Lila's Wolf (Out of Time Book 1) by Sofia Grey Page B

Rowena’s silky voice wrapped around him. “I’m sure you don’t want to keep her waiting.”
    There had to be a catch. When she didn’t say anything else, he muttered, “Thank you, mistress.”
    “And I require your services after that. You are now my slave, Wolf. I’ve come to an arrangement with Mistress Hilde, and I shall be keeping you very busy.”
    He almost laughed. From one hell to another. Rowena snapped her fingers, and a guard stepped up with a pair of tongs to wrench open the neck chain. Jared licked dry lips and thought longingly of more water. He tilted his neck to the side, to allow access, and stiffened when Rowena curled her hands around the chain. “I have a question, before I release you.” The guard held Jared’s head firmly while Rowena twisted the chain to dig into the flesh under Jared’s chin. He gagged for a second, gasping for breath when she relaxed the pressure.
    “So, Wolf. You have never seen the merchant’s wife, Lila, before now?”
    “No, mistress.” A spike of fear emerged, digging into his stomach.
    “And her husband?”
    “No, mistress.” The spike began to twist and turn, churning his guts and clawing at his chest.
    “That’s good.”
    He didn’t know how to respond, so he held his tongue and concentrated on breathing normally. In, out. Don’t tense up . His subconscious continued to yell at him. Don’t give her the slightest clue you’re lying.
    The guard snapped the link open, and the chain fell away from his collar. Jared sucked in a quick, relieved breath when Rowena dropped the trailing end and wiped her hands on her robe.
    “Off you go.” She sounded pleased, and he hesitated. This was wrong. Something was so not right about this. He flicked a glance at Rowena and caught her beckoning more guards into the cellar. They hauled another slave in, and this one struggled as they were half-carried, half-dragged over the threshold.
    Torchlight glinted off a mass of tousled corn-yellow hair. Jared’s heart juddered and almost stopped. Fuck, no . One of the guards had a hand clamped across her mouth, while another took the opportunity to squeeze her breast. He met Lila’s gaze and saw fear and anger. Had she told Rowena she knew him? She might think he was abandoning her. He stood, powerless as the guards threw her to the floor like a rag doll and rapidly tied her to an iron ring set in the wall. No slave collar… thank God …they were just using rope. Just rope . He swallowed past the horror and tried to catch her attention again—tried to tell her he’d come back for her. This time he’d rescue her. One of the guards yanked on his collar and pulled him back to the corridor, leaving the others with her. In the cellar.
     

Chapter Twenty
    Lila
    I hit the floor with a jolt. The air whooshed out of my lungs, and I found myself lying on my right side, my leg crumpled beneath me. Christ . That would hurt later. I bit hard on my lip to keep my cry stifled. Rowena smirked down at me, nudged me with her foot, and one of the guards busied himself with a length of rope. I gulped and tried to speak, but it came out as a croaky stammer. “W–what are you–”
    He wound a narrow rope brutally tight around both wrists, looped it over and yanked even tighter; I couldn’t hold back a yelp. Then he knotted it to a thicker rope fastened to the wall. I stared in disbelief at the woman standing before me.
    “My Ghar — husband ! What have you done with my husband?”
    Rowena gave a delicate yawn and covered it with her hand. “You know that he was asking about one of my slaves? Well of course you do, you were there at the time.” She feigned surprise. “And I’m intrigued that you still claim not to know him, my little pet wolf. What name did your husband use for him?”
    Of course . The slave we’d spoken to had been unable to keep his mouth shut. I glared at her. “I have no idea.” Jared hadn’t wanted me to say anything earlier and I’d keep quiet now. “I