Page 10 of Kingdom of Faewood

“Elowen, get down . . .please!” Wheezing, Guardian Alleron reached for me.

A survival instinct kicked in, and I shoved my face to the carpet, the fibers scratching my cheeks as I lay as flat as possible. Wheezing from my guardian grew, and a moment of hysteria made me want to sob. If my guardian died, my freedom would come early, but then the only father I’d ever known would be gone. I would be entirely alone in the realm without Guardian Alleron. Abandoned again.

My fingers crept along the carpet in search of myguardian’s hand. The power inside me sang, rising and careening through my limbs until my collar activated. I cried out when magic shot like lightning along my limbs, igniting coldness and slashing pain with it. The momentary reprieve I’d had from Lordling Himil’s magic faded, and shocking agony reverberated through me anew as a fresh flow of ice slid along my limbs.

I bit my lip to keep from screaming, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

Wind continued flowing against my back, but I stayed plastered to the carpet. My guardian’s estate grew closer. Closer.Closer.

If we could just reach it, his protective wards would enclose us and stop whomever pursued us.

“Elowen!” Guardian Alleron bellowed.

Before I could process his fearful call, hoofbeats were suddenly right beside us. Just as fast, an arm wrapped around my waist and whipped me off the carpet so quickly that my head spun, and blackness coated my vision.

Someone tilted me upright, settling my rump against something hard that moved in a rocking motion. The moment I was righted, my vision returned, but the world around me had turned into an impossibly dark blur, and the wind whipping against my face was so fierce that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

My heart thundered, nearly jumping out of my chest. Whoever carried me cradled me to them in a tight embrace. It was as though a phantom had snatched me from the enchantedcarpet and was carrying me to the netherworld. But phantoms didn’t carry a scent. They didn’t smell of fresh pine and a hint of spice. And they certainly didn’t have solid bodies and arms like steel.

Yet phantoms did move like the wind, and whoever had just taken me flew so fast through the Wood that everything around me blended together.

Wits finally returning, I punched at whomever held me and tried to wiggle out of his solid hold. But his arm tightened, making my breaths shallow. Still, I fought, but the three callings had rendered me so weak, just a shell of the female I had the potential to be, and when a momentouszapfrom my collar activated, I seized, my mind going numb.

Everything inside me shut down...down,down, until nothing was left but the solid arm around me, the harsh feel of the wind across my cheeks, and then...nothing.

CHAPTER 3

Hazy sunlight brushed against my closed eyelids. A pounding headache came next. Groaning, I shifted beneath heavy blankets, then immediately stopped. An ache, so deep it penetrated me all the way to my bones, took my breath away.

“Lillivel?” I croaked.

Someone shifted beside me, and a commanding aura pounded around them. It was someone big and powerful.

Not Lillivel.

My eyes flew open, and my magic immediately flared.

A male dressed entirely in black, including a black mask on his face and a black bandana over his hair, stared down at me. Only his blue eyes and a slit of tanned skin were visible.

For a brief moment, shock rendered me immobile, but the second that wore off, I scrambled away from him. Or tried to. The pile of furs and blankets covering me was so thick, and my gown was so bulky that I could barely get outfrom under them. Zaps from my collar started just as fast, zinging along my nerves.

The male stared at me, unmoving. His gaze was intent, yet his eyes revealed nothing.

Oh Goddess. Oh, stars and galaxy above.It all came crashing back. Meeting the king. The three callings. Traveling back to my guardian’s estate. My abduction.

And the whisperings yesterday of who’d been spotted in the kingdom.

My captor sat beside me on a log, right next to my makeshift bed. A tent billowed around us, and the soft light penetrating the canvas flaps hinted that it was morning.

Panting, I scurried away and pressed myself against the tent’s far wall, which only put me an arm’s length away from him, but it was better than nothing. The material sagged against my back, but the structure held, not allowing me to roll underneath it and escape.

“Did you sleep all right?” the male finally said, his voice deep yet calm.

Did he seriously just ask how I slept?My heart pounded so hard it hurt, and my magic rattled painfully inside me. I tried to slow my breathing. Tried not to panic until I was a mindless mess, but Goddess, I’d beentaken.

“Who are you?” My chest heaved, but I managed to suck in a deep breath and calm my collar slightly.

The male cocked his head. Irises, so blue they resembled the Adriastic Sea, glittered in thedim sunlight as he continued to assess me. “I’m someone in need of your services.”

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