Sometimes people just… zone out. And right now, that was me.


    Normally, I’d be halfway to the door by now, maybe screaming a little. But instead, I just sat there,


    curled up on the floor, blinking up at him and asking who he was.


    “Feeling heartbroken, are we?” he asked. His face was intense–chiseled jaw, deep–set eyes, high


    cheekbones. He looked like someone straight out of a movie, and apparently, he could see right


    through


    1. me.


    “Who are you?” I asked again, still dazed.


    Then, like a lightbulb flicking on, I remembered what Jace had told me about the leader of Quartz


    Cue.


    Only, I’d imagined someone totally different–rough, kinda brutal–looking, like Thorsten. But this


    guy? He was almost elegant, in that rugged, model–like way.


    If I’d seen him on the street, I’d probably think he was a Calvin Klein ad or something.


    And then I remembered Jace had said something about the leader of Quartz Cue being injured, sol


    squinted, looking him over. But I didn’t see any scars or bandages. Just… a ridiculously good–


    looking face.


    “My name is Hernátor Skye,” he said, leaning closer. And that’s when I realized just how close he


    was.


    Instinctively, I pulled back, but he reached out, fingers brushing the air near my face. I turned away,


    but he still managed to pat my head, like I was some lost puppy. “You can call me Hernan,” he said,


    smirking. “Or just Skye.”


    I jerked back, shrinking against the wall. “What do you want?”


    I didn’t scream. What would be the point? Even if I did, by the time Jace got here, I’d already be at


    this


    guy’s mercy.


    “What do you think?” Hernan said, grinning, like this whole thing was some kind of game.


    Weirdly enough, he didn’t feel sinister. He just kept smiling, like he was actually having a good time,


    and it threw me off. I found myself snapping back, like a bratty kid. “You’re here to capture me,


    right?”


    Heughed a real, full–onugh, like I’d just told him the best joke. “How old are you, anyway? How


    can you be this cute?”


    Cute?


    Yeah, maybe I wasing off as helpless, but that just made me bristle more.


    “Honestly, before I got here, I was thinking, ‘If I have to deal with some boring, ugly hostage, where


    am I gonna stash her? But now,” he said, giving me an amused once–over, “I can see I won’t


    have to. You’re cute and way more entertaining than I expected.” He reached out his hand again.


    “Come on, stand up.”


    He was going to pull me up, to take me with him.


    But I wasn’t that easy to intimidate. No way I was just going to do whatever he wanted.


    “There are people protecting me in this hotel,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt.”


    Someone’s right outside the door.”


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    “I know,” he replied,pletely unfazed.


    “So, you’re not taking me anywhere,” I shot back, already racking my brain for ways to signal Jace.


    Even if it didn’t stop this creep, at least Jace would know something went down.


    “Wanna bet?” Hernan smirked.


    Before I could react, his hand closed around mine, yanking me up in one swift, effortless move.


    I barely had time to register it. So all that pulling back, all my little defiance? He’d just been letting


    me y along.


    “Rea, you okay?” Jace’s voice came through the door, followed by a knock. He must’ve sensed


    something was off.