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"He walked out of the last ned another contract until Friall told ned another contract," Hekatah crooned"With his brother!"

Jorval’s chest jerked with the effort to breathe "I tried to stop it! I tried" His voice trailed off as Hekatah slowly approached hiirlish voice becoentle "Because of that, he’s now connected with the court anted unaware of his presence in Kaeleer, and we have no way of using that Black-Jeweled strength for our own purposes"

Jorval tried to get up Fear clogged his throat when he realized she was using Craft to keep hiracefully in his lap and wrapped one arainst his cheek, he wondered if he was going to lose an eye Maybe that would be best Blind, he wouldn’t be able to see her On second thought, no She wore darker Jewels than he did She could force his e that was a hundred times worse than her actual appearance

He whimpered as his stomach rolled ominously

"Just as there are rewards for success, there are penalties for failure," Hekatah said as she stroked his face

Knoas required, he whispered, "Yes, Priestess"

"And you did fail ?"

"Y-Yes, Priestess"

What was left of her lips curved in a s Craft, she called in a stoppered crystal bottle and a small silver cup They floated in the air while she removed the stopper and poured the dark, thick liquid into the cup She closed the bottle and vanished it, then held the cup up to Jorval’s lips

"I brought you a fresh offering," he said weakly

"I saw him Such a pretty boy, full of the hot sine" She pressed the cup against his lower lip "I’ll get to hi no choice, Jorval opened hisHe gagged on it, but ed to s

"Is it poison?" he asked

Hekatah vanished the cup and leaned back, her eyes widening in surprise "Do you really think I would poison a man who’s loyal to ?" She shook her head sadly "No, darling, this is just a little aphrodisiac brew"

"S-Saffrah to ," Hekatah replied

He sat there, helpless, while she caressed skin that began to quiver at the slightest touch Groaning, he wrapped his arer caring about who or what she was, no longer caring about anything except using the fe on his lap

When he tried to thrust his tongue into her ," she said while she caressed hi one of those whores up here"

The lust-fog cleared a little "Up here?"

"We still have to take care of your punisholden hair and blue eyes"

The lust becaelline"

"Exactly Think of this as a little rehearsal for the day when that pale bitch has to sub pulse "Will it excite you if I sip a little blood while you’re locked inside her?"

Jorval stared at her, wildly aroused and terrified

"I’ll drink fro a corpse, but I won’t do that to you, darling This is just a rehearsal, after all, for the night when you’ll have Jaenelle under you"

"Yes," Jorval whispered "Yes"

"Yes," Hekatah echoed, satisfied She stood up and sloalked to the bedroo anyone about our little ga the bitch’sexcept that she ell used"

Rising, Jorval moved unsteadily to the outer door, painfully aware that Hekatah watched him

"The pretty boy will be the appetizer and the dessert," Hekatah said "Fear gives blood such a delightfully piquant taste, and by the end of the evening, he’ll be fully ripened So don’t spend tooAn appetizer doesn’t take long to consume, and if I become impatient, we may have to adjust your punishment And you wouldn’t want that, would you?"

He waited until the bedroo, "No, I wouldn’t want that"

5 / Kaeleer

A warently squeezed his shoulder

"Daemon," Lucivar said quietly "Come on, old son We’ve arrived"

Daemon reluctantly opened his eyes He wanted to withdraw from the world, wanted to sink into the abyss and just disappear Soon, he proht, Prick," he said wearily It was a lie, and they both knew it

Getting stiffly to his feet, Daemon rolled his shoulders His athered behind his eyes "Where are we?"