Page 32 of Shifters' Fae Captive (Stolen by Shadow Beasts 1)

I look behind me and eye the direction I’d come in this place from. It looks like a wall of black oil, except it moves and slides, twisting in the air like smoke. Technically, there are only a few of the monkeys between me and that wall, but I can’t imagine a way in which I can reach it before they, or this king, can catch me. Still, if the right opportunity presents itself, I’ll try.

Until then, I need to buy myself some time.

“Well, as lovely as your proposal is, and as enchanting as I’m sure the wedding night would be, I’m afraid I have to decline.” I’m babbling out a ridiculous number of words, words that make me sick to even say.

But as hard as I’d tried not to tell him the idea made me want to vomit, his eyes flash with rage, as if I had actually said the harsher words I’d wanted to say. I rise slowly to my feet, eyeing both him and the monkeys, and I back up a step because this guy’s cool appraisal has turned murderous.

“Respectfully, of course.” I back up two more paces, and he moves faster than I can see, and takes my face in his hand. His touch is harsh. Painful as he squeezes my jaw until a small cry of pain escapes my lips. But he doesn’t seem to care. He jerks my chin up so that I’m forced to look directly into his cold, cruel eyes.

I shiver.This man wants to hurt me. Not just me, but everyone.

But instead of smiting me, or whatever the king of the shadows can do, he cocks his head then throws it back and laughs. The sound is not what I expect. “Of course, you’ll marry me.” He grins and lets go of my face. My face burns where he grabbed me, but I breathe out a slow breath. “I’m charming. And handsome.”

If you have to say it, it’s probably not true...

But I nod because there’s no advantage to telling him he isn’t my type. Probably because if I was the evil form of myself, this guy--a little old maybe--would be right in my wheelhouse. But it’s sort of like seeing a hot picture of a murderer on TV. The first time you see him, you might think, “oh, nice!” But the second you hear his list of crimes, your vagina feels like it closes like a steel trap.

And I’m a steel trap right now, in every way. No, I definitely don’t want this guy. He scares the hell out of me, and I’m pretty sure whatever the guys were trying to warn me about, this man is a lot worse.

A cold shiver passes through me.I need to escape. But how?

There’s a small sound behind me. Like I’ve dreamed him into being, Onyx comes exploding from the dark cloud, splits through the crowd of monkeys, running like he’s taking the ball into the end zone and throws his arms around me. I barely have a moment to gasp, when he drags me backward and away from the king.

I see the king’s shocked expression as we’re bolting to our escape. The monkeys go wild, but Onyx punts the ones that cross our path away. A roar sound behind us, that seems to echo through the entire world, and I see a giant dragon made of smoke rising into the air like a demon of vengeance.

“Onyx!” The king roars.

The trolls advance and one has a staff--it’s long and curved, like a cane but with a bladed end. He launches it, and I see it coming straight at me and twist in Onyx’s arms. He reacts in an instant, shielding me with his big body before I can stop him.

The cane is a blur of motion above us, and then Onyx stumbles like he’s drunk and about to hit the ground. I can see the blade sticking out of him from behind, but the man just keeps stepping forward in an unnatural way. I look in front of us to see how close we are to our escape and see that we’re nearly at the wall of smoky tar.

I can almost see outside of the cloud to our own world. And I might be imagining it, but I think I can hear the whistle of wind.We’re so damned close to getting free of this nightmare! I need to get Onyx out of this place.Now!

His face is pale. His feet seem to be moving more and more slowly, and he’s leaning on me so hard I think we might fall over. He’s heavy, but I wrap both hands around his waist and drag him. The screeching of the monkey’s grows louder. The ground shakes as the trolls approach us, and I hear the shadow king scream something although I’m not sure what. And then, suddenly, we’re through the wall of black tarry smoke.

“We made it,” I whisper, but my voice shakes.

I keep dragging Onyx as far as I can, even though he seems to be getting heavier and heavier, but I don’t want to stop. Not until I can’t see the cloud of black any longer. But when we’re almost out of view of it, Onyx crumbles to his knees.

His eyes keep fluttering closed. I kneel in front of him, trying to catch his eye. Trying to get him in a position so he can read my lips. “I’m going to heal you, okay? You freaking brave man! I’m not going to let you die because you tried to save me.”

While I’m speaking, his eyes close, and my heart races.

“I got this. I got this. I can do this.” I know he can’t hear me, but I need to say the words, even just to myself.

Awkwardly, I try to reach around him to work on the staff. Normally, I know, it’d be better to leave the staff where it is until we could get to a hospital. But since there’s no hospital anywhere around, and we only have me, I know we need to get the staff out before I can try to help him. Pulling it out slowly, an inch at a time, I grit my teeth together. Onyx moans and makes a few sounds of pain that make my gut clench. But as much as I want to stop, I know I can’t.

So, I just keep working. Inching it out, but the damn thing is in deep. But finally, it works free, and as I toss it aside, he falls, then coughs and blood spatters the ground beside his head.

It doesn’t take a PhD in internal medicine to know this is bad. My heart hammers.

“You’re going to be okay. Remember, my glowy hands. They can fix anything.”

I try not to notice the blood that spreads beneath him onto the sand, or the way it seems to be expanding faster than it should. Because no matter how bad things are, I can’t let him die. Not after he risked his life to come in after me.

After he saved my life.

I’m going to do whatever I can to save him. But I have to do it quickly.

---