AFamiliarFace Read Free Page A

She paused, listening to herself, and frowned. She understood the meaning of what she said, but the words themselves were completely foreign. She sounded like him.
    “ Cuwenicu .” He scoffed. “I didn’t think so. The Phrellian spy regains her tongue, eh? Perfect, we’ll have so much fun together now.” He smiled, his teeth still wickedly sharp.
    Phrellian spy?By the look on his face, fun might mean something entirely different in this place.
    This really was the Friday from hell.

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    Mallory swallowed, fingered her charm bracelet and cursed under her breath at the small amount of magic it had left. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I want out, right now.”
    She turned to grab for the doorknob behind her only to freeze in shock. Where there had once been a door now stood a blank wall. She felt the gray guy’s hand at her waist but could only stare at where a door should have been. What the hell?
    By placing that large hand on her waist, he managed to find bare skin under her short shirt. The instant their flesh met, she felt her third big surprise of the evening. Lust seared her from head to toe, centering in his palm and spiraling outward. Tense, she couldn’t move, didn’t want to shake the sudden feelings coursing through her blood. Her sex heated, moisture pooling between her thighs until she wanted to cry out in frustrated shock.
    Her clitoris throbbed, her nipples bit at the silk of her bra, and she knew had she turned to face the big guy she’d have visibly broadcast her reaction. Until she could handle the strangeness of it all, she refused to—
    “Hey!”
    Hauled over his shoulder like a sack of laundry, Mal squirmed and tried to free herself, but to no avail. Trapped by a rock-hard bicep and forearm, she felt as if she wrangled with steel.
    “Hey Core, nice catch,” someone shouted. Several deep male chuckles preceded sexual advice and some disgusting perversions she’d rather not think about. One insult led to another, and suddenly another fight broke out.
    Pushing up from Core’s finer-than-fine ass, she saw at least a dozen of the gray thugs engaged in brutal fighting. Punches and kicks flew like water, while right freaking next to them other men started getting it on —with men, women, it didn’t seem to matter. What little she could see of the females showed an array of hair color, body-types and… multiple appendages . She swallowed around a dry throat, her libido nonetheless reacting to so much naked flesh straining and pushing, and she wanted to slap herself.
    The family was right. I am sooo not normal. Nothing like an orgy right next to bloody violence to stir the pot. Where the fuck am I? What is this place?
    Stunned that she was even witnessing such a spectacle, Mal closed her eyes and willed herself to wake up. “Just a dream. Only a dream. Come on, Mal.”
    “A dream, little Phrellian? More like a nightmare, hmm?” Core cupped her buttocks, stirring her desire anew, and she gasped in both anger and arousal when his fingers reached between her legs, touching the damp fabric of her jeans. “That’s it, sweet. Let it flow.”
    His pace quickened as he descended the stairs and headed, not out to the bar, as she’d have expected, but into a dark, quiet room filled with low murmurs and sibilant voices. Completely unnerved, she tried her best to follow their movements but lost track of the many rights and lefts he took. They should have been somewhere outside Newtown’s wharf by now, but instead remained in the dark.
    The place smelled musty, and Mal could have sworn they were underground.
    Finally, Core entered a smaller chamber and shut the door behind him. He kept his arm tight around her, not letting her move in the slightest while he lit several candles. This room looked exactly like the one she’d originally fallen asleep in.
    She couldn’t understand how this could be anything but a dream. “Look , Core , I’m getting dizzy with all