Page 147 of Bound to the Shadow Prince

“Aye. She’s the slave of one of the Fellian princes.”

“Why is she a slave?” I choke, horrified. “What happened to Lios? Tell me everything!”

“She’s a slave because she’s pretty,” Senna says, her voice bitter. “When the Fellians took the city, they slaughtered the men and took the women captive. They brought us back to this place, but it’s just another tomb.”

“A tomb?”

“You’ll see.” She chuckles, as if this is all somehow funny. “So what’s the princess doing in the dungeon instead of in the tower?”

“I left the tower when there was no more food,” I confess.

“Mmm, aye. There’s no food anywhere above ground. The goddess weeps constantly, and the rain washes everything away. At least these Fellian bastards have food.” She laughs, and the sound is faintly unhinged. “Up above, we starved. Down here, there’s food but it’s a different kind of hell.”

I blanch. “Why are you down here?”

“Because I spit in my owner’s food,” Senna tells me, still laughing. “And food can’t be wasted. He had to eat it or give it to me. So he sent me down here to teach me a lesson. More fool him, I’d rather be here in the dungeon than out there. At least down here I’m safe.”

“Safe from what?”

“From the goddess’s wrath, of course. She’s not starving the Fellians. She’s got a very different punishment for them.” And Senna laughs again. “You can’t escape the eye of the goddess, even underground! She still watches!”

My skin prickles with goosebumps. Senna doesn’t sound…well. “About the goddess?—”

“CANDRA!”

The bellow comes from down a distant, echoing hall, but every pore in my body pricks to attention the moment I hear it. I know that voice. I jump to my feet, forgetting all about Senna on the other side of the wall, and I press my face to the bars of my cell. “Nemeth! I’m here!”

There’s a furious sound, a male roar of primal fury, and the sound of something crashing into a wall. “Where is she?”

“Nemeth!” I cry again, shaking the door of my cell even as the guard swoops through the shadows toward me. “Let me out of here! Nemeth!”

“Female,” the guard hisses as I grab the empty cup from its shelf and bang it against the metal of my door. It makes a horrifically loud sound, which delights me, and even when he snatches it out of my hand and grabs me by the front of my dress, I don’t care. Nemeth ishere.He’s going to save me. “Be silent?—”

The shadows thicken behind my guard, and then Nemeth coalesces into the open space behind him. His eyes are wild and frantic, his teeth bared and his wings tucked tight behind him in what I recognize as a warrior stance. His nostrils flare as he spots the Fellian male that has the front of my dress and he grabs him by the knot of horns at the back of his head and drags him backward.“You don’t get to touch her!”

Oh gods. Is Nemeth going to kill one of his own kind for mistreating me? “Wait! Nemeth, don’t!”

He stops.

To my vast relief, he stops. Nemeth stares at me for a long moment, as if not believing his eyes. He pushes the Fellian in front of my cell aside, and his gaze searches over my face. “Open this.”

The guard disappears in a flood of shadows and then returns a moment later with a key.

Nemeth doesn’t move. His eyes devour me and I know he’s making a mental note of every bruise, every scrape, and adding them to a mental list. His wings look brittle with tension, and even though he’s not fidgeting, I can feel the anger brimming through him. I reach out and touch his finger even as the guard fumbles with the keys to unlock my cell. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“You are not fine. You’re in a dungeon.” Nemeth’s gaze darkens with fury. “A Darkfell dungeon.”

“A misunderstanding,” I reassure him. My indignation fades in the light of Nemeth’s fury. I don’t want him endangering himself, and I don’t know how his people will take it if he kills one of his own…because I absolutely believe that Nemeth wouldhave killed the guard in that moment. There was something dark and unpleasant in his eyes when he saw I was in danger.

And I’m a terrible person because I like it.

I keep smiling brightly at Nemeth as the guard fumbles with the keys again. It’s too narrow for him to teleport in—or he doesn’t trust the guard while doing so—and we have to wait as the other Fellian mumbles apologies and tries to find the correct key. When the door finally opens with a creak, Nemeth all but yanks me out of its depths and into his arms.

He wraps himself around me tightly, one hand in my hair and the other on my back, and he hugs me to his chest. I cling to him, breathing in his scent, listening to the sound of his rapid, angry heartbeat. Tears threaten my eyes but I blink them back. I’ll cry over this tomorrow. When we’re settled and safe, I’ll cry. Until then, they’ll have to wait. “I’m safe,” I whisper to him. “I knew you’d come for me.”

He steps backward and cups my face in his hands, his thumb stroking my cheek. “You are injured. Was it this guard?”

“I’m fine,” I insist. “Misunderstandings are to be expected at times like this, and we can’t afford revenge. I’m just glad you’re here.” I clutch his arms, glad for his strength and his reassuring presence. “What happens now?”

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