Harlequin Nocturne May 2016 Box Set Read Online Free

removed from the city.”
    â€œBut you’ve still got former serfs living with their former masters.”
    â€œWe have many immigrants from other Citadels and Enclaves, people who have no experience of Tanis as it was.” Her eyes were bright and earnest. “There is safety here. Safety we must maintain.” She stroked his arm. “I see more than one man in you, Daniel. You are an enigma. I think you pretend to be a fearful and defiant serf now, but that is not what you were when we first met. Whatever the purpose of this act, it is unnecessary...unless, of course, you mean us ill. And I do not believe you do.”
    If she had been any other woman, human or Opiri, Daniel would have interpreted her lingering touches as an invitation. But he already knew better, even if his body continued to react as if she might invite him to her bed as a willing partner.
    Manipulation. Deception. She was as controlling as any Bloodmistress with dozens of serfs at her command.
    Once again he shut down his body’s response. “You will still hold me here,” he said, “whether you believe it or not.”
    â€œI would understand your true nature, Daniel, and your reason for coming to Tanis.”
    â€œI’ve given my reason.”
    â€œYet now you doubt that what you sought is real, simply because you were brought in for questioning.” She lifted his chin with her soft hand. “I do not expect you to understand this all at once. But if your hope brought you here, it will help you to see with new eyes, and leave behind your old habits of servitude. If you choose to stay.”
    â€œWhen you haven’t even decided whether or not to make me leave?”
    Isis sighed and shook her head. “You are in need of fresh clothing, a good meal and rest. We shall discuss these matters in greater detail at another time.” She let her hand drift down his arm. “Let me show you to your quarters here at the Center. When you have been cleared, you will be given a tour of the city and time enough to see what we have to offer. Then you shall be granted a chance to apply for citizenship...if that is what you desire.”
    He dropped the mask completely and straightened, glad to shed the false weight of fear and submission. “And what is the price?” he asked.
    â€œAs you must know,” she said, “every citizen is expected to do his or her part, human or Opiri.”
    â€œHumans have to give blood,” he said.
    â€œWillingly,” she said. “But you must have known that.” She tapped on the door, and the guards opened it.
    â€œI will take Daniel myself,” she said.
    The guards’ faces tightened with worry, but they made no protest. Isis, Daniel thought, had them in the palm of her hand.
    He followed her along the corridor to a door at the rear of the building. A second, smaller building stood on the other side of a narrow garden. Summer flowers nodded gently in the breeze left by Isis’s passing as if they, too, offered obeisance.
    â€œThese are the visitor’s quarters,” she said. “They are used only until the prospective citizen has been properly introduced to the city and is assigned a permanent residence. I hope you will find your room comfortable.”
    The room she indicated was near the back of the building. She opened the locked door with a key hidden somewhere among her robes and invited him inside.
    It was more or less what Daniel had expected: a bed, a small table, two chairs, a small chest with a lamp. An inner door led to a bathroom. There were no windows.
    A thread of real panic worked its way through Daniel’s gut. He hated small, windowless rooms. He hated being a prisoner. But he’d known it might come to this, and so he stepped inside.
    â€œI will see that food and drink are brought immediately,” Isis said. “Clothes will come after I report the sizes you require.” She looked him up and down