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Darkness surrounded me. My head pounded as if someone chiseled away at my forehead, tap, tap, tapping until I was sure my skull would split on the next strike. I groaned, the sound vibrating within the fuzziness that coated my mouth, which was drier than a field during a drought. As I lifted my arm to rub the ache from my temples, a too familiar sound struck my ears – the clanging of chains. Panic clawed up my throat, robbing me of breath and jerking me out of my stupor as my memories came flooding back.
Did I dream up Kazimir, Liliana, and the Nighthounds to save myself from my miserable existence in the cave? Was any of it real?
Not a hint of light trickled through the oppressive darkness, and I was unable to ground myself in time or space. My hands groped the area around me, searching for the rough rocks I knew better than my own face.
I found none.
Instead, smooth wood pressed into my shaking fingers, and my left hand brushed against something soft and furry. I pushed myself to my hands and knees, but when I tried to crawlforward, I pitched to the side, my legs trapped together with tight fabric.
The dress! The feast! Kriztof! And Kazimir, something was wrong with him…
A sob wracked my chest as my final moment with him flashed before my eyes. I had reached for him, the world fading into black around me as I struggled against the hands that grasped my limbs. His deep emerald eyes were broken as he lay on the polished floor of the ballroom at Este Castle, unable to move, unable to protect me. My love, my mate, shattered and agonized by my pain as I was dragged away.
Ruslan.
The male’s wicked smirk flashed through my mind – the one he wore when he had revealed the truth of my kidnapping to all those present at the feast celebrating my return to the Night Realm. My father and his father – they were the ones responsible for all the pain I’d endured the first twenty-one years of my life. King Zalan sold me off before I was born, then contributed his soldiers to guard me in a cave high in the Agrenak Mountains, far away from anyone who might dare save me. He must have thought he was so clever with his ruse, leading the Nighthounds on a chase around the continent searching for his beloved daughter.
Ruslan thought I belonged to him, and that he would take me as his bride when I came of age – which happened at the same time that Kazimir had rescued me. Ruslan was pissed and ready to claim his prize, all so that he could have me for some power-grab the Iron and Night Realms had planned for Északi. When I fought back, he had ordered his soldiers to drug me, to subdue me, to chain me, all so he could control me. Typical male.
My head throbbed anew with the burning rage building in my chest, the embers that remained from my drugged stuporspreading into a wildfire. That inferno wrenched a scream from deep within my body, a high-pitched shriek to accompany the harsh metal clanking as I flailed my arms in a manic burst of energy, ripping at the iron that bound me as if I could simply break free of my chains. I screamed and screamed and screamed, my hands glowing white of their own accord as fury exploded from the depths of my soul.
How could this be happening again?
Footsteps raced closer, and I stilled, waiting to see where the first crack of light would appear. My survival instincts broke through the surface of my rage, and I banished my magic before anyone saw its free reign around the iron that should have snuffed it out like a candle. I sat back on my heels, crouched and ready to launch myself like a wildcat at anyone who dared lay their hands on me. Wood creaked off to my right, then the ground dipped beneath me as though something heavy joined me on the floor of my prison, just out of reach. The faint click of a lock jerked my gaze forward, straight into Ruslan’s darkly handsome face. Even in the dim light, his arrogance was blinding.
“Sleep well, Princess?” he smirked.
I bared my teeth, a threatening snarl tearing from my peeled-back lips. “You fucking bastard.”
“That indeed I am,” he grinned devilishly. “But enough about me, how are you?”
“How am I? Are you fucking serious? You just kidnapped me, ripped me from my mate, killed my friends, and disrupted my whole life! How the fuck do you think I am?” My voice rose with each venomous statement flung in his direction.
“Sounds like you are hungry and thirsty. I bet you didn’t eat much in that dress.” His gray eyes perused my crouched form with the leisure of a male in total control. My teeth ached from how hard I clenched them. “Here, I’ll be back when you'refeeling better.” He tossed a canteen in my direction, the metal clattering to a halt at my knees, followed by the soft thud of a hunk of bread.
My jaw dropped as I stared incredulously at the male backing away from the entrance. Before his face disappeared completely, he accosted me with that fucking smile again. “By the way, that male isn’t your mate. I am.”
The door slammed shut, lock clicking into place before he trapped me in a thick blanket of utter darkness that felt more like an executioner's hood. My shock rooted me in place as I tried to process what the fuck had just happened.
He thought he was my mate? He was absolutely insane.
I wrinkled my nose at the bread and water in front of me, the offering more likely to drug me than make me feel better. Risking a hint of light, I cast a spark into the air, directing it around where I was confined to discern my surroundings – and look for potential weapons I was trapped in a low wooden box, just high enough for me to sit on my knees with my hair brushing the top. The beautiful headdress that accompanied my outfit was nowhere to be found. In one corner, a pillow and pile of furs sat crumpled together, while the opposite corner held a bucket. I was free to move about save for the iron clasped around my wrists and ankles. There were no other clothes to be found, no other items save for the canteen and bread Ruslan had chucked at me.
The door of my box opened outward, which meant I had nothing to hide behind should he return. This box was within something else, something that dipped when Ruslan put his weight on it, but didn’t move in any other direction, as far as I could tell. If I could break the lock outside this door, I might find keys or even a weapon to aid my escape.
But I would accomplish nothing in this skin-tight dress. Grasping either side of an existing tear in the glittering goldskirt, I yanked, trying to rip the fabric apart to create more room for my legs. It didn’t budge, my arms not quite strong enough to accomplish the task. A few fruitless pulls later, I relented with a groan. My head pounded vigorously, and I could barely grip the fabric between my trembling fingers. Water and food would banish my weakness, but what Ruslan had left me was equally likely to render me unconscious yet again, delaying any chance of escape. Making a break as soon as possible was better than allowing Ruslan to put extensive distance between us and Vaenor.
I needed to get back to Kazimir, to Liliana, to my friends… if Ruslan had left any of them alive. Though he seemed to only want me, his soldiers had created enough chaos to distract the crowd while isolating Kazimir and myself. Even if I asked, I doubted that I would trust his answer. I had to see with my own eyes.
Heavy footfalls gently shook the wood beneath me, and I banished that tiny spark of hope to avoid revealing my unchained magic. I snatched the metal canteen from the floor in front of me, gripping it tightly in my hand, preparing to strike with it should the need arise. It wasn’t much, but I would take what I could get.
Two soldiers cracked the door to my wooden prison, and without hesitation I hurled the canteen at the closest one, causing him to flinch back into his companion. I leapt over them, rolling over my shoulder to take the impact of the landing, then popped into a crouch. Taking quick stock of my surroundings, I discovered two doors flung wide and scrambled toward them, seeing my freedom within reach. My racing feet were hindered when one of the soldiers caught the chains between my ankles and yanked them out from under me. I hit the wood of the outer container with a thud, all the air whooshing from my lungs, but I managed to snap the male’s grip with a harshkick to the face. On hands and knees, I darted forward, leaping for the earth not far beneath my feet and landing lightly before running as fast as I could with my limited range of motion. The iron clanked and clamored, and I gritted my teeth against the sound that was sure to give me away. I glanced over my bare shoulder for my pursuers, then ran straight into a wall of stone.
My breath fled again, but two rough hands caught me before I collapsed to the ground. Ruslan towered over me, his eyes glinting with excitement like a predator that had cornered its prey. “I did tell you that I like when they fight back,” he purred, his eyes heating with black flame. “Trying to entice your mate already?”
