Page 57 of Gilded Curses

“Fantastic!”

Orin could only imagine what crimes these men committed. They’d most likely refused to jump through some hoop, or maybe they’d sneezed. He was leaning toward sneezing, as that seemed to be how the brains in this land of insanity worked.

“The demon versus the dark fae,” Desmond declared. “The brownies can be their passengers, but for this hunt, they won’t have anything on the line.”

Zeth and Orin exchanged a look. Fury darkened the demon’s yellow eyes and caused his brow to furrow; Orin was sure his face mirrored the demon’s even while he tried to hide his emotions.

“The dark fae shall have the brunet while the demon will hunt the brunet. We’ll give the prisoners a five-minute head start,” Desmond said.

“And you will hunt until death,” Sheree added.

Her bloodthirstiness was starting to shine through.

“I’m not hunting someone I don’t know and who has never done anything to me,” Zeth stated.

Sheree turned that sweet, almost childlike smile on him. “Of course you don’t want to do such a thing. That would make you a psychopath.”

Zeth and Orin exchanged a look again; Orin had no doubt the demon would resist this. He also had no doubt they’d be forced to hunt.

Sheree flicked an imaginary speck of lint off her sleeve before focusing on them again. Her brown eyes twinkled in the sun, but no warmth shone in them. “You’ll hunt them because if you don’t, we’ll kill the girls you left behind. I can assure you, there are guards with them right now.”

Orin’s jaw clenched, and his teeth ground together. Over the years, he’d played many games and done many things to many immortals to get his way.

He’d used Lexi against Del to learn her secrets and kept the man locked away to put his father’s armies at a disadvantage during the Lord’s war. He’d manipulated Sahira and countless others.

While he regretted what he’d done to Sahira, he didn’t regret those other things. He was who he was and did what he believed necessary.

However, he’d never been like these golden freaks. He never would have done something like this.

Maybe some of those he’d walked over to get his way would believe his actions were almost as bad as these golden fuckers, but he sure didn’t. Then again, some might think he wasn’t the best judge when it came to that.

He’d like to believe all those he’d left in his wake wouldn’t put him on the same level as these monsters, but what did he know? The possibility made his stomach churn.

One thing was for sure, he wasn’t going to let anyone harm Sahira or the others. She was his number one concern, and he’d protect her the most, but they’d all worked together to get to this point.

While he wasn’t sure any of them would make it out of this alive, none of them were going to die because he’d somehow failed them. Orin’s attention returned to the demon.

He could only hope Zeth felt the same way, but if necessary, he’d kill both the prisoners to protect Sahira. He’d hate every second of it and despised being nothing more than pawns to these freaks, but he’d do whatever it took to safeguard Sahira.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

“And it won’t be a fast death for your women. The guards are always allowed to play with their catches.” Sheree patted the arm of the large man beside her. She’d touched him more than her fake husband, Desmond. “It’s part of what keeps them so happy. And some of them really enjoy the screams of a woman. Some get very excited… if you know what I mean.”

The guard she was touching smiled. Orin’s pulse pounded in his temples as he battled to keep his revulsion for the man hidden.

He stared at the side of Zeth’s head as the demon focused all his wrath on the Golden Ones. Zeth had to realize they didn’t have a choice.

Every day they survived this place was one more day they could work on getting free. Now that they knew about those stones, they might have a chance to do so. Zeth didn’t know this, but he had to realize that killing men they had no connection with was the better option here.

“Pip,” Loth murmured.

Orin didn’t want to think about what the guards would do to the tiny brownie. And when he considered what they’d do to Sahira, his blood boiled.

“It’s not going to happen,” he grated.

He studied the Golden Ones and their contingent of guards. Did he have enough time to slip into the shadows, return to the castle, find Sahira, Pip, and Elsa, and get them out?

His gaze went beyond the large contingent to the numerous horses and hills separating him from Sahira. Without a horse, he wouldn’t make it before the dagadon. He was fast, but not that fast.