Page 9 of Ruined Kingdom

“Eugin,” I breathed with relief as I brought myself to my feet with only the strength of my pure elation. Tears ran down my cheeks before I was able to stop them. “You have no idea how good it is to see you!”

“I think I have some idea. Come, let me take you back to the castle.” He reached out for me, weaving his arm and mine and pulling me up onto the horse behind him. “What about her?” General Eugin motioned to Yenisey.

I looked at her as she ducked her head and folded her hands in her lap. I thought for a long moment about what Kaine would have done, but I wasn’t Kaine. I wasn’t capable of doing what was necessary most of the time. I decided I would leave that up to him as Alpha King.

“She comes with us.”

General Eugin then looked at the deer and tilted his head. She took that as her cue to leave and darted off into the trees.

“All right… Let’s get you ladies home.” He reached out to Yenisey, and I helped her to sit behind me on the bay mare’s long elegant back.

I was surprised that this horse was able to handle carrying all three of us, but it was larger than any horse I’d ever known. Anyway, I didn’t care at this point if I was being carried by a blasted pigeon, I just wanted to return to the castle.

And to Kaine.

3

SOPHIA

General Eugin didn’t seem to consider even knocking first and flung Kaine’s office door open in stride. “Sir, pardon my intrusion?—”

I rushed through the doorway past him before he could finish his sentence. I found myself held within Kaine’s strong, reassuring arms an instant later.

“Sophia! Where the hell were you?” He stroked my hair harshly in between kissing the top of my head.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I all but sobbed into his warm chest.

“Yenisey was gone, too. And there were remnants of portal magic in her room,” he growled, glaring at her with suspicion and anger. He set me aside and approached Yenisey in a way that made me look down at his hands, expecting to see claws sprouting from there at any moment.

“She was just trying to protect me…” I blurted out, surprising myself. “Kaine, she was taken as well. She’s not to blame.”

Her face jerked up to me in astonishment. She clearly hadn’t expected me to defend her, her striking blue eyes shining with a mixture of gratitude and confusion.

“Taken by whom?” Kaine’s voice changed suddenly as he turned back to me. A dark aura manifested around him as he watched me with unwavering beastlike eyes, likely already imagining ripping out the throat of whoever had been responsible.

“The Dark Fae King,” I answered, and he stopped breathing. “He took me. I was healed but then he… To be honest, I still don’t know what he did to me. It was like he was—” The word consume popped into my head, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I scarcely wanted to believe it myself.

Kaine’s serious face softened as soon as he saw how scared I was to recall what had happened. “Somehow I knew we hadn’t heard the last of him yet, but he’s back sooner than I’d anticipated. We will have to remain vigilant until we can eradicate him permanently.”

All I could manage was a nod. My mind was too filled with questions and answers that didn’t match each other. That monster had taken something from me—sucked it right out of me without having to cut me open—and I wanted to know the why and the what of it.

And what I couldn’t make sense of either, was why he would tell me Yenisey had betrayed me. Wouldn’t it benefit him more to continue the charade?

And why did the Golden Deer help him as well as me?

These things weren’t adding up. I refused to believe that what the Fae King had told me was the whole story.

“Everyone else, leave us. I want to speak with Sophia alone,” Kaine commanded, and there wasn’t a moment of hesitation before they all filed out of the room and shut the door behind them.

I pulled on the fingers of one hand with the other, nervously wondering what he wanted to talk about. I tried to gauge whether he was mad or frustrated. I was sure there were so many things going through his mind. All I wanted to do was put him at ease.

Instead of speaking, he quickly closed the gap between us with a few steps and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest as tightly as he could without breaking me. “Sophia.”

“I'm right here, Kaine.” I struggled to speak as he lovingly squeezed the air from my lungs.

“But I don't understand how. I watched you pass away right before my eyes. Now you’re living and breathing again. I don’t understand it. Part of me is frightened that this is just a cruel dream that I’ll wake up from.” He spoke as if it was the single hardest thing he ever had to say.

“It’s not a dream, Kaine. I really am here. I was … rescued. Well, more like I was resurrected. I was drifting in this dark place when I was drawn out by your Goddess, Helene. She took me to this place filled with light and told me that I had a very important purpose and that I couldn’t die yet.” I did my best to recollect the moment despite it having felt like a fleeting dream … almost like I was going to wake up tomorrow and not remember it at all.

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