Page 140 of When the Woods Go Silent

“Where did Torrence go? He has Ruby. Where did he take her?” I snap into focus, running after Ronan.

“I have no idea. My guess would be the ice mountains beyond Aralia, of course. That’s where the gobbelins are currently. Or he could have taken her to the blood mines.” Ronan is matter of fact, as though this sort of kidnapping happens all the time.

Maybe it does, in their world, but not in mine.

“Why are you here?” I ask suddenly, remembering both brothers had been summoned home to deal with gobbelins. “Why isn’t Kier back?”

“I’m sure he’ll be back for your sweet cunt soon enough,” Ronan sneers, and I barely resist smacking him. “I’m here because I never left. I suspected the uprising was a distraction from something the gobbelins were planning here, and it looks like I might have been right. Why would they want your friend, Rose?” He turns on me, eyes flashing, and I try to hold my ground.

“Theydon’t. Just Torrence. They’re... well, they’re together now, or whatever he told Ruby.”

Ronan laughs, the sound sharp and cruel as a scorpion’s sting. “Gobbelins only want humans for one reason. Blood.”

“How do I get her back?” I blurt, and his eyes widen in surprise.

“Back? You really think there’s a way back for her now?”

“If he wanted to kill her, why not do it in the woods? Or here, in the house? Why take her somewhere else, underground?”

Ronan narrows his eyes at me, seeming to dissect my questions. “How do you know she’s underground?”

“The trees. They told me the ice pushed her down to their roots.”

Ronan rests his hands on his slim hips and cocks his head, studying me now. “You talk to trees now? Interesting. I admit, I had my doubts about your potential, but this... this is promising.”

“Shut up about me, and answer my fucking question. How do I get her back?” I snap, shoving both phones back in my pocket and mirroring his stance, hands on my hips and head tilted back a little to take in his height.

“I don’t know where the blood mines are,” he says, holding my gaze steadily. “But I do know the ice mountains. I can help you find her, if she’s in Haret. For the right payment, of course.” His dark eyes flash at me.

The words stab into my brain like poison darts. “Payment? What could I possibly have that a fae prince could want?”

His smile grows wolfish, and I flash for an inappropriate moment on quite a few delicious ways I could pay him. Then the truth settles in my stomach like a stone.Of course.

“You want me to come willingly.”

“I want you to come with me,” he says, the words taking on a dirty twist in his mouth, although we both know he isn’t talking about sex.

He’s talking about leaving Clearwater. Fuck, he’s talking about leaving Earth. I have no idea where Ruby is, but if this man - this fae prince - can help me...

Do I have another choice? My mind spins through the same sad options. I could wait here for forty-eight hours and let the cops go door-to-door with flyers. I could wait until Kier bothers to return. Or I could take this mess into my own hands, as much as possible.

“I’ll do it. I’ll come with you to... to...” I can’t even remember where the fuck I’m agreeing to go.

“To Aralia. Excellent.”

“And you’ll help me find and rescue Ruby.”

“Of course.”

“And not after, either. You’ll help me find her before we deal with the gobbelins.”

Ronan sighs and offers his hand to shake, giving the impression I’m asking him for a goddamn favor instead of giving him exactly what he’s wanted.

When I place my palm against his, a snap of magic like a lightning strike passes between us. I feel as though a corset has been strapped and tightened around me, the strings pulled and knotted in Ronan’s fingers. He lifts my hand to his mouth, palm to his lips, and presses a kiss there that feels like a branding iron, fresh from the fire.

I gasp as I’m pulled against his unyielding body by these invisible strings, tied tightly to Ronan by the magical bargain I’ve made. Too late, I remember all the stories about a fae’s bargain, and how many thousands of ways they can trick a human. Desperation made me blind, but I still can’t say I would have done things differently.

Ronan’s mouth drops to my ear, his breath hot on my skin. “Kier really should have warned you better, little changeling, but the fae’s bargain is sealed now.”

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