Chapter 9 · The Black Diamond Collar

The collar was waiting on the bed, open like a mouth.

Black leather, thin as a ribbon. A line of black diamonds ran down the front, each one cut sharp enough to draw blood. I knew what it was before Lucian touched it.

"Turn around," he said.

"No."

"Bianca." He said my name the way you say it to a dog about to bite. "The bracelet tells me where you are. This tells me whether you're lying."

My wrist still ached where the tracker had clicked shut. I could still feel his pulse hammering under my scalpel from the night before, and I hated that I remembered it.

I turned around.

The gala dress hung open on my body. Emerald silk, cut so low in the back it stopped just above the dimples at the base of my spine. A gift from the monster who owned me. It fit perfectly, which was the worst part.

Cold leather slid around my throat.

I stopped breathing. I couldn't help it.

"Easy." His breath hit the back of my neck. "It reads pulse, voice, and body heat. You spike, I know it."

He fastened the clasp. A tiny click, right under my jaw.