Page 76 of Dark of Winter (Wild Haven 1)

Miri

There’s a fog coating my view of the world around me. I know what I’m seeing, but it’s dreamy and distorted. Time is moving in flashes. One second, I’m in my store, the next, I’m being carted to an ATV, then I’m walking through Anthony’s front door on my own volition, even though I know deep down I don’t want to be here. What I can’t recall is why I’m willingly following him into his clinical looking living room and sitting on the uncomfortable as hell chair. The one that looks like it’s going to topple over under my weight.

Get up.I urge my limbs to move, for my legs to help me stand and feet to walk me the hell out of this place, but nothing happens. I sit more primly than I’ve ever sat on a chair, palms flat on the spindly arm rests. If I couldn’t see with my own eyes that I haven’t been strapped into the seat, I would have thought there were ropes binding me.

My heart is thumping at a slow, sedate pace that’s at odds with my swiftly rising fear. How did Anthony get me here and why aren’t I screaming at him? Magic obviously. A long-buried memory flashes through my mind, the night my mom sent me away. I ended up in Davis’s car with no understanding of how I got there. This is the same damn thing. Dammit, I knew my mom had done something that night to get me to leave. Looks like her teacher is using those same tricks on me now.

Anthony takes his time moving through his kitchen. I can see him from the seat he’s placed me in, and I wish I could scowl at him or tell him what a dickface he is. All I can do is watch as he pours two glasses of red wine, taking his time swirling and sniffing his glass like we’re at some fancy restaurant and he hasn’t just kidnapped me.

He smiles at me as he crosses the room, setting one of the glasses on the coffee table in front of me. Not that I can move to grab it, otherwise I’d be flinging it in his face. Or maybe pouring it all over his white furniture and carpet.

“I’m so glad to have you back in my home, Miriam.”

Oh, are we really doing this shit again? I roll my eyes and sigh loudly, which makes me want to cheer because hey, I was totally able to do that and not locked in that freaky as fuck paralysis. Anthony’s mouth pinches in a disapproving circle. I test the level of my freedom, trying to move my hand, only to find it’s cemented to the chair. I clear my throat and that, apparently, is allowed. The hazy, dreamlike feeling from before is gone, but there’s a pressure in the back of my head. As if someone’s palming my brain and squeezing lightly with the threat of pain lingering close by.

“Why am I here?” I nearly whoop when I get the words out but then realize how pathetic that milestone is. If I can’t move, what does it matter if I pepper him with questions? I doubt I can literally talk him to death.

Anthony looks jubilant. I guess that’s just the question he’s been waiting for me to ask. Great. I love playing into psychotic villain’s plans.

“Tonight is a very special night, daughter.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Denying it doesn’t make it less true.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to spit back a retort, but why bother. He’s obviously insane. There’s a glint in his eyes that rational people don’t have. He’s handsome, well put together, in a pair of gray slacks and a white button-down shirt. He doesn’t look like he just sauntered through a panicked crowd and stole a person.

Anthony continues as if I asked for a history lesson, completely ignoring why I’m really here. “Ostara is an important day for my people.”

His people?

“Each season comes in its time, and it dictates which court holds central power.”

Court?

“Ostara is a time of perfect balance. The day is half-light, half dark, a synchronistic agreement between the seasons that it is time to let go of the old and usher in the new. Spring is coming. It also means that the veil between our two worlds is pliable, easier to manipulate than usual.”

“Our two worlds?” This time I can’t stop the question. Talking about this stuff with Lena, Davis, and the rest of the group is one thing, but hearing someone else speak about courts and two worlds is disconcerting.

“Your mother really didn’t do you any favors by keeping you in the dark.” Anthony takes a sip of his wine, crossing the room to stand in front of a fireplace. It’s a modern gas affair that sits low to the ground and is built into the wall. It’s cool looking but I don’t think it has the gravitas Anthony’s aiming for as he poses in front of it. “I’m from the Fae realm. And I’ve been waiting for years for the opportunity to get back there.”

Parts of the puzzle click in place. The Axis that Anthony tried to form. Was he trying to get back home? Why was he even here in the first place?

“I thought the veil thinned hundreds of years ago. You’re not like… immortal, are you?” Oh God, is this bastard going to live forever? I want to twitch around in my chair so badly, but I can’t move my worthless body.

“I was not part of the original sentinels that came over to protect this foul realm. I came much later, twenty-nine years ago to be precise.”

Maybe it’s not all that bad to keep him talking. Davis is going to realize I’m gone at some point; I just have to hope it’s sooner rather than later. Anthony will definitely be at the top of his suspect list. It’s just a matter of how quickly he can figure out where I’m at.

“What happened at the festival downtown? Why was everyone running?”

“I’m not the heartless monster you’d like to think I am, Miriam. I understand that your bonded grew up with a troubled parent.”

I ignore the bonded part because Davis and I aren’t bonded, not in the magical sense. Also, who the hell does Anthony think he is?

“You covered up murder for him. Whatever the hell you did to form an Axis fucked half of them up in the head.” I shout at him, nostrils flaring, my rage overtaking my common sense. Anthony hasn’t mentioned the Axis to me, and I realize my mistake when he grins at me, anticipation shining in his manic eyes.

“Good. I see they’ve filled you in on the basics. That will make it so much easier for us to move forward.”

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