Page 18 of Bound By Darkness

“You took me from her. You took me from my home!” I took a step back, my neck and face heating from the simmering lava boiling within me.

His voice rang out flat as he spoke. “I saved you. You’re lucky to escape the clutches of Lord Haville, let alone the Armas prison unscathed.”

“I’mlucky?”

“A roof over your head, new clothes, and food would more than suffice as lucky.”

I bitterly laughed. “This is ridiculous,” I said as I tooka step around him.

He mirrored my step, blocking the path to the door. “And where are you going?”

“Back to the castle,” I spat. “I’ll figure out a way back in, so move out of my damn way.”

“Why would you ever want to go back?”

“It doesn’t concern you,” I hissed.

“I believe your rescuer deserves an explanation.”

“You deserve no such thing. Let me pass.”

“No.” He said as his arms crossed over his chest. “You don’t even know where you are, do you?”

I shoved past him, my footsteps heavy as I hobbled through the pain. My fingers found the door at the end of the hallway as I swung it violently open, the wind howling its greeting.

Carefully maneuvering myself down the few wooden stairs older than the stone walls of my cell, I stopped as my feet planted against the soft blades of grass.

I scanned the area for any opening, any sign of a road or path. There was nothing except the cabin plopped behind me in the middle of a sea of green.

“Welcome to Lost Woods.” He leaned against the wooden support beam, a gleam etched into the swirls of his eyes. “I’m sure you’ve heard the legends—of the fog surrounding this place.”

“Lost woods? But that’s?—”

“A few days ride by carriage.” He jerked his head toward the door. “I suggest coming back inside where it’s safe.”

“No.” I needed a way to get out, even if it resulted in me dying from the disorienting mist.

He rolled his neck. “I’m not debating with you.”

I bared my teeth. “I refuse to listen to a Fae’s request.”

He took a step forward, wood groaningbeneath his black boots. “If you go out in those woods, the mist will intoxicate your senses immediately in your current state.”

My fingers itched with anticipation as I glanced at the forest surrounding the cabin. One more step down and I would bolt into the forest. To hells with magical memory loss mist. It was a legend. I mean, he had gotten through the mist fine. If he could do it, I could too.

His black boot lifted, his fingers peeling from the wooden railing.

My muscles screamed, ready to dart under the cover of branches?—

“What’s going on out here?”

A woman peeked her head around the cedar door, her gray hair cropped above her pointed ears. She smiled, wisdom etched into the lines of her forehead as her brown eyes settled on me. “Oh good, you’re awake,” she said, the thick accent of Estel flowing in a song-like rhythm. “And starvin’ by the looks of you.”

I paused as the woman hobbled down the steps, a few curses spewing from her cracked lips at the groaning wood.

She closed the distance, her cheeks highlighted with pink as her withered hand met the curve of my back.

She applied pressure as she guided me toward the cabin. “You must come inside and rest. I’ve got hot food and plenty of it.”

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