Page 5 of Dark Prince's Mate

Fuck.“We need to grab the others and get out of here.”I turn to the blonde.“Ask them who can create a portal to Earth.”

She opens her mouth, but instead of speaking, she lets out a scream as she fixes her gaze on something behind me.

I twirl around to see at least a dozen Phaelix swinging down on ropes from the thick foliage of the trees.

Before I have time to even think “prawns,” a Phaelix jumps right in front of me, clutching a branch like a baseball bat.

Forget the prawns.There’s no time.Think lizards.

I focus hard on the Phaelix surrounding me, commanding them to knock each other out with those bats they’re waving around, but they only snarl and snap their shark-like teeth.

Oh, fuck.

My power doesn’t work on the lizards.I guess I can’t command intelligent species.I should’ve kept the prawns around, but it’s too late to rectify that oversight.

Both the blonde and the redhead scream at the top of their lungs.I’m screaming too.Or I think I am, but maybe I just want to and never get a chance because even as I make a beeline for the jungle, something hits me so hard on the head that my brain rattles in my skull.

I’m trying to think of dinosaurs, but my mind is fuzzy, and my vision goes out of focus.

As I go down, the strange world with its vivid reds, yellows, purples, and oranges turns black.

Chapter2

Elsie

Iwake up in a fetal position on a cold, hard surface.My head is pounding, and my mouth is so dry my tongue sticks to my palate.The rattling of my bones as I shiver convulsively doesn’t help my headache.Wherever I am, it’s like a fucking freezer in here.

Something sharp digs into my cheek.I turn onto my back and dust off the grit that sticks to the side of my face.With the splitting headache that hammers in my temples, the smallest movement hurts.I grind my teeth against the pain, crunching sand between my molars.

Where the fuck am I?

I peel open my eyelids and scan my surroundings.The darkness is so thick I can’t see a thing.A dull ache pulses at the back of my skull.I brush my hand over the spot and hiss when I press on a huge egg.

Ouch.

My fingers come away wet and sticky.I bring them to my nose and inhale the metallic scent of blood.

The bastard who hit me most likely gave me a concussion with his makeshift baseball bat.

Groaning, I sit up carefully.“Fuck.”That hurts.

“Quiet,” a woman whispers in a strained tone.“You don’t want to let them know you’re awake.”

I recognize that British accent.“Where am I?”

“In one of the cells.”

Sniffling comes from the corner.

“Hush, Maeva,” the British woman says.“Try to get some sleep.”

Sleeping in the bitter cold and in the harrowing situation we find ourselves in is out of the question.I get onto my hands and knees, almost puking from the pain that increases with the minor effort, and test my balance before pushing to my feet.

Swallowing down bile, I feel my way through the darkness with my arms stretched out in front of me.All the while, I fight the dizziness that threatens to claim me.I take tiny steps, cautiously putting one foot in front of the other until I hit a barrier.I sweep my palms over the surface.The wall appears to be made of vertical poles that are covered with scratchy fabric.

I walk along the length, searching until I find the edge of the rough cloth, and pull it aside.The rudimentary drape acts as a curtain.Behind it is a wall crudely fabricated of branches that act as prison bars.A soft glow spills through the narrow gaps between the bars.The light comes from a fire that burns on the ground below.The smell of the smoke is thick outside.It seeps inside, already clinging to my clothes and hair.The silhouettes of the stilted houses are visible around the clearing.The sky is scattered with stars but moonless, leaving the landscape dark beyond the border of the trees.

When I turn my gaze back to the room, a circle of pale faces are staring wide-eyed at me.The group is a mix of different ages.I count one man and five women.

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