Page 49 of Wanted: A Roommate Who Isn't Evil

No, Shayne could not possibly be there. He was supposed to be on vacation. He should be somewhere in the human realm still, lying on a beach, not back in the Ever Corners. Not…

Queensbane, Shayne was going to die.

“I’m going to—Gah!” A stabbing pain burst through Dranian’s side, stealing his words. His rhythms took off, his eyesight wavered. His whole dream shook. The stabbing came again, and he nearly buckled forward.

The girl looked around, worry etching over her features.“Dranian,”she said. Then she grabbed his shouldersand shouted it louder.“Dranian! You need to wake up now!”

“Are you doing this?” he demanded, feeling the nightmare sink in.

Her face changed. The girl’s hands slid off his shoulders and she took a step back, appearing dumbfounded.

Dranian’s body was struck by something, and he fell to the side. He wheezed, and he gritted his teeth.

“Dranian! This isn’t a nightmare! Someone is hurting you outside of your dream! WAKE UP!”She growled it—demanded it—threatenedit, even.

The next hit ripped him from his slumber.

Dranian’s eyes opened just in time to see a fist coming for his face. He rolled off the couch, hitting the floor with a thud. Two hands grabbed and hoisted him up, and Dog-Shayne barked in protest until one of the fairies kicked him into the bedroom and shut the door.

Dranian wanted to shout,“Don’t touch my dog!”but as his eyes fell upon the fairy he was face-to-face with, a fairy he only recognized from a mostly black and white dream, all his words grew too heavy in his mouth to say aloud.

The Dark Prince’s long, scarlet hair was even more vibrant in person. He glowered at Dranian. Then he said, “Take him.”

20

Dranian Evelry and the Madness of War Fae

Lightning heated the sky even though it wasn’t raining. Dull, gray air soaked the streets with humidity, and Dranian peeled his eyes open. Strands of his wet, auburn hair blocked his vision, chopping his view of wolf-like Shadow Fairies armoured in black pearl with death on their fingertips. They were a pack too large to imagine, swarming an abandoned park—possibly cleared of living souls on purpose.

A terrible, sharp ache burned up Dranian’s shoulder. He gasped, realizing his arms were being restrained roughly behind his back. His useless armcould nottwist that way—warm tears sprang into his eyes from the strain.

He was on his knees. Before him stood the High Prince of the Dark Corner.

“It seems my son captured and killed one of my war fairies. Now he’s fled somewhere far away.” Reval Zelsor’s voice was dark and alluring, like a black cavern with a beast inside that called to those passing by. It made Dranian’s insides tighten as the Dark Prince’s words sank in.

Luc captured and killed a Shadow Fairy?

Yes. Yes, he did, Dranian realized. The fairy that had bound Dog-Shayne to a wristlet. But where was Luc now? Dranian looked right and left, seeing only enemy fairies marked by iridescent black.

Of course Luc wasn’t here though. His toothbrush had been missing.

Dranian’s eyes slid closed as it dawned on him what was happening. That Luc had left forever—fled to save himself before his three days were up. And now Dranian would deal with the consequences in his absence. What a horrid parting gift from his former roommate.

Dranian growled to himself, making Reval Zelsor lift a scarlet brow.

“What is the relationship between you and my son, exactly?” Reval asked. Honey and warmth bled into the air when the older fox spoke. It muffled Dranian’s thoughts, and he shook the voice’s lingering affects from his head. “You dwell together, but do you like or hate each other? Because this will go very poorly for youif he does not show up to save you,” Reval added, slow and articulate.

“He will not come for me. Your trap is in vain,” Dranian muttered.

Reval’s long hair fluttered in the rising wind. His mouth twisted to the side as though thinking about that. “We’ll see.”

Fairsaber handles came down upon Dranian’s shoulders, four at once. The ones on his right side felt dull and annoying, but the ones striking his left… His breath caught in his throat; his eyes began rapid blinking. He could hardly breathe.

He had not known pain like this in years. He might have screamed—his thoughts swirling, chasing each other, falling off the ledge of his teetering mind. Things he’d forgotten came back; old memories. Fresh ones. If he died now, he would not be able to stop the House of Lyro from killing Shayne. He would never see the girl with no name again after all these years. He would leave Dog-Shayne alone in the apartment, waiting forever for a master who would not return.

No, he could not die. Not yet. Though his mind spun, he had to fight.

Dranian dragged his hot, stinging gaze up to the Dark Prince. “He will not come!” he shouted. “Luc Zelsor is heartless and cruel. He does not know how to be kind!” Reval’s eyes narrowed, but Dranian went on, “And you’re breaking the bargain made between my High King and this Army division’s leader—”

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