering their voice like they were about to whisper. “I am going to let you in on a secret. Around here, gossip is currency.”

  “Currency?”

  “Oh, you poor dear. You don’t know what currency is.”

  “I know what currency is. How is gossip currency, though?”

  “It’s simple, really. If you trade a little gossip with someone, they’ll trade something back of equal value.”

  “What do I have to trade to get out of this place?”

  “Ah, devious little human, that’s not how it works. Let me give you an example of a fair trade.” Elaith straightened up, pressed their finger to their chin, and considered for a moment. “I’m told you’re here because the Lady Kadeera decided to hide in your little hovel. That they found you with her, writhing around in the little mud pit you called a home. I want to know if that’s true, and in exchange, I can offer a secret, or a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?”

  “For a simple confirmation… I could get you warmer bedsheets. It gets awfully cold down here.”

  “And a secret?”

  “You may ask me a question about someone.”

  I watched Elaith’s face, studying it while I mulled over my options. It was pretty cold down here, and if I was going to be spending any amount of time in this room, I’d regret not having warmer sheets. If Elaith could tell me where Kady was, though, it would put me one step closer to escape.

  “Alright, yes,” I said, “Kady lived with me. She was my roommate.”

  “Kady… what a quaintly human name she chose. And how did you meet?”

  “Honestly, it’s a bit of a blur for the two of us. I have a flash of meeting her at the bar where my band and I play, then I got blind drunk like I usually did after a solid gig, and then she was in my apartment. She kind of never left.”

  “Interesting, and was she as much of a petulant child there as she is here?”

  “Hey, fuck you,” I said, jabbing a finger at Elaith. “I don’t know who she is to you or anyone else around here, but she’s my friend and I’m not gonna let you talk shit about her when she’s not here to defend herself.”

  Elaith paused and stared at my finger. “It’s cute how you defend her when she was obviously just using you for shelter. She had, after all, just run away from home and escaped through an interdimensional portal. What was she to do but try to put herself up with the first naïve little human she could find?”

  “Maybe that’s true. I don’t know yet. But I know she was taken somewhere when we got here, and I haven’t seen her since. Do you know where she is?”