Page 119 of The Cursed Kingdom

Mason says nothing as I push open the door and step out into the outside. A guard is standing down the pathway, near where it opens into a courtyard. He looks just like every other male faerie I’ve seen, tall and muscular with violet eyes and white hair.

This one’s got a small scar above his lip, but that’s his only blemish.

He’s devastatingly handsome.

I’m half-convinced he’s going to stop me, probably ordered by Kie to keep me here, but he doesn’t do anything as I walk past. I only make it two steps into the courtyard before spotting a familiar face, though.

Fuck me.

Kie looks surprised to see me, his jaw dropping and eyes widening, before he raises an arm and points to the front door of his home without a word. I debate running, but then I see the blood smeared along his sleeve. It stops me in my tracks, and my lungs swell in one pained gasp.

“What’d you do to her?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

There’s blood. So much that it drips down his sleeve.

“Inside,” Kie says, ignoring my question.

I don’t move. I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. I might as well be stuck in one of those dreams where everything is moving in slow motion. Or one of the ones where I’m trying to scream but can’t get my mouth to open.

Kie grabs my arm as he nears, the smooth leather of his gloves curling around the crook of my elbow. The touch hardly registers, and I wonder if maybe thisisall just a dream as I’m dragged back into his home.

I’m going to wake up and discover this has all been nothing more than an uncomfortably vivid dream. I’m probably at work drooling on my desk right now.

The knife in my leggings calls to me, but killing Kie in a public setting isn’t the right move. His body would be found before I made it out of this maze of pathways, and I’d be captured in a heartbeat.

Mason’s sitting on one of the kitchen barstools, munching happily on the apple he pulled from the fridge earlier. He hardly looks surprised to see me being dragged in by Kie.

“I found one of your mother’s guards taking Abby to the meeting hall,” he says.

Kie slams the door behind him. “Yeah, I gathered that when I stumbled upon an unconscious guard on my way here.”

Mason shrugs. “Why’s Abby here?” He takes another bite of his apple, the crunch loud in the otherwise-silent room. “I thought you’d bring her home.”

I lick my lips, still trying to find my voice. All I can think about is Lill, of her being abused and tortured at the hands of Kie and Mason. Is she dead already?

I’m terrified to know, and it’s why I can’t find the strength to ask. If she is, I don’t want to know. I want to continue living in blissful ignorance. It’ll be my fault, and I don’t think I can live with the guilt. Lill has been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and I don’t want to live in a world where she doesn’t exist.

I can’t imagine it.

“Zaha took me to the human realm—to Abby’s home,” Kie says. “I found a surprise there.”

Mason cocks his head to the side, his gaze darting quickly between Kie and me.

I open my mouth, but no sound emerges. All I can do is stare at the blood on Kie’s sleeve. It blends in with the black fabric, but it’s impossible not to see once you notice it. I wonder what part of Lill it came from.

Her head? Her torso? Her hands?

Kie leans over the kitchen island, bringing his face close to Mason’s. “Lillian Collins.”

The name vibrates through my skull, and the barstool Mason’s sitting on slams to the ground as he stands. He movestoo quickly, and I’m plastering myself against the front door before he can leave.

If he wants to get to Lill, he’ll have to get through me.

My hands shake as I reach into my leggings and pull out my stolen knife. It scrapes my thigh, but the sting hardly registers.

“Leave her alone.” My voice shakes, and it’s quieter than I’d like it to be.

Mason looks murderous, and his body twitches like he’s fighting the urge to shift into his animal form. The memory of his sharp teeth snapping only inches from my face still petrifies me, but I refuse to back down. I won’t let them hurt Lill any more than they already have.

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