Page 54 of Kingdom of Faewood

A horrible aching regret filled me. And even though a part of me knew my reaction was ridiculous since Jax and I had only just met, it’d truly felt like something had shifted between us last night. On top of that, Jax had never abused me. Despite me physically hitting him, he still never roughly handled me or struck me.

Unlike the male standing before me—a despicable Faewood lordling, who was apparently here to abduct me as well. Mythirdabduction. A laugh of hysteria threatened to rise inside me. The absurdity of the situation nearly made me cackle.

The guard holding me shook me. “Quiet.”

But his rough treatment did little to stop my hysterics, and an unhinged laugh escaped me.

Lordling Neeble seethed. “Shut her up, and get her on the domal.”

The guard holding me spun me around and slapped me across the face. He did itsofast.

The sting it left on my cheek was sharp and smarted enough that my laughter stopped. Searing pain coasted over my features, and I winced.

The males moved swiftly, throwing me on top of a domal as though I was a sack of flour before righting me, and then tied my legs with leather straps to the four-legged animal. My hands were still free, but I wasn’t given any reins, andmy collar began to sing in warning as fear cascaded through me.

This is really happening.

The male who’d thrown me on the animal snickered. “I’d advise you to hold on.”

The domal’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight as it danced on its hooves, but domals were intelligent animals. This one was no exception, given its concerned looks my way and angry snorts at the males.

“We move. Now!” Lordling Neeble growled.

My domal took off, falling in line with the males who were already mounted, just as Lordling Neeble swung onto his steed.

Within seconds, we were flying through the Wood, galloping back up the Ustilly Mountains, moving south once more.

I struggled to stay upright but somehow managed to twist my fingers through the domal’s mane and hang on even thoughzapsemitted continually from my collar.

I jostled and groaned with every patter of the domal’s hooves. My newest captor hadn’t cared about my comfort. I was tied so tightly to the saddle that my legs burned from the stinging ropes.

A whip cracked on my animal’s backside. Whinnying, the domal leaped forward, moving even faster.

Wind flew through my hair, and I yelped when the domal careened around a sharp rock on the steep mountain slope.The sound of rocks scattering along the ground and tumbling off the mountainside had my stomach lurching.

With every step that we climbed, the Wood disappeared behind us until only towering rock and jagged peaks surrounded us. Moonlight lit the way. My eyes flashed wide. I hadn’t been able to see any of this when I’d traveled on Phillen’s back. It’d all been a blur, but on the slower-moving domal, terror engulfed me. The domals hooves weren’t equipped for the steep rock slopes, and all of the animals slid and whinnied in fear as the males pushed them to move faster.

I lurched forward when my steed tried to leap over a rock and instead swung precariously to the side before it landed, then skidded sideways.

Pain from the stinging ropes cut into my legs even more. My collar activated anew, sending a smattering of shocking bolts through my limbs, making my nerves burn and my mind go blank.

“Keep moving!” Lordling Neeble yelled.

The domals finally reached the peak of the mountain range and began to descend on the other side, but the downward descent was even more treacherous. Several times, the animals nearly plunged off the steep ravine, and Lordling Neeble was forced to slow us. The entire time, I clung to the domal’s mane, my fingers entwined so tightly around it’s dark-purple strands that its course hair cut into my skin.

“We’re almost to the Wood,” Lordling Neeble called. “Once we’re there, head back to the wildling trail and head east. There’s a ship?—”

An enraged howl echoed across the valley from behind us, like a snarling beast emerging from its cave.

I swung my head around, wildly searching for the source of that sound. I was convinced I would find a treefang or wildesnare, or another mythical creature that was said to inhabit the mountainous Wood. But...nothing.

A whistling sound abruptly cut through the wind, and a blade impaled one of the males in front of me. I screamed.

Blood glistened in the moonlight when the tip appeared on the front of his chest, piercing right through his heart. The male tumbled off his domal.

Heart thundering, I leaned back on my domal, trying to get it to slow, but the animal must have sensed the death and blood in the air. Its head reared back, another terrified whinny emitting from it.

“Get her to the Wood!” Lordling Neeble shouted.

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