Excerpt: unearthed.

“Why, hello, there,” Caine said, a sarcastic smile on his face. “I thought you’d never wake up. I was toying with the idea of perhaps cutting off all your hair.”

In horror, Cerise grasped at her hair, which was thankfully, intact from root to tip. Sweaty, though.

“You – you,” she sputtered. “You, demon, get me out of here – give me a reason why – what am I doing here –” She stopped after looking at his face, which had gone from a lazy expression to a hard glare.

“For future reference,” he said, stiffly, “I do not appreciate being called a demon. A djinni would be fine. You can also call me by the name of Caine, but O Glorious One would also suffice.”

She scoffed. “Very well. Now that we’ve moved past that very pressing matter,” her lips curved into a smirk, “can we now discuss why I am held captive here and what you are planning to do to me?”

Caine sniffed. “I find names are of great importance. How would you like to be called, say, a pea?”

“I find that I would not really care,” Cerise answered with great annoyance. Bloody demons. All they do is while away time. Not that time was of much importance to a being like her either, but she wanted answers now.

“Very well, pea.” His eyes sparkled in the light.

“So, what am I doing here?”

“Well, my ever luminous pea, you were courted by a man named Dorban. One question off-track: how did you fall for his wiles? He is rather ugly, you know. He’s rather skinny and quite, to put it nicely, annoying. He also has a scar on his left eyebrow. Really, don’t you have the taste for men with greater appeal?”

Cerise had to laugh at that. “Well, I thought he was rather charming. He does have a way with words. But I agree, holding a woman you wish to court in a bare room is not the way to win anyone’s love. But back to the point?” she prompted.

Caine sighed. “Look at us, discussing my master’s aesthetic appeal when we could be discussing far more intellectual topics. How about a nice conversation on how your life is perfectly awful right now? Because it really is.”

Cerise’s eyes flared. “How about we discuss that later,” she said through gritted teeth, “and you tell me what you want now?”

Caine let out a longer sigh. “Mortals are so boring. All they do is conspire and plot, day after night. Really. There’s no room for conversation these days. Very well. Dorban was challenged by his grandfather to kill you. The old loon wants Dorban dead, you see. Family politics, I don’t expect you to understand. Well, he knew you were immortal, so he – What? What happened?”

Cerise clutched her face in her hands and groaned. Her only chance of escape was now barred. She was hoping that they did not know she couldn’t die, so she would pretend to be dead after the inevitable torture and escape. But now that they knew, her chances were at best minimal.

Cerise contained the growing dread in her stomach and said, “Sorry, continue.”

Caine quirked an eyebrow at this, and proceeded. “He knew you were immortal, so he challenged Dorban to kill you, which was impossible. That way, he could establish power over him and get him out of the way. However, I being the omniscient wonderful being that I am, warned him of it, and told him to trap you to use as bait on his grandfather. So I suppose, my wonderful pea, that your predicament is my fault.” He inclined his head. “But I suppose I earn a few points for providing you with my wonderful entertainment?”

Cerise felt anger deep inside her and fought to control it. “What kind of sick man wants his own grandson dead?”

Caine shrugged. “You, my pea, have not seen much of the world, have you? Mortals are sick beings. But as the French men say, or will say, c’est la vie. That’s life.”

“But why me? Dorban’s proved his point – they no longer need me. I am free to go!” She stood up, an expectant smile on her face.

“Not so fast, sweet pea. The point was that after Dorban failed, his grandfather would succeed in holding you captive. You see, you’re a valuable ally, and the best soldier they could have found.”

“Soldier? I – but there’s no war! And I have never been in battle before, just on the sidelines, fixing the Queen’s hair – or, oh, helping her with the speeches – never, ally? War?”

“There will be a war, my little legume. And you have a heavy part in it, so buck up. They’re using you because they can train you, and you can never die. At the end of it, perhaps, we will leave you to go. Maybe even give you what you’ve been looking for – a way out of this world. Tempting?”

“I could find that on my own, you know,” she said, tensing her neck muscles. “And I can feel pain, even if I don’t die – I’ll lose my mind, my senses, I’ll be half-alive if they torture me. Doesn’t that prey on your conscience at all?”

“Not in the slightest,” Caine said, cheerfully. “Now, my chickpea, would you care for a little food?”

“You know, the pea thing is really getting on my nerves now.”