Page 10 of Where We Belong

Retrieve the Princess by any means necessary. Bring her back here and remove anyone in your way. Do not kiss her. Do not speak. Resist the bond.

The bond. The glorious bond. A beacon of blazing light at the end of a dark tunnel, and my mind races towards it, but I don’t gain an inch. If I could just reach it. Just touch it. Just kiss her. But the vapor holds strong. She flails in my grip, twisting to glare at me. For a split second, she looks quite like Aiden. They share the same bronze skin and the same fierce, almost translucent green eyes. Her sneer mirrors the one the Prince wears in mine and Nyk’s presence. They likely share the same smile, too. Though I cannot recall the last time I saw a genuine one from him. Her soul burns with strength despite her state. Her cheekbones jut sharply, the result of neglecting herself and her jumper has ridden up, exposing her back. Every knot of her spine stands out beneath skin marred with burn marks. It’s as if a strong wind might shatter her, and yet, she is anything but fragile. Dust kicks up when we land in front of the band of cowards. They take tentative steps back, a few double-checking their face coverings. But I know exactly who they are. Traitors. One fool reads from a parchment that shakes in his hands, almost as violently as his voice.

“As you wait for Theron and I to return, read this to— oh erm— Captain, put the Princess in the cell next to yours. Lock her inside, keep the key with you. Then stay in your cell. Do not speak. Do not kiss her. Resist the bond and don’t take your eyes off her.”

I obey, as if another has crawled into my bones.

Chapter 14

Ashley

and see the truths I indulged were false,

I cannot journey alone.

The magic man hauling me all over the underworld doesn’t even flinch when I bite into his shoulder blade. It’s like trying to chew a brick. Now would be a good time for my god-forsaken magic to make an appearance. But it’s digging its heels in more with each step he takes. Maybe it hates me after what I said today. And I don’t blame it. He carries me through a trapdoor and down some stone steps, the door slamming shut overhead. It looks almost like a hotel hallway, if hotels were made of iron, dirt and misery. One of the doors swings open, and inside, it’s little more than a dark box of a room. A set of rusty bars divides the space in two. The thought of being locked in here makes my head spin, or maybe that’s just the aftershock of being dragged out of my house and becoming target practice for an army of violent dolphins. I grit my teeth, trying to ignore the fear snapping up my spine. But there is something familiar about this place. There was a palace in the distance when we broke through the ocean floor, and I knew without a doubt in my heart this is where my dad spoke of. The place he used to call home. It looked exactly like the sandcastles we would make.

The creatures that attacked are just like the ones he once painted across our ceilings in a frenzy. I shudder, images crowding in. Thousands of soldiers in mismatched armor, weapons clashing, screeching songs of war and violence, fire, and smoke from every direction. My clothes cling to me like I’ve been submerged in a sea of blood. I think I wet myself at some point, but right now, that seems like the least of my problems. He shrugs me off his shoulder before he steadies my waist. But as soon as his massive hands leave me, I sprint toward the door. I’m inches from freedom when a cord of black smoke coils around my stomach, lifting me off the ground and dragging me backwards. I wrestle against it, but when I grab at it, my hands clutch onto empty air. I’m dumped in the cell, and the door clicks shut. The chair he thumps down on just beyond the bars groans under his weight. His back is straight. Eyes fixed on me. I glare at him, pulling and pushing the bars to see if there’s some give.

“Who are you? Why am I in here? Who the fuck are Vale and Theron?”

His jaw only twitches in response. I huff and take in my cell. A chair, a mat on the floor and a bucket in the corner. I groan, thinking about what it’s probably for, and that it might mean they plan to keep me here for a while. Oh god no.

“Hello?” I shout toward the iron door, banging on the bars. But my voice only ricochets off the four walls and slams back into me.

“What’s your name?” I ask. Silence. “What’s all that on the wall?” I nod past him at the carvings cut into the stone, lines spreading like some kind of floor plan or map. Eventually, I give up and stop asking questions, slumping into the chair in the corner of my cell. I’m shaking, sweating, and racking my brain trying to figure out how the heck I’m going to get out of here. Maybe Raph will report it. Some guys by the beach saw what happened, and they’ll be questioned and... and the Met police will storm under the sea, fighting through monsters and magic. Just to save me. I groan and run a hand down my face as panic sets in. No one’s coming. Not Raph, not Macy. No one. Frustration joins the panic taking root in my heart. I should have made more friends throughout my life. Thirty-one years on Earth and I only speak to two people? But, even if someone did care, they couldn’t do a damn thing. I’m trapped underneath the fucking ocean. Ashley, you’ve got to get yourself out. But what could they possibly want from me? Maybe using magic was never allowed, and they’ve decided I’ve gone too far this time. Or maybe it’s worse, they’re arresting me for killing my dad. If that’s the case, I guess I deserve whatever’s coming. And judging by the way the fire man turned those evil mermaids into ceviche, I’m in for a world of pain. I’m trying to keep my eyes away from him. My captor. But I can’t help it. It’s like when someone calls your name, and you automatically look up — but he isn’t calling me. He’s barely even moving at all. If I couldn’t see him blinking from time to time, I would’ve thought he was some kind of sculpture. Heavy footsteps pull me from my thoughts and two men step through the door. One mutters, and suddenly the room lights up like we’re about to start a séance. He is short and round, dressed in pale purple, probably in his late forties. The other is tall and wears full black armor covered in what looks like a shitload of blood, with a helmet shaped into a snarling dragon.

“Very well done, Captain,” The taller man chuckles, clasping his hands together like a seal, “I knew you could get through the Chasm unseen. Even if your wretched King did impose on our plans. Though it seems you were lying to us after all. She is alive. Ten months of pain, and you took it like the machine you are. But I know you will count it all training. Leander would be proud. So, you’re welcome. Now…”

He would be handsome if it weren’t for his awful aura and overconfidence. His sharp features angle like they’d been built to sneer. Thick dark hair falls just enough to shadow the palest, piercing blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Like the brightest sky on a summer’s day.

“This is our savior?” His eyes roam my body slowly as he takes slow steps forward.

“Your what? I’m not anybody’s savior. I can’t even save myself, obviously.” I chuckle nervously. I haven’t read hostage survival for dummies, but I’m pretty sure making jokes is not in there. “You must have the wrong person.”

“My dear, dear Princess, please don’t pretend to be dense.” His voice is so oily it makes my skin crawl. “You will tell us where you have been, who has been hiding you, and why.”

“Princess?” I snort. “Hiding? I’ve just been living at home and working, kind of.” My voice tangles in confusion. Do they think I went into hiding after killing my dad?

“The liar gene is running strong in this one,” The tall man sighs. “Captain, if you would be so kind as to open this cell and restrain our guest, so we can question her properly and get this over with. I don’t have another ten months for this shit.”

Smoke snakes across the air toward me, catching my wrists and ankles before slamming me into the chair. I wrestle against it, but it’s like iron chains.

“N— now let’s go easy on her Theron, if he bonds to her before the time is right, we lose everything. And we don’t know if her magic—”

“No.” Theron stalks towards me. “If we die, we die. We knew the cost. She’s just as much a part of this as Kaed and his King. I am sick of it. Let us free our people and be done with this. But first…” The venom in his voice is so violent that it knocks the breath from my chest. He waves his hand in front of my face, and a few loose curls tuck themselves neatly behind my ears, “I have a few questions that you will answer. My, my, my, doesn’t she look like her father.”

“So, this is about my dad. You knew him?” My voice shakes as my eyes meet Theron’s and find only hate there.

“Knew him?”

Theron’s chuckle is a grating sound; he circles me like a vulture, and I clench my restrained hands into fists to steady my nerves. His breath tickles the back of my neck. And I reach for my magic, but it’s nowhere to be seen.

“No training, no idea who we are, yet here you are, fluently speaking Sheyole’s common tongue. You will learn today, Princess, that there are fae in this land who have patience, and there are those who do not. Guess which one I am. Captain?”

“Common tongue? You mean English? But everyone speaks English.”

Theron shoots me a look that could kill, muttering something about humans and their audacity. The Captain stands in front of me, hands clasped behind his back, the veins in his biceps straining. A faint film over his eyes reminds me of Raph’s when he’s high, though Raph is usually giggling a little too much. But this man. This towering beast in front of me is pinning me down with a stare so icy, so cold that I’m not sure who in this room is scaring me more.