Page 78 of Ruined Kingdom

I made sure to steer clear from touching it as I passed by it.

The first thing I noticed was the wretched stench of rot and death, the same smell as when I’d been here before when I’d been taken by the Fae King.

Lexi came up behind me, clutching my hand as I pressed my other one into my chest.

“I can feel him. He’s close … but he’s fading fast,” I whispered, my teeth chattering against each other as if I were cold. “We are running out of time.”

My body quivered at the thought that I might fail. That I wouldn’t make it in time.

Hang on, Kaine. Wait for me!

This caused our connection to flicker to life like throwing oil on a dying fire.

My head shot up, and my attention shot right to a dark corridor to the left of me. I didn’t know what was down it, but I knew Kaine would be there.

He was calling to me.

“This way,” I said in a quiet but hasty tone.

Without waiting to see if everyone was following me, I dashed down the corridor. I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew I was going in the right direction.

We could have really used one of the Light Fae right about now, but they were with the men and women battling the Dark Fae on the front lines outside.

Their shield and healing magic were needed more there than here.

I finally began to see a light in the distance.

It was faint, but there was a singular shadow pacing back and forth wildly.

I couldn’t help it. I knew I was supposed to be quiet, but the torment I felt from being away from my mate was too overwhelming.

“Kaine!” My voice traveled down the damp and narrow corridor to the back wall of the room ahead, ricocheting back to me an instant later.

I finally made it into the room, but I was running too fast to stop—even as I saw that Kaine was not shifted into his usual jet-black wolf form but the corrupted creature that the Fae King had twisted him into.

He turned and snarled like a wild animal at me, his sharp teeth glinting with spit and malice.

Still… I couldn’t help but smile.

Tears blurred my vision, and all I could see was the silhouette of the creature I loved. “I found you.”

My arms wrapped around his cold and bony structure, but his claws wrapped around my shoulders as he pushed me away.

“No, get away! He’s going to make me kill you,” Kaine’s distorted voice cried out from the skull-like face. He was gruesomely unrecognizable now, but that didn’t cause me to waver for a second.

“You have to fight it, Kaine. You’re stronger than him. We can defeat him together,” I pleaded with him, imploring him to dig up what was left of his strength… His humanity.

His clawed hands clutched at his head. “No. No. No. Stop it! I don’t want to listen anymore.”

Even now, the Fae King was in his head, whispering to him. Which meant two things: he now knew that we were here and that I could help Kaine fight him.

I shut my eyes and focused on Kaine.

The first thing I became aware of was his heartbeat.

I breathed slowly, drawing his mind to me, honing in on the feelings that he was trying to drown out.

Fear was the most prominent one—fear that he would do what the Fae King wanted him to.

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