Page 18 of Nightmare's Dance

I had a feeling Baz simply didn’t appreciate aerial silks. Or he wanted to torture me. I wasn’t sure. Maybe he was hoping for a repeat of the first time he’d dropped me. I felt too numb, despite the anger, to give him the show he wanted. Maybe he’d just decide to be done with me and not catch me. Then Geraint could escape, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it any longer. I shook out my arms and legs, ignoring the pain in my shoulders from the rough handling.

The silks dangled in front of me. I glanced over at the prince and my knight. Fury darkened Geraint’s eyes. His lips were drawn back from his teeth, but the sword to his back had the appropriate impact, and he stayed put on the ground.

Clenching my jaw, I climbed again, this time making it a little fancier and trying to dance up the silks like I normally would. There was a point when I’d enjoyed this, but it seemed like several lifetimes ago.

I didn’t even get halfway before the silks vanished. The shriek that escaped my mouth was probably the entertainment Baz was after, but another fear washed through me. They could break me and still sacrifice me. I doubted “limbs intact” was a requirement. The possibility of being broken scared me more than the genuine threat to my life.

This time, I almost hit the ground before my ribs groaned in protest as shadows wrapped around my waist and yanked me upward.

From the expression on Geraint’s face, he might have come to the same conclusion. I shook my head and tried to work the fear out of my system. My hands shook as I reached for the reformed silks.

I almost couldn’t even make the basic climb work, but Baz let me get almost to the top before he dropped me. This time, I curled into a ball like a diver and insured that if I hit the ground, it would probably end me.

The tendrils of shadow caught me farther off the ground this time. Baz knew I was on to him. Unlike last time, the shadows didn’t lower me to the ground. I was tempted to push my power against his, but that would be a dead giveaway that I was the alleged princess he was after—emphasis on the dead. Or, at least, it would tell him I had some control over my environment here. I still didn’t believe I was this dream princess.

The shadow stuff spun me, but I was used to that and simply waited. Right now, I was trapped. In the next moment? Who knew?

“You’re very disappointing, Princess,” Baz said. “I thought you’d be more fun. The other princesses are at least wise enough to entertain me.”

I remained quiet, taking deep breaths, trying to keep the panic at bay. A tiny voice in the back of my mind screamed every swear word I knew, and I let it handle all the fear, while I kept my stage persona as intact as I could manage.

“Perhaps I should take my displeasure out on this knight. You seem to care about it.”

Geraint’s shoulders lifted with a sharp breath, but otherwise he gave no indication that he felt anything.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears leaking through my lids and dampening my cheek. The salty water moistened my dry lips, and I clenched them tight, trying to trap in any sounds I might make.

“Sir,” I heard a male voice whisper. “The cryptids are attacking.”

Instead of acting worried, Baz sighed in irritation. “Again?”

“This force is considerably larger than the last incursion.”

The prince let out a dramatic sigh and spun on his heels. “Deal with that.” He pointed at Geraint.

The shadows didn’t dissipate, but I thought I could handle them. Clearly, Baz thought he’d leave me hanging, literally. Anger pushed away the fear one more time.

“You heard your Prince, to arms!” One of the gray people shouted.

The crowd shuffled, sounding like a flutter of paper in a light breeze as they silently filed out of the tent. That was weird as shit. Also, though I smelled popcorn, I didn’t see any.

“Geraint!” I shouted, but he was already being dragged away. I thought the gray person who’d brought him to me was the one who had his hand around my knight’s arm, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Shit,” I muttered and focused on the shadow stuff holding me suspended. It no longer answered to Baz, as he’d simply left it. However, it didn’t have any reason to respond to me, either. The clothing I wore had days to get used to me manipulating it, as did the shadow stuff in my cell. This piece of fog ignored my pleading attempts to get it to release me.

Finally, in a fit of desperation, I shoved everything I had at the unresponsive strands, hoping to force it to listen.

It dissipated, and I had a half second to realize my mistake before I plummeted toward the ground.

I landed hard. Nothing broke, but my shoulder took the brunt of the fall. I didn’t think I’d dislocated it, but it hurt like hell.

“Fuck,” I cried, tears blurring my vision.

Blinking them away, I saw my chance. The other women stared at me from backstage, but I couldn’t do anything to help them. Not yet. Maybe this Nic guy could help. One of the shadow people came toward me. I bolted. They would not catch me again.

Ember

The flaps of the tent slapped against me as I fled from the relatively calm interior into the chaos outside. My colorful clothing drew immediate attention.

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