her lips and then retreated as the basin was lifted out
of her hands and she was pushed back onto the soft pillow-top mattress.
Downy covers settled over her, and Katelyn huddled under them, her eyes
shut tight against the light.
The whoosh of drapes closing, and then the resulting blessed darkness,
made Katelyn sigh with relief.
She wondered briefly if she had been drugged, but then the vivid memory
of the blue bolt hitting her squarely in the torso returned with force. She
lifted her hand to touch her chest, wondering if the area was sore as it had
been inside her vision. When her fingers brushed her skin, pain flared as
though she was healing from a sunburn, and she winced again.
"Lie back and relax, Seer. It will take a while for the effects of the draining
spell to diminish. In the meantime, I've brought you food and drink to help
you recover."
"Draining spell?" Katelyn asked from between cracked lips. "Was that the
blue bolt?"
"Yes. Prince Grayson said one of the Cunts hit you with a draining spell
last night. And from the nasty bruise on your chest, I'd say it was a
powerful one."
"Prince Grayson?"
"Yes, my lady. Prince Grayson is the Seventh Prince of Klatch."
Katelyn's foggy memories supplied her with the meaning of Klatch—some
type of witch who supposedly thrived on sexual energy.
Right now, sex is the furthest thing from my mind—for once!
Katelyn didn't dare move the cool cloth but settled it more firmly over her
eyes, and she dropped her arms beside her on the bed, only now realizing
she was completely nude. She couldn't muster resentment at whoever had
undressed her, because the cool sheets against her body were actually the
only thing not painful about her current situation.
Questions sped through her mind, and she took a deep breath to slow
them, shoving the pain aside so she could concentrate on the here and now.
"Where am I?"
"You're on Tador, my lady. Prince Grayson was afraid the Cunts would
come back for you if he took you to your home."
Because her home was actually upstairs above the shop, she had to agree
with that.
Katelyn let the "cunts" comment go by ... for now.
She wasn't a big fan of that word—except for the few instances in which it
was warranted—but she had more pressing questions to worry about. "On
Tador? Is it a boat or a ship or something? And who are you?"
"I'm Holly, your lady's maid. And Tador is a planet. The home planet of the
Klatch."
Katelyn sighed. I had to ask, didn't I?
"Okay, Holly. I think I need that food and drink and a Volkswagen full of
aspirin before I can even process any of that. But first, I really have to pee."
4
Sela, the queen of the Cunts, paced away from Aedan and back.
Familiar anger surfaced, and she shook her head as she glanced around the
living room of the two-story Earth home in which she'd been forced to exist
since her banishment from Tador. She'd been cheated out of living in the
palace on her home planet, where, as the rightful queen, she should reside.
If the Klatch thought she would meekly give up and live out her days here,
they were mistaken.
After several deep breaths, she thought she could listen to Aedan's excuses
for more than five minutes without killing him. She turned a deadly glare
toward him.
Aedan, the leader of the team of five who had failed to capture the bastard
prince and the Seer, stood proud and unflinching.
Unsure whether she should be irritated that he showed no fear or feel pride
that he was brave enough to stand up to her, Sela crossed her arms in front
of her. "Tell me why I shouldn't rip out your heart?"
Aedan's white-blond hair fell to the middle of his back, accentuating his
broad shoulders and his clear blue eyes. It really would be a shame if she
was forced to kill him. Aedan had been quite adept at amusing her lately—
at least sexually. The man had a high tolerance for pain and could be quite
inventive in his sexual play.
However, she would never let