Page 12 of Kingdom of Faewood

“Ah, she’s awake.” The second male lumbered into thetent, taking a seat beside Jax. “Did you have a nice snooze, lovely?”

I recoiled. “Who areyou?”

The newest male laughed, the sound low and deep. Unlike Jax, he didn’t have blue eyes or black hair. From the looks of it, his hair was auburn, given the color of his eyebrows and his eyes were brown. “A new friend.”

I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to edge farther away from both of them.

Jax raised a hand. He had a large palm, long fingers. Working hands. This male didn’t sit on his arse for a living, that was for certain. “Phillen, if you would give us a minute?”

Phillen slapped his knees and rose. “Apologies, Jax. Just thought it would be best to get moving, and when I heard her talking, I thought I’d come remind you of that.”

Jax sighed, and an edge of irritation slipped into his tone. “I’m aware. A minute, if you would.”

“I’ll ready the camp.” Phillen ducked out of the tent without another word.

My heart began to pound again.Camp?He’d saidcamp, which indicated that there was more than one tent erected, which could only mean there were other fae in this group. I listened again through the tent’s material, but other than Phillen’s retreating footsteps, which grew silent surprisingly quickly for such a large male, I didn’t hear anything other than the normal buzzing, chirping, and trills of the Wood.

Which left me to believe that these males were nostrangers to prowling around unbeknownst to others. Not good.

I wrapped my arms even tighter around myself. “So, Jax...who exactly are you?”

My captor placed his bent elbows on his knees and leaned forward. His shirt stretched across his shoulders, and a wave of his aura brushed against me, heaving and probing. I shivered. This male held power.Immensepower from the feel of it. “Since you’re already aware of my name, you may keep calling me Jax, or if you prefer, you could call me the Dark Raider.”

My heart jumped into my throat. Rapid breaths made my chest heave, and my power swelled, getting a vibration from my collar.

Eyes wide, I studied him again, looking beyond his black attire.Silent attacks. Flies like the wind. Brutally violent raids that are practically unseen.Every whispering I’d heard throughout the kingdoms about this male came careening back to me.

And they perfectly described my abduction.

Itwashim.

“Given the panic on your face, it looks like you’ve heard of me?”

“Everyone’s heard of you.” I couldn’t say more. My mouth had gone dry, and my pulse throbbed in my temples. All the kingdoms knew of the Dark Raider—the vigilante who ruthlessly stole riches from noble or rich fae that were taking more than they should, and giving those riches to the poor. Murderwasn’t above him. Gruesome murder if the stories were to be believed. And given what he’d done to Mushil, those stories were true.

Despite that, the poor saw him as a savior. So many underprivileged rooted for him even if the rich saw him as a nuisance who needed to be captured and executed.

I scoffed. And to think just yesterday, I’d been silently cheering for him.So foolish.

“Are you going to kill me?” My voice sounded breathless, thready, but it felt as though I was gasping for air. Another vibrating warning came from my collar.

He sighed. “No, Elowen, I’m not going to kill you or hurt you. I simply need your magic.”

My spine snapped into a rigid line. “How do you know my name?”

“I know many things about you.”

For a moment, I sat dumbstruck.The Dark Raider knows me?I tried to comprehend that, but my damned collar kept rattling. I concentrated on taking more deep, steady breaths and managed to get out, “You truly only want me to find someone for you? That’s it? That’s the only reason you took me?”

A flare of magic simmered around him, almost as though he was irritated by my fear. “Yes.”

Another rush of dizziness swept through me, except this time, it was one of relief, even if I was a fool to believe him.

I released a breath and licked my lips. Stars, my head waspounding, but if he truly wasn’t going to hurt me, then it was best he knew now that I couldn’t help him. He might just let me go. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. You’ve taken me for naught. You might as well release me to Guardian Alleron now and find another lorafin.”

He snorted. “You act as if your kind are easy to come by.”

“Surely, there’s another somewhere in the kingdoms.”

---