Heart of Iron Read Online Free PDF Page A

occupied—”
    “It’s been a month.”
    Not long enough. She would never be his thrall. Lena tipped her chin up and stared him directly in the eye. “It’s been a busy month, Your Grace.”
    “Colchester. I told you to call me Colchester. After all,” a smirk, “we are rather well-acquainted, are we not?”
    She wanted to smash the glass bulb from her champagne flute and stab him in the eye with the stem. The thought of Colchester with his mouth on her body made her stomach twist.
    Never again.
    “Must I wait another month for an answer?”
    “Let me go, Your Grace. This is unseemly.”
    “Answer the question.”
    “Lena!” Adele’s cry came out of nowhere. “There you are!”
    A burst of perfume washed over them, then Adele was there, the feathers in her hair tickling Colchester’s nose. He flinched away, his face tightening with fury. Adele clapped a hand to her mouth and giggled, seemingly overcome by champagne. “Oh, Your Grace! I didn’t see you there. My apologies.”
    The crowd pressed upon them. He had no choice but to let her go.
    Lena tugged her hand close to her body, as if he’d done her some injury. Fingers brushed against hers and then Adele squeezed her other hand.
    Colchester gave her a curt nod. “Until next time. I will demand an answer.” Then he turned and strode through the crowd.
    All of a sudden Lena couldn’t breathe. Adele took one look at her face and hustled her away, into the edges of the garden.
    “Here,” Adele said, snatching a glass of champagne off a service drone’s platter. “Drink this.”
    “I…I can’t…” The only thing holding her upright was Adele’s hand.
    A small folly appeared, shadowed from the rest of the garden party. Adele spun her around, forcing her to put her hands on the railing and lean forward. Tearing apart Lena’s buttons, she loosened the strings on her corset.
    Lena collapsed forward, sucking in a lungful of air. Her body was trembling from top to toe. She didn’t know what had happened. Only that she hadn’t been able to draw breath. Still couldn’t, really.
    Warmth splashed down her cheeks and she dashed at them with her gloved hands. Adele rubbed small circles on her back.
    “Thank you.” She’d never have expected Adele, of all people, to come to her rescue.
    Adele’s hand paused. “I just wish there’d been someone there…for me.”
    Lena looked up and met her gaze, her breath shuddering through her. “I thought you went willingly with Lord Fenwick?”
    “That was the rumor he put about. They all know, of course.” Adele’s lips thinned. “It’s become sport amongst the younger circles. They think taking a woman as thrall is old-fashioned. Why support her for life when you can take what you want from her then cast her aside?”
    “But…that’s appalling!”
    “One step removed from a blood slave.” Adele shrugged a slim shoulder. “The reason I was chasing Lord Macy is because he’s a traditionalist. He believes in protecting his thralls. If I were you, Lena, I would look to someone older. And don’t settle for anything less than a thrall contract. It’s the only protection you or I have these days.”
    “Why doesn’t anybody say something?”
    “Who would dare?” Adele laughed, but there was no humor in it. Her expression hardened. “And why should any of the Echelon stir a finger to help us? We’re food, Lena. The only interest they have in keeping us alive or taking us as thralls is because it’s easier for them. We’re like penned livestock.”
    Anger flared. “They’re not all like that. My guardian, Leo—”
    “Knows what’s going on as surely as we do. And has he said a single word about it?”
    Lena opened her mouth. And said nothing. Everything she saw on Adele’s face was but an echo of how she herself felt. Trapped. Prey.
    No. Not prey . She took a deep shuddering breath. Prey didn’t fight back; they didn’t find a way in which they could make a difference, and that’s what she