Read Online Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios - Free Book Online

dangerous, “ you came to me . You think because you call yourself a leader, you have power. But the blood in my veins is the same as the ancient queens of our land, where even the serfs you fight for believe I am a daughter of the gods. You’d do well to remember that, serfling.”
    He looked at her for a long moment, his face a smooth stone.
    “And yet I’m the one without a master,” Raif said quietly. “You see, I’ve learned something you never will— freedom is power. And that’s something you don’t have.”
    The words were crushingly true and they sparked a hate that ran deep and wide—for Raif, for the Ifrit, for Malek.
    “There’s a reason,” Raif continued, “why we ‘serflings’ are able to unbind ourselves from our masters. Must have drove you Ghan Aisouri crazy, watching us go free and not being able to do a thing about it.”
    “It’s been you all along, hasn’t it?” she said. “ You’re the one who’s freeing the serfs.”
    “Well, first it was my father—but then you killed him.”
    Nalia winced. “Not . . . me.” The mud on Dthar Djan’Urbi’s face. His agonized scream as they gutted him. His chiaan flowing like blood into the earth. “I mean, I wasn’t the one who—”
    Raif’s eyes darkened. “Somehow that’s not terribly comforting.”
    Nalia swallowed the retort that pushed against her lips. If he could help her—or help her brother—she had to stay on Raif’s good side. Or, at least, his freedom-for-a-price side. She had to keep her mouth in check, for once.
    “Neither of us can change the past,” she said. Though, gods, if she could . . . “If there’s a way we can assist one another that is mutually beneficial, I’m interested. If not—then I’m sure you can find your way back to the portal.” Nalia thrust her dagger into her boot, then pointed to his wrists, free of the shackles that bit into her own. “I won’t do anything for you unless you free me from my master. That’s my price.”
    She turned to go. Hope fluttered in her heart, a weak, winged thing. She prayed he wouldn’t make her beg.
    “Wait.” Raif cursed under his breath. “We both know I didn’t come all this way to chat in your master’s garden.”
    Nalia let out a silent breath of relief, then looked back at him, her eyes cool. “How did you know where to find me?” she asked. If the Ifrit were really after her, Nalia had some serious planning to do: for starters, create a better disguise and convince Malek to make that move to Dubai he’d been talking about.
    “A few days ago, my contacts in the palace informed me that the Ifrit imprisoned a jinni for slave trading. Not that they think there’s anything wrong with the slave trade—he just wasn’t giving the crown its cut of the profits. After they tortured the trader, it didn’t take long for him to confess to selling you. I’m sure you can imagine the Ifrit’s surprise.”
    How many nights had Nalia lain awake, fantasizing about all the ways she would torture her slave trader, if given the chance? So much of those last days in Arjinna was a drug-addled blur. But she’d never forget the sound of his voice.
    Raif grinned. “Lucky for me, I have a sister who’s a bit of a seer. It took us a few tries, but she finally got a handle on where you were and what you looked like. Pretty easy after that.”
    Nalia stared. That’s impossible.
    The Ghan Aisouri had been looking for a seer ever since Nalia could remember—psychic gifts were incredibly rare among jinn. There was only one jinni Nalia knew of who had psychic abilities; Nalia wished to the gods she’d never met her.
    “Did the slave trader tell the Ifrit where I am?” Nalia asked.
    “He claims he doesn’t know. They’re working him pretty hard—I’m sure he’s told them everything he can. Last I heard he’s still alive.”
    Nalia shuddered. She wanted to be happy that the jinni who’d sold her to Malek was paying for it in the worst kind of way, but